TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman said it would be an honor to represent his homeland of Sweden in the Olympics, calling the men’s ice hockey tournament “as good as it gets on the international level.”
That was in 2013.
He still hasn’t gone.
He might never go.
Hedman was inexplicably snubbed from Sweden’s 2014 Olympic squad and then sat out the 2018 Winter Games when the NHL couldn’t cut a deal with the IOC and forbade its players from going to Pyeongchang.
As part of the collective bargaining agreement extension agreed to last summer, the NHL and the NHLPA committed to participate in the 2022 and 2026 Winter Olympics, “subject to negotiation of terms acceptable to each of the NHL, NHLPA, and IIHF (and/or IOC).” But on Monday, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said time is running short on securing those terms for the Beijing Games next February. He doesn’t know if they’re going after all.
“We have real concerns about whether or not its sensible to have our players participating and us shutting down for an Olympic break,” he said.
Hedman hadn’t heard about Bettman’s comments when I asked him about them. The veteran let out an exasperated chuckle and then it appeared any semblance of happiness had evacuated his body.
(“I think you broke the best defenseman in the world,” texted one fellow hockey writer.)
“The Olympics is one of the biggest dreams of mine and I haven’t been able to participate in one. This might be the last chance I get. That sucks to hear,” Hedman said. “When you get an opportunity to represent your country on the biggest stage, it’s one of those things that you’ll probably never forget. For me, it’s obviously something I’ve been dreaming about my whole life and something I want to do before I hang up my skates.”
He’s not alone in his potential disappointment. Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh, who played for the U.S. in Sochi, said “it would be a shame for sure if players weren’t allowed the opportunity to play” and “I would hate for the opportunity to be taken away.”
Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid, having just been unanimously voted the Hart Trophy winner as league MVP, said he was “under the impression that the league was going to do everything in its power and that we would be going” to Beijing and that he “fully planning on going, if I’m lucky enough to make the team.”
(Oh Connor. Humility like that will get you the Lady Byng Trophy one day.)
“I think when we signed our last CBA, the players were really pushing for a commitment from the league to allow us to go to the Olympics. It’s my understanding that we got that commitment and as players we’re expecting to go,” said McDavid. “We’re expecting the league to make that happen.”
So why might it not happen?
There have been basic disagreements between the NHL and the IOC on a variety of issues through the years, ranging from insurance costs to accommodations for players and their families to what sort of marketing and media rights to the NHL feels its entitled to have for loaning its players to another business entity so it can make a profit.
“We have worked through a lot of the basic issues,” said NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly on Monday.
Yet enough remain that the NHL is worried that there isn’t enough time left to commit to the Olympics. Sources have told me there are two schedules prepared: One with an Olympic break, and one without one. Contrary to popular belief, the league’s announcement of the 2022 NHL All-Star Game in Las Vegas doesn’t mean they aren’t going to China — the All-Star Game is happening even if they go to the Olympics, despite it being postponed in the past during Olympic years.
The NHL says it wants to have a 2021-22 schedule in place by the end of July, presumably before the entry draft on July 23. “It’s reaching the point that we’re getting concerned about the impact on next season because of the uncertainty. We were already past the time where we hoped that it would be resolved,” said Bettman.
I know this sounded like the NHL was searching for an escape hatch for their 2022 commitments. It’s absolutely true that the Board of Governors, by and large, are against shutting down the season for Olympic participation. If the NHLPA came to them tomorrow and said “hey, we’re not feeling Beijing,” the NHL would agree to not go to the Olympics before the final syllable of “Beijing” dropped.
The NHLPA of course wants to go, and I get the sense that they believe the NHL is sincerely committed to going — or at least making a good faith effort to do so, like they said they would in the CBA. Yet it’s undeniable that things have changed on two fronts since that deal was made.
