The NHL announced progress in gaining more content access for Olympic participation, as Commissioner Gary Bettman addressed media in Milan ahead of the league’s return to the Olympics for the first time since 2014.
Missing out on iconic moments like Sidney Crosby’s golden goal for Canada in Vancouver 2010 or T.J. Oshie’s shootout heroics for the U.S. against Russia in Sochi 2014 has been one of the biggest issues with NHL Olympic participation. The league skipped 2018 by choice and missed 2022 due to pandemic-related scheduling conflicts.
Back now in Milan for the first time in a dozen years, Bettman noted improvements in content access but wants more for 2030 in the French Alps and beyond.
“I do believe that both the IOC and IIHF have been a tad more flexible in terms of the things that we can do, particularly with respect to intellectually property and how the games are covered so that we don’t completely disappear for a couple of weeks,” Bettman said at a joint news conference with Players’ Association executive director Marty Walsh and International Ice Hockey Federation president Luc Tardif.
The NHL’s situation differs from other Olympic sports because the league stops its season mid-schedule to participate.
“I think there’s an increasing recognition that we’re a little unique compared to all the other sports in the Olympics — Summer or Winter — because to do this we’re stopping our season in the middle and that is an imposition on the season. And I think, over time, that’s something that the IOC has begun to respect more and more.”
Bettman pointed to players creating social media content as participating athletes and the NHL’s ability to repost it as one improvement. Shared logo use represents another step forward.
A year since the league- and union-run 4 Nations Face-Off was a smashing success, this tournament isn’t their show. But players’ desire to return to the Olympics has been a major priority.
“Hockey fans and players want to see best on best,” said Walsh, who left his Cabinet position as U.S. Secretary of Labor in 2023 to take over the union. “When I started at the PA, the first thing the players said to me: ‘We want to be back in the Olympics.’ I’m so honored to say that we worked collectively together to make that a reality.”
No World Cup talk at the Olympics
A year to the day the NHL and NHLPA announced plans to stage a World Cup of Hockey in 2028, Bettman and Walsh declined to discuss the event. They want to focus on this tournament first.
The World Cup aims to create an international tournament cycle every two years.
“Once we get done with the Olympics, there’ll be some announcements,” Bettman said. “We’re making progress on our internal plans, but it would be both premature and, frankly, right now inappropriate (to talk about it).”
Tardif said the IIHF, which isn’t controlling the World Cup, has the framework of an agreement that would allow scheduling. Some European leagues may need to pause their seasons to participate and fill out rosters.
Russia is barred from hockey, just like other team sports, by the IOC given the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Asked what the NHL would decide about its event, Bettman said it would follow how the rest of the international community treats the situation.
Arena woes turn to celebration
Bettman was among the first to express concern about the slow pace of construction on the main hockey arena in Milan back in 2023. This was before the Olympic agreement was finalized.
Sitting in the bowls of Milano Santagiulia Arena that got done just in time, he said league and union officials did “a lot of consciousness-raising as we came down the stretch” to help push the job over the finish line.
“We’re here, we’re playing the games and that’s what we’re focused on,” Bettman said. “To the extent we feel like we need to debrief after the fact, we’re going to do that.”
Bettman deferred to Tardif, who’s from France, on building hockey rinks in Nice that are set to host games four years from now.
“For 2030, everybody sees the building is delivered on time, but we see with all the requests we’ve got about the tickets, why not have more seats?” Tardif said. “All of the fans all over the world, they deserve it. That’s why you first build something that you’re not going to have any other choice to come.”
NHL not considering international point system
The NHL awards two points for every win, one for a loss in overtime or shootout and none for a regulation loss.
Internationally, it’s three points for a regulation win, two for an overtime or shootout win, one for an overtime or shootout loss and none for a regulation loss.
The league hasn’t discussed switching systems much. Walsh said players haven’t brought it up.
“We like what we have, and we like the way it plays out over our 82-game season and our playoffs, the way we do it,” Bettman said. “We’re not in search of a problem to fix.”
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
