For all the excitement ice hockey has created at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, and over the last five Olympics since the NHL began sending its players to the Games, there is also the downside of injuries potentially affecting playoff races.
The local hockey teams will be challenged more than anyone else. Rangers leading scorer Mats Zuccarello and Islanders captain John Tavares both sustained injuries, further bringing into question whether the league will continue this practice.
“I think there’s probably a better chance they don’t want to send them [to the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea],” center Brad Richards said after the non-Olympic Rangers reconvened for a workout at the MSG Training Facility in Greenburgh on Thursday. “I don’t know if that will happen. The union wants to send players. I’ve played in it, it’s a dream come true to be an Olympian. Shutting down your sport is a tough thing to do.”
Tavares, the NHL’s third-leading scorer with 66 points, is out for the year after suffering a torn MCL and meniscus in his left knee, while Zuccarello (non-displaced fracture in left hand) will be evaluated by Rangers doctors before any determination as to how long he’ll be sidelined can be made.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said on NBC he isn’t sure if NHL players will be back in 2018. He said the league has yet to look closely on how it plans to proceed.
“There are mixed views among the owners,” Bettman said. “There are lots of quotes going in both directions. It’s a real balancing act. Coming to the Olympics is a lot of fun when we are here, and the hockey’s fun. … But it requires us to shut the season down in the middle. It’s a break in momentum. It’s at a point in time when the NFL has stopped and it’s really our time. And our teams come back in different shape. We’ve had five players who are pretty banged up already from this tournament. Some NHL teams have sent 10 players and some have sent two and some teams are going to come back more well-rested than others.”
When the union met to discuss the Sochi Olympics, Richards said across the board players were in favor of participating, even those who weren’t likely to compete in Russia.
“There’s pros and cons to it,” Richards said. “I don’t know where they’ll go, but it’s definitely going to be visited for sure.”
Richards suggested bringing back the World Cup of Hockey, which hasn’t been played since 2004. Another option could be moving ice hockey into the Summer Games, which would serve as a precursor to training camp.
“I’m sure the players would [be interested in that], but I don’t know how the Olympics would look at ice hockey as a sport,” Richards said. “It probably makes the most sense out of all because you have the Olympic experience, but it probably looks a little funny. Basketball plays their season in the winter, but it’s not called ice basketball. So I don’t know if they would do that.”
Despite Zuccarello’s injury, Rangers coach Alain Vigneault doesn’t have a problem with the NHL sending players to compete in the Olympics. Vigneault said he has watched a great deal of the tournament, which features seven Rangers, six of them still alive in Friday’s semifinals.
“Every four years, players get an opportunity to represent their country,” the first-year Blueshirts coach said. “It’s something that some people never get the opportunity to do. It’s unfortunate what happened to Mats and hopefully it won’t be that long. Those are the risks that come with the game.”
“The league starts a week earlier and finishes a week later,” Vigneault later said. “I believe we can deal with that.”
Right wing Derek Dorsett (broken left leg) skated for 40 minutes with his teammates and Vigneault said he should be “close or ready” for the Rangers’ first game after the Olympic break, Feb. 27 against the Blackhawks at the Garden.