Any shred of hope which may have been remaining for NHL gamers to attend the Olympics was dashed Wednesday, and that impacts a handful of Boston Bruins gamers.
The NHL formally introduced Wednesday that its gamers wouldn’t be attending the Winter Olympics in Beijing this February. It had been trending in that route for a short while, so there was ample time for gamers to organize for the information. Additional, the writing had been on the wall when the skepticism from some gamers was palpable after it was revealed that gamers who examined optimistic for COVID-19 on the Olympics would have a three-to-five week quarantine.
David Pastrnak had already been named to the Czech Republic workforce. Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand (Canada), in addition to Charlie McAvoy (United States) have been locks to make their respective international locations’ rosters. Linus Ullmark and Erik Haula have been prone to make Group Sweden and Finland, respectively, whereas Taylor Corridor, Matt Grzelcyk and, previous to getting harm, Jakub Zboril all had exterior probabilities.
For guys like Bergeron and Marchand, this would possibly’ve been their final likelihood to play within the Olympics. For McAvoy and Pastrnak, this is able to’ve been their Olympic debuts.
“In simply speaking with numerous guys main as much as the announcement — with all these video games being canceled and the worry of the Olympics being canceled — they have been disenchanted,” Bruins president Cam Neely stated Wednesday over Zoom. “Some gamers, pondering they are going to make a workforce, may very well be their final likelihood to play within the Olympics. I believe it is disappointing for these guys. And there are others that wish to play for his or her nation, however they definitely perceive the circumstances.”
Gamers usually are not allowed to attend the Olympics on a person foundation, and Neely stated that he had not heard of any Bruins inquiring about that chance main as much as the choice.
When the NHL and NHLPA ratified the CBA final 12 months, it allowed for NHL participant participation within the Olympics in 2022 in addition to 2026. There was an out, clearly, for 2022 given all the COVID-19 uncertainty, so for these eyeing Olympic participation, they’re going to have to attend 4 years.
