Brad Marchand has some choice words for the NHL for pulling the plug on Olympic attendance
When the NHL had originally announced its intention to allow players to attend the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing, China to represent their countries in a best-on-best international tournament, there was a great deal of excitement in the air from both players and fans.
However, that excitement has since given way to disappointment after a worsening COVID-19 situation has led to north of 50 postponed NHL games, which will need to be made up during the February break that was originally scheduled to allow players to travel to Beijing for the Olympic Games.
Several players have expressed their disappointment in not being able to attend, but perhaps none more frustrated than Bruins forward Brad Marchand, who has not been selected to represent his country in the Olympics before and appeared to be a shoo-in this time around.
"I think guys have worked their entire lives to put themselves in a position to compete at that level and that opportunity. It should be guys' decisions whether they choose to go or not, regardless of what's happening in the world," Marchand told the Boston Sports Journal's Conor Ryan on Monday.
"The Olympics are on and they're playing and the best players in the world should have that option. It almost felt like they were trying to get out of it for a while and they didn't want us to go," he said, clearly frustrated.
Marchand will be 37 years old by the time his next opportunity to represent his country at the Olympics presents itself, and by that point, there's no guarantee that Marchand's skills will remain at the level that they're at now. In fact, given his edgy style of play and the hard miles he's put on his body, it's likely that he'll begin a slow decline sooner than later.
Marchand clearly feels robbed of a golden opportunity, as Canada was set to enter the tournament as, likely, the odds-on-favourite to walk away with the gold medal at the end of the tournament. It's something that most athletes can only dream about.
Of course, the argument can be made that the NHL doesn't really directly benefit from pausing its schedule to send players overseas and risk illness or injury, other than the fact that it exposes different demographics to professional hockey, which could allow the NHL to expand its following to new markets. At the end of the day, Marchand understands this.. but he still doesn't like it.
"I know at the end of the day, they don't care about the Olympics, they don't make money on it, and that's ultimately what this is. It's a business and we're an asset. Let's just call a spade a spade."
