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NHL finished with Olympics after 2010: executive

DAVID SHOALTS

Globe and Mail Update

Latest comment posted at 7:10 PM EST 16/09/08

Skyrocketing costs of insuring player contracts driving pros away from international competition ...Read the full article

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  1. Martyn Whitt from Canada writes: The NHL used to be an exciting league, now its borring and dull.

    The owners just don't want the public to catch on that international hockey is actually an exciting sport and worth watching, whereas the NHL is a big snoozefest (unless you're into rollerderby-esque) entertainment.

    Secondly what about national pride there NHL owners and execs? That's what will keep hockey popular or growing, and ultimately interest in your league for heavens sakes, not some team in Nashville or Phoenix. These guys really are intent on destroying their league!! hahaha losers!
  2. smelter rat from Canada writes: Good news but why wait? The Olympics are supposed to be for amateurs anyway.
  3. Midtown Bob from Toronto, Canada writes: Its okay its only ice hockey.

    Jonathon Roy's tantrum, Mats Sundin's indecision, fighting (what sports other than UFC and WWE condone fighting?), Old tiresome Don Cherry and now this. Who really gives a rat's butt? I'd rather watch hold-em poker or nascars driving in circles than nhl.
    I I want to watch hockey I'll watch the shinny game at my local outdoor rink.
  4. Carl Baldin from Canada writes: Yes, sports is now a business and an EXTREMELY expensive one for fans. Insuring star players is the problem here....sad. I hope the NHL doesn't have their policy with AIG!?

    Thanks to this greedy world around us, tier 1 professional sports is now only for the rich.
  5. C Messina from Canada writes: Typical short-sighted NHL executive speaking here that can't see the forest for the trees. Basketball and soccer were huge events in the summer games. The Olympics gives the NHL and its stars world exposure they could only dream of in North America. One more in a long list of dumb decision by the people who run the NHL.
  6. drunk wookie from Canada writes: This will lead to people not caring about the NHL even more. THese idiots should learn from soccer. Big clubs wouldn't have nearly the amount of success and money if it weren't for the international competitions like the world cup and euro cup. These competitions create heroes that win something meaningful. The fans then follow their heroes to the club pitch. Hockey will become as popular as professional lacrosse with this decision. But who cares really?
  7. Henry Allen from East Bank, Don River, Canada writes:
    This has to be resolved. One of the biggest draws at the Winter Olympics is hockey, and the Olympics would be greatly diminished without entertaining hockey.

    International hockey might want to consider the under-23 rule used by soccer in the Summer Olympics. In the case of Olympics men's soccer, the rule is that all but 3 players on each national team must be under the age of 23. This releases young players who are motivated and, for the most part, haven't yet reached the higher salary levels. In the case of hockey, that would still produce a highly competitive and entertaining brand of hockey.
  8. jp6635 trojan from toronto, Canada writes: thank goodness...it was always a marketing charade for the NHL, and an expensive one...the NHL is just one organization I would not trust with the future of the game, and the olympics will be better off with real athletes than overpaid hired guns..if the NHL were an investment bank, it would be Lehman brothers...just wonder if canadians can get a blog going to have gary bettman and his cronies out and have people with real aptitude and forward thinking running the league.
  9. Lyn Alg from Canada writes: Is this is promise? Pinky swear? I'd rather not see these drug induced NHL players at the Olympics. Who needs 'em!
  10. R. M. from Regina, Canada writes: Thank Goodness!!!!! It is about time that some amateur hockey players and others who have toiled for years in the minor pro leagues get their day in the sun. These prima donnas don't need the recognition!!!!
  11. J R from Canada writes: the hockey at the olympics was just fine when it was really amateur players showing up. so no complaints from me. its just going to go back to the way it was before 1998. btw, drunk wookie, hockey players ultimate goal is the stanley cup. it always has been and it always will be. other sports are different. and if you dont care.... so what? we wont miss you if you dont show up on these threads again.
  12. uncle rukus from Mississauga, Canada writes: Figuring it's the best hockey than the crappy NHL product that is a disapointment. I am curious how they can bar players from wanting to play for thier country as I am sure alot of the European players would rather play in the Olympics than the so exciting NHL All Star game. A blantant double standard as the 2014 games are in Russia let me see if they can prevent Ovechin and Malkin wanting to play at home when they just had the Olympics in Canada.

    They should have it like FIFA...NHL should have no veto in getting players released for international competitions.
  13. John McEnroe from Toronto, Canada writes: Hey Everybody, switch to the NBA (which does allow its members in) because hockey doesn't seem to care about promoting the sport to the world. Just because insurance costs are a bit higher - you can't pay for the kind of promotion the Olympics creates. Canada will have to settle for 4th, 5th or whatever because the Russians will be able to field a better team now.
  14. Rick Sieb from Edmonton, Canada writes: Boy, Canada sure hates to lose.
  15. Chris TheMetalChick from Long Island, NY, United States writes: You do not NEED to have NHL players to make the winter olympics entertaining, come on.
  16. Planete Quebec from Canada writes: What is the NBA? Are you talking about this total no-show where 8' tall guys have to put a ball in 9' baskets 200 times the same way over a span of 60 minutes?
  17. jake and pete from Canada writes: Doesn't matter to me. The whole Olympics idea is such a waste of money. Bigger issues to worry about in the world.

