ORLANDO, FLA – It is just hours before the athletes of the world gather in Vancouver, British Columbia for the 21st Olympic Winter Games. Friday, February 12 will usher in the games with the Opening Ceremonies, a lavish display of patriotism mixed with the ideals of sportsmanship, unity and humanity that Baron Pierre de Coubertin envisioned when he founded the Modern Games more than a century ago. Enjoy that unity while it lasts because it may very well be tested between this point in time and four years from now at the next Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. For some of us, the Olympics don’t really start until Tuesday, February 16 when the men’s ice hockey tournament begins (the women’s tournament starts on Saturday, February 13, providing a bit of a prelude to the men’s games). I have a bit more of an interest this year because former Knoxville Ice Bears goalie Ervins Mustukovs and former Orlando Solar Bears forward Herbert Vasiljevs will be wearing the colors of Team Latvia. Both play professionally in Latvia and consider it an honor to play. The key word in that last sentence is professionally. Since 1988, the International Olympic Committee and the IIHF, the international ice hockey governing body, have left it up to individual countries as to whether their teams contain professional players or not. Up until then, the athletes were expected to be “amateurs”. Most countries honored that guideline. Some skirted the rule, leading to an unfair competitive balance and domination of the medal stand. From 1956 thru 1988, the imbalance played into the hands of the Russians. Over the nine Olympic Games in that span, they won seven gold medals. Why? It was said that for much of that time, the Russian team was comprised of members of the Red Army team. They basically were paid to be in the military to play hockey. No country on the planet could match up with them. When someone was able to knock over the Russian team, it was categorized as an upset of monumental proportions. That was the case in 1960 in Squaw Valley, California when a group of college kids from the U.S. led by Bill and Bob Cleary, Bill and Roger Christian, John Mayasich, Jack McCartan and coach Jack Riley beat both the highly favored Canadians and then the vaunted Russians to claim the gold medal (quick quiz: The Clearys were added very late to the U.S. roster. Who were the two players cut to make room?). Twenty years later, in the sleepy hamlet of Lake Placid, New York, the lightning from 1960 returned again. No one had been able to stop the Russians since Squaw Valley until another rag tag bunch of collegiate players rose up to slay the mighty dragon. Team captain Mike Eruzione scored what would prove to be the “goal heard around the world” as the United States won the semifinal game 4-3 and leaving us with ABC announcer Al Michael’s immortal passage “Do you believe in miracles? Yes!” and the pictures of USA goalie Jim Craig tearfully gazing into the stands searching for his father. (For the record, the USA squad won the gold medal two days later, coming from behind to beat Finland, giving a 17-year old kid from Massachusetts one of the best birthday presents ever.) USA coach Herb Brooks (who along with Bob Dupuis were the two players cut in 1960) and his team would later be immortalized in the movie “Miracle”. It would be the last time that any US team made up of amateurs would find a place on the medal stand. Fast forward to 1998. After ten years of sitting on the sidelines, Commissioner Gary Bettman and the NHL decided it was time to allow its players to participate in the Olympics. The argument up to that point had been the timing. Since the Winter Games are held, well, in the winter, allowing NHL players to seek gold would mean putting the regular season on hold. Still, with the success that the NBA enjoyed following the first “Dream Team” at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, Bettman wanted the increased international awareness (and marketing/merchandising dollars) for the NHL. In 1995, Bettman attempted to get the IOC to move the ice hockey tournament to the Summer Games to avoid the hassle of stopping the NHL season (the first ice hockey tournament was part of the 1920 Summer Games in Antwerp, Belgium before being moved to the winter in 1924). When he was rebuffed, Bettman along with Rene Fasel, IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch and then NHLPA chief Bob Goodenow hammered out a deal that would make NHL players available to their home country’s squads starting with the 1998 Games in Nagano, Japan. “”We’re doing this to build the game of hockey, pure and simple. We think whatever benefits are recouped, it will end up making this game bigger, stronger and healthier,” Bettman was quoted as saying at the time. Playing in the Olympics became an item in the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the NHL and the players’ association. Following the lockout season, the negotiated CBA included the 2006 and 2010 Olympic Games. Despite the concerns of some owners – Philadelphia owner Ed Snyder among them – NHL players headed to Turin, Italy for the 2006 Games. It turned out to be a mixed bag as some players declined a chance to play, wanting instead to rest for the two weeks while some who did go came back with injuries that cut into NHL games. Which brings us to now. As Vancouver beckons to us, the future of the Olympics and the NHL is murky at best. Commissioner Bettman and the owners are becoming more vocal in their opposition to the NHL’s participation. They cite the potential of injury, which after 2006, is a very valid point. No team owner wants to see his star player(s) come back with bumps, bruises and/or messed up limbs with playoff positions and a Stanley Cup at stake. Bettman also says that “the benefits we get tend to be greater when the Olympics are in North America than when they’re in distant time zones”. To wit, the