The first is the U.S. broadcasting rights deal. Talks between the NHL, NHLPA and the IOC regarding marketing issues stretch back to Feb. 2020, when it was assumed that the Winter Olympics in 2022 and 2026 would air on the same network as NHL games. But that’s no longer the case: NBC has the Olympics, but the NHL has moved to ESPN and Turner for the next seven seasons.
The sense I get is that without NBC in their corner, the NHL may have more difficulty in trying to leverage rights to things like game highlights, which are critical to the league’s interest in participating in the Olympics. For example, the fact that Sidney Crosby‘s “Golden Goal” in 2010, T.J. Oshie‘s shootout goals in 2014 and either of the medal ceremonies from those Games aren’t allowed on any NHL-owned platform is absolutely preposterous.
Giving the NHL rights to that footage is the bare minimum kickback that should be expected from the IOC.
The second variable is the COVID pandemic, which continues to impact the globe with new variants and a lack of vaccinations in many countries.
“There are a couple remaining open issues,” said Daly. “One has to do with the continued uncertainty of the Games, with respect to what the rules will be associated with the Games — whether there will be spectators, whether there won’t be spectators. How the Tokyo Games this summer may impact how the Beijing Games are run.”
The NHL and the NHLPA feel their COVID protocols and safeguards are satisfactory. They’ve always been squeamish about the health of their players at a tournament they don’t manage. What happens if a player tests positive for COVID during the Olympics? What happens if they’re symptomatic? What are the protocols? The idea of a player being stuck in quarantine in China as the NHL regular season restarts is less than ideal.
“There are COVID-related insurance issues that are important to the players and the clubs and the league alike, and their families,” Daly added.
Then there’s the ultimate question: Would the NHL allow its players to go to the Olympics if the U.S. and Canada boycott Beijing over human rights abuses?
Yeah, we’re guessing that’d be a “no.”
Yet given all of these issues, these obstacles and the ticking clock, the sense I still get in speaking to sources is one of optimism, that the NHL will go to China.
Part of that optimism is the belief that the IOC learned its lesson after the 2018 men’s hockey tournament in PyeongChang was an absolute flop without NHL players involved. For example, in the U.S., the men’s hockey final didn’t even air on broadcast television: The Olympic Athletes From Russia’s gold medal win over Germany aired on cable and was down 76% in ratings and 71% in viewership from 2014.
The Olympic hockey horse has left the barn for the IOC.
The other source of optimism is that unlike in 2018, it was collectively bargained that the NHL do its absolute best to go. Maybe it’s naivety that the league would come through on that vow, but a promise made could still be a promised kept.
“We negotiated in good faith with the Players Association last summer. We agreed that if the conditions were right and we could reach an agreement on all the material issues, that we would commit and support going to the Olympics. That remains our position,” said Daly.
If I were a betting man instead of just playing one on TV, I would wager that NHL players will be in Beijing competing in the men’s hockey tournament next February. It’s frankly unfathomable that the NHL and IOC would botch the chance for a best-on-best tournament featuring Team Canada with Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby vs. arguably the most talented U.S. Olympic team we’ve ever seen vs. Alex Ovechkin chasing Olympic gold with Russia vs. Hedman and the very talented Swedes.
Sure, we could get those matchups in another World Cup of Hockey.
But Olympic gold is always going to feel heavier.
Unfortunately, the IOC knows this when it comes to the NHL and the NHLPA.
“The Olympics kind of has you by the balls, because they know they’re the Olympics,” said a source familiar with the negotiations. “You can go over what’s fair or not fair, and what does or does not make sense, but at the end of the day guys want to be Olympians. And the only way you can be an Olympian is if you go. That’s how you end up with free labor, from guys that don’t otherwise play for free.”
Jersey Foul of the week
From the Montreal Canadiens‘ win over the Vegas Golden Knights:
On a scale of 1 to atrocious, where is this jersey foul?? 😳 pic.twitter.com/7DDXgfHWZu
— Bring Hockey Back (@BringHockeyBack) June 29, 2021
We file this under the Humbled Rival Foul category, in which fans of a team eliminated in humiliating fashion can legally conscript themselves into the victorious team’s fan base. Such as these Toronto fans, who have swapped their Maple Leafs for the Habs.
