I remember from the last winter Olympics, in 2006, watching the gold medal game between Sweden and Finland in the hockey. It was the first and, since then, last time that hockey has featured on mainstream British TV before 1 a.m. I doubt having hockey in the Olympics grows it much in established markets, but for non-hockey countries like the UK it is a rare chance for hockey to get some coverage.

Posted by fredster from London on 08/13/08 at 03:00 PM ET

i watched nearly half of the hockey last winter olympics and it was hands down the best hockey i have seen in a long time.  I long for the day the nhl adopts the larger surface.  Get the nhlpa to sign on.  Push back the start of preseason a week or 2, and dump the all star break, and you have your 2 weeks give or take a game or 2.

This has nothing to do with player safety and jet lag.  Coming from a commish who has brilliantly shipped teams off to play NHL games in europe for the last 2 seasons?  Come on.  This is just gary power tripping (again).  Its his way of spitting on russia for not singing a transfer agreement. (and other countries as well.) Canada is one of the only countries that can field a competitive team without the use of NHLrs.  Russia would be lost without the likes of datsyuk, malkin and ovechkin.

Posted by aTTicA on 08/13/08 at 03:18 PM ET

I wonder how much the NHL really does need the Olympics for exposure, though.  Increasingly television habits are moving away from what is scheduled at the time - I know I’ve heard several people talking about not bothering to watch the opening ceremonies from Beijing an NBC because it was delayed.  They had already seen it either on another station (CBC has been showing a lot of coverage live in the mornings) or via a streaming video feed without commercials, so they saw no reason to watch when NBC was showing it with commercials.

It’s nice to see such good hockey, especially in the non-hockey countries as fredster mentioned, but is it worth the hassle for a minor spike in interest every four years?  And for people who might be inclined to watch NHL hockey after seeing the Olympics (possibly via internet), how disappointed might they be to not see all the hockey as high-quality as the Olympic hockey?

I don’t think the owners like seeing their best players playing more hockey that in their view “doesn’t matter” because it doesn’t count in the standings for the teams they own and it could possibly (in their opinion) negatively impact the players they have under contract to play for them, not the national teams, and so probably there is no way the NHL players will be in more Olympics after 2010.  The owners know the players enjoy it, and will push for them to give something up in order to continue, and I think they will ask for more than the players are willing to give up.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 08/13/08 at 04:23 PM ET

...and so probably there is no way the NHL players will be in more Olympics after 2010.

If the KHL agrees to participate, perhaps NHL owners will cave.

Posted by Earl Sleek from Los Angeles, CA on 08/13/08 at 04:28 PM ET

If the KHL agrees to participate, perhaps NHL owners will cave.

That assumes they have some level of sense, instead of being short-sighted, narrow-minded, rut-thinkers.

You’re more optimistic than I, Earl. 

I wouldn’t mind seeing NHL players, but if it isn’t going to happen after 2010 I’d like to see the world juniors be tossed in Olympic years and have the junior players for the Olympic teams.  I know the tournament is huge in Canada, but the only time I hear about it in the US is when I’m watching a college game and an announcer mentions that some of the best players are away for that reason.  I wonder if that might not be more likely to build up the profile of hockey (which was the original justification for letting NHL players participate in the olympics) than seeing national teams including professional players, because it might prompt more attention for the juniors tournament in non-Olympic years.

I dunno - just a thought.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 08/13/08 at 04:36 PM ET

The problem is the NHL doesn’t get much direct promotion out of the Olympics. I remember around Olympic time in 06 a bunch of the players were doing media rounds and were introduced as being members of the Olympic team only. For instance Brodeur went on the Jim Rome show and was introduced as Martin Brodeur of Team Canada, not Martin Brodeur of Team Canada and the New Jersey Devils. Further more the only thing discussed was the Olympics no mention of how his 2005-06 NHL season was going. On NBC’s coverage (a league TV partner btw) the NHL season was hardly ever mentioned. The NHL never got the direct association of being apart of the Olympics becuase when the players put on those national team unis they stopped being NHL players. If there isn’t discussion about the players being in the NHL the NHL doesn’t get that brand building it is looking for.

Unless the league can reach an agreement with the IIHF and IOC that allows them to have an official presence at the game (I.E. can put the NHL logo on the ice) participating in the games will not be worth problems it creates (disruption of season, injuries ect). Especially in years where the games aren’t in NA and thus the games are in the middle of morning or in the middle of the night.

Vancouver may be a little different because the games will be in prime time mostly and Organizing committee for Vancouver will probably make sure the focus of the games is on hockey as that is Canada’s strength and passion.

Posted by jkrdevil on 08/13/08 at 04:56 PM ET

Unfortunately, unlike Attica, I think that Canada can NOT ice a competitive team without NHLer’s.  The simple history of non-NHL led olympics proves this.

Other than the obvious want of my home country icing the best team available, I still want the NHL to send the players to the Olympics.  It’s once every 4 years, and showcases to the rest of the world the best hockey available.  It also lets the fans of already established North America see their dream lines of players that don’t even get matched in the All-Star games. 

Let the players play.  It’s the best sport in the biggest stage for the game.

Posted by 41 Long Ones from Edmonton on 08/13/08 at 05:27 PM ET

The last Winter Olympics showcased the games on the cnbc and msnbc cable channels that showed the games very early in the day or very late at night in addition to the prime time slots on NBC for the marquee games (i.e. US vs. Russia, Canada vs. Sweden, etc.).

Some people don’t even get those channels!  I voted too early to say because as much as I like to see NHL-driven men’s hockey in the Winter Olympics, for all the promise of more exposure for the NHL, coverage still remains suspect.

Posted by SYF from Las Vegas, NV on 08/13/08 at 06:32 PM ET