NHL officially announces they won't send players to 2022 Olympics

The National Hockey League announced on Wednesday morning that they won't be sending players to the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing, China, nor will they have an Olympic break in February.

"With the National Hockey League's regular-season schedule having been materially disrupted as a result of increasing COVID cases and a rising number of postponed games, the National Hockey League announced today that NHL Players will not participate in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing." The NHL's statement said.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said, "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. 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."

He added, "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."

This will now be the second Winter Olympics in a row that the NHL has not sent players, but as put in the most recent CBA, they do intend to send the players to the 2026 Games in Italy.

This is a tough day for the hockey world, and for the players who won't get to represent their nation at the Olympics. International competition is important for many players in the NHL, so the league and the NHLPA need to get together and organize a best-on-best event in the next year or so, because waiting another five years would be a terrible option.

NHL announces that there will not be an Olympic break, NHL Players will not be able to participate in 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

Full release: https://t.co/GkHDkNgZSo pic.twitter.com/ysBmWctzjw— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) December 22, 2021

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