You heard it first from me. The next winter Olympics will not have players from the national hockey league competing. Currently the national hockey league has not committed to the International Olympic Committee on allowing players to compete in the Olympics beyond this year. Much of this has to do with compensation.
Currently the NHL does not receive any gains, or compensation for allowing their players to play in the competition. They do this "for the love of the game," while also shutting down their entire league for 16 days while the competitions go on. The NHL receives not a single penny for any of this. This is pretty generous of the league.
However, the NHL has the upper hand in the future because of their non-commitments after this Olympic season. It has been brought up recently by the IOC of giving the NHL money as compensation, but the IOC shot it down quickly. With neither side willing to budge, I believe the NHL will stick it to them and not allow players to leave, and also they will not shut down their league while the Olympics go on.
Most would say that is petty of the NHL and is taking away from the Olympics, but why should they budge? The Chicago Blackhawks have allowed 10 of their players to play in this year's Olympic games, including some of their star and key players. What happens when one of their players injures themselves while playing? They have now lost a key player outside of their league, paying him millions of dollars and received nothing as compensation.
I think the NHL owners are quietly fed up with the Olympic system and don't want their players playing anymore. I believe that no NHL players will be scene next Olympic games unless the league's owners get their compensation.
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