Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand became one of the first players to speak out about the NHL not sending players to the Beijing Olympics.
Marchand posted a strongly-worded tweet on Tuesday asking why the NHL and NHLPA opted to add a taxi squad in the NHL, all the while not be willing to consider similar functions for an Olympic team.
“The NHL and NHLPA can change the rules of the CBA to add a taxi squad so that they don’t miss any games and don’t lose any money – which has already been agreed upon that the players will pay back in escrow until the owners are made whole from what they have lost during this pandemic, regardless of how many games are missed,” wrote Marchand. “Yet they can’t do a taxi squad during the Olympics so they can honor the agreement they made so the NHL players can go [to Beijing].
“Please tell me that’s not bull—-. And for all of you who want to pipe back about forfeiting pay while being gone – yah not a problem. Let the players make their choice.”
The statement comes a week after the NHL and NHLPA announced they wouldn’t be sending their players to the Olympics.
“The National Hockey League respects and admires the desire of NHL Players to represent their countries and participate in a ‘best on best’ tournament,” Commissioner Gary Bettman said. “Accordingly, we have waited as long as possible to make this decision while exploring every available option to enable our Players to participate in the 2022 Winter Olympic Games.
“Unfortunately, given the profound disruption to the NHL’s regular-season schedule caused by recent COVID-related events — 50 games already have been postponed through Dec. 23 — Olympic participation is no longer feasible. We certainly acknowledge and appreciate the efforts made by the International Olympic Committee, the International Ice Hockey Federation and the Beijing Organizing Committee to host NHL Players but current circumstances have made it impossible for us to proceed despite everyone’s best efforts. We look forward to Olympic participation in 2026.”
Marchand was also critical of the NHL’s COVID-19 testing policy this past week, making these comments Sunday:
“We definitely have to get to that,” he said. “The NBA is there. The NFL is going there now. We’re going to be next. We have to get there soon. If guys are fine, there’s no reason they shouldn’t be able to play.
“It’s tough. This whole thing’s tough. There’s a valid argument on both sides. This could be the new norm, with the variant coming around every year. It’s something we’re going to have to live with.
“We can’t be doing this year and year out. At some point, we have to get back to some normalcy. Guys have done what they’re supposed to do and got vaccinated and all that stuff.”
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