    Think about openning and closing ceramonies with no fire works, that has to be better for the enviroment.

    How many mouths could have been fed with all this lust?
  18. Rich Grover from Vancouver, Canada writes: Good riddance. Olympics for amateurs only. The NHL can have their little world cup of hockey with that ridiculous looking trophy.
  19. Kurt Hamilton from Vancouver, writes: I'm assuming those of you that are pro-amateur hockey in the Olympics weren't in Calgary in 1988. The hockey was awful. Also the event was an afterthought to every other event.

    Since the NHLers were included, the Olympic hockey tournament has been must watch events for Canadians (look at the TV ratings for the Gold medal in Salt Lake).

    This is just another example of the NHL choosing to do what is best for their pockets and worst for the game.
  20. uncle rukus from Mississauga, Canada writes: What is this the 1940s???? Amateurs are a thing of the past and no one wants to watch players who can't even make a two tier hockey leagues in the Olympics. Is Udsain Bolt an Amateur...or Michael Phelps is he an Amateur???? Jim Thorpe had to return his Olympic medals for playing a few years in minor league baseball. What do you thiink of a swimmer making big endorsement deals before he swims for 8 gold medals.

    Amateurism is dead.
  21. Tom Henderson from Canada writes: The loss of NHLers inthe olympics will relegate the tournament to second tier status and elimiate a major source of TV $ for the Hots committees.

    THe NHL hasn't seen any benefits in their US base from participation so it will be up to the international hockey orgs to convince them to release their palyers for 2014.

    Good luck on that - Russia isn't the NHLs best buddy these days.

    Maybe the nhl/russia fences can be repaired in the next 4 years.. or not. NHL participation might depend on where the 2018 games are located.

    The NHL will never agree to give any other organization control over the players they have under contract. They would be incredibly stupid to do so. Would you give control over your business assets to someone who does not have your best interests at heart? (re: euro hockey orgs)
  22. Rabid Senses from Good gawd, a latte-swilling Westerner, Canada writes:

    The Olympics was a mere vehicle, though one that came with mass audiences and lucrative marketing, for the showcasing of the finest players at the international level.

    If not the Olympics then there must be something else.

    But there won't be.

    A "World Cup" of hockey is not really in the cards because:

    1) it cannot be played anywhere near the NHL season
    2) it will be relegated to August where players are (i) preferring to stay on vacation, (ii) same insurance concerns from NHL owners, (iii) not in the spirit to play

    So in the end international hockey, which I will postulate is far more exciting to the majority of Canadians, even in its limited time frame, will never reach the same levels.

    That's too bad.

    Very sad.

    You can count me as one who will miss many more NHL games on TV and at the rink this year and snooze through some that I tune into.

    NHL has such a calculated momentum to it. It is a professional league with professional league issues (actually, more than its fair share).

    But the Olympics/international round-robin format created a nervous excitement in me that made me a five-year old on Christmas Eve again.

    Does anyone else feel this way ???
  23. S D from Canada writes: Good move by the owners. I'm sure that Columbus - Nashville tilt on a Tuesday night in February will have viewers clambering for the pay-per-view broadcast over some silly USA vs Russia or Canada vs Cezch olympic matchup. Well done indeed.
  24. Nathan Weatherdon from Canada writes: Why not just leave it to someone else (IOC) to figure out the whole insurance side of things?

    They could have just said that the NHL and the club owners refuse to bear responsibility for insurance costs related to international competitions. Surely this will reduce their insurance bill.
  25. Richard Hawrelak from Sarnia, Canada writes: Yogi said, "de je vu all over again.' Remember the days when Red Army or Moscow Dynamo won the Olympics hands down ... shaming our amature hockey standards? NHL brass have short memories ... better still they are brain dead as they still have a facination for hockey in the U.S. where bowling out draws them on TV.
  26. bruce t from Boston, United States writes: Cancel the World Juniors event on an Olympic year and have the teams head to the Olympics. Very simple.
    This is excellent news. The Olympics are for amateurs.
    If the pros want to display their skills on an international stage then follow the lead of the World Cup, and have a tournament every 4 years in the summer.
    The NHL isn't what it used to be prior to the massive southern US expansion. The game should reorganize itself totally. Model the league after the MLB. Three divisions, US, Canada, and Europe. Each play regular season within their division with the occasional cross over. Then they would meet in the playoffs. This would re-energize the game, and give it a national emphasis as well.

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