NHL has games scheduled on Sunday, February 14th, meaning that players will then have 24-36 hours to join their respective teams. That is far less time than in 2006 when because of the travel to Italy, players needed two or three more days in between the NHL schedule and arriving in Turin. That travel time also plays into a concern that owners have over the actual on-ice play. Since there are differences in the international game, albeit fewer than in years past, players have to mentally change out their NHL style for the international one. Some owners contend that the switch back after the Olympics can take several games, which can be the difference between making and not making the playoffs. Add in the jet lag and physical adjustments that need to be made and it can be a recipe for disaster. Of course, in the Olympic years, the regular season schedule has to be compressed in order to make up for the two week layoff. That can mean teams playing three or four times a week as opposed to two or three in a “normal” year. Hockey is not a game for the dainty and with less time for injuries to heal in between games, the risk of further injury is greater. Finally, and probably most important to the owners and the league, is the break itself. For two straight weeks, the home buildings are dark. No games means no tickets being sold, no concessions, no merchandise being sold. Nothing. The revenue stream is completely shut down. Additionally, it puts the NHL as we know it out of the minds of the casual fans who might on a whim drop a few dollars for a ticket to a game just to check it out. With the economy still reeling, NHL franchises need to mine for every penny they can and without games, the prospects of finding new fans gets hurt. On the other side of the aisle are the players, organizers and hard core hockey fans. Playing professional hockey is the dream of every kid who laces up the skates. For the likes of NHL superstars like Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin and others, the second greatest thing would be to wear the colors of their country in international play. With the NHL involved, these players can have the best of both worlds. Now, with the NHL balking about Sochi, Ovechkin and Malkin, who will both play for Russia in Vancouver, say they will play with or without approval in 2014. The threats by the pair could cast a very long shadow in the showdown over the next CBA, especially if more players sign on to follow them. Olympic organizers like Fasel want to keep the NHL players coming to the Games. Just like the owners, the IOC can see and taste the economic impact of having the greatest players on the planet participating in the grandest showcase on the planet. As long as the NHLers play, the fans will pay top dollar to snatch up tickets and attend, bringing an economic windfall to the host city which, in most cases, is drowning in debt just to host and put on the Olympic Games. As for those fans, it is one of the few times that they can see their favorite players playing for something other than a big, fat paycheck. The Olympics are about national pride (for the most part anyway since some countries have introduced financial incentives into the picture), the one thing that seems to bring out the best in every athlete, be they pros or not. It is the very essence of the Olympic Movement. Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t throw in a political moment here. Over the past couple of years, the NHL has been at odds with the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) in Russia over the subject of transfer agreements. It has caused a major rift that could challenge the Cold War for global ramifications. It has not been lost on hockey people, especially those involved with the KHL, that the NHL and Bettman are talking about bailing on the 2014 Winter Games, which will be held in Russia. KHL president Alexander Medvedev was quoted in 2009 claiming that the NHL’s cold feet for Sochi was “an instrument of pressure” to force the KHL to cave in. There has been an idea floated out in cyberspace that could remedy all of this. It has been suggested that the NHL walk away from the Olympics and focus on the World Cup of Hockey. Make it every four years, alternate it between North America and Europe and play it in late summer or early autumn (like the 2011 World Cup will be) to avoid the NHL season, the proponents say.
Playing the World Cup in August or September would certainly avoid the NHL regular season, a key thing for Bettman and the owners. It could however be argued that teams with players who participate in the World Cup would have an advantage over those that don’t because of the extra training and playing time. Squads that have less than a handful or no World Cup players would be way behind in the conditioning department. So where do I stand? Well, I for one enjoy the Olympic stage. Maybe it is that 17-year old birthday boy who watched the 1980 Olympic gold hanging around Mike Eruzione’s neck as he invited his teammates to celebrate in me but the Olympics have always stood for something. Maybe I’ve been jaded by the professional game where it’s all about the money. Maybe I remember the 2004-2005 lockout/lost season too vividly. Whatever the reason is, I like the fact that the Olympics are not some NHL-staged event. Do I wish the pros were left out in favor of amateurs? Probably, especially since the pro guys from the USA have just one silver medal (2002 Salt Lake City) to show for their efforts. Still, I’d be hard pressed to find the drama and intensity of an Olympic medal round game in an NHL building this time of year. For now, everything is up in the air while we wait for the NHL and the NHLPA to sit down to work on the new CBA. Until then, let’s enjoy these Winter Olympics and may the best (pro) team win. Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com
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