Woe, evil, happiness

You will not agree with the virus. NHL abandoned the Olympics-2022

Europe enters the hockey advance. Hockey aesthetes are asked not to worry, but something, and the intrigues at the upcoming tournament will be more than enough.

Thanks to the fact that the North American National Hockey League announced the official refusal two weeks before the deadline-in the agreement with the International Olympic Committee there was a clause on the cancellation of agreements in the case of force majeure. When in North America the incidence curve since mid -November went up, the probability of applying the specified item increased every day.

It made no sense to pull the cat by the tail-nine teams on quarantine, 135 hockey players in Covid Protokol, fifty matches have already been canceled, it is a pity to lose the season because of the three-week February break, and it’s even sorry to lose money. Actually, for a week it was clear for a week: the best forces of world hockey in Beijing would not gather, we can’t see the super tournament, and even for the second time in a row.

Responsible persons regret, shrug and express the hope that in 2026 in Milan-be sure and necessarily.

Here is such grief, evil and happiness in one bottle. For NHL hockey players who fought with the League for the right to participate in games-2022 and 2026 for two years-a big drama. For IOC and NHL, which in September came to the final, seemingly agreement, is a strong disappointment, as well as for the International Hockey Federation. For fans - a wild resentment against everything and everyone for depriving them of the opportunity to enjoy magnificent hockey.

Evil, which at the moment personifies the Covid-19 and its variation, is still invincible. However, happiness in this triad, albeit in a small dose, is also present-the strongest refusal gives a chance to the weakest, which was proved by the Olympic hockey tournament in Pyeongchang-2018, which was almost won by the German national team.

Then, after five tournaments with the participation of the best hockey players, the planet of the IOC and NHL bit a bit, without agreeing from the height of the current problems literally on trifles. As a hockey, the Olympic forum lost, however, the forces were trimmed, and even the most powerful team in the person of athletes from Russia in the final had to call for help a miracle. The first Russian Olympic gold turned out to be a taste, but the quality of the tournament did not affect the quality of medals. Now, no matter what they say there, the NHL refusal sharply increases the Russian chances of victory-even taking into account the fact that, unlike 2018, the composition meets the characteristic “a pipe lower, and smoke worse”.

Of course, Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeny Malkin are sorry. The closest to success they were in Turin-2006, being very young, at the next two tournaments they did not even fall into the medal zone, but to leave the NHL following the example of Pavel Datsyuk and Ilya Kovalchuk for the sake of Pyeongchang-2018, there was not enough determination. Now Alexander the Great has a chance to go to his fourth Olympics-2026 even less than a chance to beat Wayne Gretzky’s incredible record and become the best sniper in the history of NHL.

You can, of course, have time to slap the door and jump into the last car that goes to Beijing, but none of our top Legionnaires will go to this-in all respects it is more expensive.

Gold is by no means guaranteed, but to risk it with your own well -being and forever spoil relations with the NHL is easy.

I believe that the same applies to those stars who are younger - Artemia Panarin, Vladimir Tarasenko, Nikita Kucherov, Andrei Vasilevsky and a dozen more former iron candidates for a trip to Beijing.

The key point for the substantiation of overseas refusal was the failure of the regular championship calendar, which the League still hopes to be fully held. But there is another factor, no less, if not more, important - the health and safety of the players themselves. When the information leaked from China that in the event of a positive Covid test, it would be necessary to spend in the Middle Kingdom from three to five weeks, even the most ardent supporters of participation in the Olympics appeared. They were ready to go to certain restrictions, but the risks seemed too serious. As for the same risks for the “best hockey players from other elite leagues” gathered in Beijing, as the IOC statement said, these issues have not yet been raised.

The proposals to transfer the game or at least a hockey tournament for a year, following the example of Tokyo-2020, were clearly late, and China did not even respond to them. The Winter Olympiad-2022 will be held on time, albeit with a second-grade hockey tournament against the background of tough restrictions. The list of which, judging by the development of events, can be adjusted, most likely, only towards an increase. The probability that the epidemiological situation by February will radically improve is insignificant. NHL will not have to bite with frustration of the elbow.

The inevitable image losses for both the Olympics and the NHL and the entire world hockey are not yet a reason to scream that everything has disappeared. The refusal of the NHL - the blow is too serious to treat it just as trouble, but not so catastrophic as to predict the ambulance of the game. “Death” is about another, but for now, the survivability of hockey is enough to survive a heavy and even crisis moment.