The NHL will withdraw from the Winter Olympics after the regular-season schedule was disrupted by coronavirus outbreaks, a person with direct knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the announcement had yet to be made on the NHL pulling out of Beijing. The NHL informed the NHLPA on Tuesday that it was retaining its right to withdraw from Olympic participation because there was a material disruption to the season, the person said. The NHLPA was not going to dispute the decision.
An announcement was expected Wednesday.
With 50 games already postponed, there was a fear the NHL would be unable to complete a full 82-game season while also taking a break of more than two weeks in February for the Olympics. The NHL’s bottom line is at stake with the league and players drawing no direct money from competing at the Winter Games.
While the NHL and NHLPA agreed on Olympic participation last year as part of a collective bargaining agreement extension, the deal to go to Beijing was contingent on pandemic conditions not worsening. A material interruption of the schedule allowed the league to pull out, and the delta and omicron variants spreading across North America not only caused games to be pushed off but made some players hesitant about going to China.
As a result, men’s hockey tournament at the Olympics will go on without NHL players for the second consecutive time.
“These are opportunities and experiences of a lifetime that you don’t get very many of as an athlete, and you might only get one,” said Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby, who won Olympic gold with Canada in 2010 and 2014. “It just might happen to fall in your window and if it doesn’t happen to work out, it’s unfortunate.”
Unless the Beijing Games are postponed a year like Tokyo, a generation of stars including American Auston Matthews, Canadians Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon, German Leon Draisaitl and Swede Victor Hedman will need to wait until 2026 to play in the Olympic men’s hockey tournament for the first time.
“It’s a thing you’ve been looking forward to for a very long time,” Hedman said. “For us to not be able to go, it’s going to hurt for a while.”
The NHL was full go on the Olympics until the delta and omicron coronavirus variants began spreading around North America earlier this month and caused a rash of postponements. Before Calgary’s outbreak in the first half of December, only five games needed to be rescheduled and one was already made up.
Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, the likely U.S. Olympic starter, expressed displeasure Tuesday with the decision not to go and called the rash of postponements overkill.
The NHL did not participate in the Olympics until 1998, which started a string of five in a row through Sochi in 2014. The season was not stopped in 2018, leaving mostly professionals playing in Europe and some college players to make up the rosters in South Korea.
Russia, which won gold at the Pyeongchang Games, immediately becomes the favorite without the NHL thanks to an influx of homegrown talent playing in the Kontintental Hockey League.
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AP Sports Writer Will Graves contributed to this report.
Bill Kostroun
Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby (87) reaches for the puck as New Jersey Devils center Michael McLeod (20) and Penguins right wing Kasperi Kapanen (42) look on during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Sunday, Dec.19, 2021, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)
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More AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/olympic-games and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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Ex-NHL player Jimmy Hayes died with fentanyl, cocaine in his system
DARRYL DYCK
Unleashing the Kraken brings the NHL to the Pacific Northwest with a team that's selling merchandise at a rapid pace and should contend right away like Vegas did. Seattle would have to reach the Stanley Cup Final to match the Golden Knights.
The two teams that get to the final will again go the traditional way through the Eastern or Western Conference, after the 56-game 2021 season was played entirely within four divisions until the semifinals. Cross-border play is back, too, and every team is scheduled to play the other 31 at least twice — once at home and on the road.
Those games will air on ESPN's networks, ABC and TNT in the U.S. in the first season of a new TV deal. Puck movement will be tracked with microchips for the first time, opening the door for a Zamboni load of new data and gambling opportunities.
Barring a turn for the worse by the pandemic, the league will take a three-week break in February for players to participate in the Olympics for the first time since 2014.
DARRYL DYCK
Unleashing the Kraken brings the NHL to the Pacific Northwest with a team that's selling merchandise at a rapid pace and should contend right away like Vegas did. Seattle would have to reach the Stanley Cup Final to match the Golden Knights.
The two teams that get to the final will again go the traditional way through the Eastern or Western Conference, after the 56-game 2021 season was played entirely within four divisions until the semifinals. Cross-border play is back, too, and every team is scheduled to play the other 31 at least twice — once at home and on the road.
