The NHL and its players have reached an agreement to forgo participation in the Beijing Olympics.
Both parties have informed the International Olympic Committee of their decision.
The NHL had until January 10 to withdraw from the Games without penalty.
The subject officially returned to the table between the NHL and the NHL Players Association on Sunday, due to the significant amount of games postponed in recent days under the rise in COVID-19 cases to the four. corners of the continent.
A total of 50 games have been postponed across the NHL so far, including 45 since December 13. The traditional NHL Christmas break, scheduled for December 24-26, will finally take place from December 22 to 25. Players can resume training on December 26 after all team members have been screened. of COVID-19.
Other issues, including a possible quarantine of three to five weeks in case of positive control during the stay in China, had cooled the interest of the players for the Olympic tournament.
In the absence of the participation of NHL players, the Canadian team at the Olympic Games should be made up mainly of players playing in Europe. It should also be directed by Claude Julien.
The team was scheduled to compete in the Spengler Cup in order to begin their preparation, but Canada withdrew from the tournament, which will take place December 26-31 in Davos, Switzerland.
The NHL hasn’t competed in the Olympics since 2014 in Sochi. Canada then triumphed for the second time in a row.
In 2018, in Pyeongchang, Olympic athletes from Russia won gold ahead of Germany. Canada won bronze.