Beijing 2022: NHL officials to discuss Winter Olympics as rise in Covid-19 cases sees dozens of games being postponed

The NHL and NHL Players’ Association has said they hope to make a decision soon on whether their stars will appear at the Beijing Olympics after making another rash of postponements.

After the NHL agreed in the last collective bargaining agreement that players could go to Beijing for the 2022 Winter Games, it said it would depend on whether the Covid-19 situation would create so many postponements that the league would need the Olympic break to reschedule games.

The postponements are now piling up, and the league on Sunday said it was putting on hold any pre-Christmas games involving Canadian and US teams to prevent a Canadian border crossing.

The Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche, Florida Panthers, Boston Bruins and Nashville Predators were already shut down through Christmas because of rising cases.

“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 December 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,” the sides said in a joint statement.

They did say, though, that they would not pause the regular season. “Although there has been a recent increase in positive Covid test results among players, coaches and hockey staff, there have been a low number of positive cases that have resulted in concerning symptoms or serious illness,” the statement said.