NHL will not be supplying players.

_________________
Not a mult.

GOOD. Olympic hockey is bullshit. David Backes and Ryan Kesler can get hit by a bus no matter which country is on their birth certificates.

_________________

That sucks.

_________________
You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

The NHL made the right call. It's foolish to break-up the season for exhibition games that will be played at 3 am for the league's home market all to showcase the game in a country where the prospects for growth are fairly non-existent.

Especially when the IOC (which is flush with cash) is refusing to even pay for insurance. Just imagine what would happen if Kane, McDavid, or Ovi got injured 6 weeks before the games that truly matter.

The Olympic tournament will still be fun. There is plenty of talent in the AHL, NCAA, and CHL.

_________________
“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

dumb.

NBA players aren't afraid to play in the Olympics.

Maybe if there wasn't any fighting in the NHL they would be more rested.

_________________
You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

NBA plays their games in the offseason. Any injury will be healed by playoff time unless you are Derrick Rose.

Rocky Wirtz (and other owners) have said they would gladly send players if hockey was moved to the summer Olympics. It's not as farfetched as it seems given that basketball is a wintertime sport in the US (at least collegiately and professionally) yet partakes in the summer games.

it certainly isn't worth interrupting the season for.

_________________
“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

^this, all of this. Add Abdelkader to that list

_________________
“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

200'x100' rinks are terrible for offense: it doesn't "open up the ice" like people think because a good left-wing lock like the one Babcock runs and wins all these tournaments with will pin most shot attempts outside the dots and below the circles, and with the ice 15 feet wider, low percentages ahoy! That's not even getting into teams like Latvia and Switzerland that will play the most stultifying lowest-common-denominator hockey seen since the '95 Devils to have a fighting chance against the serious hockey nations. And it doesn't even pique non-fans' interest in the NHL: everyone gets into the spectacle of USA vs. Canada if it's there and then they go back to not caring for another 206 weeks.

The only problem with this is these deranged Europeans who think this is more important than winning the Stanley Cup and will desert their teams to play in it.

_________________

Tht's what made Vancouver so much fun. They played on an NHL rink with games at reasonable hours.

_________________
“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

I guess we'll have to watch women's hockey.

_________________
You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Did you see how empty that arena was on Saturday for US vs. Russia, even with all of the attention, no one thought it was worth their time on a Saturday afternoon to watch women who lose to fucking high schools.

_________________
“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

yes it is

For games that will be played at 2-3 am in a country where you have no real prospect of growing hockey?

_________________
“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

_________________

Wrong

_________________

correction:

*almost* any injury will be healed by playoff time unless you are Derrick Rose

_________________
“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

_________________

I think George actually made it back on the floor that next season.

_________________

I enjoy Olympic hockey and look forward to it every 4 years but as a Hawks fan I hate the small break because I fear injuries and I want to get to the playoffs already.

Cup > Gold Medal

It sucks but I understand it.

If the Hawks sucked I'd be more upset over this.