New York City played host this week to the unveiling of the gold, silver and bronze medals that will be awarded at the 2018 Winter Olympics in February, and the ceremony didn't pass without stirring some inevitable NHL backlash.

The Olympics shared a look at the medals via Twitter after the unveiling, which touted bigger gold and silver prizes than from both the 2002 Salt Lake City and 2014 Sochi Games, and that prompted a response from San Jose Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic, a gold medalist with Team Canada in 2014.

"Beautiful, right?" Vlasic said of the new medals, pointing the question at none other than @NHL.

Something says Vlasic isn't alone in his apparent disappointment with the NHL not breaking up its 2017-18 season to accommodate participation in the Olympics.

Washington Capitals winger and longtime international enthusiast Alex Ovechkin, recently resigned to the league's repeated refusal to sanction Winter Games play, at one point was reportedly preparing to miss nine NHL games to play in South Korea and still feels players "should not have to be in (a) position to make this choice" between honoring the NHL's preferences and suiting up for their countries on a global stage. 

The Edmonton Oilers' Connor McDavid, 2016-17 Hart Trophy winner, has also gone on record to express disappointment in the NHL's absence from the Games, as have the New York Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist and Ottawa Senators' Erik Karlsson among others.