CALGARY — There is a major decision coming, and it’s better for the NHL and the NHLPA if they make it sooner rather than later.
All signs are pointing to the league and its players choosing not to participate in the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Both parties are meeting with USA Hockey, Hockey Canada and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) this coming week in New York. Although no specific decision is expected to be made then, there will be some direction taken for suggestions at the NHL Owners’ meeting in Florida in December.
And what the owners should do is decide right then and there that they don’t want to send their players and interrupt another season. Make the decision and make an official announcement.
It seems that the players aren’t all that interested in going to that distant locale, where hockey is hardly an important sport, even if they’re hesitant to say that for the fear of looking unpatriotic. Sochi, Russia, was one thing — they love hockey over there, and when Alex Ovechkin said playing for his country is more important than playing for the Capitals, that was reason enough to send the players. But Korea? It’s going to be difficult to garner that much interest in the games at all in the United States and Canada with the 14-hour time difference to the East Coast.
Paying of the insurance is also an issue for the IIHF and the IOC, and the owners are hardly jumping at another opportunity for their employees to get hurt working for someone else. They already held their breath for a month during the World Cup of Hockey in September, and some teams lost key pieces to injuries suffered during the tournament. But that tournament brought in substantial revenue for both the NHL and the NHLPA — now how it’s going to be split up among the players is still an issue. But at least it was run by them, and they were the direct beneficiary.
The Olympics is another story. Growing the game is great, and could lead to future profits. But it’s illogical to think any owner wants to altruistically risk the health of his product for some ambiguous sense of pride in the international competition. That is in part why they brought back the World Cup, so these best-on-best competitions can still exist — and the league entities can control them.
So there is no reason for the league to delay this decision. By the start of 2017, it should be clear that the NHL is not participating in the 2018 Olympics. That gives enough time for college players and high-level juniors to prepare, and for USA Hockey and Hockey Canada to start scouting and thinking about their rosters. It will still be an interesting tournament for hockey fans to watch — and, really, far more in the spirit of the Olympics. But let the kids start thinking about it now, and let the pros not have to worry about traveling halfway around the world again.
Congrats, Sam Rosen
This one really will last a lifetime. Rangers television play-by-play man Sam Rosen is going to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto on Monday as a recipient of the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for outstanding contributions as a broadcaster. Rosen, 69, had the iconic call of the Rangers’ 1994 Stanley Cup victory, and there is hardly a nicer guy in broadcasting. Congrats, Sammy.
Like father, like son
Max Domi is a skill player, unlike his father, Tie, the iconic brawler of the 1990s. But Max clearly learned a little from his dad, showing it off when he did what so many people around the league want to do, and that’s punch Ryan Kesler in the face. The 5-foot-10 Domi took down the 6-foot-2 Kesler with a wicked uppercut, and this video is now tops on his resume.
Tortorella’s questionable statement
Everyone knows John Tortorella can say some … volatile things every now and again, and he was furious at his Blue Jackets for the way they played against the Blues this past Saturday night. He was upset about how his top guys didn’t show up while some guys went all-out, including his captain, Nick Foligno, who fought heavyweight slugger Ryan Reaves.
But he started the rant by saying this:
“The thing that crawls up my ass is … I watched Nick Foligno fight that animal.” Well, Reaves is a black man, so … there’s that. From experience being around the man, I know it wasn’t a racial slur from Tortorella, but I think he’d agree that “animal” was not the best word to use.
Stay tuned …
… to the reporting out of Russian concerning Ilya Kovalchuk’s possible return to the NHL. The former Devil recently said, “’We will see, everything is possible. Why couldn’t I return to NHL? I’ll have all options open that can benefit my career.” It’s a mess of legalities if he does choose to return — as in, do the Devils still have any rights after he bolted to the KHL with $77 million still left on his deal? At 33 years old, there is still a lot left in that tank, and he could definitely help a NHL team.
Parting shot
It’s Veterans Day, and service dogs can play a huge part in helping our brave men and women integrate themselves back into private life. And so why not let one of these service dogs drop a puck at a hockey game? (Maybe they should have dogs drop pucks all the time — just sayin’.)