NHL, NHLPA, and IIHF reach agreement to send NHL players to the 2022 Winter Olympics

The NHL, NHLPA and IIHF have reached an agreement that will see NHL players participate in the Beijing 2022 Olympic Games.

This will be the first time since 2014 that NHL players will be at the games, and the sixth time in the league’s history.

As pointed out by Chris Johnston, this was largely player-driven. Players will need to be fully vaccinated, keep tight bubbes while in Beijing, won’t be covered by COVID-19 insurance, and likely won’t be permitted to bring guests with them.

The players have been very vocal about their desire to play in the Olympics, and now they’ve made it happen officially.

“Even to get my name tossed out there is pretty amazing. It’s very humbling,” Canucks captain Bo Horvat told The Athletic a few weeks back when asked what it meant to be in consideration for the Olympic roster. “To even be considered for that roster, it would be a dream come true, obviously. It would be one of the greatest honour that could ever happen in my career. I have to go out and prove it and play well this year, and if that chance happens, I’d be over the moon. It would be amazing and hopefully I’ll get that opportunity.”

“I know that I can speak for hockey fans around the world when I say that we absolutely welcome the decision to bring back best-on-best ice hockey to the Olympics,” said IIHF President René Fasel. “We had many constructive discussions, and a lot of hard work was put into making this happen within the time we set out for ourselves, and I want to thank all parties involved for their support and commitment.”

To see our projections of who from the Canucks might get the call from their country, click here.