NHLPA advises players to skip on-ice activities in Olympic orientation

http://www.ctvolympics.ca/hockey/news/newsid=13024.html?cid=rsstsn

Are they serious??! Then what is Yzerman and the rest supposed to evaluate them on? You get first line minutes for looking so good?

I saw this too and was surprised... I guess it's all about insurance and what they deem to be un-necessary risk.

So silly.

Owners care about insurance. Not sure why the NHLPA has their collective panties in a knot. They want the exposure and are in favor of NHL players at the Olympics. And we all know first-hand that injuries can happen. So why are they in favor of sending NHL player to the Olympics in the first place? Risk of injury in on-ice training is probably nearly insignificant when compared to risk of injury in game action. And they don't lose revenue anyway.

Does the league lose revenue? I can see how the league would liekely have increased insurance costs in an Olympic year, but the players' 55% comes off the top. Does league recenue get affected by squashing the season on either side of the Olympics? Is there income from the All Star game to be considered?

Bah, none of that matters because they are not objecting to the games, just the on-ice activites in orientation camp.

Weird. Sounds spiteful.

The NHLPA want to ensure their players get paid even if they are hurt. If they get hurt doing this and it's been deemed an "un-necessary risk" by the NHL/NHLPA then they won't get paid. They're just looking out for their members I guess... still pretty silly.

shabbs wrote:The NHLPA want to ensure their players get paid even if they are hurt. If they get hurt doing this and it's been deemed an "un-necessary risk" by the NHL/NHLPA then they won't get paid. They're just looking out for their members I guess... still pretty silly.

Olympic competition is definitely sanctioned by both the league and the PA. When The Rocket hurt his back moving furniture, that's unnecessary risk. The Olympics is a huge publicity affair for the league and they are making moeny out of it -- not sure how much, but there's definitely going to be some ad-revenues at least.

Nothing here makes sense.

The stupidest part about all of this is that the camp is at the end of August. Every single player in the league should be practising on the ice at this time of the year, whether they are attending the Olympic training camp or not. What difference does it make to the NHLPA if they skate at a training camp or on their own in preparation for the season?

What's next, players can't skate on their own home rinks because they are not league approved? This is a very odd move by the NHLPA.

Well, I saw a bit of the Development Camp and it is easy to see how full-out drills can be dangerous. Sure, situations like Donovan hurting himself speed-skating all alone can happen, but they are much more rare than when you've got 20 players on the ice, with 6-8 of them skating full out.

My point, really, was that the risk of injury in an evaluation camp is pretty small relative to the risk of injury in an international competition, and other than the risk of injury, I cannot see the motivation behind the NHLPA's position (other than labour-negotiation tactics).

wprager wrote:Olympic competition is definitely sanctioned by both the league and the PA.

Indeed, but I guess they view this pre-olympic stuff as not necessary.

Mojo wrote:The stupidest part about all of this is that the camp is at the end of August. Every single player in the league should be practising on the ice at this time of the year, whether they are attending the Olympic training camp or not. What difference does it make to the NHLPA if they skate at a training camp or on their own in preparation for the season?

What's next, players can't skate on their own home rinks because they are not league approved? This is a very odd move by the NHLPA.

so by this logic, no player should hit the ice at any time between the final buzzer of their last game, and the first day of training camp?

Worries? What worries? Players say they're not worried...

http://www.ctvolympics.ca/hockey/news/newsid=13097.html?cid=rsstsn

Mojo wrote:The stupidest part about all of this is that the camp is at the end of August. Every single player in the league should be practising on the ice at this time of the year, whether they are attending the Olympic training camp or not. What difference does it make to the NHLPA if they skate at a training camp or on their own in preparation for the season?

What's next, players can't skate on their own home rinks because they are not league approved? This is a very odd move by the NHLPA.

Not at all. The union is protecting itself by protecting the players. Practicing on your own is completely different. This is an organized event by Hockey Canada, and as such, they should provide insurance for the players they invite. Just my two cents.

This "camp" is not for evaluation purposes.

"The camps offer each federation the chance to give players information about the Olympics and aren't intended to be a tryout. "

I don't see a problem with the NHLPA advising them to stay off the ice for such an event when they deem the insurance coverage insufficient. It makes absolutely perfect sense to me.

They have a 2 week break for the Olympics. Are you suggesting that Team Canada (I don't really care about other countries) is supposed to take 46 players and, in two weeks, evaluate the talent, make up the lines, work out the plays and strategies and compete in a tournament?

My understanding is that by the time the 2 week break happens the team is already set. So, do you make up a team from evaluating individuals playing on up to 30 different teams? That's just asking for trouble.