3 Things We Can Learn From The Olympics - 1. NHL Hockey
One week ago, the Olympic Games finished for another four years with USA taking Gold, Canada the Silver and Finland the Bronze in the Women's competition. In the men's tournament it was OA Russia who took Gold, the Silver went to Germany and Canada the Bronze.
In this first article we look at the impact of the NHL's decision not to allow it's players to participate in the Games.
One week ago,
the Olympic Games finished for another four years with USA taking Gold, Canada
the Silver and Finland the Bronze in the Women's competition. In the
men's tournament it was OA Russia who took Gold, the Silver went to Germany
and Canada the Bronze. There was all the drama and the unexpected mixed
in with the predicated and anticipated that makes the magic potion that is the
Olympics Games.
As the players return to end
of the season with their clubs with new experiences under their belts, we can
take a minute to pause and reflect on what we learnt from this Winter Games.
In this first article we look
at the impact of the NHL's decision not to allow it's players to participate in
the Games.
Do we need the
NHL at the Olympics?
It is a shame that the world's
top league would not release the best players to play on sports' biggest stage.
But the tournament was still very good without the NHL, and possibly better,
with more teams having more chances to win rather than the same nations
steamrollering others to the medal places.
NHL experience
is not the same as success
The tournament
also shows us that NHL experience is not necessarily an indication of Gold
medal quality. Take for example, Kirill Kaprizov, who scored the Gold medal winning goal in Overtime. The 20-year-old was
drafted by Minnesota Wild in 2015 and finished second in the Total Points
competition at the Olympics but has never played in the NHL. Or if we
take just NHL matches played, the order for the top eight at Pyeongchang should
have been first Canada, USA,
OA Russia then Sweden,
Germany, Czech Republic, Finland and Slovakia. But there is more to winning
tournaments than putting a load of players with a lot of experience in North
America on the Korean ice and expecting a medal to pop out at the other end
after two weeks. The USA where perhaps the biggest losers on this occasion but
both Sweden and then Canada were flattened by the German rampage. They never
let their opponents get too far ahead and in each of the three knockout games served
up a double-punch by scoring two goals in less than three minutes sending their
rivals reeling. They then finished off the team with desperate defending until
the siren went. But in the Gold medal match it was not enough and the final
standings were OA Russia, Germany, Canada, Czech Republic, Sweden,
Finland, USA, Norway in the top eight positions.
The Olympic
factor
Despite the NHL
ruling it is noteworthy that some players, such as Canada's captain Chris
Kelly and assistant captain René Bourque, took matters into their
own hands so they could be part of the Games. Kelly signed for the AHL
affiliate of the Ottawa Senators whilst Bourque moved to Sweden to ensure
selection. For those that want to be part of the Olympic spectacle there is
always a way. Kelly and Bourque will look back at his hockey career and his
shiny Bronze medal and surely reflect that is was worth it.
So, if the NHL
tries to flex its muscles again and say that their players cannot come, I say -
let the Olympic party continue without them!