NHL officially pulls out of Beijing Olympics due to virus
Bettman says participation no longer feasible
The NHL was presented with little choice.
And its players — those holding onto dreams of competing at the Olympics for the first time or, in some cases, hoping for one last hurrah — are left bitterly disappointed.
The COVID-19 pandemic turned the world upside down these last 19 months, and hockey has been no different.
There was still a belief, however, that despite the numerous challenges, the NHL would find its way to Beijing for the 2022 Winter Games.
But for the second time in as many quadrennials, the best of the league’s best won’t be stepping onto the sporting world’s biggest stage.
The NHL made the only reasonable decision on the table Wednesday, officially announcing it won’t be going to February’s Olympics amid stark coronavirus concerns across the league that has seen an explosion of cases and 45 games postponed since Dec. 13.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement that “profound disruption” to the schedule caused by COVID-19 meant Olympic participation was “no longer feasible.”
“We have waited as long as possible to make this decision while exploring every available option,” Bettman said.
“Current circumstances have made it impossible for us to proceed despite everyone’s best efforts.”
The move to pull out of Beijing was confirmed Tuesday to The Canadian Press by a person with direct knowledge of the decision.
The league and NHL Players’ Association officially committed to going to China back in September, but that agreement with the International Ice Hockey Federation allowed either party to withdraw if COVID-19 rendered conditions “impractical or unsafe.”
The players desperately wanted to take part after the NHL skipped the 2018 Olympics in South Korea, but the league reserved the right to nix the plan if its schedule was materially disrupted by the coronavirus.
That’s precisely what’s happened in less than two weeks.
The pandemic’s fourth wave, fuelled by the fast-spreading Omicron variant, has battered a league that’s been unable to play a full season since 2018-19 and was hit hard by COVID-19’s financial crunch.
NHLPA executive director Don Fehr said in a statement that while players are disappointed, completing an 82-game schedule in a campaign mired by coronavirus interruptions took precedence.
“We seemed to be on a clear path to go to Beijing,” said Fehr, who added he expects NHL players will return to the 2026 Olympics. “COVID-19 has unfortunately intervened.”
The Olympic break was to run from Feb. 6 to 22, but the league will now endeavour to shoehorn as many of its postponed games as possible into that stretch.
It will surely be a monumental task for the NHL’s schedule maker with arena availability varying widely as venues looked to fill dates originally left open by the Olympic pause.