NHL players will not participate in the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympics. Here's why.
Welcome to FTW Explains, a guide to catching up on and better understanding stuff going on in the world. Are you confused as to why there are no current NHL players competing in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics? We’re here to help.
For the second straight time, there will be no current NHL players at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Back in December 2021, the NHL announced its withdrawal from the Beijing Olympics despite originally agreeing to go earlier that fall.
It’s a huge bummer that once again, hockey fans will be deprived of a best-on-best tournament that only the Olympics can provide. Not only that, the next time the NHL could participate in a Winter Olympics — 2026 in Milano Cortina — 12 years will have passed since the league’s last involvement with them.
But why aren’t NHL players going to these Olympics, and why have they missed them before? Let’s dive in, shall we?
