NHL’s decision not to compete in the Winter Olympics makes sense – for the NHL

First the American diplomats and a handful of allies Say no. “Now it’s the NHL. A party is shaping up like this.

It was only by bad luck that Beijing got the Winter Games in what turned out to be the COVID-19 era. But the decision to go ahead as planned rests with the hosts and their buddies at the International Olympic Committee. We hope that like most people who get married just for money, they will end up earning every penny.

The NHL is the most ordinary of the major sports leagues, so unlike retired diplomats, it did not make a political statement on the serious and varied human rights violations in China. But like the IOC, the league’s enduring interest has always been its own outcome. This is why the league skipped the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, an option that is not available to all lugers, rollerbladers, ski jumpers and even figure skaters who need the attention that Olympics bring in to pay their rent for the three years in between.

But it was always going to be an easy decision for Commissioner Gary Bettman and the NHL Players Union. The Olympians aren’t paying them anything to show up and blow up a three-week hole in the league’s regular season schedule, which, to say the least, is already a disaster due to COVID. Fifty games have been postponed until Tuesday night and a league-wide hiatus is in effect until next week. Assuming the newly adjusted protocols give some control back to those responsible for the league’s schedule, that three-week window to bring back games could be very useful.

Who knows, the NHL might even decide to go ahead with its All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas, which would be held during the first two days (February 4-5) of the Olympics. And wouldn’t that be a perverse counter-programming?

“Entendemos la decisión”, dijo la emisora ​​olímpica NBC en un comunicado el martes, “pero los Juegos Olímpicos siguen siendo el mayor torneo de hockey del mundo, independientemente de si los jugadores son de la NHL o de otras ligas de élite de everybody”.

On the bright side, the women’s tournament could draw some viewers and the race to fill the men’s Olympic charts with minor league players, college players and even the occasional Beer League star presents an opportunity for the hapless hockey team of the United States. United States. China.

Just a few weeks ago the International Ice Hockey Federation still struggled to let the team play. Olympic hosts often have the privilege of presenting a team in any sport, but China was so bad that new IIHF president Luc Tardif had doubts.

“Seeing a beaten team, 15-0, is not good for anyone, not for China or for ice hockey,” Tardif said in September.

Now the Chinese will be able to call a final score of 7-0 a moral victory.

To be fair, this is a bad deal for almost everyone. The hosts lose face, NBC lose one of their three biggest draws, figure skating and alpine are the other two, and the rest of us will miss what has been a fast and open version of the sport that is better than any other. thing. otherwise, the NHL is played during the regular season.

Unfortunately, the players lose the most. A generation of young stars who were denied their debut in 2018 will now have to wait at least until 2026; Among them are Canadians Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon, American Auston Matthews and Swede Victor Hedman.

“I’m still a guy who wants to go play at the Olympics,” McDavid said. “But we also want to make sure it’s safe for everyone. For all athletes, not just hockey players. “

But the The Edmonton Oilers captain also granted the 21-day quarantine in a Chinese facility for anyone who tested positive at the games, part of the protocol ordered by the Beijing organizing committee was “disturbing.” Las Vegas goalie Robin Lehner had already declined the opportunity to represent Sweden, explaining in a text that having this possibility above your head “is not ideal for my sanity”.

What mattered most, however, was the financial health of the NHL. The Olympics raised the profile of hockey, particularly in Salt Lake City in 2002 and particularly in Vancouver in 2010, where local hero Sidney Crosby’s overtime goal beat the United States for the gold medal (again once) attracted nearly 35 million viewers, about double the average. audience for the Masters or NCAA basketball finals. But the NHL players’ debuts at the Nagano Games in 1998, as well as their appearances in 2006 (Turin) and 2014, were played and televised at odd times for the North American public, who are bread and butter. of the league. .

The Beijing Games will be 13 hours ahead of the Eastern United States time zone. For all of the other factors that influenced his decision, all Bettman had to do was look at the watch on his wrist to confirm that he had made the right decision.