New info from the IOC may put Olympic Hockey in jeopardy.

For weeks now we have been hearing about increasing concerns among the National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Players Association regarding Olympic participation in Beijing, China. There are a number of reasons for those concerns including human rights issues that have resulted in diplomatic boycotts from a number of countries, including the United States of America and Canada, but perhaps a more immediate concern for the players in the NHL are the rules surrounding Covid-19.

Previously I had heard that players could face a lockdown of up to 3 weeks in China should they test positive for Covid-19, but a report on Saturday from NHL insider Chris Johnston has bumped that up to as much as 5 weeks now. The news comes directly from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and is in accordance with current Chinese law.

This could prove to be a major issue for NHL players who could forfeit a significant amount of salary in the event that they would be stuck in China under these circumstances, especially when you consider just how much salary a span of 5 weeks could represent for many of the players that will be participating in this best on best type of format. According to Johnston, as a result of these revelations there is now a call expected in the near future that will feature the IOC, NHL, NHLPA, and the IIHF to review these matters.

Johnston believes, as do I, that this could prove to be a major hurdle for the players. In fact I suspect that this will lead to at least a few players reconsidering the possibility of going overseas, something that we have already seen at the NHL level this season.

Las Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Robin Lehner seems to have taken a role as a leader among the players when it comes to matters such as these, and he announced last week that he would not be participating in the Olympics over concerns regarding potential isolation in China after a positive test.

Keep in mind that this decision was made by Lehner prior to today's news, which leads me to believe that more players may follow suite.