Why the NHL Should Send Its Players to the 2018 Olympics

September 30th, 2016 by Jonathan Willis Leave a reply »

In 2018, some of the finest athletes in the world will gather in Pyeongchang, South Korea, to compete in the Winter Olympics.

Few events at the tournament will receive more attention than ice hockey, so it’s ironic that the event may end up being played between competitors who are clearly not the best in the world at the sport.

That’s because NHL players' participation is still in question. And as much as there are good reasons for the league not to close down for the Olympics, that’s a shame. The league should send its players to the Games.

Typically, the arguments made in favour of the NHL's involvement are selfish.



It’s easy to forget that Gary Bettman, the league commissioner, was a key mover in the effort to get NHL players to the Games back in 1998. Bettman isn’t particularly known for his altruism, and he didn’t cast that decision as a selfless act when he talked about it to Joe Lapointe of the New York Times in 1997:

The National Basketball Association's worldwide awareness grew dramatically after t ...

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