Meetings fail to solve Olympic puzzle
Commissioner Gary Bettman says decision needed by next month on league’s participation in 2018 Games
PALM BEACH, Fla. — Wayne Gretzky remembered, with incredible precision, what it was like to fly back to North America from the 1998 Olympics in Nagano.
Part of the Team Canada squad that didn’t win a medal, Gretzky recalled the challenge of travelling from Japan, through Vancouver, to New York. He got home on a Tuesday, practised with the New York Rangers a day later and then played in Toronto on Thursday.
“It’s hard on your body,” Gretzky said Friday, recalling the day-to-day schedule accurately while failing to mention his three assists in a 5-2 Rangers win.
For all the logistical challenges the Olympics present, Gretzky believes it’s ultimately worth it for NHL players to attend their sixth consecutive Games in South Korea in 2018.
No decision was reached, however, at the league’s board of governors meetings in Palm Beach this week and it is unclear what the next step will be. All that became clear over two days in Florida was a collective distaste among owners with respect to attending the Olympics again in 2018.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said there was “strong negative sentiment” and ultimately “fatigue” with the event. The group didn’t see the upside of the Olympics and believed it was more of an impediment than a benefit, what with the 17-day season shutdown, potential for injury and costs.
Nothing tangible was gleaned either, Bettman said, from participating in Games outside North America.
“There’s nothing right now,” Bettman said when asked what the next step was in regard to the Olympics. “We’ll see what happens. There’s nothing new from (Thursday) when we discussed it.”
Bettman said time was running short for the NHL to decide whether it would go or not, stating last month that a decision was needed by early January. It took until the summer of 2013, following the lockout, for the league to confirm participation in the 2014 Games. It’s expected that the matter will be discussed again next week.
Now a member of the Edmonton Oilers management team, Gretzky attended this week’s meetings and hopes the league ultimately chooses to attend.
“I happen to love everything about the Olympic Games,” said Gretzky, who also built the Canadian team that won gold in Salt Lake City in 2002.
While acknowledging that there was nothing more exciting in hockey than the Stanley Cup, Gretzky said “the one spectacle that’s really remarkable is the Olympic Games.”
“My opinion is — I told you — I like the Olympic Games, but does that mean that the NHL is going to go? I don’t have a crystal ball, I can’t tell you.”
WILD 3, OILERS 2 (SO)
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Eric Staal scored in the sixth round of a shootout and the Minnesota Wild beat the Edmonton Oilers 3-2 on Friday night.
Matt Dumba and Jason Zucker scored in regulation for Minnesota, which has won three straight.
Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk made 25 saves. He entered with a league-best .946 save percentage and 1.65 goals-against average.
Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had goals for the Oilers, whose four-game losing streak began with a 2-1 home overtime loss to the Wild last Sunday.
Staal scored on a backhand deke before Nugent-Hopkins fired wide in the sixth round of the shootout to end it.