Weeks before the Winter Olympics began, all I kept hearing from people in and around the game of hockey who WEREN'T players was that Sochi would be it for the NHL.
The time difference didn't help the league or viewers. The revenues could not possibly make up for dollars lost by shutting down the NHL for nearly three weeks. The momentum of the divisional races and daily changes in the standings would be broken at a time when interest needs to peak during the dog days of winter.
So now the Sochi Games are over and those same people are going to tell you there won't be another Olympics for the NHL and that the Games will be replaced by the World Cup of Hockey.
Well, I'm going to tell you the same things I have been saying since the Turin Games in 2006. The NHL will stick around. The players aren't going to let them off the hook.
My prediction: They will go to South Korea in 2018.
When Canada won the gold medal in hockey at Vancouver, I knew immediately, they would defend it in Sochi. An entire nation was going to assure that, along with the NHLPA. The Olympics were part of the new CBA and they will remain. There is no way the NHL will pull out, though I suspect there will be a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth.
John Tavares could just as easily been injured in a February game here in North America as over there. Or in the World Cup of Hockey, if that were being played.
The NHL players are going to overwhelmingly support going back. Team Canada is going to want its shot at three straight golds - something that no country has done since the Soviet Red Army won 4 straight golds between 1964 and 1976.
Even non-Canadian players believe this is not all about medals, it's about competing against the greatest players in the world on the biggest stage.
“I can remember in Vancouver we had the same discussions before, during and after the Olympics,” Mark Streit told me on Sunday.
“You go in a four-year mode before we begin talking about how it’s not benefiting the league. I think it’s great for the game. You want to expand? It’s great for Europe and Russia … it was fun to play, great competition.
“The Olympic Games are really special. I’m a big fan of it. I can understand how the owners are not that excited about it. We’ve had those conversations every year. For the players, at the end of the day, it’s great for the game and for our fans.”
The NHL's players will demand a return and that will force the owners' hands and The Commish, Gary Bettman.
“Out of 50 players between Sweden and Canada, 49 of them play in the NHL,” Scott Hartnell said.
“So obviously, the best players in the world are in North America playing in the best league in the world so, would fans want to see the best players in the league play for the gold? Absolutely. Do the players want to play? Absolutely.”
They'll go back.
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