Those games will air on ESPN's networks, ABC and TNT in the U.S. in the first season of a new TV deal. Puck movement will be tracked with microchips for the first time, opening the door for a Zamboni load of new data and gambling opportunities.
Barring a turn for the worse by the pandemic, the league will take a three-week break in February for players to participate in the Olympics for the first time since 2014.
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Ex-NHL player Jimmy Hayes died with fentanyl, cocaine in his system
Frank Franklin II
Three teams changed coaches last season, including Montreal, which went to the final after replacing Claude Julien with Dominique Ducharme. More than a few coaches should be looking over their shoulders this year, but whose seat is hottest?
Lage: Philadelphia Flyers coach Alain Vigneault took a step back as his team finished sixth in the division last season in his second year. He faces pressure, leading a franchise that hasn't made the playoffs in five of the last nine years and whose last Cup Final run came in 2010.
Wawrow: Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher did his part in retooling the roster following Philadelphia's second-half meltdown last season. It's on Vigneault to make it work. Jeremy Colliton in Chicago has an 86-83-24 record since replacing Joel Quenneville.
Whyno: Colliton will need to take the next step with the Blackhawks shifting into contender mode, or he could be in trouble. Darryl Sutter just got Calgary's head job after replacing Geoff Ward last season, but the heat is on if the Flames struggle early and former Canadiens coach Kirk Muller is on staff if things go haywire.
Frank Franklin II
Three teams changed coaches last season, including Montreal, which went to the final after replacing Claude Julien with Dominique Ducharme. More than a few coaches should be looking over their shoulders this year, but whose seat is hottest?
Lage: Philadelphia Flyers coach Alain Vigneault took a step back as his team finished sixth in the division last season in his second year. He faces pressure, leading a franchise that hasn't made the playoffs in five of the last nine years and whose last Cup Final run came in 2010.
Wawrow: Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher did his part in retooling the roster following Philadelphia's second-half meltdown last season. It's on Vigneault to make it work. Jeremy Colliton in Chicago has an 86-83-24 record since replacing Joel Quenneville.
Whyno: Colliton will need to take the next step with the Blackhawks shifting into contender mode, or he could be in trouble. Darryl Sutter just got Calgary's head job after replacing Geoff Ward last season, but the heat is on if the Flames struggle early and former Canadiens coach Kirk Muller is on staff if things go haywire.
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Ex-NHL player Jimmy Hayes died with fentanyl, cocaine in his system
JASON FRANSON
Lage: Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid, who won the award last year for the second time in five years and finished third or fifth the other three seasons.
Wawrow: Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon, who has finished second twice and third once in the voting. It's time the NHL's most complete player gets top billing.
Whyno: MacKinnon is a man on a mission. He'll play a Hart-caliber season, but he wants the Cup.
JASON FRANSON
Lage: Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid, who won the award last year for the second time in five years and finished third or fifth the other three seasons.
Wawrow: Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon, who has finished second twice and third once in the voting. It's time the NHL's most complete player gets top billing.
Whyno: MacKinnon is a man on a mission. He'll play a Hart-caliber season, but he wants the Cup.
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Ex-NHL player Jimmy Hayes died with fentanyl, cocaine in his system
Phelan M. Ebenhack
Lage: Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy does not get the credit he deserves because he plays for the best team in the league.
Wawrow: Let's go with a long-shot with Calgary's Jacob Markstrom. The Flames are playing in a Pacific Division that might be the NHL's weakest in featuring six of eight teams that failed to make the playoffs last year.
Whyno: Nothing against reigning Vezina winner Marc-Andre Fleury, but Vasilevskiy is the best goalie on the planet.
Phelan M. Ebenhack
Lage: Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy does not get the credit he deserves because he plays for the best team in the league.
Wawrow: Let's go with a long-shot with Calgary's Jacob Markstrom. The Flames are playing in a Pacific Division that might be the NHL's weakest in featuring six of eight teams that failed to make the playoffs last year.
Whyno: Nothing against reigning Vezina winner Marc-Andre Fleury, but Vasilevskiy is the best goalie on the planet.
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Ex-NHL player Jimmy Hayes died with fentanyl, cocaine in his system
Mark Humphrey
Lage: Vegas defenseman Shea Theodore, a rising star who is due for the honor playing for a Stanley Cup contender.
