"Jack Eichel in the fall of 2021 still did not believe he and the rest of the world's best hockey players would be going to the Olympics in Beijing a few months later, even after the NHL reached an agreement to do so. Don't hold your breath, Eichel said at the time. His skepticism proved to be prescient, as pandemic scheduling issues led the league to withdraw."
"Eichel is part of a generation of NHL stars who have never gotten the chance to play in the Olympics. Unlike players of the past before the league allowed its stars to take part Eichel, fellow American Auston Matthews, Canadians Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon and many others of their vintage grew up expecting to go to the Games. The NHL, after all, played in five consecutive Olympics from 1998 2014."
"NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman began raising concerns all the way back in 2023, before the deal was reached to send players in 2026 and '30. We have been given assurances that the building will be ready, Bettman said in February 2024. We're relying on those assurances. There's a lot of construction that remains to be done on that building. I think they only recently started. But we're being told by everybody not to worry. But I like to worry, so we'll see."
Jack Eichel and other NHL players expected to play in the Olympics after the NHL agreed to send players for 2026. Many current stars, including Auston Matthews, Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon, belong to a generation that never played at the Games because the NHL participated from 1998–2014, skipped 2018 by owners' choice, and withdrew from 2022 due to pandemic scheduling. A 12-team tournament in Milan offers the first Olympic chance for many. Persistent construction delays at Milan's main hockey arena have raised concerns. Commissioner Gary Bettman said officials provided assurances that the building will be ready, but work remains.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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