The National Hockey League and National Hockey League Players’ Association agreed to not send its athletes to participate in the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. This news is according to reports from The Toronto Star’s Chirs Johnston and Daily Faceoff’s Frank Servall. The players and their league made the decision on Tuesday, but they have to finalize it with the International Olympic Committee.
The league had up until January 10 to opt-out of the Olympics without receiving any financial penalty. This recent news comes only one day after the league announced the season would be shut down for its holiday break early. The NHL is pausing activities from December 21 to December 25. A total of 50 games have been postponed this season and ten teams had been shut down for COVID-19.
Johnston said the league made its decision based on the need to reschedule even more games during the three-week break it would have for the Olympics. The NHL began letting players compete in the Olympics in 1998 and continues to do so until the PyeongChang Olympics in 2018. Both the NHL and NHLPA committed to going to China for the 2022 Games back in September.
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