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Originally Posted by dissentowner
I am actually on the side of the owners and the NHL on this one. Why should the owners risk their star players to injury? It also is grating on me the attitude the players are copping here laughing and saying "they can't stop us". The most recent is Marc Vlasic. No, maybe they can't stop you from getting on a plane and going but if the NHL and the owners want to make a hard stance they tell the players that a) while you are there you are suspended without pay and b) if you sustain any injury while there you will also not be paid until you are healthy enough to play for your NHL team again. So if you blow out your knee ala Stamkos, you are out 6 months of salary. If the NHLPA doesn't like it, go suck an egg.
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The owners are insured. It would be no different than if a player gets into a car accident, sustaining an injury slipping on ice, or any number of situations (ie, Craig Anderson's wife getting diagnosed with cancer) that can arise from the risks of life. It's greed, pure and simple. Its the same owners who leverage municipalities for millions in arena dollars and claim their books are in the red, yet somehow sports franchises are being sold for billions of dollars.
Don't forget, there was a time when the NHL was a joke. Line brawls, replacement amateur refs, and players beating fans with a shoe. It was things like the summit series, Olympics, and Canada Cup that kept the league gaining interest globally. It wasn't too long that the first Europeans changed the way the game is played, and now, all of a sudden Canadians only comprise of 49% of the league. So now the league is too snobby to participate in an important, political and athletic process that has great international participation despite global wars and political conflicts taking place?
The Olympics is about sport, not money or politics. Its a best-in-the-world competition where athletes generally lose money or only break even or require funding to even participate.