Olympics could be hot topic in next round of NHL CBA talks

Going to the Olympics was a life-changing experience for T.J. Oshie, a shootout star for the United States against Russia in Sochi.

Oshie and dozens, if not hundreds, of NHL stars are disappointed they won’t get a chance to do it again at the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea. He would like to ensure Olympic participation in the future — but not at any cost.

“To what end, like what we would have to give up?” Oshie said. “Now you’re talking about an entire league of players and families potentially losing out on whatever it would be.”

Because Olympic participation wasn’t written into the collective bargaining agreement signed in 2013, the decision rested with NHL owners, who decided against going to Pyeongchang after the league participated in the previous five Games. With the first chance for players or owners to opt out of the CBA now two years away, the Olympics, escrow payments and the draft age look like they are bound to be among the hot topics.

NHL Players’ Association executive director Donald Fehr said owners choosing to skip the 2018 Olympics “is a thorn, is a sore” for players and is “not going to be forgotten.”

The future of the game likely will involve increased international events that help grow revenue and spread hockey’s influence around the world.

The Los Angeles Kings and Vancouver Canucks recently played in Shanghai and Beijing, site of the 2022 Olympics, with the NHL attempting to make inroads in China.

The NHL and NHLPA staged the return of the World Cup of Hockey last year in Toronto, and the Colorado Avalanche and Ottawa Senators will play two games in Sweden in November.

Fehr said the NHL has “for some time now indicated a lot more interest in China” than in Korea. But commissioner Gary Bettman said in several meetings with Chinese businesses and government entities “not one of them asked about the Olympics because what we’re doing isn’t about two weeks.”