Murray Wood: A special Grey Cup edition of who's hot... and who's not
Every Friday, Murray Wood takes a look at the week's news and decides who's hot... and who's not. This week, Wood is pre...
NHL players are headed back to the Olympics.
The NHL and the NHL Players’ Association announced Friday they had reached an agreement with the International Ice Hockey Federation that will allow NHLers to participate in the Winter Olympics in Beijing in February.
NHL players didn’t participate in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea .
“We understand how passionately NHL players feel about representing and competing for their countries,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said in a statement.
“We are very pleased that we were able to conclude arrangements that will allow them to resume best-on-best competition on the Olympic stage.”
The threat of COVID-19 and costs created by the virus put the return of NHL players to the Olympics in jeopardy.
However, according to the NHL, the agreement announced Friday “allows for the possibility of a later decision to withdraw in the event evolving COVID conditions are deemed by the NHL/NHLPA to render participation by NHL players to be impractical or unsafe.”
“I know that I can speak for hockey fans around the world when I say that we absolutely welcome the decision to bring back best-on-best ice hockey to the Olympics,” IIHF president Rene Fasel said on the federation’s website.
“We had many constructive discussions, and a lot of hard work was put into making this happen within the time we set for ourselves, and I want to thank all parties involved for their support and commitment.”
NHL players have been campaigning for the ability to play in the Olympic tournament.
“Just to be able to represent Canada at the Olympics and compete for a gold medal would be an absolute dream come true,” Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid told The Associated Press this week.
“It’s kind of been a long time since we’ve been able to play best-on-best internationally. I think for me and I think for a lot of guys that were on that team, it’s been a long time coming. We’re obviously looking forward to going to the Olympics if we’re all lucky enough to make it.”
According to reports, NHL players will fly to China on Feb. 6, immediately after the NHL’s All-Star Weekend. The Olympics are to begin Feb. 9, with the men’s hockey gold-medal game set for Feb. 20.
