OT: Bettman strikes again
Was browsing ESPN (ugh) for a few minutes before going back to work and read that the NHL won't be sending it's players to the 2018 Olympics in S.Korea.
Way to go Bettman. You've always been so brilliant at marketing the game.
/s
You can still watch team USA. They'll just have non-NHL players.
Last time this happened, the season was condensed (fewer off days) and the teams with many olympians ended up having to rest players in the last month, and they suffered in the playoffs. Plus, it killed the momentum for the season.
I love grand statements like this, because they're just so easy to prove wrong.
The Blackhawks had the most Olympians with 10 players, end result? A loss in 7 games in the Western Conference Finals. Yeaup, real suffering in the playoffs
The Blues and Red Wings had 9 Olympians each; the Blues lost to the Blackhawks (who, reminder, had more Olympians), and the Red Wings snuck in the playoffs as the last wild card
Montreal had 8 Olympians, and went to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they lost to a team with 7 Olympians.
Vancouver, Pittsburgh, New York Rangers, and Anaheim all had 7 Olympians. The Canucks had a terrible November, January, and February (i.e. before the Olympics), so they missed the playoffs. Pittsburgh lost to the Rangers, so the Olympics clearly didn't affect those teams, and Anaheim lost to the Kings
Finally, Los Angeles and Tampa Bay had 6 Olympians each, and LA won the Cup, while Tampa lost to a team with more Olympians than they had
So to recap, of the 10 teams that had the most Olympians on them, 2 went to the Stanley Cup Finals (LA, NY), 2 were in the Conference Finals (CHI, MON), 2 went to the second round and lost to a team with more Olympians (ANA, PITT), and 2 lost in the first round to teams with more Olympians (STL, TB)
Batman?
The owners no longer wanted to sent the players there and they pressure Bettman to make the call. Blame the owners, that's who really stopped it.
There are still going to be pros at the olympics, just not the good ones who play in the NHL.
It's not going to be 1980 all over again. It's going to be the World Hockey Championships all over again, only worse. (The "World Hockey Championships" are held every April. Only players on teams that don't qualify for the Stanley Cup participate for USA & Canada. It is awful, and even hardcore hockey fans ignore it completely).
Yes, I know there are only 2 Olympic Hot Takes out there: "NBC coverage is terrible" and "I hate that the best athletes in the world participate in the Olympics."
Yes, I remember 1980. I also remember 1976, 1984, 1988, 1992 and 1994. Do you remember Albertville 1994? The USA finished 8th, losing to Germany in the 7th place classification game, and the hockey was mediocre right up through the gold medal shootout. (Really, I wouldn't mind an 8th place finish for USA if it were good hockey). It's the last time the NHL didn't shut down for the olympics.
The 1994 USA team was made up of 10 AHL players, 6 IHL players, 3 NCAA players, 2 NHL players, and 1 from the Swedish Elite League. That's what we are going to see next year also--well, minus the IHL, I guess. Are you seriously pretending that you're looking forward to that, and that it will be better than watching the best players from each nation compete?
If you want to see amateurs, watch the World Junior Championships. They have them every year, and they're televised. Nobody in the US watches, though, so I'm assuming that people don't actually want to see them play; they just say that's what they want. Don't ask me why.
If you want to watch amateurs vs pros, maybe we could send our pros and Russia could send its amateurs. That would be more of a fair fight than the other way around.
no to 2018 in S Korea
but the owners gonna say YES to 2022 in china cuz of the Business opportuntiies for expansion. Lots of great business opportunties for expansion witha winter games in China.
If i was the IIHF and the IOC, i'd tell the NHL they can go get bent for 2022 and force them to wait til 2026