President of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation (RHF) Vladislav Tretyak expressed regret over the refusal of the National Hockey League (NHL) players to participate in the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing.
“It's a pity that all the strongest players won't come to the Olympics. With NHL hockey players it would be a decoration tournament, ”Tretyak told RBC Sport.
According to him, the Russian team has one goal at the Games - to achieve gold and thereby defend the champion title. “But in any case, the Russian team has only one task - first place. We cannot have another task. In addition, we have to defend the title, which imposes additional responsibility, ”added the President of the FHR.
Rotenberg assessed the NHL's refusal to release players to the Olympics Hockey On Wednesday, the NHL officially announced that the league's players would not participate in the Olympics. In recent weeks, due to the coronavirus, 50 regular league matches have already been postponed.
The NHL refused to participate in the second Olympics in a row. In 2018, the Olympic tournament in Pyeongchang was also held without NHL players; Russian hockey players led by Oleg Znarok became the winner. In 1998–2014, the NHL paused in its championship so that players could go to the Olympics.
The Olympics will be held from February 2 to February 20, 2022. In early September, it was announced that NHL hockey players would come to Beijing, but the league had the right to change its decision until January 10.
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