There were as many as a dozen members of the Vancouver Canucks with a realistic shot of representing their countries at the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.
Now, none of them will be going.
According to multiple reports, the NHL and NHLPA have agreed that NHL players will not be participating in the 2022 Olympics in February. The decision comes in the wake of a slew of postponed games.
The NHL postponed a total of 44 games this season due to COVID-19 cases, then suspended operations entirely from December 22 to 25. That includes four games for the Vancouver Canucks — weekend games against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Arizona Coyotes and weekday games against the San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks — though the Canucks not in COVID protocol have continued to practice the last two days before they are forced to shutter operations by the league shutdown.
According to Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford, players were concerned about travelling to the U.S., testing positive for COVID-19 while in the States, then needing to quarantine there. At this time of year, that would have left the players unable to travel back to Vancouver for Christmas with their families.
The number of postponed games was one likely factor into the decision not to go to the Olympics. With so many games to reschedule, using the already-scheduled break for the Olympics to make up at least some of those games makes a lot of sense.
The other, more important, factor is the players’ health and safety. While all (but one) of the players in the NHL are vaccinated, the vaccines appear to offer less protection against the fast-spreading Omicron variant, though a third booster dose appears to help. While initial reports indicate that the Omicron variant leads to milder symptoms, the long-term impact of the variant is not yet known.
The Canucks know that the long-term effects of COVID-19 can be detrimental. Canucks centre Brandon Sutter has been out of the lineup all season with long-haul COVID symptoms.
There have also been concerns regarding China’s COVID protocols, with reports that positive cases might be required to quarantine for up to five weeks. That’s not palatable for either the players, who don’t want to be stuck for over a month in quarantine, or the teams, who don’t want to lose the services of a star player at a crucial time in the season.
An Olympic official has said that the Omicron variant will not force the postponement of the 2022 Olympics the way the 2020 Olympics were postponed until 2021. That means that the NHL players who were hoping to represent their countries will have to wait until 2024 to get another opportunity.
That’s particularly tough for someone like Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning. A broken leg kept him out of the 2014 Olympics, then the NHL kept their players out of the 2018 Olympics. It is entirely possible that one of the best goalscorers in NHL history will never represent Canada in the Olympics.
Most of the Canucks who could have played in the Olympics are on the younger side, so will most likely get another chance. Elias Pettersson was inexplicably not on Team Sweden for the 2018 Olympics before he was in the NHL but is young enough that he should be a staple for Sweden for at least two more Olympic games.
Likewise, Quinn Hughes, Brock Boeser, Thatcher Demko, Nils Höglander, Vasily Podkolzin, Conor Garland, and Arturs Silovs are all still young and should get more Olympic opportunities.
J.T. Miller might have a tougher time cracking Team USA in four years and the same is true for Oliver Ekman-Larsson with Team Sweden. Jaroslav Halak will be 40 in 2024, so might not be an option for Slovakia anymore.
Even Bo Horvat probably had his best shot of playing a depth role for Team Canada here in the prime of his career at 26, even if he was a longshot. In four years, will he even be on Team Canada’s radar?
“I know from experience how special and unique the Olympics are and not only thinking about my experience, but thinking of the guys that haven’t had the opportunity to be part of it and knowing what they could potentially miss,” said Sidney Crosby. “I think just ‘disappointing’ would be the best way to describe it.”
