So yeah, sometimes the news is about the obvious. Sometimes, it just takes the news a little while to catch up with what everyone knew was going to happen anyway.
So the NHL wont be shutting down and sending its players to the 2018 Olympics. Guys like Ovechkin may leave their team to go play, but really what does that do? It does nothing but send the message that he is putting himself before his team.
I say its long over due. The NHL shouldn’t be at the Olympics anyway. It is supposed to be for the worlds best AMATEUR athletes. Not professionals.
We don’t see professional speed skaters, or bobsledding professionals. Why should any professionals be allowed to compete. I say send the games back where they belong. No professionals at all.
Some subsidies for training allowed, but do we really need a bunch of millionaires on the ice to sell the game to the world? I don’t think so.
What about all the junior and college athletes who could go? What about their ambition for international competition that is being denied when professional athletes compete? Considering many of these amateur athletes will one day find themselves in the NHL anyway, why not give them the world stage now?
Wouldn’t showcasing the future NHL stars do as much or more for the NHL than sending current NHL stars? Do young children relate to 30 year old men, or teenage and early 20’s athletes that are just a little older?
Sure I get the NHL concept of selling the NHL as the best league in the world. That’s not a hard sell. Shouldn’t we just be selling hockey as the best game in the world? Shouldn’t we do that at its highest amateur levels?
Maybe its just me, but don’t NHL players get enough? I sure wouldn’t mind seeing some players like Harvard’s Adam Fox, Minnesota Duluth’s Hunter Miska, or Colorado College’s Mason Bergh playing in the Olympics. I bet they wouldn’t mind either. I bet the NCAA wouldn’t mind bringing attention to that avenue of hockey development.
But hey, on another note, the Olympics are now said to be considering moving Hockey to the Summer games in order to accommodate the NHL players. Of course it will revert to the old beach roller hockey rules in order to make it happen, but hey its hockey right?
David Wagner – The Angel Of Death – For Those Who Live Stupidly I salute You
*The Death Pool is a mix of comedy, and satire in connection with recent events. It is not an official report of current events although it may look as though the news is so accurate that it could one day happen or may be happening.
