Even with the Sochi, Russia, Olympics three years away, the debate is rampant about whether the NHL should continue sending their players to one of the world’s largest sporting events. Commissioner Gary Bettman has even expressed doubt about letting NHLers participate. This week, Carolyn and Patrick debate…
League shouldn’t continue participation
By Carolyn Christians
Put aside all the soupy sentimentalities of gold medal ceremonies out there and let’s look at the realities for the next two Olympic Winter Games.
The NHL already has a grueling regular season schedule of 82 games, each and every one of which generates needed revenues. Olympic hockey crashes smack in the middle of the season, and for the next 2 meetings, those world gatherings will be held on the opposite side of the world: first in Sochi, Russia then on to Pyeongchang, South Korea in 2018.
It’s all sunshine and roses when you have a U.S. vs Canada Gold Medal game live in a primetime slot, the arena packed with an excited and knowledgeable crowd, bursting with national pride. That, as we all saw, is great television. But Vancouver 2010 these will not be by any stretch. These exotic Asian locales are 10 hours and 13 hours ahead of the US Eastern Time Zone. With the internet and twitter making it impossible to avoid spoilers, how many will watch a mid-week game at 10 a.m. Eastern to see it live from Sochi? And what about South Korea? Even if they wait till 9 p.m. local, that’s 8 a.m. Eastern. Seriously?
Think about the visuals: we can assume Russia will certainly bring the patriotic fervor to the Sochi hockey rink, and it’s near enough that some other Europeans are likely to travel for the games. But what exactly are we going to see every morning in the Pyeongchang ice rink? Excitement and passion are contagious. So is indifference.
More than questionable television appeal, the 2014 and 2018 Games will be a daunting physical and mental burden for the world’s best players as they deal with the exhaustion of a challenging two-week tournament with an absurd time zone adjustment – there and back. I can’t envision how suspending the NHL season for 17 days will grow the hockey’s appeal in the U.S. Also factor in international rules on the larger sheet of ice, further disrupting the players’ instincts, particularly the North American nationals.
Hypothetical: If Canada and the U.S. don’t medal, will the Games be worth what’s been lost by the NHL? Or is this just a big plug for the Russian national hockey program and the KHL’s international respectability – from the NHL’s point of view, a highly debatable cause at best.
The last three hosts of the Olympic Winter Games have been in favorable locales where NHL participation made sense. These next two are not worth bending the NHL into a pretzel to make them work. As Canadian young gun Taylor Hall, who will be in his prime at 26 in 2018, cracked on Twitter last month when the news broke,
Always knew the olympics would end up in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Classic spot.
Hall recognizes this is a stretch of the imagination. Why take the inherent risks and incur the financial losses? Unlike the last three Olympics, the long-term gains to be reaped from a huge infusion of new fans within the United States simply do not exist.
But hey – let’s talk again in 2022.
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Let them play!
By Patrick Hoffman
It should be an absolute no-brainer and the NHL should allow their players to play for their respective countries in the games. There are many reasons why it would be smart for the NHL to participate.
First off, the NHL obviously has the best hockey players in the world. When kids who are hockey players are growing up, almost every one of their dreams is to play in the National Hockey League. They dream of being drafted, playing in the playoffs and winning the Stanley Cup.
The league has had the likes of Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Gordie Howe, Bobby Orr, Patrick Roy, Pavel Bure, Peter Forsberg, Teemu Selanne, Jaromir Jagr, Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Dominik Hasek, etc., all play in the league and have success. The NHL is simply the best kind of hockey and the spectators in Sochi deserve to see hockey played at its best by the best players in the world.
Secondly, the NHL still needs to figure out a way to become more popular. It is the clear-cut fourth major sport in the U.S. and when it comes to other countries, it is either something that people are somewhat interested in or not at all. This could be another big opportunity for the NHL to market themselves and may be even establish themselves in Europe and may be even think about expanding the league one day.
Lastly, and even though it was Canada, the terrific display of hockey alone in the 2010 Games is another reason to want to participate. The 2010 Games provided hockey fans everywhere with terrific action, goals, hits, saves, and even overtimes and with that, gained a lot of viewership. Should this happen in Russia, who knows what it could do for both the sport and the league.
In the end, this is something that NHL simply has to do to continue to grow the game. It should be an easy decision for Mr. Bettman.
Photo credit: Getty Images
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6 comments:
With the number of european players in the NHL , only sending players to North American and Western European olympic contries would send the wrong message to those players , and put the NHL at risk to losing them to the KHL and other leagues. Show the games live in the early morning with a replay in the evening. Start the season 2 weeks early say around sept 20.
Let them play!
The Olympics exposes the mainstream audience to hockey, the only time (once every 4 years) they receive this opportunity. This mainstream audience needs to understand that world-class athletes come from all over to play in the NHL. It is not a made-for-USA-only league that nobody else cares about, like the NFL.
But much more importantly, it is a matter of sportsmanship and civility to participate in future Olympics. I think it is downright rude to expect the Russians and East Europeans to compete in North American Olympics, and then stay home when its their turn to host. And even worse, we expect their best players to not play as well! Ridiculous!
And about this time difference thing: please double check your facts, Ms.Christians; I do believe there is only an 8 hour difference between Eastern Standard Time and Sochi. That would mean that a game that started at 9pm in Russia would be on at 1pm on the East Coast, exactly the same time that the first slate of NFL games are on every Sunday, and it doesn't seem to have hurt their ratings. Peongchang is 14 hours ahead of the East Coast. That means that a game that started at noon in Korea would be at 10pm on the East Coast; this is the same time that many west coast regular season games are shown in the east.
As far as not being guaranteed a USA/Canada final every year: this is real sports, it is not scripted. Sometimes the outcome is more TV friendly than others, but that's what makes it exciting: you don't know what's going to happen. If you want pre-determined outcomes, watch pro wrestling.
oh and I almost forgot: think about it from a business point of view: NBC owns the rights to both the NHL and the Olympics. Just imagine the possibilities for synergistic cross-promotion!
I prefer the days when the Olympics were played only by amateur athletes.
That being said, I believe that stopping the league for a few weeks to allow players to represent their country in the Olympics is a small request. From a fan's point of view, I would rather watch the NHL. However, I don't begrudge the players this.
Is this a serious debate? Really? There are actually people who BELIEVE that hockey will be HURT by the NHL not going to the Olympics? Look...there are one or two gripes that the NHL owners have that make sense, involving insurance and highlights of NHL games during the Olympics and vice versa. But all of that will be completely dwarfed by the NHL not going to the Olympics.
The Olympics are the only international tournament taken seriously by all teams involved. It's practically the World Cup of the Sport. In fact, it should be recognized by the IIHF as such. If the NHL doesn't go to the Olympics, it will be just as meaningless to all participants as the annual World Championships, which pretty much is an Olympic qualifier in the end.
Alright Mr. Hoffman, I am seriously bothered that you are now placing Sydney Crosby in the same league as Orr, Gretzky, Howe, and Lemieux. The kid has hardly proved himself and still has as long way to go before being mentioned in the same sentence as Gordie Howe. I did notice your failure to mention players who do meet the qualifications to be included in that list of players, like Steve Yzerman. I understand the leagues love affair with Crosby, but do you need to bring it into an olympic debate?
Regarding the issue at hand, I think it's just going to wear our players out. It isn't going to increase "love" of hockey in the states, it's just going to hurt our teams.
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