NHL stars might not play at Sochi 2014
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National Hockey League fans should savour the sight of top stars playing for their homelands at the 2010 Winter Olympics because the NHL has made no promise to shut down again for Sochi's 2014 Games.
Russia's Alex Ovechkin and Canada's Sidney Crosby will be among the NHL talent on display in Vancouver next week as the league takes a mid-season Olympic break for the fourth, and perhaps final, time.
"Nothing is set after this year," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said recently in Calgary.
"At the appropriate time, we'll sit down with the (NHL) Players' Association and decide what is best for our game to do."
The NHL's union contract ends in September of next year and the fate of Olympic hockey could be tied into the talks for a new labour agreement.
While a final decision from NHL club owners could be many months away, Bettman hinted at a potential fight to come by saying the benefits for the league to Olympic competition might be less for owners in Russia in 2014.
"It's difficult for any business to shut down for two weeks with the attendant loss of attention and everything that flows from that," Bettman said.
Washington Capitals star Ovechkin has already said that he will play for Russia in the 2014 Olympics no matter what, calling it his duty.
Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin and other NHL stars from Russia have said they want to as well.
There is also an injury risk. Club owners do not want to risk injuries to elite players at an Olympics with six more weeks of regular-season games and two months of playoff games yet to be played.
"We have to decide, on balance, is it worth it?" Bettman said. "What role are we going to have on the world stage? That's a very complicated question because at some point, we have to decide whether it is worth it."
Some clubs will lose more players than others to the many national teams on display. That could produce a competitive disadvantage when NHL play resumes.
International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge called for the NHL to continue to send players to the Olympics last month.
"It's important for the Olympic Games to have the NHL, but also I think it's important for the NHL to have their stars shine in the Olympics," Rogge said.
These will be the first Olympics played on NHL-sized rinks rather than wider Olympic ones.
