NHL, NHLPA To Make Decision On Olympic Participation In Coming Days
By: KDKA-TV News Staff
NEW YORK (KDKA) - With the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics on the horizon, the final decision on whether or not the NHL will participate is still unknown.
On Sunday evening the NHL and NHLPA announced that a discussion on Olympic participation is ongoing.
"Given the disruption to the NHL's regular-season schedule caused by recent COVID-related events – 27 games had been postponed as of Saturday and at least 12 more will be postponed through Dec. 23 – and the continued uncertainty caused by the ongoing COVID pandemic, the NHL and NHLPA are actively discussing the matter of NHL Player participation in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China, and expect to be in a position to announce a final determination in the coming days," a statement said.
The NHL has also made the decision to postpone cross-border games through December 23 due to the increase in positive COVID-19 cases around the league.
While the Penguins are not affected by the postponement of cross-border games, the Penguins do have plenty of players and staff that could potentially head to the Winter Olympics.
Head Coach Mike Sullivan is scheduled to be the head coach of Team USA.
Meanwhile, captain Sidney Crosby is on Team Canada and Kris Letang could be among the names on Canada's final roster.
Bryan Rust, Jake Guentzel, and Brian Dumoulin could also be members of Sullivan's Team USA.
The Penguins still have three games remaining until the NHL's holiday break, playing the New Jersey Devils tonight in New Jersey, the Devils again on Monday at PPG Paints Arena, and then the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday at home.
