No NHL players in 2018 Olympic hockey games!
- Thread starter joho
- Start date
it was controversial to allow nhl players to begin with. the Olympics are amateur sport, and nhl players are professional. I agree with this move.....
Amateurs left the Olympics long ago, either paid salaries or through endorsements. May as well let the best of the best compete.
Now that the pro's are out every country should get to send a team made up of Beer League players.
And by that I don't mean the 30 year old guys who still for some reason, think they are playing Jr. A and take it way to seriously.
I'm talking about the +35 y.o. guys who play twice a week on Wednesday night at 11 pm and Sunday mornings, have beer bellies, smoke on the bench, trip over the blue line and the most important guy each week is the guy whose turn it is to bring the beer for the dressing room after the game.
Now that would be a heck of a tournament.
Cheers
And by that I don't mean the 30 year old guys who still for some reason, think they are playing Jr. A and take it way to seriously.
I'm talking about the +35 y.o. guys who play twice a week on Wednesday night at 11 pm and Sunday mornings, have beer bellies, smoke on the bench, trip over the blue line and the most important guy each week is the guy whose turn it is to bring the beer for the dressing room after the game.
Now that would be a heck of a tournament.
Cheers
I think you can count on some high profile players going to S Korea no matter what Bettman and the Board of Governors say. Ovechkin said he is playing, the owner of the Caps said it's ok with him.
This is gonna get interesting with some players saying F**k you to Bettman. What is he gonna do? Fine players who go to play for their countries?
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/what-will-nhl-do-if-alex-ovechkin-players-leave-for-2018-olympics-223039789.html
This is gonna get interesting with some players saying F**k you to Bettman. What is he gonna do? Fine players who go to play for their countries?
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/what-will-nhl-do-if-alex-ovechkin-players-leave-for-2018-olympics-223039789.html
The only problem for the NHL players who go regardless, is the insurance issue.
The cost of insuring these multi million dollar contracts is in the millions. When the NHL had an agreement with the IOC, the IOC (or the IIHF) would cover the insurance costs. Now that there is no agreement, the IOC or IIHF will not be. The insurance that the NHL teams have on the contracts only applies to the player playing in NHL games. Thus the onus would be on the individual players to purchase their own insurance, which I doubt they would do or have Hockey Canada pay for it but Hockey Canada has said may time it would not.
Ovie along with other Russian stars will go because I'm sure Putin will tell them if they play for the Motherland he will take care of them. That's the benefit of coming from a country where the leader (err, I mean dictator) is a billionaire and a hockey fan.
Cheers
The cost of insuring these multi million dollar contracts is in the millions. When the NHL had an agreement with the IOC, the IOC (or the IIHF) would cover the insurance costs. Now that there is no agreement, the IOC or IIHF will not be. The insurance that the NHL teams have on the contracts only applies to the player playing in NHL games. Thus the onus would be on the individual players to purchase their own insurance, which I doubt they would do or have Hockey Canada pay for it but Hockey Canada has said may time it would not.
Ovie along with other Russian stars will go because I'm sure Putin will tell them if they play for the Motherland he will take care of them. That's the benefit of coming from a country where the leader (err, I mean dictator) is a billionaire and a hockey fan.
Cheers
While it is disappointing that the NHL isn't going to South Korea there's a few things I wanted to touch on because it seems to be a very anti-Bettman based group that is upset.
1) The IOC doesn't allow the NHL to use any footage from the Olympics for marketing purposes. This normally wouldn't be a huge issue however the NHL is the only professional NA league that effectively shuts down their season for 3 weeks for the event. Given the stupid amount of cash the IOC rakes in on endorsements and sponsorships they could easily afford to give the NHL a slice of the profits if its that integral that NHLers attend
2) Bettman gets a lot of flack but what people have to remember is that he speaks on behalf of the owners -- he's merely a figure head for the interests of the people that pay these players' salaries. Despite the IOC offering to cover insurance costs (which was more or less appealing to the national organizations like Hockey Canada to front the bill) there's still a huge risk of season ending injuries which can make or break an entire team's season. The most recent example of this was Tavares and his knee injury in 2014 which destroyed the Islanders' chances at the post season.
