Lindros, Pronger take different stances on NHL's Olympic decision

Eric Lindros isn't buying some of the National Hockey League's reasons for not participating in the 2018 Winter Olympics.

The NHL has indicated, among other things, traveling to the Games combined with a condensed schedule in the 2017-18 season is simply too onerous for the players.

It is not prepared to shut down for three weeks to accommodate the players' participation in the Olympics.

Lindros played in three Olympic Games for Canada. "I think back to 1998 when we were in Japan and, looking back, do you recall that being a big speed bump?" Lindros wondered.

"I don't. Everyone looks forward to the Olympic [hockey tournament]. I would say it is unfortunate. You look forward to the Olympics and you get fired up for it. The men's hockey is a big part of it."

Pronger takes different stance

Fellow Hall of Famer Chris Pronger played in four Olympic Games, winning two gold medals.

Pronger, who now works for the NHL's department of player safety, said even though he enjoyed the Olympic experience, he understands why the league has decided not to participate in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeonchang, South Korea.

"Players will be upset they can't play in a showcase event like the Olympics, but what I will say is, if I'm a player and I'm wanting one day off each week and I want a bye week, how does it make sense to fly all the way over to Korea, a 17-hour flight, immediately start practicing and playing games and then return into a crammed NHL schedule? Also, leading up to the Olympics they are going to be playing a crammed schedule. You are very, very susceptible to injury. I understand why guys want to go, but you can't complain about travel and lack of rest and go to the Games."

On Monday afternoon, the NHL released the following statement:

"We have previously made clear that while the overwhelming majority of our clubs are adamantly opposed to disrupting the 2017-18 NHL season for purposes of accommodating Olympic participation by some NHL players, we were open to hearing from any of the other parties who might have an interest in the issue (e.g., the IOC, the IIHF, the NHLPA, etc.) as to reasons the Board of Governors might be interested in re-evaluating their strongly held views on the subject. A number of months have now passed and no meaningful dialogue has materialized. Instead, the IOC has now expressed the position that the NHL's participation in Beijing in 2022 is conditioned on our participation in South Korea in 2018. And the NHLPA has now publicly confirmed that it has no interest or intention of engaging in any discussion that might make Olympic participation more attractive to the clubs. As a result, and in an effort to create clarity among conflicting reports and erroneous speculation, this will confirm our intention to proceed with finalizing our 2017-18 regular season schedule without any break to accommodate the Olympic Winter Games. We now consider the matter officially closed."

The NHLPA released a strongly-worded response Monday evening in which it stated, "The players are extraordinarily disappointed and adamantly disagree with the NHL's short-sighted decision to not continue our participation in the Olympics."

It added: "A unique opportunity lies ahead with the 2018 and 2022 Olympics in Asia. The NHL may believe it is penalizing the IOC or the players, or both, for not giving the owners some meaningful concessions in order to induce them to agree to go to Pyeongchang. Instead this impedes the growth of our great game by walking away from an opportunity to reach sports fans worldwide."

Still possible to change

Ken Campbell, senior writer for The Hockey News, wrote on thn.com there is still time for the NHL to change its mind, pointing out it didn't agree to participate in the 2014 Games until July.

It would seem, however, Canadian hockey fans will have to wait until the 2020 World Cup of Hockey to see Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid play together.

What remains to be seen is whether or not some NHL players simply leave their teams and play for their countries at the 2018 Olympic Games.

Washington Capitals star Alexander Ovechkin, a Russian, said he'll be at the Games.

"Oh yeah, I'll go," said Ovechkin.

He seems to have the blessing of Capitals owner Ted Leonsis.

It is highly unlikely other owners will be as generous.

Players under contract will be expected to remain with their NHL clubs.

Pronger said the travel to Korea and the condensed schedule that players would face during the 2017-17 NHL season simply cannot be ignored.

"Not because we won [gold], but I liked Salt Lake City [2002]and Vancouver [2010]just because of the convenience," Pronger said.

"Virtually every player in the tournament, outside of those who played for countries that aren't overly represented in the NHL, were in North America. It is a lot of travel when it's not in North America and in a season that is already jam-packed and crammed with games, you are compacting an 82-game schedule even more to create three weeks for the Olympics. It's too much. You have four games in six nights; five in eight nights. It's hard on the players."

Lindros said he will be sad if the NHL follows through on its plan to skip the 2018 Games. "I think it's too bad," Lindros said. "I loved playing in the Olympics. I loved going as an amateur and I loved going as a pro."