2010 Olympic Men's Ice Hockey Thread - Page 23

This is assuming there will be such a US team assembled heading to Sochi. Gary Bettman might have contrarian thoughts on that...

Most of what I'm hearing is the NHL will say "no" to the 2014 games.

I think that is total bullshit. I think the NHL just wants some cash for the Olympic committee to rent their players for the 2 weeks. The players will find a way to play.

Having the US in the gold medal game was the best marketing tool for the NHL. Would be ridiculous to say no to 2014.

Easy solution: every 4 years, decrease the regular season by 10 games. The loss in revenue to owners would be more than offset by the free marketing exposure of the Olympics.

Bettman has repeatedly said no decision has been made and one won't be made for a while. Edit: It will be interesting to see what happens if no players are allowed to compete and Ovechkin and others go anyway.

That's a 12 percent loss, which is enormous. It wouldn't make up for itself. Not only that, but the players' union would never agree to it, as they get paid per game. It could also be argued that playing 12 percent fewer games would lead to a less accurate playoff scenario, which may or may not be true.

(late reply because I missed this before: )

I'm not sure if you were including me in this, but just for the record: I don't hate Crosby at all. Instead, I hate the hype surrouding him and the fact that this hype often obscures the achievements of other players. Sure, I called him "Sidney the Kidney" and objected to his being called the hero of Team Canada (I still insist he is not), but I completely agree with your assessment of his abilities. It just irked me that so many wonderful -- not to mention more productive -- players on Team Canada were basically in his shadow in the media after Canada won gold.

Here is a good analysis of why Bettman will allow NHL players to go to Sochi.


Count on NHL being part of the 2014 Games

The Globe and Mail, Monday, March 1, 2010
By Eric Duhatschek

A modest prediction now that the 2010 Winter Olympic men's hockey tournament is in the books: Four years from now, in Sochi, the NHL will be back with full participation - even if commissioner Gary Bettman is publicly dragging his heels over making a commitment now.

It isn't just because the NHL got its preferred final either. Canada against the United States for the gold medal guaranteed fabulous television ratings and garnered interest in the sport across North America. (NBC even televised it live on the West Coast. That's progress.)

Remember, Bettman is two things primarily: a lawyer and a skilled negotiator. It was his ability to craft deals that ultimately got him the job in the first place.

As a negotiator, Bettman is not about to give anything away he could potentially use as a chip - not with new collective bargaining agreement talks coming in 2012.

The players want to go to the Olympics. By then, the National Hockey League Players' Association will have appointed a new executive director and probably will be flexing its muscles again in terms of the next CBA.

Olympic participation is something Bettman can surrender gracefully when the talks reach a critical stage.

Moreover, Bettman doesn't have a transfer agreement in place with the International Ice Hockey Federation and, currently, has an uneasy relationship with Russia's Continental Hockey League - two other organizations that badly want the NHL to show up in Sochi.

At some point, Bettman will extract concessions from both: Money, for starters, because the league gains nothing but exposure from its current Olympic arrangement; and control over the men's tournament, which is what the NHL really wants. And if it can't get full control, then at least it can have more input.

The NHL was a guest here in 2010. It doesn't feel comfortable in that role and its powerbrokers were noticeable by their absences on gold-medal Sunday.

But the primary reason the NHL will be in Sochi is a legal one.

Already, the league's two top Russian players - Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin - have publicly stated they will breach their NHL contracts in order to compete in Sochi.

The league can level all sorts of threats against them - major fines, indefinite suspensions - but if they stick to their guns, the league will have a major issue on its hands.

Imagine if Ovechkin is in Russia playing in the 2014 Olympics, and the NHL season proceeds merrily along. Suddenly, the Washington Capitals would likely not be nearly the force - no Ovechkin, no Alexander Semin and no starting goalie in Semyon Varlamov. Any game Washington plays without its three Russian stars will be tainted - and affect the competitive integrity of the NHL.

