CALGARY, Alta. – The following is a statement on behalf of Hockey Canada from Tom Renney, chief executive officer, and Scott Smith, president and chief operating officer, on the National Hockey League (NHL) and National Hockey Players’ Association (NHLPA) decision to not participate in the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, China:
“Hockey Canada recognizes the amount of deliberation and consideration the NHL and NHLPA put into the decision to not participate in the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, and we understand and support that decision given the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic.
While we are disappointed that we will not be able to build a team of the best Canadian NHL players from across the country for the first time since 2014, we know hockey fans from coast-to-coast-to-coast are equally disappointed that they will not be able to watch their favourite NHL players compete for gold at the Olympics.
In Canada, we are fortunate to have the opportunity to evaluate and…