NHL Looks to Expand, But at What Cost?

The National Hockey League has finally made the decision about its Olympic participation, and it’s not a positive one.

The NHL released a statement Monday saying, that the League will not participate in the 2018 Olympics held in PyeongChang, South Korea and that the matter is “officially closed.”

This comes days after the NHL confirmed that the Los Angeles Kings and Vancouver Canucks would be playing two preseason games in China. The two teams will face-off against one another on September 21 and 23 in Shanghai and Beijing.

So the NHL does want to expand the game of hockey, but at what cost exactly? Well the cost is essentially the answer. The main reason for the ruling comes after endless months of meetings between the NHL and the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The IOC has been paying for the NHL’s participation costs that include insurance, travel and accommodations for all players and their guests, but told the NHL they would not continue to pay for those costs for the upcoming Olympic tournament.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has sounded like a broken record over the past several months explaining that the owners were against Olympic participation for numerous reasons that concern insurance, cost and the 17-day break in the League’s schedule.

Players from around the league have already expressed their distaste for the decision on Twitter. Stars like Alexander Ovechkin have said in the past that they plan on attending the Olympics regardless of the NHL’s decision.

There will be no break in the NHL season to accommodate the Olympics. This decision ends a run of five consecutive Winter Olympics with NHL players attending.