default-cbs-image

The NHL’s decision not to participate in the 2018 Olympics in South Korea was unsurprising.

That does not mean the decision was a good one. After all, outside of the added injury risk that the league already embraces for events like the World Cup, the only serious downside to a return to the world’s grandest athletic stage would be a break in the 2017-18 regular season. The public exposure and international draw of a trip overseas would almost assuredly outweigh anything else.

And, of course, there is the prevailing opinion of some of the NHL’s biggest names.

Let’s start with Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin, who has long been a champion of the league’s involvement in the Olympics.

Ovechkin is once again leading the charge in standing up for the NHL’s participation, even if commissioner Gary Bettman and the league’s owners virtually framed the Olympics in their big announcement this week as little more than a roadblock to “positive business.”

“I didn’t change my mind and I won’t,” Ovechkin said of his plans to play in the Olympics, according to Sportsnet. “It’s the biggest opportunity in your life to play in the Olympic Games. Somebody going to tell me I don’t go, I don’t care, I just go.”  

And Ovechkin is not alone.

Here’s Erik Karlsson, the Ottawa Senators captain, responding to the NHL’s decision to steer clear of Pyeongchang, via CBC News:

New York Rangers All-Star goaltender Henrik Lundqvist got in on the discussion, too, firing off a series of tweets this week to highlight the league’s decision as a guarantee of an opportunity “wasted.”

Talk all you want about keeping a regular season intact, maintaining the Olympics’ “amateur” feel or preventing unnecessary injuries before the playoffs. But Lundqvist -- and Ovechkin, and Karlsson, and the countless others who have spoken out -- are right.

The NHL would probably be best served operating with plans to serve the fans, serve its players and broaden its market rather than do as it pleases. And passing on the Olympics is exactly as the big names have painted it -- an opportunity missed.