Should the NHL Reconsider Olympic Participation?
When Jack Hughes scored the overtime winner against Canada to give the USA the gold medal, there was elation throughout the country. The win was America’s first since 1980 when the amateur filled American team stunned the Soviet Union hockey team that was filled with mostly professionals including Hockey Hall of Famers Vladislav Tretiak, Viacheslav Fetisov, and Valeri Kharlamov. The Miracle on Ice is still considered one of the greatest upsets in Olympics if not sports history. Partially because it was clear that other countries were using professionals, the IOC and NHL decided to allow NHL players to participate in the Olympics starting with the 1998 games in Nagano, Japan. The deal allowed NHL players to play in 5 Olympics from 1998 to 2014 and would be re-examined after that. In those 5 games, Canada won 3 gold medals, Sweden won 1 gold medal and the Czech Republic won the other gold medal when Dominik Hasek stood on his head shutting out Russia in the final game while allowing only four goals throughout the whole Olympics.
When the 5 Olympics were completed and it was time to discuss future Olympics participation, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and the
IIHF decided not to allow any NHLers in the 2018 games citing several factors, including financial concerns about who would pay for travel and insurance, disputes over TV rights, concerns about injuries, the disruption to the NHL schedule, and the fact that those five Olympics did little to improve attendance and viewership in North American markets. Many players were upset about the 2018 decision, including Alexander Ovechkin, who threatened to play anyways but backed down when he was effectively threatened with an NHL suspension . . . if he played for Russia in defiance. In the end Russia won the gold at the 2018 Olympics with Germany taking the silver and Canada the bronze. Russia’s team was made of mostly of professionals from the KHL.
For the 2022 Olympics in Beijing NHL players did not compete due partially because of ongoing disputes with the IOC but mostly due to COVID-19 issues which necessitated rescheduling some NHL games and travel restrictions in China that were a result of the pandemic. There was little argument from players who realized it was unusual times. Finland took the gold medal with the Russian team getting silver.
In 2024 the NHL announced that it came up with a resolution that would allow NHL players to compete in the 2026 Olympics in Italy and the 2030 Olympics in France. Bettman announced it with the following statement at a press conference:
“We are pleased that today, after intense collaborative efforts with the NHL Players’ Association and the International Ice Hockey Federation, we can formally announce that NHL Players will participate in both the 2026 and 2030 Olympic hockey tournaments.”
But sources at the time told me that that Bettman agreed to allow it only due to pressure from players but personally opposed it for fear of injuries, disruption to the schedules and concern of personal conflicts that would almost certainly arise when teammates play hard against each other in a highly political setting. Many owners also expressed similar concerns.
Unfortunately, at the 2026 games many of those concerns played out.
Injuries during the Olympics
Kevin Fiala, a star player for the L.A. Kings broke his leg in a game against Canada when he awkwardly fell after a check by Tom Wilson and superstar Sydney Crosby is out for 4 weeks for the Pittsburgh Penguins following a hit by Czechian player Radko Gudas, which necessitated Crosby missing the last two games for Canada. As well, Mikko Rantanen of the Dallas Stars and Josh Morrisey from Winnipeg are expected to be out for at least a couple of games due to injuries at the Olympics. And there is no question the disruption to the NHL schedule is significant. In non-Olympic years the season is disrupted for less than a week for the All-Star break but losing almost a half month has resulted in teams being required to play a lot of back-to-back games and results from past Olympics show that those who participate at the Olympics struggle quite a bit with scoring in the first few games back. In the 8 games played this Wednesday, only two games had more than 6 goals and only Brock Nelson and Kyle Connor, who played on Team USA (both who should be noted skipped the invitation by Donald Trump to attend the White House State of the Union Address), scored a goal. No players that played for Canada scored a goal and only three other players who played for different Olympics teams had a goal or assist.
Politics in Play
Most concerning, the politics of the games has deeply divided players. Russian players were excluded from the 2026 games as a result of an IOC rule that banned them from the 2026 Olympics due to the attack on Ukraine, and this omission had many Russian NHL players crying foul. And there was vivid hatred and personal attacks on social media to players in other countries throughout the Olympics. In particular, Canadian posters were spewing odium against American players and the country and American posters were spewing anti Canadian rhetoric. Posters from both countries cited everything from cheating allegations to the ongoing tariff dispute and Trump’s threat to annex Canada and make it the 51st state, to American players accepting an invitation to the White House despite playing for Canadian teams. To make matters worse there was a lot of AI generated content that was fueling the fire.
