In a move that seemed all but inevitable given the events of the past few weeks, the NHL announced on Wednesday morning that players will not participate in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
While the rising number of COVID cases around the globe — coupled with the restrictive quarantine measures in place in China — caused most players (and certainly the league) to show trepidation about making the trek over to Beijing, it was the schedule complications that arose due to this string of postponed games that ultimately forced the NHL to pull the plug.
“The National Hockey League respects and admires the desire of NHL Players to represent their countries and participate in a ‘best on best’ tournament. Accordingly, we have waited as long as possible to make this decision while exploring every available option to enable our Players to participate in the 2022 Winter Olympic Games,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a league release. “Unfortunately, given the profound disruption to the NHL’s regular-season schedule caused by recent COVID-related events -- 50 games already have been postponed through Dec. 23 -- Olympic participation is no longer feasible. We certainly acknowledge and appreciate the efforts made by the International Olympic Committee, the International Ice Hockey Federation and the Beijing Organizing Committee to host NHL Players but current circumstances have made it impossible for us to proceed despite everyone’s best efforts. We look forward to Olympic participation in 2026.
“Our focus and goal have been and must remain to responsibly and safely complete the entirety of the NHL regular season and Stanley Cup Playoffs in a timely manner. Therefore, with stringent health protocols once again in place, we will begin utilizing available dates during the Feb. 6-22 window (originally contemplated to accommodate Olympic participation) to reschedule games that have been, or may yet be, postponed.”
For as much as Olympic participation remained a major focus for NHL players when it came to renegotiating an extension to the current CBA back in 2020 — the writing was on the wall that such a concession was going to be untenable as the situation regarding COVID continued to deteriorate.
It’s a brutal break for multiple players, including a Bruins roster that was likely going to feature a number of Olympic participants.
As disappointing as it is that young stars like David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy will need to wait a bit longer to make their NHL debuts, it’s an awful development for guys like Brad Marchand, who likely won’t get his long-awaited shot at Olympic glory after the NHL last participated in the Olympic Games back in 2014.
With the 2022 Olympics out of the picture, there stands a good chance that some of the titans of the game like Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin and Patrice Bergeron will also not get another chance to participate once the next games roll around in 2026.
“Since the CBA extension was reached 17 months ago, NHL players have looked forward with great anticipation to once again participating in the Winter Olympics," NHLPA head Don Fehr said. “Until very recently, we seemed to be on a clear path to go to Beijing. COVID-19 has unfortunately intervened, forcing dozens of games to be postponed this month alone. No matter how much we wish it were not the case, we need to utilize the Olympic period to reschedule these games.
“Certainly, the players and hockey fans are quite disappointed. But playing a full 82-game season this year, something the pandemic has prevented us from doing since the 2018-19 season, is very important. We expect that NHL players will return to the Olympics in 2026.”
Now, the next hurdle for the NHL involves augmenting its schedule in order to accommodate this glut of postponed games that have halted the league over the past week.
Even though we’ve already noted that TD Garden has filled up that three-week Olympic break with a number of concerts and other events, the Bruins do have some wiggle room to squeeze in those four postponed games — as well as potentially push up a few of the games that are backlogged for March and April.
Currently, TD Garden does not have games/events set for Feb. 6, 8, 9, 10, 15, 17, 21 and 22. Add in the fact that the B’s could also travel to fill out a few more games, and the Bruins should be able to make some use of this three-week window.