O Canada

This past year, I was fortunate (and fiscally irresponsible, and impulsive, and intoxicated) enough to obtain tickets to the men's Olympic gold medal hockey game. NOTHING will surpass the moment when I saw puck hit mesh after 7 and a half minutes of coronary-inducing overtime play. I screamed like a banshee. I cried my way through the anthem. And when I randomly woke up at 4 am the following morning, I just laid in bed grinning at my ceiling. You are talking to a girl who will later look her children straight in their eyes and say "Watching that game was the best thing that has ever happened to me. Ever."


So needless to say, all of this talk about NHL players potentially no longer participating in the Olympics has captured my attention.

Toronto recently played host to the World Hockey Summit, where everyone who is anyone in professional and amateur hockey (and even those who are decidedly no one - *cough* Daniel Alfredsson) came together to discuss the current state of hockey, and to identify ways in which the game can be made more entertaining (from a fan's perspective), safer (from a player's perspective), and more lucrative (from the owners' perspective). One of the topics that was emotionally and extensively debated was the participation of NHL players in the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.

Besides my lingering suspicion that this has all been orchestrated by President Medvedev, who will do anything to weaken the Canadian team that so indisputably took the Russians to the cleaners in the quarter-finals in Vancouver, I think that that is an interesting discussion, worth exploring both sides of.

Let's break it down:

Gary Bettman, everyone's favourite villain, is currently being painted as an anti-Olympics crusader, out to destroy all things that bring joy to people's lives. And while I normally blame Bettman for everything from player lockouts to when my toast is burnt, this is largely an undeserved condemnation. He was, after all, the one that first encouraged and facilitated NHL participation in the 1998 Nagano Olympics. If he is guilty of anything, it's kowtowing to the owners.

The owners, and my man Brian Burke in particular, have been very vocal about the issue. They appear to be concerned with the following:

• broadcasting rights
• the high security typical of Olympic games, making it very difficult for general managers and trainers to access their players and keep them healthy
• the strain (both emotional and physical) it puts on players right when the playoff race in the NHL is starting to get tight
• and the fact that it is the host country that dictates the gaming schedule, which in the case of the 2014 Olympics, may mean that hockey games will be playing in North America at 4:00 am (although, let's face it - NBC would probably prefer it this way anyway)

I am slightly confused as to why Brian Burke would be concerned about the strain of the Olympics on the players (because we really needed Kessel and Kaberle to be in top form as we cruised to second last in the league last year?), but besides this depressing and self-defeatist point, I do (begrudgingly) recognize the legitimacy of these concerns. The reason why so many people don't, however, is because these arguments seem completely unrelated and antithetical to the emotion of the Olympics. "But it's the OLYMPICS!!" is the common response to any and all arguments against NHL participation - a testament to the intangible sort of passion that that level of global competition can inspire. Fans in general react adversely to too much business mixed in with sports, but when you have Burke imploring us to sympathize with the fact that these millionaire players aren't getting paid to play in the Olympics, and making obscure arguments about broadcasting rights, people lose. their. minds.

While I am all for transparency and open dialogue, it seems to me that the best thing for Gary Bettman to do (OOOOH, but if I were commissioner!) is to keep his mouth shut until a decision has been made. All that this discussion has accomplished so far is incensing the fan base. And angry fans mean further disenchantment with a sport that's already been tainted by a recent player lockout and the revolving door position that is the head of the NHL Players Association. This disenchantment will lead to a decline in NHL viewership, and ultimately less revenue for the NHL. It's counter-productive.

I, for one, think that even if all of the owners' points go unaddressed, the NHL should still take the hit. The players love to play for their country (except for Kipper, that drama queen SOB), and the figures speak for themselves: 16 million people watched the gold medal finals in Canada, and 26 million watched it in the US. Since that game, NHL viewership has gone up by more than 20% in the States (aka Gary Bettman's wet dream came true). Olympic participation, in the long run, is the best thing for the NHL.

Plus, anything that creates ADORABLE moments like this, this and this has to be kept going.