Olympic ice hockey thread

Love that Canada won, could do without the same IKEA jokes and insufferable "WE ARE CANADIAN" hosers who need to get a life.

 

It aired during the Saturday afternoon broadcast. About a 35-minute piece, IIRC.

You can see it on www.NBCOlympics.com and click on the tab at the top labeled "video" and scroll down a few spots on the right of that screen.

 

Thanks, Mark.

 

If you enjoyed that tournament, remember it fondly, as there are apparently enough owners kicking and screaming about going dark for three weeks that the NHL is considering pulling the plug on the Olympic break.

http://wintergames.ap.org/article/canadas-olympic-hockey-win-could-be-nhl-farewell

They've forgotten why they did this in the first place -- as a marketing ploy, and a much-needed and brilliant one.

 

NBC which pays the NHL $2 billion a year, wants the NHL players in the Olympics. So the owners may be saved from their own short-sighted greed and arrogant stupidity out of fear of losing REAL money.

 

And CBC or the Rogers/Bell consortium - whoever ends up with the 2018 Canadian broadcast rights - will want it too. The new Canadian NHL TV deal puts a ton of whip out in NHL owners' pockets too.

 

I cannot agree with this more.

 

I personally like having the NHL players in the Olympics, just like having the NBA players in the summer Olympics. But if were a team owner who just watched his star player get injured (and still have to pay him, of course), I might feel differently.

 

Several NHL owners contend the big problem is the IIHF refuses to compensate the NHL (financially) for players who get injured during the Olympics?

Hasn't anybody ever heard of 'insurance?'

 

Boy, that would be a slippery slope. What about World Championships? What about injuries to athletes in other sports?

The thing I have always found amusing is that a lot of the top NHL guys almost trip over themselves for the chance to play. The top NBA guys, it seems, have to be begged and bribed sometimes to get them to play.

 

Presumably the players in any big-money sport are covered under some kind of insurance (if not they should be; somebody has to get busy and write the policies).

Of course that doesn't help on the ice (or court) if your best player blows an ACL at midseason, but at least you have some kind of coverage on the contract.

The last 2-3 Olympics, most of the NBA players invited have played. Very few players bail out.

 

Underwent a major reorganization after 2004, led by ex-Suns owner Jerry Colangelo. He bought the stars back.