NHL out of the Olympics?
So after yesterday’s revealing of the Official Mascots of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, a story began circulating that the NHL is considering skipping the 2014 Olympics.
Thank God.
and
It’s About Freakin’ Time.
There’s something about professional athletes competing in Olympic events that always rubbed me the wrong way — especially since most countries carry a National Team anyway. Those guys get royally screwed, playing for four years without getting to play in the big show.
NHL players always handled it a lot better than say, the NBA players and their “Dream Team” did (I’m ignoring the room-trashing story from Nagano). But there was still something that stank about the pro-athletes coming in and taking the spotlight away from the people who live in near poverty to be able to compete at this level.
Not to mention, stopping the season for the handful of players who get to compete, while hundreds of other players wait for games to start up again is just insane and brings way too many factors into the season. Teams get a break to heal, but the best players do not get a break, resulting in tired play and a higher likelihood of injury when they return. The playoffs are usually a joke. And God forbid any player gets hurt in the Olypmics. You can’t tell me players aren’t pressured to skip the Games entirely.
I can’t argue the excitement of a Canada/US Gold medal game and the near chaos it created in…. well Canada. The rest of the world didn’t care.
One thing that worries me is Gary Bettman’s stance on addressing it year by year. I almost read that as: Olympics in North America, we’re in. Olympics overseas, we’re out.
The NHL should be out. For good.
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