[News] NHL not sending its players to the Olympics

[powderjunkie]

Won't it be more embarassing for China when the Spengler Cup team still beats them 15-0?

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

When only China and none of the world will watch that it is a problem. The revenue generated by having NHL players there will mean much more to China than what their hockey team does.

Does China get revenue from CBC and CTV? I’m watching Canadians play hockey on the international stage no matter who is there.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

Especially when the Chinese men's hockey team cruises to a gold medal because every opposing team has a mysterious rash of positive COVID tests the day before the game. And then the day after the game, whoopsie! Turns out they were all false positives. You can finish the Games and go home, but we'll take the win by forfeit.

I'm only about two-thirds kidding. People keep mentioning the 1936 Olympics in Berlin; well, books have been written about the blatant cheating by the Germans. When a dictator decides that he wants the prestige of hosting the Olympics, he also wants the prestige of winning.

Lets be honest...thats a 50/50 bet at worst.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

When only China and none of the world will watch that it is a problem. The revenue generated by having NHL players there will mean much more to China than what their hockey team does.

It will have no impact on any revenue generated. The vast majority of revenue comes from the long-term sponsorship and broadcast rights deals. Those have been locked in for years. It's not like the CBC is going to tell the IOC they're only going to pay 75% of what was agreed to because the NHL isn't going.

They have announced that spectators will be allowed to attend the games, but other than saying tickets will only be available to residents of mainland China, they still haven't announced any other plans for ticket distribution and we're less than 8 weeks from the start of the Games.

The average person who gets a ticket to a hockey game won't know a McDavid from a McFlurry.

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

Sucks to be those teams who took the revenue. I guess they’ll get to sit on the sidelines for 3 weeks and then play a condensed schedule the rest of the way, while everyone else gets more balance.

Every game needs a road team, so they just need to put the teams who don't have available dates at home on extended road trips.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

I love the use of "we" by some of the posters in this thread, saying things like "we do mlre damage globally than China does", as if those posters are actually here and aren't transparent CPC trolls.

[thefoss1957]

I despise the olympics...Corruption? Check! Toxic Nationalism? Check! Rampant cheating/blood doping/steroids? Check!/Check!/Check! Propaganda for some of the most repressive governments in the world? Check!

No matter what the NHL/NBA/MLB or any other major Western sports organization does regarding the olympics, I highly advocate ignoring them, totally.

Note: I purposefully leaving the olympics in lower case...

[Slava]

Originally Posted by thefoss1957

I despise the olympics...Corruption? Check! Toxic Nationalism? Check! Rampant cheating/blood doping/steroids? Check!/Check!/Check! Propaganda for some of the most repressive governments in the world? Check!

No matter what the NHL/NBA/MLB or any other major Western sports organization does regarding the olympics, I highly advocate ignoring them, totally.

Note: I purposefully leaving the olympics in lower case...

I agree with all those negatives and that’s really only a partial list. They’re horrible.

Truth is, I still love the Olympics though! Maybe I’m a sucker for some of that nationalism, or I just love the pure drama of it all. The athletic performances (drug tainted or otherwise), draw me in every time. It’s fantastic.

[dino7c]

With today's news I think its getting less likely they go

[Manhattanboy]

China should do the right thing and postpone the games for a year.

[GIODUDE]

Originally Posted by Manhattanboy

China should do the right thing and postpone the games for a year.

China/right thing...does not compute.

[Mightyfire89]

For anyone who would like to learn more about the Olympics and its history vis a vis politics, this is an excellent, informative read:

[Hot_Flatus]

Originally Posted by Manhattanboy

China should do the right thing and postpone the games for a year.

Is this the right thing? The right thing would have been to not award the games to countries with dodgy human rights and political track records in the first place (Russia, China, Brazil and so on).

Postponing at the 11th hour only hurts the thousands of amateur athletes that have been working their butts off for the last 4 years to get to this point. The millionaire hockey players are not even close to the issue that should be concerned here.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Hot_Flatus

Is this the right thing? The right thing would have been to not award the games to countries with dodgy human rights and political track records in the first place (Russia, China, Brazil and so on).

Postponing at the 11th hour only hurts the thousands of amateur athletes that have been working their butts off for the last 4 years to get to this point. The millionaire hockey players are not even close to the issue that should be concerned here.

Do we really believe the Olympics are amateur?

[Manhattanboy]

Originally Posted by Hot_Flatus

Is this the right thing? The right thing would have been to not award the games to countries with dodgy human rights and political track records in the first place (Russia, China, Brazil and so on).

Postponing at the 11th hour only hurts the thousands of amateur athletes that have been working their butts off for the last 4 years to get to this point. The millionaire hockey players are not even close to the issue that should be concerned here.

Of course the right thing would have been not to award the games to China in the first place. As many on CP are very aware my contempt for the Chinese government is off the charts. And don't even get me started on the IOC and their corrupt ways.

But that ship has sailed unfortunately. I would feel bad for the amateur athletes but the situation now seems significantly worse than during the Tokyo summer games.

[Canada 02]

Vegas Golden Knights defenceman Alex Pietrangelo says he hasn't decided if he will compete at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl...rney-1.6283670

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by Canada 02

Vegas Golden Knights defenceman Alex Pietrangelo says he hasn't decided if he will compete at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl...rney-1.6283670

Im gonna guess he isnt alone and in fact i would say the VAST majority of guys wont go with the existing protocols now understood. Guys are just now absorbing what it all really means.

You could go to China to play...even play a few games...and then get a positive test. Now you have to hope like hell it was a false positive and get consecutive negative results. Then if that doesn't happen.......Now you are faced with a month of confinement/quarantine in Beijing....cant skate....cant socialize.....wont get paid while not playing for your NHL team....and wont have the IOC or COC there to facilitate anything if there are "issues". Won't have access to family or your agent....and on and on it goes.


That is a huge huge risk to take. Might be a handful of guys that will (Ovechkin immediately comes to mind), but IMO once push comes to shove, most guys are going to bail and you really cannot blame them one iota.

[DeluxeMoustache]

On the other hand, the Olympics happens once every 4 years, it may be the only chance for some of these guys to go, and they risk having 3-5 weeks of rest and recovery during the Feb-March time frame, which they can get over before the playoffs

I bet Kucherov goes

[Locke]

Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache

On the other hand, the Olympics happens once every 4 years, it may be the only chance for some of these guys to go, and they risk having 3-5 weeks of rest and recovery during the Feb-March time frame, which they can get over before the playoffs

I bet Kucherov goes

Well the Russians will almost certainly all go. Especially Ovechkin.

I really like Ovechkin for what he does on the ice and the NHL and he seems like a great person, but the one thing that really does weird me out about him is his close and chummy relationship with Papa Vlad.

That is creepy and concerning. That man is a certified Psychopath.

[d_phaneuf]

Saw carlo colaiacovo on tsn say from the nhlers hes talked to, there's been a complete 180 on their likelihood to go since chinese protocols came out a few days ago

[Locke]

Originally Posted by d_phaneuf

Saw carlo colaiacovo on tsn say from the nhlers hes talked to, there's been a complete 180 on their likelihood to go since chinese protocols came out a few days ago

Sometimes I wonder about NHLers...are they that insulated from the same world that the rest of us live in?

You didnt really need to wait for the Chinese COVID protocols to be officially announced to have a pretty good idea of what was coming.