We are about to find out whether or not NHL will be heading to South Korea next year...and it doesn't look good...unless you believe in what some are saying about the negotiations...
Bill Daly will meet with Rene Fasel at the NHL offices on Wednesday and while most are reporting that no news is bad news, I still fully believe we will indeed see a negotiation.
This is all about the money.
The NHL actually does like sending their players to the Olympics. They like the amount of publicity that comes from such a giant stage. The recent World Cup of Hockey was wonderful "fan service" and loved by the kind of people who are reading Hockeybuzz.com on a Monday, but when it comes to growing the game...they were basically ineffective... and no one really expected them to be much more than they were.
The World Cup was an experiment in every way...From the NHL dipping their toe into the ESPN pool again, to the creation of European and North American teams, to playing all of the games in Toronto...All of which were entertaining but defeated the purpose of a world competition... I was there and I can tell you players on team North America especially (despite enjoying the experience) talked of wishing they were pulling over the team Canada or team USA jersey.
So here come the Olympics again... A great way to grow the game, and the kind experience NHL players can't get enough of. But again it's about money. In the past the NHL hasn't had to pay insurance or travel costs for the players attending... That works out to about $10 million. It's a lot of money, but also a lot of bang for the buck.
So far the IOC has offered zero. Nada. Zilch... But you don't come to town offering nothing. If you used to pay $10 million and the now you're offering nothing...Why would you be making this last ditch effort to save the possibility NHL players in the Olympics and remain a partner with the NHL?
The IOC knows the NHL gets marketing out of this, and may be looking to cut that number down..not just eliminate it. I keep hearing talk of the insurance being covered but not the travel costs... or vice versa.
Essentially, they're testing the NHL to see what this is REALLY worth to them. Right now it's a game of chicken, and we all know the NHL doesn't love chicken. (see lockouts) This will get very interesting and could become quite contentious in the next week or so...
So that leaves us with two questions to answer.
#1: Is either side prepared to just walk away from this? I could argue the IOC is more prepared, because they are currently holding the cards. #2. Is it worth the NHL going to these Olympics? Answer that question for me, and realize that staying away from these Olympics doesn't mean we will never again see NHLers in the Olympics. The next Olympics are in China. I really don't see the IOC saying, "if you don't come to South Korea you can't come to China."
Having the best players in the Olympics is a great thing for the Olympics. Always.
So what do you think?
We will discuss this in more on today's podcast at 1 PM Eastern time.
Listen to the HockeyBuzzCast on #iTunes w/ @eklund @mikeinbuffalo @sportsology @DanDanNoodles78 @fisherjillian https://t.co/4Vc8NnpljX #NHL
— Michael Augello (@MikeInBuffalo) April 26, 2016