As the league has demonstrated time and time again, competitive integrity is a critical cornerstone of what it sells to the hockey-buying public. The Capitals might be good enough to make the playoffs, even without Ovechkin for a fortnight, but what if some team squeaks into the playoffs by a single point as a result of wins against a depleted Caps squad? The league would have a serious credibility problem - and one that cannot easily be explained away.

Moreover, if Ovechkin plays in the 2014 Olympics in defiance of his NHL contract, the league would be forced - for legal reasons - to take strong measures.

Does it serve the NHL well to go to war with one of its primary meal tickets? The Ovechkin-Sidney Crosby rivalry is driving interest in the sport right now. Without Ovechkin, hockey doesn't resonate nearly as well in all those outposts Bettman wants to interest in the sport.

Given how the KHL would love nothing better than to repatriate all the top Russian players anyway - and would gleefully support a conflict between the two - the NHL needs Ovechkin more than Ovechkin needs the NHL. Starting a groundless feud - over something as logical as Olympic participation - makes no sense. And Bettman surely knows this.

The NHL isn't going to publicly acknowledge its participation in the 2014 Winter Olympics for years to come, but it will happen. Guaranteed.

In the end, there'll be too many good reasons to go; not enough good ones to stay away.

Props to the Americans for putting up a good fight.. I forget where it was talked about, but the increase in grassroots hockey movement was a big reason the USA can compete on the world level. Look at where the biggest NHL names are coming from - Crosby comes from buttfuck nowhere, excuse me, Cole Harbour, NS. The small towns with strong hockey culture is where the good players come from. Think of where the USA would be this Olympics if Ryan Miller and Patrick Kane's parents decided to put them into football instead. I'll give you a hint - with Tim "Yesterday's News" Thomas in net, you don't get one-goal games. If the USA really gets hockey as a part of their culture, Canada will be in trouble. As it is, Canada is pretty dominant in hockey because of our attitude towards it, whereas I feel in the USA its more of simply another option as far as putting ones kids into sports. Look at the great hockey rivalries in history - Canada vs USSR, for one, where national pride was at stake, decided in a sport that was very near and dear to both nations. Personal anecdote: As a peewee goaltender in a "C" centre playing for the "A" team in my town, we played a tournament in Ann Arbour, MI against some bigger competitive American teams including teams from Chicago. Who won? We did - small town Canada against big town USA, kids with hand-me-down gear vs kids with a team bus, matching equipment with their names stitched onto it. Minor hockey is a huge deal in Canada; any decent size town has a double-A team or any region will have a strong AAA program. From there, even the most insignificant of towns have decent teams. Owen Sound, ON? What the fuck is Owen Sound? They have a Jr. A team in the OHL - and look how many great players have come out of the OHL. In the past 5 years, everyone from Corey Perry, Patrick Kane, John Tavares, Rick Nash, Dave Bolland, Dennis Wideman, so on and so forth, have come from the London Knights. Yeah, there's a few Americans in there, but there's a good reason yanks come up here to play junior hockey. Grassroots hockey is where its at. Yes, fund your teams, put money into it - but the hockey greats come from kids rolling out of bed for a 6AM practice before school, and from the kids playing shinny on a backyard rink. If USA played hockey like they did football, world hockey would be a much different place. Again, congratulations to the USA for playing the way they did - I was pretty nervous during the gold medal game. They have the talent pool - all they need is a stronger hockey culture and they'll be able to compete consistently at the top.

Am I the only one who is disgusted by the thought of returning to what passes for hockey in the NHL regular season now?

No way! I had a ball watching the Wild thump the Flames last night. Yaaaaahooooooo!

Yeah, I enjoyed watching the Devils beat the Sharks the other night too. Especially given the fact that Team Canada had it's "San Jose Sharks line" and Team USA had a forward line with Langenbrunner and Parise. Hah, take that Canada!!!

Not disgusted but just Wake me up next month when the Habs begin the playoffs...

I am, leafs blow.

Not remotely interested in regular season hockey, apart from the odd fantasy pool strictly for monetary purposes (high stakes only or bust). Boring as shit to watch, IMO and haven't seen a game in years apart from a couple of live ones.

For me it's Olympics >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> NHL Playoffs >= World Championships >>>>>>>>>> regular season