NHL agrees to play 2022 Games, but COVID-19 may stop players in their tracks

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – After a lot of back forth, the NHL and NHLPA have agreed to send players to the upcoming Winter Games in Beijing, however, amid rising COVID-19 cases NEWS 1130 is learning there’s a chance they won’t go at all.

The Games are set to get underway in early February, but a lot can change between now and then, as fears grow of the pandemic escalating further.

Craig MacEwen, program director of NEWS 1130’s sister station, Sportsnet 650, says if the players go, they’ll be facing tight restrictions — possibly more than what athletes dealt with during the 2020 Tokyo Games recently.

BREAKING: The NHL and NHLPA have reached an agreement with the IIHF confirming the participation of NHL players in the 2022 Beijing Olympics.https://t.co/lDr1hYnZqt

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) September 3, 2021

“It is the same and that is the one thing, now that this decision has been made, surprises me a bit because of the pushback originally from the players was like, ‘OK, if we’re going into more of a lockdown than what we have in North America with the National Hockey League, are we really going to want to put up with this?’ But, it shows how important it is to represent your country at this type of tournament that they’re willing to sacrifice that,” he says.

Another concern is playing during the winter, where MacEwen says being restricted to indoor activities will be challenging.

“It could be to the rink, to your room, to the rink, to the room, maybe get a meal in there or two, so it’s going to be tough for these guys to put up with that. But it’s a short tournament and I guess at the end of the day, those who go, will be going for gold in very different circumstances than normal.”

But MacEwen says if things aren’t deemed safe enough come February, it won’t be a problem for the NHL to change their schedule.

“They have put in place mechanisms where if things get really bad in North America, they can pull out. If things get really bad in China, they could pull out. And if the schedule has been impacted negatively during the regular season before they get to [China] and maybe they need that time to make things up in the NHL — two two-week break they put in — they’re able to change everything at a moment’s notice.

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“In reality, we’re going to the Olympics but there’s a lot of time between then and now before we really know if they’re actually going to get into China or not,” explains MacEwen.

MacEwen says if Canada does end up going to China in February, they are one of the favourites to win gold.

“Canada could put two teams together — the toughest part is finding the group that can do it and win, but that’s not to say that other countries haven’t stepped up. Canada was so dominant the last time they were at an Olympics in Russia [in 2014] it wasn’t even close. This time around I think it’s going to be a lot tighter battle with the Americans, the Swedes, the Russians.”

As for any of the Vancouver Canucks potentially making the team, he says Bo Horvat is probably a long shot for the team.

“It depends on what the coaches want. He can play a role definitely, it won’t be one in their top group but there are so many good players in Canada that he’ll have a hard time,” he says.

“But if you look at the Americans, there’s Brock Boeser, Thatcher Demko and Quinn Hughes probably, J.T. Miller could have an outside shot. Elias Pettersson should be there for Sweden. There will be a lot of Canucks flavour, but Canada-wise, Horvat has a lot of work to do to prove that he’d be worthy to take one of those spots.”

The 2022 Olympic Winter Games are set to start on Feb. 4, 2022.

– With files from Sportsnet