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Afternoon Line
by Paul on 08/17/09 at 01:10 PM ET
Comments (5)
“I don’t know any other sport that closes its door for 2½ weeks in the middle of the season. What I’d like to see is this become a Summer Olympic Games [sport]....”
-Brian Burke speaking about the Olympics as it relates to Ice Hockey. More from Burke at the Globe and Mail.
added 5:14pm, from Mick Kern of NHL Home Ice,
But whatever you do, leave the sport of hockey in the Winter Olympics. If the NHL teams and players wanna take their puck and go home, let them. We don’t need any more manufactured drama, nor does the league need to shut down its product during two weeks of the worst month of the year.
Then again, having NHL stars play in the Olympics means there’s no NHL All-Star Game that season.
Hmm, let me reconsider this.
Filed in: Non-NHL Hockey, International Hockey | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke, Winter+Olympics,
Comments
What I’d like to see is this become a Summer Olympic Games [sport]....”
I hear the ice is quite good in Buenos Aires this time of year…
Posted by dash_pinched from Rumour Mill Bay on 08/17/09 at 02:11 PM ET
The man does have a reasonable point, though.
He is right, shutting down an entire league for 2.5 weeks in the middle of a season does sound quite absurd when you think about it. But, clearly, the Olympics are very important to many hockey players, understandably.
Besides, Burke shouldn’t complain, he’s probably just upset that his Team USA roster isn’t on par with Canada or Russia.
Posted by FlyingFrenchmen on 08/17/09 at 03:35 PM ET
Then DON’T shut down the league - if NHL players are to play in the Olympics, then just have a little bit lighter schedule for those two and a half weeks (no back-to-backs, for example) and let the players who are chosen take a brief leave from their teams, play in the Olympics, and then rejoin their teams.
The NHL won’t “go” anywhere - some players will get larger roles, teams can get a good look at some rookies because they can be allowed to replace the empty spots on the roster without the new players counting against the salary cap (or without the absent players counting, whatever), and the best teams would be the most bothered, so it would increase parity!
College teams continue with their regular schedules while some players are participating in tournaments like the World Juniors. Teams lose players to injury all the time, and just keep going. Just fill in with what they have left and keep playing until the Olympic participants get back.
Or don’t have the NHL players play and instead every four years skip the World Juniors tournament and let the Juniors teams play in the Olympics - it would at least let someone other than Canada pay attention to the kids for a change. With a little creativity it wouldn’t be that hard to solve the problem. They just have to actually think for a change.
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 08/17/09 at 04:00 PM ET
<Then DON’T shut down the league>
Oh, sure. Owners and GMs—already fidgety about putting their prized assets at risk—are just going to love having to not only risk their prized assets but also continue to play games with a depleted lineup for two and a half weeks. Yeah. That’ll happen.
Of course given the silliness this league frequently engages in, maybe they WILL like this idea.
Posted by Lex Talionis on 08/17/09 at 07:32 PM ET
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He’s a lawyer right? He should know the proper legal term for people with an IQ below 70, but since I don’t I’ll just call him a flagrant dumbass.
Posted by Osrt on 08/17/09 at 01:27 PM ET