NHL Athletes Will Not Play in ’94 Olympics

In the end, the NHL simply ran out of time to get past the obstacles regarding its involvement in the 1994 Winter Olympics at Lillehammer, Norway.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and NHL Players Assn. Executive Director Bob Goodenow announced on Friday that the league’s players would not be participating in the 1994 Olympics. They cited the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan, as a more realistic goal.

Friday’s announcement didn’t exactly come as a shock. The league’s governors had delayed a vote several times on the matter, most recently on Feb. 7 after the All-Star game in Montreal. Bettman, who had officially been on the job as commissioner since Feb. 1, had said he wanted to do more research on the issue.

The week after the All-Star game, he met with International Olympic Committee President Juan Antonio Samaranch. Bettman said they had a “good dialogue.” Among other things, they discussed condensing the hockey tournament, so that the NHL wouldn’t have to shut down for more than three weeks. And if the NHL wanted to showcase its star players, it certainly didn’t want to be out of sight in prime time.

Now, at least for the United States and Canada, the respective hockey programs know where they stand. The indecision regarding the NHL’s participation in the Olympics had taken a toll on the Hockey Canada program. USA Hockey, while publicly supporting the Dream Team concept, had a split in its ranks.

“We appreciate the National Hockey League’s consideration of this issue,” said Walter Bush Jr., president of USA Hockey. “We know that this was a decision which required a great deal of thought, time and effort. Now that this situation has been resolved, we will move ahead with our traditional program.”

Said Bettman and Goodenow, in a statement issued Friday: “After consulting with the International Olympic Committee, the International Ice Hockey Federation, USA Hockey and Hockey Canada, it is clear that the issues relating to NHL players participating in the 1994 Olympics cannot be adequately resolved to the satisfaction of all concerned under the current time constraints. All parties have agreed that it will be their goal to ensure the participation of NHL players by 1998.”

There was the concern of injury to star players in the middle of the season. And, there was the season itself, which seems to be growing longer and longer. Had the NHL decided to have a direct involvement in the 1994 Olympics, the league’s Stanley Cup playoffs wouldn’t conclude until June 30.

The success of the Dream Team concept in basketball at Barcelona was what got everyone in hockey excited about the possibilities. But almost everyone forgot that it took the NBA about four years to get the Dream Team together--and that wasn’t during the middle of the regular basketball season.