聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 Well it looks as though there will be no NHL players in the Olympics. I remember hearing a little bit about how they make too much money to be leant out to the Olympics where they may be injured, thus coming home and being out of the line-up.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 NHL players are also paid quite large sums of money to perform for their teams, so any time they spend overseas with Olympic competition is time they鈥檙e not at their home rink.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 However, the Olympics were originally created for amateur athletes to partake in, so perhaps this is somewhat going back to the roots of the organization?
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Well, not really鈥� instead of NHL professionals playing, athletes from professional teams in Russia, Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, and the Czech Republic, along with Canadian junior players, and AHL players will be representing Canada at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, 麻豆视频 Korea.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Canada is currently ranked number one as a medal contender for the 2018 Winter Games, with Willie Desjardins as coach and Sean Burke as General Manager.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 In an article written by Tim Wharnsby with CBC, 鈥淐anada has plenty of depth playing in Russia and Switzerland. Burke and his scouts will keep an eye on the junior loops at home.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 But, will people watch Olympic hockey without the big names? I remember watching when they were in Salt Lake City in 2002鈥� It was amazing to me to see Mario Lemieux, Jarome Iginla, Adam Foote, Theo Fleury, Martin Brodeur, Steve Yzerman, Joe Sakic, and Eric Lindros all on the same team! Or in 2010 when you have Martin Brodeur, Sidney Crosby, Ryan Getzlaf, Jarome Iginla, Brenden Morrow, Roberto Luongo, Chris Pronger, Jonathan Toews, and Patrick Marleau all on the same team.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 They brought a tune-in factor of their own to the Olympic Games and I do somewhat wonder if viewership will go down because of this. However, I know that Canadians love their hockey鈥� I鈥檓 terrible at skating, never really liked it, but I enjoy watching the sport, so despite the Olympics being worried about this initially when the NHL stated they wouldn鈥檛 be allowing players to compete, I don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 going to be as big of a deal.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 People in Canada will still watch and hope that those representing our country at the competition are successful鈥� I mean I end up watching Track and Field events just because Canadian athletes are competing.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The Olympics brings people together. There鈥檚 an instant connection when you鈥檙e all cheering for your country鈥檚 team to win and a friendly rivalry if you end up watching the Games when your team is competing against someone else鈥檚.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 So, I鈥檒l still be tuning in to see just how our Canadians are doing and I鈥檒l be watching both the men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 hockey.
