Quote:
Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814
Fair enough.
But for most of these obscure sports, there’s no greater victory than the Olympics - it’s the only time the entire world pays attention to them.
Hockey cares more about the Olympics than any other international tournament, even the ones they put on themselves - the energy for the 2004 and 2016 World Cups were pathetic.
The only people who care about the WHC play for the Oilers.
The spotlight and prestige of the Olympics is unmatched.
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I think the business of hockey (in North America) is happy to move on from the Olympics. Prior to 1998, the Olympics were not the gold standard for international hockey, only then, when we first started to send the pro's to the Olympics did the Olympic tournament have any sort of relevance. It was a key strategic move from a business side then to grow "the obscure sport of hockey" in markets outside of Canada, specifically the US. 1998 was warm up, for the US hosting the Olympics in Salt Lake City. The NHL wanted the worlds best, on a stage that an American audience would watch, to try and vault interest in hockey and the NHL state side. Then with the games coming back to North America in Vancouver 8 years later, the NHL benefit sort of lingered on.
But that time has passed for the business side, and the only reason it continues is the desire from the players, to have the opportunity to participate in the Olympics, which is also very understandable.
All of this said, from a fan perspective, and as someone who is old enough to remember when the NHL players weren't at the Olympics, I don't really care if the NHL participates in the Olympics. From a hockey perspective, the 87 and 96 Canada and then World Cup were actually great events. If done right, a World Cup of hockey can be just as meaningful, what doesn't work is when they are complimentary events while Olympic participation is still on the board. And from the Olympic perspective, those events are cool enough for me to enjoy, that I don't need my best on best international hockey fix to in coordination with the Olympics. In fact if done right, I'd probably prefer them separate, like you get with Soccer.