NHL players to participate in Beijing olympics

*Photo from NHL.com*

   After sitting out the 2018 Winter Olympics, the NHL will be sending their players back to Olympic competition. The NHL and NHLPA have agreed to a deal with the IIHF and the IOC to allow NHL players to participate in the Olympics, according to an announcement by the IIHF Friday morning.

   NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said in a statement that "We understand how passionately NHL players feel about representing and competing for their countries. We are very pleased that we were able to conclude arrangements that will allow them to resume best-on-best competition on the Olympic stage."

   There is a clause in the agreement that allows the NHL and NHLPA to pull out of participating in Beijing if Covid-19 conditions worsen, or if the NHL schedule is heavily impacted by cancellations of games due to Covid-19. The opt out deadline is in January 2022, according to Emily Kaplan of ESPN.

   The players individually can also decline to participate in the Olympics if they feel the conditions and protocols are unsuitable to participate. All players who are participating in the Olympics need to have received the Covid-19 vaccine and be fully vaccinated, as there is no insurance given to the players for illness related to Covid-19 while they are at the Olympics.

   There is tentatively an Olympic break inserted into the 2021-2022 NHL schedule, with the break lasting from February 3rd to the 22nd, with the Olympic games as a whole running from February 9th to the 20th. The NHL will also play the all star game during this break, which takes place in Las Vegas this year.

   IIHF president Rene Fasel said of the NHL coming back to Olympic competition that "I know that I can speak for hockey fans around the world when I say that we absolutely welcome the decision to bring back best-on-best ice hockey to the Olympics. We had many constructive discussions, and a lot of hard work was put into making this happen within the time we set for ourselves, and I want to thank all parties involved for their support and commitment."

   The NHL had allowed players to compete in 5 Olympics, from 1998-2014, but players did not go to the Winter Olympics in 2018. Last year, when the NHL and NHLPA extended the collective bargaining agreement(CBA) through the end of the 2025-2026 season, they agreed to send players to the Olympics, provided they could reach a deal with the IIHF. 

   In 2014, the last Olympics that had NHL players participating, team Canada, which features stars such as Sidney Crosby, Patrice Bergeron, and Jonathan Toews, took home the gold medal, with Sweden taking silver, and Finland getting bronze. The U.S. has taken home silver medals in 2002 and 2010. Canada has won gold in 5 of the last 6 Olympics.