How the NHL ban could pave the way for a German gold medal
Germany will compete for a gold medal in today's men's Olympic ice hockey finale.
Key points:
- National Hockey League players have been banned from Olympic competition for the first time since 1994
- Germany last medalled in the event in 1976
- The German team will face off against OAR in the gold medal match today
That's right … Germany.
It's ice hockey's equivalent of Zimbabwe winning a Cricket World Cup, or Uruguay taking out the Rugby World Cup crown.
While the German performances in Pyeongchang shouldn't be discredited, there's a reason that nations like Canada, Sweden and the USA won't be there today competing for gold against the Olympic Athletes of Russia.
That's because for the first time since 1994, no athletes from the world-leading National Hockey League have been permitted to play at the games.
There are a number of reasons for this, but it would be of little surprise that money and commercial considerations are primary factors.
"It does kind of suck, but from a business point of view I get that too," says spectator Michael Phelan.
"From the NHL perspective I understand it, they have assets they want to protect and if you send them off to an event that isn't earning money, it doesn't make much sense to them."
Lack of Star Power
The lack of star power has had a noticeable effect on the quality of the matches and the interest in the event in North America.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's Matthew Black says the appetite has been limited.
"The last time we had this Winter Olympics without the NHL players (in Lillehammer), you had this cast of characters, some of whom were somewhat familiar names, but without that star power it's hard to get into it as much."
Many fans in Pyeongchang believe it's hurt the competition.
"We are very disappointed the NHL players couldn't play here," Swedish fan John Harling said.
"The players aren't happy, because they wanted to be here. They might only get one chance, and maybe they've missed it."
The 'B' teams
"What (we've had) here are kind of the B teams," says Black.
Black argues it's more than just an Olympic basketball tournament without the Dream Team.
"Imagine the Soccer World Cup, but no one who played in a top-level league could go," he said.
"It would still be international, but you wouldn't have Lionel Messi there, you wouldn't have Cristiano Ronaldo, you wouldn't have all the best players."
For ice hockey, that means taking Sidney Crosby out of the Canadian line-up (and a few hundred others), leaving star goalie Henrik Lundquist out of Sweden's team, and take Auston Matthews out of the USA roster.
While the stars aren't on the ice, some fans are hopeful there is something to be gained for the junior players that have stepped up in their absence.
"They're representing their country on the world stage," Canadian supporter Matt Cassan said.
"I think it's a good opportunity for the young guys in the sport to show what they're worth."
Miracle in Pyeongchang?
While the stars haven't been on show, a German appearance in a gold medal match is still one of the more stunning performances by a country considered to be a minor player in the sport.
NHL players or not, it's an impressive feat.
Germany last won a medal in the event in 1976 (a bronze), but upsets against Sweden and Canada have brought the team into gold medal contention.
They'll face a stronger test against the OAR team today.
While it has the hallmarks of the famous "Miracle on Ice" victory by the college-aged Americans over the Soviet Union in 1980, the stakes clearly are not as high as they were then in the midst of a Cold War.
But a victory today for Germany would be an impressive result, it'd just need an asterisk on it too.
[contf] [contfnew]
ABC .net
[contfnewc] [contfnewc]
