Gretzky, Bettman take opposite views on NHL's Olympic participation
Unclear if players will be involved in Pyeongchang 2018
The NHL board of governors meeting this week in Palm Beach, Fla., did little to settle the matter of whether or not the league should continue its participation in the Winter Olympics.
In one corner, there was commissioner Gary Bettman, claiming there was "strong negative segment" from the board of governors about the Olympics.
In another corner, there was Wayne Gretzky, in his new executive role with the Edmonton Oilers, stating he loves and is "a big believer in the Olympic Games."
In another corner, Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis reiterated his stance that he has his superstar's "back" if captain Alex Ovechkin wants to play at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics in 14 months without the NHL's blessing.
This may be a stretch, but this state of affairs is reminiscent of the 1977 movie, Bad News Bears in Breaking Training. Near the end of the film, the game between the loveable Bears and the Houston Toros at the Astrodome is in danger of being called off because of time constraints.
The Houston Astros are waiting in the dugout to prepare for their game, but the Bears-Toros outcome needs another inning to be decided. Astros first baseman Bob Watson realizes what the game means to the kids so he says, "Come on, let the kids play."
The kids are allowed to continue, much to the delight of the fans in the seats as well as the players.
With all of his experiences on the ice, with all his thrills of victories and agonies of defeats, Gretzky likely wishes he had an opportunity to compete in an Olympic Games earlier in his career.
Instead, because the NHL was late to the Olympic party, the Great One had to wait until he was 38. There was no Hollywood finish for No. 99. He was left on the bench for the shootout as Dominik Hasek and his Czech Republic teammates scored an upset 2-1 semifinal victory.
To deny young stars like Connor McDavid, Patrik Laine, Jack Eichel, Zach Werenski and Ivan Provorov a chance to participate in the Olympics would be a mistake. Especially after the success of the North American young guns team at the World Cup of Hockey in September as well as the impact the young talent has made in the first two months of the 2016-17 NHL season.
For Bettman, to say the NHL gained a little from the Canada-United States Olympic gold-medal finals in 2002 Salt Lake City and 2010 Vancouver, but nothing from the 1998, 2006 and 2014 Olympics is short sighted.
Try telling the Czechs their 1998 win didn't matter. It mattered. The emotions that poured out when more than 70,000 crammed into Prague's Old Town Square and partied as Hasek and the team returned was all the evidence you needed to see it mattered.
Or how about Sweden's win in 2006? The Swedes swiftly put the embarrassment of Salt Lake City – a quarterfinal loss to Belarus – behind them with gold in Turin. They too had quite a party back in Stockholm.
How many of the talented Swedish defenceman who dot the NHL landscape today were inspired by what Nicklas Lidstrom and his Tre Kronor teammates accomplished? How many Finns were inspired by their country's silver-medal effort in that same Olympic Games?
For that matter, how many Slovenians were inspired by the surprise visit to the quarterfinals in Sochi by Anze Kopitar and the Slovenian national team?
What did the 1980 Miracle on Ice due for hockey in the United States?
Hockey does benefit from the NHL's participation in the Olympics. Bettman may not like the fact the International Olympic Committee no longer picks up the $10-million US plus tab to cover insurance, travel, accommodations and hospitality costs. But the International Ice Hockey Federation has stepped into the sugar daddy role.
The players want to play and an overwhelming percentage of fans want to see the NHL's Olympic participation continue.
If Bettman wants to gauge what the fans' stance is, he should run a poll on the league's website. But he won't because he already knows the answer.