The worst is confirmed for the NHL players’ 2022 Olympic dream

It has been confirmed. The National Hockey League and NHLPA have formally announced on Wednesday their decision to not attend the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. The NHL and NHLPA did not make a joint release, making separate statements for the announcement. 

While fans (and probably players) expected it, it is still a tough pill to swallow. This is part of the statement from NHL commissioner Gary Bettman: 

"Our focus and goal have been and must remain to responsibly and safely complete the entirety of the NHL regular season and Stanley Cup Playoffs in a timely manner.”

"Therefore, with stringent health protocols once again in place, we will begin utilizing available dates during the Feb. 6-22 window (originally contemplated to accommodate Olympic participation) to reschedule games that have been, or maybe yet be postponed."

This is what NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr said about the tough decision: 

"Certainly, the players and hockey fans are quite disappointed. But playing a full 82-game season this year, something the pandemic has prevented us from doing since the 2018-19 season, is very important. We expect that NHL players will return to the Olympics in 2026.​"

For weeks chatter hinted at the possibility of players not attending the Winter Games, but on Tuesday evening, the NHLPA was still completing their process of informing players. Several of them, including Pittsburgh Penguins’ Sidney Crosby and Tampa Bay Lightning’s Steven Stamkos expressed their disappointment in missing out on the competition.

The 2022 Winter Olympics are set to run from Feb. 4 - 20, though it remains to be seen what the pandemic will have in store ahead of the event.

Beijing 2022 therefore becomes the second straight Winter Games the NHL has not been a part of, as the league also elected not send players to 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang. The last time NHL players took part in the Olympics was back in 2014 in Sochi, Russia when Canada won the gold medal.