[Mike F]

Originally Posted by JerryUnderscore

The NHL thinks it costs too much because it's a two week break that cuts into their revenues. Big time hockey is played and they don't get a single cent from the tickets, march, etc.

That's basically why they want to bring back the World Cup. If they can replace olympic hockey with World Cup hockey, they get all the profits.

People have the most twisted ideas about the link between the World Cup and the Olympics. To repost something from another thread:

As was discussed in McLean's interview with Bettman, and by Elliot Friedman on the broadcast during (IIRC) game 1 of the finals, whether the pro players go the the Olympics or not revolves around a beef between the IOC and the IIHF over transportation costs and insurance. See this article:

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said Tuesday afternoon that little progress had been made with respect to the league's participation in the 2018 Games. Daly said the league was recently updated on talks between the International Ice Hockey Federation and International Olympic Committee, and those talks didn't look good.

"I'm not going to handicap it, but what I'd say is I think time is very short to make a decision and I'm not sure there's been a lot of progress made in the past six months," Daly said ahead of the World Cup of Hockey final between Canada and Europe. "And I'm not sure there's any prospect of progress being made.

"So on the basis of that I would say I'm more negative today than I was two weeks ago."

The IOC has suggested that it won't the pay out-of-pocket expenses it has historically covered alongside the IIHF. Rene Fasel, the IIHF's president, told the Associated Press earlier on Tuesday that he believed the odds were 50-50 that the NHL would participate.

This article goes even further:

As Canada appears ready to hoist the World Cup of Hockey trophy and prove we are the dominant hockey nation, the media narrative will likely once again debate whether the event is going to mean the end of NHL participation in the Olympics. Here's the thing – the two aren't interdependent.

As much as the spin has been an "either or" conversation, the success (or lack thereof, depending on your opinion) of the past two weeks will have nothing to do with whether or not Sidney Crosby will suit up for Canada in Pyeongchang, Korea.

Olympic participation relies on one simple question – will the IOC continue to front the bills to bring professional hockey players to the Olympic Games?

.....

Generating revenue and growing the game internationally is precisely why the World Cup of Hockey is a separate and distinct conversation from NHL Olympic participation in Pyeongchang 2018. The NHL and the Olympics still need each other. So instead of looking at the re-emergence of the World Cup of Hockey as a threat to NHL participation in the Olympic Games, it should be viewed for what it is: a hockey property created to generate additional revenue directly to the NHL and NHLPA.

If fans are worried their favourite NHL players won't be playing for Team Canada in 2018, it isn't because the World Cup of Hockey took place this fall. It also isn't likely that the finger should be pointed at Canada's favourite villain Gary Bettman. It's most likely because IOC president Thomas Bach decided to draw a line in the sand on funding professional participation and refused to insure the NHL for lending him their players.

Perhaps the public positioning of both the NHL and the IOC is merely a power play. A test of egos. If that's the case, the next 500 days should be interesting.