While I consider myself to be more of a Summer Olympics fan, without a doubt my favorite sport over the past few Olympics whether it be in the Winter or Summer games has been the men's ice hockey. What makes this event so good is that these are legit all-star teams and the level of competition is awesome to watch. Another reason why I enjoy this event so much is that one week earlier a lot of these players were teammates with players they are now competing against. With all that being said there seems to be a lot of chatter that in the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea NHL players won't be allowed to participate. Many feel that the owners don't want the players to play as they don't want to give up another 17 days in the middle of the season and have the added risk of one of their star players getting injured. While I don't blame the owners for this, I do think it will hurt hockey as an Olympic sport and turn it into the winter version of Olympic Soccer. The only way I wouldn't totally mind this decision is if hockey started a World Cup style tournament every 2 or 4 years in the summer, similar to what soccer has.
The main reason I am writing this Rant however is because if the pros weren't allowed to play then college/amateur players from the various countries would be the most likely replacements. As a BC alum and die hard fan of the hockey program this could have a huge impact. For instance if the Sochi Olympics this year had college/amateur players, there is a very good chance that the Gaudreau-Hayes-Arnold line would be the top line for team USA. Also, Thatcher Demko may have been one of the goalies chosen for USA and Michael Matheson very well may have been a defenseman on team Canada. All these guys were all keys to BC's Beanpot victory on Monday night, but had they been in the Olympics they wouldn't have been able to play in the game.
The question now becomes if Olympic hockey decides to use college/amateur kids what would be the commitment? Would they pull the college kids from their respective team for instance deep in the season as conference battles heat up? Or would they do what the current women's teams in the Olympics do where the collegiate players take a year off from school and playing hockey for their college and totally focus on preparing for the Olympics with their national team? I know college teams lose players to the World Junior Championships each year, but usually that means the players only miss 2-3 games as it occurs over college hockey's winter break where the only games being played are the various small holiday tournaments. The Olympics on the other hand occur in mid February with only a couple weeks left in the college hockey regular season.
I know the 2018 Olympics are still 4 years away, but it will be very interesting to see what the NHL decides on this matter in the coming months. Anyways, I will close by saying Go USA! and Go Eagles!
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