Too much uncertainty for NHL players

Will NHL players compete in Beijing 2022 Games? With 50 days straight from the opening ceremony, this Thursday, December 16, the response is still positive. But that does not seem to have really taken place. More and more hockey players in the North American league are expressing their doubts about their presence at the Olympic tournament, due to health risks and measures imposed by the Chinese. After the Canadian Connor McDavid, the Swede Erik Karlsson (photo above) also says he is close to giving up. “There are just too many uncertainties, he explained this week. Guys are going to test positive, they’ll have to go into isolation, but we don’t really know how it’s all going to turn out. So for me with a family I can’t take this risk. ” Is the San Jose Sharks defenseman speaking out loud about the general opinion among NHL players? Likely. “Everyone knows how much I love playing for the national team and how much I cherish the Olympics, he continued. But as it stands, it doesn’t seem very feasible. I don’t understand why anyone would take the risk of finding themselves in the position that will be ours once we get on that plane to go to China. ” Absent from the last Winter Games, in PyeongChang in 2018, the NHL must make its return to the Olympic scene next year in Beijing. An agreement has been reached, the schedule has been adjusted to allow players to travel to China, at the latest after the All Star Game weekend, February 5. But league commissioner Gary Bettman conceded last week that the decision would ultimately rest with the players, individually or collectively.