MILAN — Not getting to show iconic moments such as Sidney Crosby‘s golden goal for Canada in Vancouver in 2010 or T.J. Oshie’s shootout heroics for the U.S. against Russia in Sochi in 2014 has been one of the biggest sticking points when it comes to the NHL participating in the Olympics.
The top hockey league in the world decided not to take part in 2018, and pandemic-related scheduling issues scrapped going in 2022. Back now in Milan for the first time in a dozen years, commissioner Gary Bettman noted progress made in gaining more access to content, but hopes for more in the future with an eye on 2030 in the French Alps and beyond.
“I do believe that both the IOC and IIHF have been a tad more flexible in terms of the things that we can do, particularly with respect to intellectually property and how the games are covered so that we don’t completely disappear for a couple of weeks,” Bettman said at a joint news conference with players’ association executive director Marty Walsh and International Ice Hockey Federation president Luc Tardif.
“I think there’s an increasing recognition that we’re a little unique compared to all the other sports in the Olympics — Summer or Winter — because to do this we’re stopping our season in the middle and that is an imposition on the season. And I think, over time, that’s something that the IOC has begun to respect more and more.”
Bettman in particular pointed to players being able to create social media content as participating athletes and the NHL’s ability to repost it as one improvement, along with shared logo use. A year since the league- and union-run 4 Nations Face-Off was a smashing success, this isn’t their show, but players’ desire to return to the Olympics has been a major priority for quite some time.
“Hockey fans and players want to see best on best,” said Walsh, who left his Cabinet position as U.S. Secretary of Labor in 2013 to take over the union. “When I started at the PA, the first thing the players said to me: ‘We want to be back in the Olympics.’ I’m so honored to say that we worked collectively together to make that a reality.”
No World Cup talk at the Olympics
A year to the day the NHL and NHLPA announced plans to stage a World Cup of Hockey in 2028 in the aim of having an international tournament on a cycle of every two years, Bettman and Walsh declined to discuss the event. They’d like to focus on this tournament first.
“Once we get done with the Olympics, there’ll be some announcements,” Bettman said. “We’re making progress on our internal plans, but it would be both premature and, frankly, right now inappropriate (to talk about it).”
Tardif said the IIHF, which is not controlling the World Cup, has the framework of an agreement that would allow it to be scheduled. Some European leagues may need to pause their seasons to participate to fill out the rosters.
Russia is barred from hockey, just like other team sports, by the IOC given the ongoing war in Ukraine. Asked what the NHL would decide about its event, Bettman said it would go by how the rest of the international community is treating the situation.
Arena woes turn to celebration
Bettman was one of the first to express concern about the glacial pace of construction on the main hockey arena in Milan back in 2023, before the Olympic agreement was finalized. Sitting in the Milano Santagiulia Arena that got done just in time, he said league and union officials did “a lot of consciousness-raising as we came down the stretch” to help push the job over the finish line.
“We’re here, we’re playing the games and that’s what we’re focused on,” Bettman said. “To the extent we feel like we need to debrief after the fact, we’re going to do that.”
Bettman deferred to Tardif, who’s from France, on building of hockey rinks in Nice that are set to host games four years from now.
“For 2030, everybody sees the building is delivered on time, but we see with all the requests we’ve got about the tickets, why not have more seats?” Tardif said. “All of the fans all over the world, they deserve it. That’s why you first build something that you’re not going to have any other choice to come.”
NHL not considering going to the international point system
The NHL awards two points for every win, one for a loss in overtime or a shootout and none for a loss in regulation. Internationally, it’s three points for a regulation win, two for an overtime or shootout win, one for an overtime or shootout loss and none for a regulation loss.
Going to that system hasn’t been discussed much and Walsh said players have not brought it up.
“We like what we have, and we like the way it plays out over our 82-game season and our playoffs, the way we do it,” Bettman said. “We’re not in search of a problem to fix.”
