The history of the National Hockey League’s relationship with the Winter Olympics is an interesting one that involves certain rules to follow, financial arguments, and scheduling issues. For a while, the Olympics were only for amateur hockey players, with this rule mostly in place so that the Soviet nations could dominate because they had somewhat professional and state-sponsored amateur players. The International Olympic Committee eventually allowed all professionals to compete, but it took the NHL another decade to agree to this type of format. Let’s take a closer look at this timeline of events.
Ice hockey was included in the Winter Olympics in 1924, and from the start, the IOC had a strict policy on amateurs playing. It was a rule that the Committee liked from the 19th century that kept professional athletes from competing.
This rule gave the United States and Canada a big disadvantage. They would follow the rule by only having college or senior-type amateur players on their roster. However, the Eastern European nations were able to work around this rule by adding players who worked state jobs, like the military. From there, these players could train full-time and could keep their amateur status. This is what made the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” so special because the United States team of college players beat a professional Soviet team.
In the 1980s, there was some movement away from the amateur rule. In 1986, the IOC allowed professional athletes across all sports to compete in the Olympics. The final decision went to the leader of each sport’s international federation. This change started with the 1988 Winter Games in Calgary.
The International Ice Hockey Federation agreed to allow professionals in, but at first, it was only for athletes under the age of 23. However, the NHL still didn’t like this plan, and thus still barred its players from competing despite their status as professionals. The main reasons dealt with scheduling and finances. The Olympics went on during the middle of the NHL’s regular season, and the league essentially argued that stopping the scheduled games for a little over two weeks would hurt revenue and increase the risk of marquee players getting injured.
A decade after the IOC made the change to let professionals play in the games and seeing the international popularity that went with it in the 1990s, the NHL saw the marketing potential that being at the Olympics brought. In 1995, an agreement was reached between the NHL, IIHF, IOC, and NHL Players’ Association.
The deal allowed NHL players to compete for the first time, and it would be at the 1998 Nagano Games. This agreement turned the games into the best versus best event and the ultimate dream for hockey fans. They were able to get the right format for the NHL schedule and built in a good break. The IOC and IIHF agreed to cover any huge travel prices, insurance, and help the players out in any way possible.
This agreement went on for five straight Olympic cycles during the 1998 Nagano, 2002 Salt Lake City, 2006 Turin, 2010 Vancouver, and 2014 Sochi games.
All of these tournaments gave hockey fans some iconic moments, especially Sidney Crosby winning the gold medal for Canada with an overtime goal against Team USA in 2010.
The streak of NHL players being in the Olympics ended in 2014. The team owners were still off and on about the mid-season break and the injury risks that came with it. The NHL didn’t like the vague financial benefits, or lack thereof, from the IOC.
The main reason there was no participation in the 2018 PyeongChang Games was financial. The new president of the IOC stopped covering the costs for NHL players. However, the IIHF did offer to pay the estimated $20 million in costs and insurance. This still wasn’t enough for the NHL because they also wanted access to Olympic stories, for marketing purposes, and this never went through.
The NHL players almost came back for the 2022 Beijing Games with an agreement made in September 2021. Then a surge in COVID-19 cases happened, and the NHL was forced to withdraw. The schedule was too tight, and there was no room for a good Olympic break.
The NHL players will return for the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, and maybe the 2030 games as well. The NHL’s new agreement now aims to alternate the Olympics and the World Cup of Hockey every two years. Even though there will be more concerns over cost, scheduling, and injury risk, the NHL and the players see that playing at the Olympics, in the long run, will help with global growth.
It’s important that the NHL participates in the Olympics because the tournament represents a key event for international ice hockey, and it shows off the sport to new and old audiences. Some of the best players in the game get to compete for their home nation, and it’s one of the highest honors an athlete can get. The Olympic spirit is all about bringing together elite athletes, and it’s a beneficial event for all involved.
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