Wawrow: Unsure what more Tampa Bay's Victor Hedman had to do last year to earn his second Norris. Hedman is too good to not be a contender again this year.
Whyno: Cale Makar stacks the trophy case for the Avalanche. He just has to stay healthy.
Mark Humphrey
Lage: Vegas defenseman Shea Theodore, a rising star who is due for the honor playing for a Stanley Cup contender.
Wawrow: Unsure what more Tampa Bay's Victor Hedman had to do last year to earn his second Norris. Hedman is too good to not be a contender again this year.
Whyno: Cale Makar stacks the trophy case for the Avalanche. He just has to stay healthy.
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Ex-NHL player Jimmy Hayes died with fentanyl, cocaine in his system
David Becker
Lage: Detroit defenseman Moritz Seider, drafted No. 6 overall in 2019, gives a rebuilding team desperately needed help on the blue line.
Wawrow: Montreal's undersized Cole Caufield proved during the Cup Final run he can produce on a big stage. There's no reason to expect him to take a step back.
Whyno: Going off the board here with Washington's Hendrix Lapierre, who surprisingly sticks in the NHL at 19 and puts on a show.
David Becker
Lage: Detroit defenseman Moritz Seider, drafted No. 6 overall in 2019, gives a rebuilding team desperately needed help on the blue line.
Wawrow: Montreal's undersized Cole Caufield proved during the Cup Final run he can produce on a big stage. There's no reason to expect him to take a step back.
Whyno: Going off the board here with Washington's Hendrix Lapierre, who surprisingly sticks in the NHL at 19 and puts on a show.
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Ex-NHL player Jimmy Hayes died with fentanyl, cocaine in his system
Frank Franklin II
Eastern Conference
Lage: Tampa Bay, Carolina, N.Y. Islanders, Boston, Florida, Washington, Toronto, N.Y. Rangers
Wawrow: Florida, N.Y. Islanders, Tampa Bay, Carolina, Toronto, N.Y. Rangers, Washington, Montreal
Whyno: Tampa Bay, N.Y. Islanders, Boston, Washington, Florida, Toronto, Carolina, Philadelphia
Western Conference
Lage: Colorado, Vegas, Dallas, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Calgary, Minnesota, Chicago
Wawrow: Colorado, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Vegas, Minnesota, Calgary, St. Louis, Los Angeles
Whyno: Colorado, Vegas, Winnipeg, Seattle, St. Louis, Edmonton, Dallas, Minnesota
Frank Franklin II
Eastern Conference
Lage: Tampa Bay, Carolina, N.Y. Islanders, Boston, Florida, Washington, Toronto, N.Y. Rangers
Wawrow: Florida, N.Y. Islanders, Tampa Bay, Carolina, Toronto, N.Y. Rangers, Washington, Montreal
Whyno: Tampa Bay, N.Y. Islanders, Boston, Washington, Florida, Toronto, Carolina, Philadelphia
Western Conference
Lage: Colorado, Vegas, Dallas, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Calgary, Minnesota, Chicago
Wawrow: Colorado, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Vegas, Minnesota, Calgary, St. Louis, Los Angeles
Whyno: Colorado, Vegas, Winnipeg, Seattle, St. Louis, Edmonton, Dallas, Minnesota
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Ex-NHL player Jimmy Hayes died with fentanyl, cocaine in his system
David Zalubowski
Lage: Tampa Bay over Colorado. Lightning are first NHL team to three-peat since the Islanders dynasty in the early 1980s.
Wawrow: Islanders over Winnipeg. The Cup returns to Long Island for the first time since 1983.
Whyno: Colorado over Islanders. MacKinnon earns Olympic gold in Beijing and makes sure the Cup is lifted a mile high in Denver.
David Zalubowski
Lage: Tampa Bay over Colorado. Lightning are first NHL team to three-peat since the Islanders dynasty in the early 1980s.
Wawrow: Islanders over Winnipeg. The Cup returns to Long Island for the first time since 1983.
Whyno: Colorado over Islanders. MacKinnon earns Olympic gold in Beijing and makes sure the Cup is lifted a mile high in Denver.
