Olympics may not be such a good idea

Okay folks, there is one big question facing the NHL and the New York Rangers.  2022 Beijing Olympics…yes or no??

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman gave an update about the status of the Olympics after the NHL Board of Governors meeting on Friday and said this.

“We have real concerns on a whole host of issues… and we’ve expressed those to the players’ association… Our concerns have only been magnified… I actually find it difficult to believe that a player would want to go…. I don’t think that this is going to be the ideal Olympic experience in terms of the lockdowns in the Olympic Village and everything else that’s going on.”

The NHL owners have not made it a mystery that they don’t favor Olympics participation.  It disrupts the schedule, could result in injuries, and isn’t a financial windfall.  This time, they have another concern, COVID-19.

That concern is completely legit.  Practically every team in the NHL has had to deal with an outbreak and a number of games have been affected.  With the development of variants like Omicron and Delta, there is an increased risk of the spread of the virus and a further disruption of the NHL season.

The deadline for opting out is January 10,  though they could back out after that, but would face substantial financial penalties.  While the owners can opt out using pandemic scheduling issues as a reason, they have made it clear that it will be up to the players.

The players made Olympics participation in 2022 and 2026  a major issue when they negotiated a new Collective Bargaining Agreement last year.  With a month to go, the players have to decide if they really want to go.

Gary Bettman was dropping a not so subtle nudge for the players to back out.  It’s true.  The traditional Olympics experience will be lacking.  There will be strict protocols in place including a bubble environment, restrictions on movement and daily testing, all enforced by the Chinese government. They are even talking about GPS trackers for all athletes to control spread.   Bettman mentioned the possibility of a three week quarantine for any player that tests positive.  Is that a risk and how many family members will want to make the trip to China in that environment? Face it, the deck is loaded against the players deciding to go.

Bettman’s not wrong.  When it comes to the Rangers, possible Olympians include Adam Fox, Mika Zibanejad, Artemi Panarin, Chris Kreider,Igor Shesterkin and Jacob Trouba.   An outbreak in the Olympic Village could result in some or all of those players missing weeks of NHL action. That’s the last thing the NHL or the Rangers would want this season.

Don’t forget, if the NHL players opt out, there will still be hockey at the Winter Olympics, but it will feature international teams from other leagues. The caliber of play will suffer and it will be more like the World Championships that take place during the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

And let’s not even get into the topic of human rights violations in China, an issue that has resulted in a diplomatic boycott of the Games by the United States and could extend to a number of other nations.

What they should do

While older NHL stars will see this as their last chance for an Olympic medal, the risk is greater than the reward.  The players would be much better off waiting until the 2026  Winter Olympics in Cortina, Italy

Why not revive the World Cup of Hockey in 2022 or 2023?    The last time it was played was in 2016 in Toronto and won by Canada.  It was an innovative format, featuring the big six nations (Canada, United States, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Czech Republic) along with a Team Europe and an under-23 team from North America.

The players would get the honor of playing for their native countries and it could be played in September, before the beginning of the regular season.  All of these tournaments, beginning with the Canada Cup in 1976, have been fabulous.

What do you think?

The New York Rangers are off to a fabulous start.  If the players decided to not go to the Olympics, the NHL schedule will have to be revamped, but the good news is they will be able to spread out the games over the last three months of the season.

Right now, the Rangers are scheduled to play 32 games in 65 days starting on February 24 and it could be 33 if the make up game against Ottawa is scheduled for March or April.  The Blueshirts play only four times in February because of the Olympics and All-Star break.

While it’s great to root for your hometown players in the Olympic Games, it also impacts the better teams the most and that is true in the case of the Rangers.  Let’s not forget about the 2014 Sochi Olympics when John Tavares (Islanders), Henrik Zetterberg (Red Wings), Aleksander Barkov and Tomas Kopecky (Panthers) all sustained season-ending injuries.

Paul Martin (Penguins) missed 18 games, Fedor Tyrutin (Blue Jackets) missed eight games and Mats Zuccarello of the Rangers missed four games as well.

So, what do you think?  Should we wait until 2026 when hopefully the situation will be much less uncertain?  Is a World Cup of Hockey a suitable substitute for fans and players?  Feel free to weigh in below.