In one particular example, a doctored video pretended to show Brady Tkachuk telling Trump to close the northern border, which had Ottawa fans demanding Tkachuk be traded. Moreover, Trump’s comment to the USA men’s team in the locker room when he was called by FBI director Kash Patel to address the team, turned what should have been strictly a proud and happy moment to players apologizing the next day for not pushing back when Trump suggesting that the gold medal winning women’s team would only be invited to The White House out of obligation.
“Honestly, it was just a whirlwind of a moment, and you can’t control what somebody says and… I guess caught off guard a little bit,” Brady Tkachuk said. “When you’re talking to the president 10 minutes after you just achieve your dream, it’s just the fact that you’re talking to him. You can’t really believe where your life’s at that you’re talking to the President of the United States after you just won a gold medal.”
Jake Sanderson of the Senators added: “We have nothing but the utmost respect for the women… If we were to do it again, I think we wouldn’t do that, and we made a mistake, but, again, I think it kind of got blown out of proportion a little bit.”
Now that players are back in the NHL feelings will eventually be set aside but it does bring up the question whether this will have an impact on the NHL deciding whether to allow players to continue participating. I spoke to a friend who covers hockey for an online website based in New York and asked the same question and he said that it should continue because NHL participation gives countries and players a goal to look forward to. But something needs to be done to help prevent injuries and also address the negative politics.
“The NHL, and really all pro hockey leagues should be required to sit down with players and say that any dirty hits or actions at the Olympics that result in injury will be carried over to the NHL or PWHL for women, and players will be suspended just as if the game occurred during the regular season. And while you can’t ask players to contain themselves knowing they are playing for a country, they should be reminded that their actions are not only a reflection on them but on the country as well. Competition is what makes the sport and the Olympics great but there are limits. Every player is a human being and any comments that suggests a player from another country is less than them or their teammates for reasons such as gender or ethnicity must stop. I know personally when Hughes scored the winning goal and the USA got the gold medal I was jumping up and down and chanting USA, USA, the same way I did when the women got the gold. But I was disgusted with some of the actions including partying with the director of the FBI who should have been doing his job in our country and not chugging beer with players in the locker room, as well as players laughing when our country’s leader demeaned our women’s success. They are better than that. We are better than that.
I must also add that I was thoroughly disgusted with Canada’s actions after the game too. I know it was a heartbreaking loss for them but show some class. At least smile a little getting your silver medal and stop blaming the loss on missed ref calls or what you claim were dirty hits not called. It’s hockey. You win some, you lose some and you have half a season where you still have to play with players from other teams. Deal with it.”
It should be noted that hockey isn’t the only professional team sport at the Olympics. Basketball has been in the Olympics for as long as one can recall and in 2028 baseball will be in the Olympics. Basketball doesn’t seem to get the bad blood or injury concerns that hockey does and no doubt that’s because it’s a less physical sport and games take place after the NBA season is over. Thus, by the time the NBA returns in the fall what happened at the Olympics is long behind players.
So, the Olympics are over and while everyone in the United States is excited that the U.S. team won three more gold medals and 8 more overall medals than in 2022, what the country will remember most are the hockey wins. While other sports are important to the athletes themselves, few will likely remember that Elana Meyers Taylor won gold in the Monobob. There’s no question that NHL players add to the games but the league and the player’s association have to ask themselves whether the couple of weeks of excitement is worth the loss of star players to injuries, the disruption to the hockey schedule and the inevitable fallout that comes from politics unrelated to the sport itself that emerges. The NHL already committed to allowing players to participate in 2030 but this could be a good opportunity for all sides to sit down with each other and ask what can be done to alleviate those concerns. You can’t completely take away hitting from the game (heaven knows no one wants something like the NFL flag football Pro Bowl game), and you can’t ask players not to be patriotic, but there needs to be some boundaries set. What those are is way above my pay grade but discussions should be had for the good of the sport and for the good of the Olympics.
Read articles on sports betting and the North American gambling industry from Hartley Henderson here at GamblersWORLD. Find Hartley on X at @HartleyHenders1
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