The last time that happened, when the NHL skipped the Pyeongchang Olympics in 2018, the Euro pro-heavy Team Canada coached by Willie Desjardins suffered a disappointing loss to Germany in the semifinals en route to a bronze medal.įehr, the 14-year NHL veteran on the roster for both the Channel One and Spengler Cups, said he considers competing for Canada to be the highest honour of his sporting career. Which means that instead of a roster featuring Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby and coached by Jon Cooper of the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning, Canada could be looking at a team dotted with little-known European pros and one-time NHLers coached by Claude Julien. Should NHLers not attend the Games, Hockey Canada has said it will select an Olympic squad from among the professionals competing at both the Channel One Cup, where Canada just finished with a 1-2 record, and next week’s Spengler Cup in Switzerland. Indeed, just because Canada doesn’t send NHLers to Beijing doesn’t mean it won’t send a national team. “An opportunity to win an Olympic medal is not something I ever thought I’d have,” said Fehr, 36. ALEXANDER NEMENOV - GETTY IMAGESĬanada’s Eric Fehr, grabbing a piece of Finland’s Joonas Nattinen at the Channel One Cup in Moscow on Saturday, is a contender for the Olympic team if the NHL pulls out.
A quick look at this weekend’s pockmarked schedule alone - which saw the Maple Leafs’ Saturday-Sunday back-to-back in Vancouver and Seattle pushed to future dates, and five of Saturday’s 10 games postponed - suggested that if something doesn’t change soon, the league will be able to make an easy case that it needs the three-week Olympic break to make up for lost time.įor Eric Fehr, the former Leafs centreman, that can only mean one thing: Now more than ever, it’s important he stay ready. While NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has said he’ll leave it to the players to decide if they travel to Beijing, the league has reserved the right to nix Olympic participation if the NHL schedule is materially impacted by COVID-related havoc. Heck, at this rate the Olympics themselves can’t be considered a sure thing. This article was published (590 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.Īs the NHL postponements pile up and COVID’s latest wave proliferates, hockey-loving Canadians are watching a long-dreaded possibility emerge as a seemingly inevitable reality: The dream of NHL players competing at February’s Beijing Olympics, if it’s not yet dead, is quickly fading. Free Press 101: How we practise journalism.
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