So now we hear that the NHL is not going to  take part or participate in any manner in the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, and (apparently) the timing is so it doesn’t have any effect on the upcoming 2016-17 playoffs, so we are told.

The NHL competed in the Games in 1998 in Nagano for the first time and continued to attend even into the Sochi 2014 Olympics.

We should not forget that it was the late Philadelphia Flyers owner Ed Snider that publically admitted one week after the 2006 Turin Olympics that he failed to see the real value to attend any overseas Olympics.

Probably for various reasons but we hear that it might have something to do with the time difference keeping the games off television in any of the prime time hours slots

This never seemed to be a concern for the Vancouver for 2010 Olympics but  apparently there were some formal discussions prior to the Sochi Olympic Games.

It would have seemed that the NHL won in regulation time when the IOC agreed to pay the players’ insurance and travel costs to attend which amounted to (roughly) $14 million, which for the IOC was a huge concession that they had never offered in the past, nor do they plan on doing it a second time around.

Two short days after April Fools (April 3rd) the NHL released the following statement to let everyone know of it’s decision probably so we can get used to it and give the sports radio something to talk about other than teams missing the playoffs in their area.

“We have previously made clear that, while the overwhelming majority of our Clubs are adamantly opposed to disrupting the 2017-18 NHL season for purposes of accommodating Olympic participation by some NHL players, we were open to hearing from any of the other parties who might have an interest in the issue (e.g., the IOC, the IIHF, the NHLPA) as to reasons the Board of Governors might be interested in re-evaluating their strongly held views on the subject. A number of months have now passed and no meaningful dialogue has materialized. Instead, the IOC has now expressed the position that the NHL’s participation in Beijing in 2022 is conditioned on our participation in South Korea in 2018.

And the NHLPA has now publicly confirmed that it has no interest or intention of engaging in any discussion that might make Olympic participation more attractive to the Clubs. As a result, and in an effort to create clarity among conflicting reports and erroneous speculation, this will confirm our intention to proceed with finalizing our 2017-18 Regular Season schedule without any break to accommodate the Olympic Winter Games. We now consider the matter officially closed.”

It’s reported that last fall (2016) the IIHF president Rene Fasel stated that his organization would step up in the IOC’s place, but apparently it was the NHL that was unwilling to accept this.

It’s reported that the NHL and  several owners wanted the money used for payment to come directly from the IOC, which is the governing body of the  Olympics.

It’s not that the Olympics don’t make any money off of the hockey end of the sport, and yet the NHL stands strong that the IIHF should pay.

According to various sport sources, there was yet again a recent attempt to have the NHL receive some form or portion of the TV rights and/or sponsorship for it’s product – again turned down.

Let’s not forget that injuries play a huge role in the game and personally if I was an owner, I might feel reluctant to allow my players to attend as well.

My logic is simple, if they get injured and it happens to be one of my star players it revenue out of my pocket as fans don’t come to watch the owner have a coffee or the referee make a call!

If you remember it was in Sochi that New York Islanders star John Tavares suffer a serious injury which probably got more of the owners thinking about the status for future games.

Another point that probably not been given enough “light” is that the NHL requested that the Players’ Association (NHLPA) would not opt out of the current CBA and extended it to its full term in 2022.

As you would think the NHLPA declined or refused stating “they believe they should not have to give up anything in exchange for Olympic participation.”

So now it’s a stalemate in which some players want to attend and the league is working on forbidding them to attend.

Will they or won’t they and my guess is it will get resolved one way or another after hearing the remarks of Alex Ovechkin stating he would attend, regardless of what the league says.

It goes without saying that they will be disappointed if they fail to attend as after all for anyone to be an Olympian is a huge honour among the group.

It’s reported that Senators owner Eugene Melnyk stated to the media and others he would not support Erik Karlsson playing in the Games, while Capitals owner Ted Leonsis mentioned that he will not stand in the way of his Capitals players, to attend the games.

One other question is what if any impact will this will have on the NHL’s participation in the 2022 Beijing Games?

Given the fact that it was only last week that the NHL formally announced the league will play a pair of exhibition games with the Vancouver Canucks playing the LA Kings in China as part of a long-term strategy to tap into that giant market.

It’s reported that Chinese government and some help from the NHL, is making major investments in the hockey infrastructure leading up to the 2022 Games, so don’t just yet think that the NHL won’t return to the Olympics for 2022.

After=all – who needs who more??

Thinking outside the box – isn’t the Olympic Games to be for Amateur Athletes and NOT Pro’s?

So why  are they even attending the games anyway???