1) The IOC doesn't allow the NHL to use any footage from the Olympics for marketing purposes. This normally wouldn't be a huge issue however the NHL is the only professional NA league that effectively shuts down their season for 3 weeks for the event. Given the stupid amount of cash the IOC rakes in on endorsements and sponsorships they could easily afford to give the NHL a slice of the profits if its that integral that NHLers attend
2) Bettman gets a lot of flack but what people have to remember is that he speaks on behalf of the owners -- he's merely a figure head for the interests of the people that pay these players' salaries. Despite the IOC offering to cover insurance costs (which was more or less appealing to the national organizations like Hockey Canada to front the bill) there's still a huge risk of season ending injuries which can make or break an entire team's season. The most recent example of this was Tavares and his knee injury in 2014 which destroyed the Islanders' chances at the post season.
The insurance for the last winter games was $20 million and was covered by the IOC. It looks like they're completely dropping it and there's absolutely no reason for Bettman to not call their bluff, the owners have a lot more to lose than a few disgruntled fans. The IOC have a lot more to lose than the owners in this deal and I'm surprised they couldn't reach compromise.
That being said, it should still have been in the CBA. It's silly to assume that the IOC will pay anything and everything to keep hockey going in the Olympics.
That being said, it should still have been in the CBA. It's silly to assume that the IOC will pay anything and everything to keep hockey going in the Olympics.
Well the owners did offer to allow them to go if the NHLPA signed a 3-year extension of the current CBA but they turned it down.
Whenever fans get f**ked, you can bet it's either going to be the fault of NHL owners or the IOC. In this case it's probably mostly IOC, but the greed of owners and IOC both, is behind this. Big revenue, but neither wants to share in the pie.
I really wish some group that actually believed in Olympic ideals could start up a rival games and put the IOC out of business. They are about as corrupt a group you could find, and hold cities and countries hostage to their demands that usually benefit only them, and they could care less about the mess they leave behind (Sarajevo/Athens/Rio, etc etc). Norway was one of the few countries that told them to take a flying leap.
I really wish some group that actually believed in Olympic ideals could start up a rival games and put the IOC out of business. They are about as corrupt a group you could find, and hold cities and countries hostage to their demands that usually benefit only them, and they could care less about the mess they leave behind (Sarajevo/Athens/Rio, etc etc). Norway was one of the few countries that told them to take a flying leap.
Well it's a no brainer to turn that down, as the game's always growing (maybe not at a preferred pace, but surely must be growing), not to mention the deal NBA got after their last mini-lockout.
It's in every party's best interest to sort this out for 2018 because the current CBA runs through the 2022 Olympics as well.
http://www.tsn.ca/how-the-nhl-can-prevent-players-from-going-to-olympics-1.715216
This could get interesting.
Cheers
J
This could get interesting.
Cheers
J
Which was expected by the owners. Everyone knows the players hate the escrow in the CBA and this will be the hill the next battle is fought on.
No one including the owners expected the players to agree to an extension of a deal which includes something they want to get rid of.
This way the owners could blame the players for being uncooperative.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/understanding-the-nhls-escrow-system/article4565780/
Cheers
J
It was concluded that NHL business and health of the players came first. Period. The NHL doesn't want to risk their big time players to major injuries, therefore losing the chance for playing for the Stanley cup. Big time players attract full arena's and peak performance of the team as a whole.
I'm sure its a decent experience to play in the Olympics but lets face it, nothing comes close to playing and winning for the Stanley cup
Again, that said......NHL business it's self and players health comes first. That is the impression I got listening to Panelist.
I'm sure its a decent experience to play in the Olympics but lets face it, nothing comes close to playing and winning for the Stanley cup
Again, that said......NHL business it's self and players health comes first. That is the impression I got listening to Panelist.
Juniors is the answer. It is a big disruption to the NHL just so we can wave our flags for a couple of days. Let younger players have this experience, as they already do this kind of thing every year. I drove to Whistler to pick up the IIHF president and his wife from Whistler to Vancouver in 2010. I brought a lifelong lady friend with me who is very sociable. The guy reported me and complained. So much for the amiable spirit of the games. I will say that the others I drove, and who I met as a result were fine people and we enjoyed our time together. The Olympics are good, and should return to promoting amateur and individual sports mostly.
I remember as a kid watching the 1992 and 1994 Winter Olympics without NHL players and the games were pretty exciting. Of course some of you may remember we didn't get to see the 1994 gold medal game in Vancouver! A disgruntled employee pulled the plug somewhere.
