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NHL players at Olympics? Yay or Nay
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Ed
Mar 25, 2017, 7:50:08 AM3/25/17
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All the banter lately about the NHL participation in the next couple of Olympics made me curious.
What's your opinion/take on the players going? Strictly from your pov as a fan. We all hear the business side of it. League, players, owners - forget that part. Just as a fan.
I have never been a fan of them going mainly because I'd rather watch NHL straight through without the break. I was always fine with amateurs and I'm sure I watched them all equally, pros or not.
I'll watch Canada games no matter what but I'd prefer NHL and Olympics side by side.
What's your opinion/take on the players going? Strictly from your pov as a fan. We all hear the business side of it. League, players, owners - forget that part. Just as a fan.
I have never been a fan of them going mainly because I'd rather watch NHL straight through without the break. I was always fine with amateurs and I'm sure I watched them all equally, pros or not.
I'll watch Canada games no matter what but I'd prefer NHL and Olympics side by side.
Mike
Mar 25, 2017, 8:23:44 AM3/25/17
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and participate.
Nyssa
Mar 25, 2017, 8:39:37 AM3/25/17
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72 games, but I won't win that argument.
Hockey is the ONLY sport I care about, Olympics or otherwise.
I don't watch any of the Summer Olympics and only watch hockey
in the Winter Olympics, whenever NBC can be bothered to put
a game on their OTA network, usually just the gold medal
round if the US is in it plus maybe one or two qualifying games,
usually against Canada or Russia.
Since I'm interested in *all* the countries' teams and NBC
only shows a handful of the US team's games, I wouldn't be
able to watch games and players I'm interested in anyway.
Sirius usually only puts a very few non-USA or non-Canada
games on, but at least I can follow a few more games that
way.
Long way of saying that even if the NHL players go, I won't
be able to follow much of it, so I'd rather just have the
NHL season continue with the players as usual. I'd miss the
international competition, but I'd be missing most of it
anyway due to the spotty coverage I can get.
So put me slightly on the side of no-go.
Nyssa, who wouldn't want to see Price get worn out or hurt
in the Olympic games anyway
Jim Bauch
Mar 25, 2017, 2:30:26 PM3/25/17
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And my interest in watching some amateurs, or a mix of journeymen plus the occasional Ovechkin who gets permission to go, is going to be fairly negligible. I didn't watch much of the pre-Nagano Olympics, and I barely notice the "world championships" every spring.
So I'm a definite yes.
Jim
Gerry
Mar 25, 2017, 6:04:39 PM3/25/17
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So, I realize I'm an anomaly, and I don't really begrudge other people liking the idea of watching "best on best" Olympics, with whatever caveats come along with that as a mid-season NHL interruption. That said, I never have really watched or cared about the modern Olympics. I remember watching one game once when Crosby scored, but I don't remember the year or context. That's about the extent of my recent Olympics experience. I'm more interested in the NHL.
The Olympics I liked were when Canada had a set national team, for Calgary and Lillehammer, the amateurs, or at least amateurs + a few NHL holdouts, intriguing prospects, etc. I had the hockey card sets from those years and watched those games intently. I like the amateur viewpoint. Or even, say, "non-NHL" as opposed to amateur. I just want to see good hockey and good players that I'm not already inundated with. I'd like to see Russia throw it's KHL All-Star team against the respective other nations, and Canada have a set National Team program again. Just for variety.
But like I said, I don't really expect anybody else to be pining for that timeframe. '88 to '92ish were my own personal pinnacle for Olympic hockey, but it's ok with me if that's basically viewed as an eccentricism.
l8r,
Gerry
The Olympics I liked were when Canada had a set national team, for Calgary and Lillehammer, the amateurs, or at least amateurs + a few NHL holdouts, intriguing prospects, etc. I had the hockey card sets from those years and watched those games intently. I like the amateur viewpoint. Or even, say, "non-NHL" as opposed to amateur. I just want to see good hockey and good players that I'm not already inundated with. I'd like to see Russia throw it's KHL All-Star team against the respective other nations, and Canada have a set National Team program again. Just for variety.
But like I said, I don't really expect anybody else to be pining for that timeframe. '88 to '92ish were my own personal pinnacle for Olympic hockey, but it's ok with me if that's basically viewed as an eccentricism.
l8r,
Gerry
Gerry
Mar 25, 2017, 6:05:48 PM3/25/17
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Oh, and in case it wasn't obvious for me, that's a definite "nay" on NHL players to the Olympics. I'm really just not interested.
l8r,
Gerry
l8r,
Gerry
Ed
Mar 25, 2017, 7:12:20 PM3/25/17
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Something else I meant to add, which Gerry sort of touched on.
How much difference did it make when the other countries had players we had never seen? Back to when there were only a handful of non-North Americans in the NHL.
I think that's part of the appeal for some when WJHC time comes. We get to see players we've mostly only heard about from all countries. Not a lot of fans follow juniors outside their respective markets.
How much difference did it make when the other countries had players we had never seen? Back to when there were only a handful of non-North Americans in the NHL.
I think that's part of the appeal for some when WJHC time comes. We get to see players we've mostly only heard about from all countries. Not a lot of fans follow juniors outside their respective markets.
Gerry
Mar 25, 2017, 7:57:49 PM3/25/17
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Yeah, some people will say to me, go watch the Spengler Cup and WJC at xmas time, and what's the difference between that and your weird Olympics utopia?