Three things about the NHL Awards
1. Two pleasant surprises in Tuesday’s unveiling of the final NHL Awards. The first was Adam Fox of the New York Rangers winning the Norris Trophy as the league’s top defenseman. I voted him first overall, but wasn’t sure that the rest of the Professional Hockey Writers Association voters had seen enough of him to put him over a pair of better-known defenseman in Colorado’s Cale Makar and Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman — especially in a pandemic season in which teams played only within their divisions. He’s only the second defenseman to win the Norris in his first or second season in the NHL. The other one? Some guy named Bobby Orr. I’ve heard he’s a frequent crossword puzzle clue.
The other surprise, and for my money a more significant one: Marc-Andre Fleury of the Vegas Golden Knights winning the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goalie. This was the first time in his 17-season career that the NHL general managers who vote on the award made him a finalist. I truly thought they’d go back to Andrei Vasilevskiy here, as the de facto MVP of the Tampa Bay Lightning. But they honored Fleury for his great numbers (.928 save percentage, 1.98 goals-against average) and his resurgent season after losing his gig in the 2020 playoff bubble. Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. This tweet from Robin Lehner was also fantastic:
We knew where it was going. Great season partner! congrats on this amazing achievement. Truly deserve it 🌸 🐐 There was some magic to that sword 🗡 ehh @walsha ? 😂 ❤️ pic.twitter.com/GFyPIlSIB5
— Robin Lehner (@RobinLehner) June 30, 2021
2. We almost had two unanimous winners this season. Edmonton star Connor McDavid became the only unanimous Hart Trophy winner in the award’s 97-year history outside of Wayne Gretzky in 1981-82, which is pretty cool. But Minnesota’s Kirill Kaprizov won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year with 99 first-place votes out of 100.
The lone dissenting vote? Per Bjurman, a U.S.-based hockey writer for Sweden’s Aftonbladet.
I’ve known Bjurman for years, and as luck would have it, he was a few seats down from me in the press box in Tampa. So I sidled over to him, dramatically placed my bag down and lowered myself into the seat next to his, and asked: “Why’d you put Dallas Stars forward Jason Robertson over Dolla Dolla Kirill, Per?”
He said he’d been asked that all day after the PHWA ballots were released. The conventional thinking was that this must have been some kind of protest vote: that Kaprizov’s age (24) or his six seasons playing in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League before joining the NHL were unpalatable to Bjurman.
But he told me that despite the considerable hype for Kaprizov’s season and his statistical advantages over Robertson — leading him in goals, assists, points and points per game — he considered the Calder to be a coin flip between the two rookies. He decided in the end that Robertson was better overall.
Hey, it might not be the right call for me or you or many other people, but it was based on a view of on-ice performance rather than ancillary controversies. I respect that.
3. The ballots from Emily Kaplan and me can be found here on the PHWA website. I think the 100 voters who were honored to have a ballot — because of the pandemic, the number of voters was restricted to 20 for each division and 20 at-large — did a very respectable job. Nothing too egregious or outlandish, with a few exceptions. Still don’t get that first-place vote for Kris Letang for the Norris Trophy.
Winners and losers of the week
Winner: Blake Coleman
Okay, one more look at this FANTASTIC Blake Coleman (@BColes25) buzzer beater. 🔥 #StanleyCup
🇺🇸: https://t.co/np5dchXdBh @NHLonNBCSports
🇨🇦: https://t.co/ZCJTr4QXFR @Sportsnet pic.twitter.com/wtII3WkRVX— NHL (@NHL) July 1, 2021
Lightning coach Jon Cooper mentioned that Coleman’s Game 2 buzzer-beater made him think about a similar one-handed desperation goal in the bubble against Boston last postseason. It made me think of this goal against the Winnipeg Jets when he was with the New Jersey Devils. “It’s just kind of a reflex, really. I don’t think anyone’s really planning to dive on the ice. But in that moment, that was all I had. I don’t know why these goals happen,” said Coleman.
