Sochi 2014: The NHL's Return?

Will Sidney Crosby and Team Canada get to celebrate in Sochi?

It is now less than 365 days until the Olympic flame is lit and the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games begin. While many questions of the game are unknown and will not be answered until right before the games, (will there be enough snow on the slopes? Or will they have to bring snow in like Vancouver in 2010?) The biggest question to hockey fans, though, should be answered soon. Will the NHL players be allowed to participate in the next winter games?

Since the 1998 Nagano Winter games, the NHL has taken a mid-season break to allow NHL players to participate in the games. The reason why the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) want NHL players is quite obvious: they want the premier talent in hockey to part take in the Olympics. The reasons why the NHL is not sure about allowing its players back also make sense: they assume all the injury risks to stop stars and get no reward in direct revenue or anything else. 

Both the IIHF and the NHL realize the need to keep the players going to the Games, especially after the success of the NHL players at the 2010 Vancouver Games. The gold medal game between the USA and Canada was an instant classic with Sidney Crosby, the NHL’s biggest star, cementing his legacy by scoring the game-winning goal in overtime. The gold medal game was watched by 32.8 million Americans, making it the most watched game since the famed “Miracle on Ice” game at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics. Despite the success of the Vancouver Games, why is the NHL still so skeptical about sending its players to the Sochi Games?

The NHL gets no revenues from any of the advertising the Olympics receives for the use of the NHL players participating. The NHL cannot even use the highlights or photos of the Olympics for their own marketing. The NHL would like to get use to the images and highlights from these Olympics in exchange for the NHL players participation. IOC rules, though, only allow the images from the Olympics to be used by their sponsors, which the NHL is not. But why is the NHL not considered a sponsor of the game? They provide the athletes, rather than the money, to support one of the larger winter events. Baseball was never successful at the summer games because the MLB never was willing to allow the best major leaguers to go to the Olympics. I understand the IOC's and IIHF's hesitation. After all, if they let the NHL have access to images from these Winter Games, when does the NBA start asking for the same from the Summer Game? Will FIFA ask for the same for soccer?

The NHL also wants access for its general managers and other team personal to interact with its players while in Sochi, as well. The IOC has generally been reluctant to give leagues these rights, but is it worth it for the IOC to lose top quality athletes in a major sport at the Sochi Olympics? The NHL is giving up two and half weeks of its season. It is reasonable to understand their desire to receive some sort of compensation. 

In the end, I think everyone will be shocked if the NHL, IIHF, and IOC do not agree to do a deal that allows the NHL players to return to these Olympic Games. It is something the NHL needs if it is to completely recover from its last lockout and the IIHF and IOC needs to make the ice hockey competition at the Olympics seen as a truly legitimate with the world’s best hockey players competing.