NHL players not attending Olympics due to COVID-19 concerns

Adamo Marinelli

December 22, 2021

     Today, the NHL and NHLPA came to an agreement that NHL players will not participate in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics as a result of concerns regarding the Omicron variant and several COVID-19 outbreaks that have been happening to several teams around the league that have postponed games. 

      The NHL season is also going on a pause from December 22 to December 25 as a result of the numerous COVID-19 outbreaks around the league that have shut down team training facilities. 

       Many believe that this break is necessary to reduce the spread of the disease, but others like Winnipeg Jets’ goaltender Connor Hellebuyck believe the NHL's extended Christmas pause is ‘overkill’. 

     After missing out on the 2018 Olympics in South Korea, the NHL and NHLPA agreed on Olympic participation in 2022 and 2026, with the only caveat being as long as COVID-19 does not affect the NHL season. 

     As of yesterday night, the NHL had already postponed 56 games as a result of COVID-19 outbreaks on several teams. As a result, the NHL is adding the aforementioned pause to the schedule to limit the spread and keep players and coaches safe to prevent future outbreaks.

This break will postpone four additional games tonight and 15 more games tomorrow night, which is better for the safety of everyone in the grand scheme of things. Therefore, the criteria of COVID-19 impacting the season has been met and there will be no Olympic participation from NHL players.

     The general reaction among players is disappointment, but they understand why the decision was made, based on the severity and transmissibility of the new variant.

Winnipeg Jets forward Kyle Connor said a big part of the collective bargaining agreement was bringing Olympics back, so he is disappointed that players are not participating in the Olympics. Pittsburgh Penguins forward Sidney Crosby - who has played in previous Olympics - feels bad for the players who will miss this chance as the opportunity to play in the Olympics is an experience of a lifetime and doesn’t come around often. 

     However, most team owners are very reluctant to send their players to the Olympics in the event of an injury, but in our current climate, they also don’t want their players to get sick, don’t want COVID-19 outbreaks happening on their team causing the postponement of games and do not want to have to play without their star players.

     Even though nothing was made official until today, many players, coaches, and personnel around the league saw this move coming. 

     When the Senators were the only team to have a COVID-19 outbreak, the Olympics remained a possibility. In late November and early December, the Columbus Blue Jackets, Nashville Predators, Calgary Flames, Montreal Canadiens, Boston Bruins, and Carolina Hurricanes experienced outbreaks, and multiple other teams were affected by this, which resulted in the extended Christmas break.

     As a result of the decision to skip the Olympics, the NHL will focus on using the time 

dedicated to the Olympics to reschedule the games that were postponed already and that are being postponed now because of COVID-19. Another scenario is that games later in the season can be played during the Olympic break and the games postponed as a result of COVID-19 will be played at the end of the season.

      However, there could be a lack of arena availability during the break. Despite the NHL asking arenas not to book concerts during that time, in the event the NHL does not send players to the Olympics, many arenas booked concerts to make up for lost revenue throughout the entire pandemic.

Despite the disappointment with NHL players not being able to participate in the Olympics, the decision is a smart one for the greater good of the league. Although, rescheduling all the postponed games is not an easy task and will require meticulous planning from the entire league.