Wild Mad/Olympics Decision

[Lee Borgersen]

   Wild players upset at NHL's Olympics decision.


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MINNEAPOLIS — Wild captain Mikko Koivu still remembers watching the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, from his home in Finland. He was 14 years old.

That was the first year NHL players were allowed to participate in the Olympics, and while Koivu was already on his way to a career in hockey, watching some of his favorite players represent their countries made a profound impact.

"If you're an athlete, you want to be a part of the Olympic Games," Koivu said. "If you look at any athlete in any sport, I'm sure every one of them wants to play and wants to take part in it."

Koivu, 34, is disappointed he will no longer have a chance to provide that same impact on young Finns in the wake of the NHL's announcement that it will not allow its players to participate in the 2018 Games in South Korea.

Koivu has represented Finland in the 2006, 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics, winning a silver and two bronze medals.

"I'm not going to be able to go anymore," he said. "It's the next two that they said we're not taking part in; that's it for me. It's very disappointing news."

Koivu wasn't the only disappointed Wild player.

"I was really surprised," said winger Zach Parise, who won a silver medal in 2010 and was captain of the 2014 U.S. team. "I thought for sure that we'd be going. I thought it was more of a posturing thing, like we've seen so many times with this.





"It's really disappointing because it's some of the most fun hockey that I think a lot of us have played. Just being a part of those games, it's so special. So, it's unfortunate."

Since 1998, the NHL has accommodated international teams with a monthlong hiatus during Olympic years, extending the postseason deeper into summer. In a statement released Monday, the NHL said, in part, "The overwhelming majority of our Clubs are adamantly opposed to disrupting the 2017-18 NHL."

Some players have pondered defying the league and going anyway, including Washington Capitals superstar forward Alex Ovechkin, who said he plans to play no matter what.

"I mean, it's possible," Parise said. "I know there will be a lot of controversy if that happens. We have seen people say it before. We will see if it actually happens now that they say we're not going. That'll be interesting."

That decision, according to the NHL, came came after months of negotiating among other parties with a stake in the issue, ending a run of five Olympic Games for the NHL with stops in Nagano; Salt Lake City; Turin, Italy; Vancouver; and Sochi, Russia.

The NHLPA, in a statement released Monday, dubbed the move shortsighted, "This impedes the growth of our great game by walking away from an opportunity to reach sports fans worldwide," the union said.

Justin Faulk, a Carolina Hurricanes defenseman and a South St. Paul, Minn., native, agreed, calling the decision "brutal."

"That's what we've been working on; that's the reason there's a World Cup — trying to reach certain fan bases that maybe we haven't reached before or reached enough," he said.

Although the NHL could be using Monday's announcement as a bargaining chip in search of a better deal, the league's statement said, "We now consider the matter officially closed."