Loser: Ben Chiarot
The Canadiens defenseman has been on the ice for half of the Lightning’s even-strength goals in the Stanley Cup Final. He’s knocked a puck behind Carey Price with his glove. He was absolutely victimized by Barclay Goodrow on the Blake Coleman goal. Just a nightmare start to the final round.
Winner: Predators fans
While the NHL decided not to hold at a Stadium Series game in Raleigh next season, it did decide that it was finally time to give an outdoor game to the party people of Nashville next season. That is going to be some kind of tailgate. It’s also the first outdoor game ever for the Tampa Bay Lightning, and no doubt some Bolts fans will find their way up to the home of the Titans for this one.
Loser: Canadiens fans
Quebec public health authorities denied the Canadiens’ request on Wednesday to increase fan capacity for Games 3 and 4 of the Stanley Cup Final from 3,500 fans to around 10,500. Meanwhile, they’re playing road games in Florida, where the building is basically at capacity. “Obviously, I know they’d love to be in the building. But it’s just not the case in the world we’re living in right now,” said Nick Suzuki of Montreal.
Winner: Dave Hakstol
His name had been kept out of the public as a candidate for the Seattle Kraken coaching job, so it was a stunner to see the former Philadelphia Flyers coach get this plum gig. No matter how he landed it, the Kraken are an incredibly well-funded and forward-thinking organization that he’s joining. Plus, how fun is it to be a coach during the expansion draft, right?
Loser: Rick Tocchet
The NHL coaching musical chairs stopped, and Rick Tocchet is out of a job. The former Arizona Coyotes coach was the runner-up for at least four different gigs, including that Kraken job. Now he’s in limbo … well, at least until someone fires their coach midseason and needs Tocchet’s unique charms to reinvigorate the roster.
Winner: Reaching new audiences
Josh Richards, 19, is a hockey fan from Toronto who also happens to be an influencer on TikTok with over 25 million followers and 2 million followers on Twitter. He was hired as a “special adviser to the NHL” to help with fan development.
I’ve seen countless opinions about the hire that don’t really seem to understand the makeup of his audience, or that of TikTok, demographically. Suffice it to say: When we’re all complaining about how the hockey fan base isn’t young enough or diverse enough, or that the NHL is staggeringly uncool, working with people like Richards is a good thing. Especially when he has a knack for building audiences and authentically wants to help grow the league, rather than just being someone gobbling up an appearance fee from the NHL. We’ve seen enough of those.
Loser: Reading the room
All of that said, Josh Richards does a podcast with Dave Portnoy of Barstool Sports, which remains a divisive entity among hockey fans (and humans). That association sparked an immediate backlash on social media and for columnists like Ken Campbell: “So we can only assume that the NHL, while trumpeting all its efforts at diversity and inclusion, is comfortable with the fact that its new hire participates in a podcast called BFFs with Dave Portnoy, the controversial founder of Barstool Sports, a platform that has been embroiled in controversy and called out amid claims of racism and misogyny,” he wrote on his new Substack under a headline that read “The NHL is either incompetent or tone deaf.”
Winner: Jonathan Toews
I wasn’t too vocal about the things I went through this year. I appreciate the understanding and support and wanted to share this message on where I’m at. pic.twitter.com/3qgftKki10
— Jonathan Toews (@JonathanToews) June 30, 2021
The best news of the week. Hockey is a better place with Jonathan Toews as an active participant in it.
Puck headlines
In case you missed this from your friends at ESPN
My ode to the old hockey barn, the Nassau Coliseum, where nostalgic feels meet asbestos warnings.