(Beijing) International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) President Luc Tardif said Thursday he was optimistic for a return of National Hockey League (NHL) players to the 2026 Olympics in Milan and Cortina, Italy.
Posted at 9:57 p.m.
But this time, he wants an agreement to be signed much earlier when the NHL and its players dithered until the last minute before refusing to go to Beijing.
The NHL, Players Association, IIHF and International Olympic Committee (IOC) have been working on a deal for the Beijing Games, but it wasn’t announced until September. Then, the NHL pulled out of the partnership in late December due to the outbreak of COVID-19 caused by the Omicron variant.
Tardif says he would like to reach an agreement with the NHL at least a year before the scheduled start of the 2026 Olympics. NHL assistant commissioner Bill Daly replied by email to The Associated Press that the league does not plan no problem signing an agreement “relatively expeditiously”.
NHL players haven’t played at the Olympics since 2014, following a five-game streak since 1998. In 2018, the players pulled out over a disagreement over insurance costs and transport.
On a different note, Tardif confirmed that the Men’s World Junior Hockey Championship and the Women’s Under-18 World Championship will take place this summer after being canceled last December due to the pandemic.
The boys will play in August in Canada and the girls will play in June in the United States.