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Brad Marchand called out the NHL’s decision to pull out of the 2022 Olympics
"It's the best of the best and if you've earned the right and you've earned the opportunity to go there, you should have the option to go play."
After the NHL’s recent decision to opt out of allowing players to participate in the 2022 Winter Olympics, Bruins winger Brad Marchand has taken multiple opportunities to voice his displeasure.
Though a collective bargaining agreement signed in 2020 specifically agreed to let NHL players go to the 2022 and 2026 Olympics, both the league and the NHLPA decided to forgo participation in the 2022 Games due to a “profound disruption to the NHL’s regular-season schedule caused by recent COVID-related events.”
With more than 50 games postponed at the time of the announcement (a total that has now grown to 70), the league said that sending players to the February Olympics was “no longer feasible.”
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In response, Marchand questioned the league’s commitment to the initial agreement.
“It’s very disappointing,” Marchand told reporters earlier this week. “That’s something that was promised and part of the CBA when we last signed the deal. Almost felt like they were trying to get out of it for a while and they didn’t want us to go. There should be something in place or put in place where we should be able to and experience that. Guys worked their entire lives.
“And I know that at the end of the day they really don’t care about the Olympics,” Marchand added. “They don’t make money on it, and that’s really ultimately what this is. It’s a business and we’re an asset. Let’s just call a spade a spade. They don’t want to risk us getting hurt over there. So that’s obviously part of it. It should be the players’ option to go play in the tournament. It’s the Olympics. It’s the best of the best and if you’ve earned the right and you’ve earned the opportunity to go there, you should have the option to go play.”
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On Tuesday, Marchand tweeted a statement adding to his previous comments.
“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,” Marchand wrote, “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. 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 bulls***,” Marchand continued, adding that the league should “let the players make their choice.”
Marchand has represented Canada at several international tournaments, including the 2016 World Cup of Hockey (in which he scored the winning goal to defeat Team Europe in the final). Still, he hasn’t played for Canada in an Olympics, as NHL players did not participate in the 2018 Games and Marchand wasn’t on the national team’s roster for either the 2010 or 2014 Olympics.
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