It’s now official: National League players will not go to the Beijing Olympics next February. The NHL announced it in a press release Wednesday morning.
The circuit announced in the same breath that the break that was scheduled for February, the time of the Games, will instead be used to rearrange the schedule, which has been turned upside down in recent weeks. For now, 50 games have been postponed due to COVID-19 outbreaks that have hit several teams.
“We waited as long as possible before making this decision to explore all of our options for players to participate in the Olympics,” said Gary Bettman, NHL commissioner, in the statement. But due to the major obstacles created by COVID-19, participation in the Olympics is no longer feasible. ”
The Players Association (AJLNH) also issued a statement, so it was not a joint statement as we sometimes see. But the message was similar.
“Ever since the collective agreement extension was signed 17 months ago, players have been very anxious to return to the Olympics and until recently it seemed like we were heading there,” said Donald Fehr, director of AJLNH. Unfortunately, COVID-19 has intervened, causing dozens of games to be postponed just this month. We have to use the Olympic period to reschedule these matches.
“The players and the fans are certainly very disappointed. But playing an 82-game season, which the pandemic has prevented us from doing since 2018-19, is very important. ”
Both the NHL and the players’ union mention that players will participate in the 2026 Games.