Ok, I get that for most people, what I like sort of looks like that. But it's not quite the same venue, not the same thing as "The Olympics", and I don't know, maybe it was just a snapshot in time that caught my imagination, and maybe it's silly to pine away for the that weird snapshot. I just liked it, for whatever reason. I'm so busy now with other stuff, I don't even know, if they put my utopian vision back in place, if I would actually watch that either. Maybe out of nostalgia? Or maybe not at all, despite my nostalgia.
I don't go watching youtubes of players from other countries or Euro league games or anything either. I could. I could find a whole lot of stuff to watch on those players who intrigue me, but I don't really get to see as a conventional NHL-only viewer. That stuff is out there. It wasn't in 1988. It's probably just some kind of personal quirk, like I said, I don't blame people for wanting a "real" Olympics instead.
That said, I'm an NHL fan first and foremost (or have been most of my life anyway), and the ramifications to the NHL are intriguing either way. The idea that players could jump ship to represent their country, possibly facing suspension or contract termination... that's kind of a fun and salacious twist, just as an NHL follower. I don't really care about the Olympics themselves, but the trickle-down effect on NHL operations is a "cool story" to me.
From a GM perspective, I would totally bar my players from the Olympics. What the heck, why risk injury to NHL players in mid-season? It makes no sense whatsoever from that perspective. The NHL is a multi-billion dollar business. Go away Olympics!
From a player perspective, it's kind of sweet that players still care. I'm so non-nationalistic myself, that I probably don't identify very well with their motivations. But whatever, it's still kind of cute that they care. For some reason, I like it when people CARE, even if they thing they care about isn't something that I care about myself!
So yeah, I like the "story" in general. Even if I don't really care one way or the other what the outcome is. I'd start caring if I was a big-time Habs fan again and Carey Price got injured in a mid-season "meaningless" Olympics game, basically. I'd like to see "non-NHLers" from a weird nostalgic perspective... but also might not really follow it the same way I did in 1988, so it's a relatively empty desire. It's complicated. :)
l8r,
Gerry
Ok, I get that for most people, what I like sort of looks like that. But it's not quite the same venue, not the same thing as "The Olympics", and I don't know, maybe it was just a snapshot in time that caught my imagination, and maybe it's silly to pine away for the that weird snapshot. I just liked it, for whatever reason. I'm so busy now with other stuff, I don't even know, if they put my utopian vision back in place, if I would actually watch that either. Maybe out of nostalgia? Or maybe not at all, despite my nostalgia.
I don't go watching youtubes of players from other countries or Euro league games or anything either. I could. I could find a whole lot of stuff to watch on those players who intrigue me, but I don't really get to see as a conventional NHL-only viewer. That stuff is out there. It wasn't in 1988. It's probably just some kind of personal quirk, like I said, I don't blame people for wanting a "real" Olympics instead.
That said, I'm an NHL fan first and foremost (or have been most of my life anyway), and the ramifications to the NHL are intriguing either way. The idea that players could jump ship to represent their country, possibly facing suspension or contract termination... that's kind of a fun and salacious twist, just as an NHL follower. I don't really care about the Olympics themselves, but the trickle-down effect on NHL operations is a "cool story" to me.
From a GM perspective, I would totally bar my players from the Olympics. What the heck, why risk injury to NHL players in mid-season? It makes no sense whatsoever from that perspective. The NHL is a multi-billion dollar business. Go away Olympics!
From a player perspective, it's kind of sweet that players still care. I'm so non-nationalistic myself, that I probably don't identify very well with their motivations. But whatever, it's still kind of cute that they care. For some reason, I like it when people CARE, even if they thing they care about isn't something that I care about myself!
So yeah, I like the "story" in general. Even if I don't really care one way or the other what the outcome is. I'd start caring if I was a big-time Habs fan again and Carey Price got injured in a mid-season "meaningless" Olympics game, basically. I'd like to see "non-NHLers" from a weird nostalgic perspective... but also might not really follow it the same way I did in 1988, so it's a relatively empty desire. It's complicated. :)
l8r,
Gerry
Bill Kinkaid
Mar 26, 2017, 2:35:52 AM3/26/17
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Seriously, how many regular players actually get injured during the Olympics?
NHL players in the Olympics used to be exciting but the last games were a snooze-fest, because it's just more NHL games except with the players swapped around.
Do what they do with soccer in the summer Olympics. Allow NHL players but limit it to under-23s, or under-21s, or whatever. If they're NHL players, their teams won't miss most of them for a couple of weeks. If they're not, this is their big chance to shine.
NHL players in the Olympics used to be exciting but the last games were a snooze-fest, because it's just more NHL games except with the players swapped around.
Do what they do with soccer in the summer Olympics. Allow NHL players but limit it to under-23s, or under-21s, or whatever. If they're NHL players, their teams won't miss most of them for a couple of weeks. If they're not, this is their big chance to shine.
The Mad Ape
Mar 26, 2017, 7:49:18 AM3/26/17
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They are going once the NHL and NHLPA works out the payday with the IOC.
It's all about $$$$$$
TMA
It's all about $$$$$$
TMA
Gerry
Mar 26, 2017, 11:34:34 AM3/26/17
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On Sunday, March 26, 2017 at 7:49:18 AM UTC-4, The Mad Ape wrote:
> They are going once the NHL and NHLPA works out the payday with the IOC.
>
> It's all about $$$$$$
This of course. Which actually is another big reason to not care much about the Olympics afaic!
> They are going once the NHL and NHLPA works out the payday with the IOC.
>
> It's all about $$$$$$
Cheers,
Gerry
gorgo...@gmail.com
Mar 27, 2017, 2:35:54 PM3/27/17
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Yay... without question.
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