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Will The Boston Bruins Play In the 2018 Olympics

By Andrew Thompson

Dec 12, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Bruins center Ryan Spooner (middle) is congratulated by teammates left wing Loui Eriksson (21) and center Patrice Bergeron (37) after scoring his second goal of the game during the second period against the Florida Panthers at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 12, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Bruins center Ryan Spooner (middle) is congratulated by teammates left wing Loui Eriksson (21) and center Patrice Bergeron (37) after scoring his second goal of the game during the second period against the Florida Panthers at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports /
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Boston Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron won Olympic Gold for Team Canada in 2010 and 2014. If given a chance, he’d like to do it again in 2018.

But that may not happen. Why? NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. The NHL commissioner has overseen several contentious disputes between the NHL owners and the players association. During his tenure, he’s been a part of several lockouts which caused the league to forego the 2005-06 season and have an abbreviated season three years ago.

A few days ago, the always-booed commissioner started to pave the way for the next inevitable fight between the owners and the players. On Tuesday, Gary Bettman was at a press conference announcing the latest Winter Classic. The 2017 Winter Classic will feature the Chicago Blackhawks and the St. Louis Blues, and the game will be played at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

Commissioner Bettman was interviewed by the Chicago Tribune on several topics. While the commissioner was loath to discuss anything regarding his denial of a recent concussion report, he was more than happy to talk about NHL players and the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Bettman (on behalf of the NHL’s Board of Governors) has been reluctant to allow NHL players to play in the upcoming Olympics. The NHL’s Board of Governors is still led by Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs.

Bettman is more than willing to bide his time on an official announcement on allowing the players to play in the next Olympiad. “We probably won’t get to it in terms of serious discussions one way or another with players’ association and the IIHF and the IOC until winter,” said Bettman. “It’s not on the front-burner right now.”

The players (especially the Bruins) want to play.  In the last Olympics, three Boston Bruins players ended up with medals in ice hockey. Patrice Bergeron won the Gold for Team Canada, Loui Eriksson (now with the Vancouver Canucks) won the Silver with Team Sweden, and Tuukka Rask help Team Finland earn the Bronze.

The governing bodies that work with international hockey are of the same mind as the players. The IOC (International Olympic Committee) certainly wouldn’t have any objections to see NHL players, and the IIHF (International Ice Hockey Federation) seems to be fine with it as well.

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The only dissenting voice in the room seems to belong to Bettman.

When asked if there were going to be any major obstructions to an NHL-filled Olympic roster in 2018, Bettman was more circumspect in his answer.

“There have been a lot of reports about positions that either the IOC or the IIHF have or will take and that’s something we’ll analyze at the time we have to make the appropriate decision,” offered the long-serving commissioner.

Bettman (and by extension Jeremy Jacobs) would prefer to see the players participate in events like the upcoming World Cup of Hockey taking place in Toronto.

The Bruins will be heavily invested in the WC. They have seven players playing in the tournament. Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand will be playing for Team Canada. David Backes will be in for Team USA. Zdeno Chara will be part of the pan-European team. David Krejci (who will likely not participate) and David Pastrnak are slated for the Czech Republic team, and Tuukka Rask will be in-goal for Team Finland.

Bettman would also like to see more NHL outdoor games. When questioned about the NHL having too many of them, Bettman’s response was (surprisingly) in line with a majority of hockey fans.

Next: The Boston Bruins Defense Still Revolves Around Zdeno Chara

“If the only thing you’ve ever done is watch them on TV, I suppose,” responded Bettman about the league having too many outdoor events. “But they’re all different, they’re all special. They capture the imagination and anybody who has been to one of these would tell you they would come to as many as we could schedule.”

The thing that Bettman seems to miss is that same statement could easily be applied to the Olympics. Hopefully, the Board of Governors won’t try to restrict players like Bergeron from doing what they love (and earning a little more Olympic Gold in the process).

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