from Jack Todd at the Montreal Gazette,

Skipping the Olympic Games.

If it’s true, as Gary Bettman said this weekend, that NHL owners spent all of 10 seconds talking about the Olympics, then they’re out of their ever-loving minds.

The league wants you to believe it all comes down to player expenses, which could be as high as $10 million, the annual salary of one bankable star, split 30 ways. Pardon my French, but — horse hockey. If the NHL is really going to make player expenses a deal breaker, the league might as well stay home, because the people who run this show don’t begin to grasp what the Winter Olympics can offer.

Given the NHL’s penchant for bad decisions (Arizona Coyotes, anyone?) this might not be the league’s Worst Decision Ever, but it’s up there. Electing not to go to the Pyeongchang Olympics in 2018 is small-minded, short-sighted, parochial, xenophobic and greedy. (Exactly the kind of thing we’ve come to expect from U.S. billionaires, in other words.)

If Bettman & Co. seriously believe the in-house Toronto Cup of Hockey tournament in September replaces participation in the Olympic Games, they’re bonkers. That silly tournament preached to the converted and even they weren’t paying much attention. But the league would rather save a few million bucks and the inconvenience of an Olympic break while missing out on all the Games have to offer....

The NHL has plenty of other dilemmas that are harder to solve, from bad ice to concussions to replay reviews that settle nothing. The Olympic Games should not be one of those dilemmas. This is a no-brainer. If you want to broaden your global reach, you go. If you want to remain a niche sport even in the U.S., you stay home.

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