Gary Bettman hints at skipping the Olympics once again.

The National Hockey League's commissioner has just made a great many hockey fans very upset, and something tells me that the players currently playing for him in the NHL are not going to be too happy about these comments either. 

The NHL and the Olympics have not been a hot button issue as of late due in large part to the fact that we are still years away from the possibility of seeing Olympic hockey once again, however it was a major issue back in 2018 when the National Hockey League decided it would forgo the Winter Olympic Games in Korea in order to preserve the integrity of the NHL season. It was a move that the league had hinted at for a long time but when it was made official players, pundits and fans of the game were left stunned at the fact that the top players in the world would not be participating. 

It became a major issue for players and by extension the National Hockey League's Players Association and although it was discussed at length after the fact no resolution has been proposed as of yet. The games are still 2 years away so the lack of a resolution may not seem like a pressing matter, but it may very well be for Rene Fasel and the Olympic Committee. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman met with members of the assembled media ahead of the NHL's Skill Competition at the NHL's All Star Weekend event and he was asked about the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing China, and needless to say the answer he gave has not gone over well thus far. 

"From our standpoint, we believe and our experience both with going to 5 Olympics and then not going to Pyeongchang, tells us that going is extraordinarily disruptive to the season," began Bettman as per TSN. "I won't take you through the litany reasons why, you've all heard me say it, so I know it maintains itself as a priority for the Players Association but having said that we are very comfortable with not going."

This could merely be a negotiating ploy on the part of Gary Bettman but he has shown time and time again, both when it comes to the Olympics as well as lockouts in the NHL, that calling his bluff simply will not work.