NHL players officially not going to Beijing Olympics due to COVID-19 concerns

The players desperately wanted to take part after the league skipped the 2018 Olympics in South Korea, but the NHL reserved the right to pull out if its schedule was materially disrupted by the coronavirus.

That’s precisely what’s happened in recent weeks, as the pandemic’s fourth wave fuelled by the fast-spreading Omicron variant has battered a league that hasn’t played a full season since 2018-19 and was hit hard by COVID-19’s financial crunch.

“Current circumstances have made it impossible for us to proceed despite everyone’s best efforts,” Bettman said.

The league currently has more than 15 per cent of its players in virus protocol, forcing a string of postponements.

NHLPA executive director Don Fehr said in a statement that while players are disappointed, completing an 82-game schedule in a campaign mired by COVID-19 interruptions took precedence.

Fehr added he expects NHL players will return to the Olympics in 2026.

“Until very recently, we seemed to be on a clear path to go to Beijing,” Fehr’s statement read. “COVID-19 has unfortunately intervened.

“No matter how much we wish it were not the case, we need to utilize the Olympic period to reschedule these games.”

The Olympic break was to run from Feb. 6 to 22, but the league will now endeavour to shoehorn as many of its postponed games as possible into that stretch.

More than one-third of NHL clubs have either been recently shut down or voluntarily suspended activities due to the coronavirus.

The league, which moved up the start of its holiday break this week from Friday to Wednesday in response to the coronavirus-related postponements, has rescheduled just two of the 50 contests impacted to date.

The league also previously announced there would be a halt to cross-border travel until after the Christmas pause.

The NHL went to five straight Olympics from 1998 through 2014 before skipping the 2018 tournament. A team of Canadian non-NHLers beat the Czech Republic for bronze four years ago after losing to Germany in the semifinals.

Canadian Olympic Committee CEO and general secretary David Shoemaker said in a release the NHL’s decision was understandable.

“There is an extraordinarily deep talent pool in Canadian hockey,” he said. “We’re excited to rally behind the men’s team as it steps on to the ice for its first game on Feb. 10, attempting to win its fourth consecutive medal.

“We know that the top Canadian NHL players were excited to wear the Team Canada jersey, and we hope to see them get that opportunity once again in 2026.”

The decision to pull out of the 2022 Games means young superstars like Canada’s Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews of the United States and Germany’s Leon Draisaitl will have to wait another four years for the chance to compete on sports’ biggest stage.

Canada’s Sidney Crosby, Russia’s Alex Ovechkin and a host of other veterans, meanwhile, might have just watched their last Olympic shots evaporate.

Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos, who has never played for Canada at the Olympics, lamented the missed opportunity Tuesday before the news became official.

“You grow up dreaming of winning a Stanley Cup and I’ve been able to accomplish that,” the 31-year-old said. “You grow up wanting to represent your country and win a gold medal.

“That’s something I probably won’t have a chance to do now.”

The NHL and NHLPA initially agreed to go to China as part of negotiations to extend the current collective bargaining agreement when the league restarted after the pandemic forced it to shutter operations in March 2020.

NHL owners have never been enamoured by the Olympics for a host of reasons, including disruption to the league calendar, but promised players they would do everything possible to get them to Beijing as part of the CBA pact.

Bettman said at the recent board of governors meeting in Florida the league had “real concerns” about these Games, but added the players would ultimately decide on participation if COVID-19 didn’t throw a wrench into its own schedule.

Less than two weeks later, however, that’s exactly what happened.

Apart from the risks of contracting the coronavirus, the NHL’s worries included uncertainty around quarantine time for an athlete that tests positive at the Olympics, worsening diplomatic relations between China and the West, restrictions on the ground and allegations of human rights abuses in the host country.

“We have concerns, and we’ve expressed those to the players’ association,” Bettman said on Dec. 10. “We’ve seen that a number of players are now expressing concerns.

“We’ll have to see how this ultimately plays out.”

Vegas Golden Knights goalie Robin Lehner — a slam dunk for Sweden’s Olympic roster — was the first player state publicly he wouldn’t be going to China over the quarantine question.

A number of other NHLers, including McDavid, said the potential for a long isolation period also made them wary.

Those concerns are now moot.

The NHL had until Jan. 10 to pull out of the Olympics for reasons related to COVID-19 without financial penalty, but also possessed the authority to nix the plan at any time.

Hockey Canada and other nations that were banking on Beijing rosters stocked with NHLers now have to quickly pivot.

Canada iced the makings of a shadow team at this month’s Channel One Cup in Russia using mostly European-based professionals — former Montreal Canadiens head coach Claude Julien led the group as he awaits his next NHL opportunity — but pulled out of the subsequent Spengler Cup in Switzerland over coronavirus worries.

NHL players officially not going to Beijing Olympics due to COVID-19 concerns

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