INTERNATIONAL: The National Hockey League confirmed on Wednesday, 22 of December, that it will not permit its players to compete in the men's ice hockey tournament at the Beijing Olympics due to COVID-19 concerns as the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the coronavirus spreads globally.
This will be the second successive Winter Olympics that the NHL have withdrawn their players from, having pulled out from the 2018 Pyeongchang Games over fears of possible player injuries.
The NHL agreed last September to pause its regular season so the world's top players could compete in Beijing with the caveat it could withdraw if COVID-19 disruptions forced games to be rescheduled during the Olympics window.
That had begun looking increasingly likely in recent days with the NHL being forced to postpone 50 games in Canada and the United States after a growing number of players entered COVID-19 protocols while Omicron tore through professional sports leagues with fully vaccinated players testing positive.
Rob Brind’Amour, Carolina Hurrican’s Coach has shared his feelings over the decision:
"On the Olympic thing, if that is the case, in my opinion it was a smart decision, I mean I don't know who would want to go under those circumstances. I just put myself in that situation with the family there's zero chance you would want to get stuck over there."
The NHL had until the tenth of January to withdraw from the Beijing Olympics, held between 4 and 20 February without financial penalty.
Players had mostly been eager to return to the largest international stage. But concerns that a positive test in China could lead to a 21-day quarantine and delay returning to their families and NHL clubs had dampened that enthusiasm for some.
Switzerland's Nino Niederreiter said at a news conference with the Carolina Huricanes, his NHL team:
"Being stuck over there with the whole quarantine situation but at the end of the day you have a chance to represent your country. It's a big honor and you want to do that but at the same time there's a lot at stake so just have to see what the decision is going to be and whatever case it will be we'll see how it goes."
