The NHL Must Allow Its Players To Compete In The Olympics
The National Hockey League must allow its best players to compete for their national teams in the Olympics. International competition is a chance for players to create lifelong memories for their nation in the sport. The passion that you play with when you represent your country just cannot be compared to when you represent a professional team. The NHL has also missed an opportunity to grow the sport of hockey around the world.
The NHL is not alone among the US dominated major North American sports leagues in not viewing international competition as important. Foreigners rarely even challenge the US’ B or C teams in international basketball and baseball. Canada has been dominant in hockey. The US and its little brother Canada often understandably don’t view foreigners as worthy competitors in their sports. Or at least, that was how it used to be.
While USA basketball’s C team still won Olympic gold in 2020 with barely any time together, international basketball is getting more competitive. USA’s C team won the 2017 World Baseball Classic, but the newest edition promises to be the most exciting yet, even without a full strength US team. And Olympic hockey has been quite competitive, despite Canada winning 3 of the last 4 gold medals in which the best players of each nation played.
The fans want to see best on best hockey, as do the players. And no, not in a gimmicky way that we saw in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. In this tournament, we saw an under 23 North American team and a European All Star team compete. Could you imagine if the soccer World Cup had that? It would be a scandal. Not only did it lessen the credibility of the competition, it weakened the US and Canadian team for no logical reason.
Who would root for the under 23 North American team anyway? Only Americans and Canadians, but then they’d root for their actual national teams first. How bizarre must it have felt for a young Dylan Larkin to have to play for North American all stars, instead of for the United States? The team Europe also disrespected the random European nations by combining them as if they were one country. Not that Europe deserves much respect in hockey or in sports in general.
USA and their sidekick Canada’s indifference to international competitions is not a good thing. It leads to them sending weakened teams, which are then sometimes beaten by foreign nations. And then, many fans from those nations try to claim that they are at USA (and Canada in hockey’s) level. It’s quite annoying. Foreigners must be reminded how far they lag behind the US in sports and that the only time the US isn’t the best in a sport is if other nations care much more about said sport.
We also need to see the best play the best. When that happens in hockey, sometimes the Europeans can keep up with the USA and Canada. It is exciting hockey and grows the sport. Who can forget hockey in the 2010 Olympics? The games were hosted in Canada, and yet the USA beat Canada in the group stage, before losing only in overtime to Canada in the gold medal game. And with Canadian referees in both games. (Side note, hockey must have referees not be from the countries that are playing to increase credibility. Imagine if one of the refs of the Argentina-France World Cup final was from Argentina).
While most Americans had no idea what icing was, and while hockey was all Canada has, the US played the home Canadians extremely competitively. There was a minor spike in interest in hockey in the USA, with many Americans googling what icing and high sticking were. It was comparable to the soccer World Cup, where most Americans vociferously cheer as they watch their team play inventor of the game England off the park, while not knowing how many minutes are in a half.
The world is becoming more and more interconnected. As a result, people from different nations can more easily converse. There is then a desire to see the best from each nation square off in respective sports. International sports have been a platform for the US to show off its prowess. Whether that means dominating the Olympics, or doing surprisingly well for how little it cares about a sport, like in hockey or soccer.
When people saw the US beat Canada and consistently stay competitive with them in a sport that is the lifeblood of Canada while the 4th or 5th sport in the US, they realized how dominant a sporting nation the US is. The same happens when they see the US dominate the Olympics, which is the closest thing to an overall sporting competition, or when they saw the US outplay England at the World Cup and consistently make the round of 16, despite soccer being either the 4th or 5th sport in the US. Not allowing best on best hockey results in people forgetting.
But most importantly, it is simply unforgivable to rob players of the chance to represent their country. To rob fans of the opportunity to see best on best hockey. For the fans, the players, and the growth of the sport, the NHL must get serious about committing to international competitions.