A lot of stuff has happened in the last couple days, huh? UConn's winning streak came to an end in a ridiculous game! The Carolinas (North and South) won NCAA basketball championships. Tony Romo was released by the Cowboys and immediately hired by CBS as their lead analyst, despite having no broadcasting experience.
And, perhaps most significantly, the NHL continued to show how completely tone deaf it is by announcing they weren't going to the PyeongChang Olympics (saying that the matter is "closed") ON THE SAME DAY they announced plans to play two exhibition games in China next season. This, despite the fact that Gary Bettman and the owners seem to be the ONLY people that don't want NHL players participating.
This stance appears to be only for 2018. The NHL fully intends on participating in the 2022 Games in Beijing. Because they want the exposure of the potentially lucrative Chinese market. They don't see the same value in going to Korea, and they don't want to suspend the season so that their players can go to the Olympics, play in the middle of the night and potentially get hurt if there's nothing in it for them.
Unfortunately, the only people who didn't NHL players participating for the sixth consecutive Olympics were the only ones that held any power in the situation. All they see is the almighty dollar. What the players want, what the fans want and what's good for the game evidently don't matter. So, as a result, the men's Olympic hockey tournament will go from the marquee event to little more than a glorified World Championships (which take place during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, so most Americans and Canadians don't even realize they're happening most of the time). And we get robbed of seeing the best against the best on the biggest stage that sports can offer.
There are a lot of long term repercussions of the NHL's decision not to participate. The IOC and IIHF both warned the NHL that if they don't go to PyeongChang, they might not be welcome in Beijing. In a way, I really hope they aren't bluffing about that. They said that the NHL can't "pick and choose" which Olympics it attends, and the only way to get that point across would be to say "thanks, but no thanks" when it comes to Beijing.
The NHL owners are the only ones with any power here. I'd love to see some push back, if only because they aren't acting in anyone's best interest (including their own). Their relationships with the IOC and IIHF are strained, and you can bet NBC and CBC (which are both NHL and Olympic broadcasters) aren't too happy either.
What they've made abundantly clear here, though, is that they don't view the players as equal partners. Not even close. The players want to play. The owners know that. They just don't care. Months ago, the owners offered the players the opportunity to go to PyeongChang in exchange for a two-year extension of the CBA. They didn't take it, arguing (rightfully so) that they shouldn't have to make any concessions to play. Now, there's no chance the players won't opt out of the current CBA when they can in 2020. And, seeing as this is the NHL, you know that when they do, Lockout 3.0 is inevitable (I guess not playing games then is OK?). How could it not be? The owners clearly don't care about what the players want, so why should the players care about what the owners want?
Some of the players still don't care. Even after the NHL's announcement, Alex Ovechkin said he still plans on going to Korea and playing for Russia, and he has the blessing of Capitals owner Ted Leonisis to do so. How many other players will defy the league and play in the Olympics anyway? And how many owners will be as understanding as Leonisis?
One of the articles I read today made a very interesting prediction. It suggested that a number of big-name free agents may take one-year deals somewhere in Europe so that they can play in PyeongChang, only to return to the NHL in 2018-19. Considering the number of players that have already jumped to the KHL or other European leagues, that's not too far-fetched. After all, that's what a lot of players did during the 2004-05 lockout (and some stayed there).
Assuming some sort of resolution isn't reached (which I still think there can be, despite the NHL's drawing a line in the sand), the U.S. and Canada will be looking towards those European-based pros when constructing their 2018 Olympic rosters. It would also make Russia, which would have former NHL All-Stars Ilya Kovalchuk and Pavel Datsyuk (both playing in the KHL), among others, available, the odds-on favorites.
Meanwhile, instead of seeing Auston Matthews and Johnny Gaudreau wearing Red, White and Blue on the world's biggest sporting stage, they'll continue toiling away North of the Border. Speaking of North of the Border, instead of Sidney Crosby and Carey Price and 21 other NHL All-Stars wearing the Maple Leaf (for Canada, not Toronto) on their chest, we'll get to see a bunch of career minor leaguers and European pros.
I'm glad the NHL owners got what they wanted out of this Olympic "deal." Because nobody else did. Instead of using the platform to promote the sport on a global stage, they're going to be in direct competition with the Olympics. Makes total sense to me. Another stroke of brilliance by the NHL's powers that be.
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