BEIJING: Gary Bettman, commissioner of the North American Professional Hockey League (NHL), announced that NHL players will participate in the 2026 and 2030 Winter Olympics, while the International Olympic Committee (IOC) welcomed the decision reached by relevant parties On Saturday.
The NHL chief made the announcement in Toronto, saying “We know how important international competition is to our players.”
“The IOC welcomes the agreement between the International Ice Hockey Federation, the NHL and the National Hockey League Players’ Association,” the IOC responded officially in an official email.
“This agreement will lead to the participation of all the best ice hockey players of the world in the Olympic Winter Games 2026 and the Olympic Winter Games 2030. All the parties who were involved in coming to this agreement should be commended for this excellent result,” the IOC added.
It means NHL players will be returning to the Winter Olympics stage after the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
From the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics to the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, the NHL adjusted the league schedule for the Winter Olympics, allowing its players to represent their respective countries and regions in the Winter Olympics, which also made the games exciting and diverse.
For the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, NHL refused to adjust their regular schedule due to their own interests, resulting in most NHL players not being able to travel to Pyeongchang.
Before the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, NHL announced that players would not participate due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the increasing number of league matches postponed.
