Nhlers Sochi-bound to defend title
Agreement reached between NHL, NHLPA and IIHF
Four years after The Golden Goal, Sidney Crosby will indeed get his shot at The Repeat In Russia.
With the game’s biggest stars like Crosby having called for a return to the Olympics, the NHL, the NHL Players’ Association and the International Ice Hockey Federation finally came to an agreement on Friday, paving the way for Sid The Kid and his Team Canada teammates to defend their 2010 title. But it won’t be easy. Led by the dynamic enigmatic Alexander Ovechkin, the Russians will be doing everything in their power to win the tournament on home soil. The Americans, victims of Crosby’s overtime winner in the championship game in Vancouver, will be out for revenge, while Sweden, Finland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic must also be considered legitimate contenders.
“It doesn’t seem like three years ago,” Crosby told QMI Agency recently concerning his Golden Goal against Team USA goalie Ryan Miller that gave Canada the title with a 3-2 victory.
“Everyone that has gone (to the Olympics) knows what the experience is like,” he said. “I see it as something that everyone wants to be part of. It’s great hockey.”
While issues such as time differences and television proved to be hiccups in negotiations, in the end all sides ended up finding common ground.
“The decision to participate in the XXII Olympic Winter Games in Sochi was in many ways a difficult one, but one that we know will be well received by our players and, most i mportantly, by the vast majority of our fans and sports fans everywhere,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement.
The NHL season will take a 17-day Olympic break from Feb. 9-26. It will be the fifth Winter Games NHLers have taken part in since they were first allowed to represent their countries in 1998.
Canada has fared well on this side of the Atlantic, winning both tournaments held in North America – Salt Lake City in 2002 and Vancouver in 2010. However, they have failed to win medals in two events held overseas, including finishing fourth in Nagano, Japan, in 1998 and sixth in Turin, Italy, in 2006.
“The players are very pleased that an agreement has been reached that will allow the world’s best hockey players to compete at the Winter Games in February,” NHLPA executive director Don Fehr said in a statement. “Having the opportunity to wear their nation’s sweater in Sochi is something the players look forward to.”
Canada will be in Group B along with Austria, Finland and Norway. Group A is made up of the United States, Russia, Slovakia and Slovenia.
Group C is comprised of the Czech Republic, Sweden, Switzerland and Latvia.
Canada opens the Olympic tournament Feb. 13 against Norway, followed by games against Austria on Feb. 14 and Finland on Feb. 16.