Bettman Bans Canada ?

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The National Hockey League of the USA has banned all Canadian, and any other international players, from participating in the 2018 Olympics.

http://www.thehockeynews.com/news/a...cipation-and-should-prepare-for-a-legal-fight​

Canada's players, Sweden, Finland, Russia, and so on - all of the fine hockey players who have made 'their' league great - are now not allowed to play for their own countries ? How is that fair ?

The NHL's Commissioner is Gary Bettman.

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He stands 5 feet 7 inches tall, and has never played a game of pro hockey in his pitiful life.

But he's a USAer, so he's a 'betterman' than the rest of us - so he can do whatever he pleases.

Canada's players, and all of the international athletes, have made this creep a lot of money - and this is how we all are treated.

It's ludicrous and shameful - and it's the price any country must pay for dealing with a business based in the USA.

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To be fair, it should be noted that the USA's players are affected by this ridiculous ruling as well.

And that includes a USA player who as a rookie was one of the best players in the League last year - Auston Matthews.

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And he hails from San Ramon, California. Holy crap - so kids these days are honing their skills playing ice hockey on the streets of San Ramon ! What's this about global warming again ?

This young man is an amazing athlete, and a credit to the sport. And he plays for my home team !

So he would be playing for the USA National Team in 2018, if it weren't for the money-grubbing midget Bettman. The USA should put a little pressure on this 'commissioner' - that's what I'd like to see.

And since we're on the topic of hockey - if you want to see hockey played at its highest level of skill, watch the USA and Canadian National Women's teams play against each other. Trust me, those games are played with passion - it's great hockey to see.

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I like that thought, buffyfan - my eldest son and I spar on this one a lot.

They are professionals - okay, so what ? All that seems to mean to me is 'who pays the bills ?' Athletes need to earn a living too. And I think that The Olympics should be about 'the best of the best'.

But this specific situation is a different issue, less philosophical and more about economic fear of athletic 'assets' possibly being injured during international play - if I understand the situation properly.

( And of course I am old enough and patriotic enough to remember when the NHL was based in Montréal - so I'd be fibbing if I denied that my thoughts on the matter are fuelled by national pride. )

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Please explain, What is, "The National "HOKEY" League" anyway? Is it something like "Skee-Ball?" Are there any "Singles Matches?"​

Anna
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Oh my. Well at the time it was apparently a typo, but in hindsight it is a sort of hokey self-involved thing that the NHL is doing.​

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In my opinion, it would serve the League better to consider the greater good of the sport, rather than some immediate bottom-line issue.​

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Unfair as it sounds, we are all judged by our typo's! ​

 

I recall the rule changing a while ago, at least as far as ice hockey is concerned.

A quick look at Wikipedia got me this :

By the early 21st century the Olympic Games and all the major team sports accepted professional competitors. However, there are still some sports which maintain a distinction between amateur and professional status with separate competitive leagues. The most prominent of these are golf and boxing. In particular, only amateur boxers could compete at the Olympics up to 2016.​

I get the concept of 'amateurism' and the purity of sport and all that, but really can it be enforced ? And if it could, then it would diminish the stature of the Olympics as the 'best of the best' I would think.

But who knows - maybe after this NHL stuff, perhaps they will go back to the 'amateur only' rule.

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Umm, what about the old basketball dream team??? I know none of those were amateurs, so have that changed things since then??

 

No - the 'amateurism' take on the situation is just a smokescreen. The real issue is greed.

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So what you are saying the NHL is saying, "Do as we say not as we do" correct or did I totally misread everything?

 

The NHL are trying to protect what their Commissioner sees as its 'human assets'.

First, they don't like the idea of sharing the costs to have the players participate - despite the fact that participation benefits the sport.

And, they are concerned that a player may become injured during competition - which clearly would 'impact their revenue stream'.

It's a sick joke. This creep Bettman has never played hockey, and all that his narrow mind can understand is debits and credits.

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Those teams were amazing to watch play.

And putting all the other stuff aside, those original sest of games between our Countries significantly raised the level of the game of ice hockey.

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