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<\/p>\nThe NHL first skipped the 2018 Games in South Korea for financial reasons following a run of five straight tournaments between 1998 and 2014. The league was then forced to pull the plug on its 2022 participation in China because of COVID-19 concerns. <\/p>\n
\t<\/p>\n
An athlete\u2019s time is finite. Despite still being an awe-inspiring force two decades into what is surely a Hall of Fame career, Crosby wasn\u2019t sure if his opportunity to compete on the sporting world\u2019s biggest stage had already come and gone.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just one of those things you can\u2019t really control,\u201d the Pittsburgh Penguins captain and centre said at the recent NHL\/NHLPA pre-season player media tour in Las Vegas. \u201cBut I like to think I\u2019m an optimistic person \u2026 I tried to maintain hope that it would work out. It\u2019s one of those things, how are you going to control that? <\/p>\n
\u201cYou really can\u2019t.\u201d <\/p>\n
Crosby, a three-time Stanley Cup champion, and the rest of the NHL\u2019s biggest stars stayed patient. <\/p>\n
Now they\u2019re poised to head back under the brightest lights this winter when the league makes its Games\u2019 return \u2014 thanks to agreements between the NHL, NHL Players\u2019 Association, International Olympic Committee and International Ice Hockey Federation \u2014 at February\u2019s 2026 Milan-Cortina showcase in Italy, ending a 12-year absence.<\/p>\n
\u201cVery excited,\u201d Toronto Maple Leafs forward and Swedish maestro William Nylander said. \u201cThat\u2019s something that as a kid you\u2019ve always dreamt of.\u201d <\/p>\n
The hockey world was reintroduced to best-on-best men\u2019s hockey \u2014 or as close as possible with Russia banned from international competition because of its continued war in Ukraine \u2014 during last season\u2019s NHL-run 4 Nations Face-Off. <\/p>\n
Canada picked up a dramatic OT victory when Connor McDavid fired home from the slot in the final against the United States in an event that also included Sweden and Finland. <\/p>\n
That appetizer was tantalizing. The main course is just over four months away. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe skill level is going to be amplified,\u201d Colorado Avalanche and Canadian defenceman Cale Makar said. \u201cThis is the fastest hockey anybody\u2019s ever played.\u201d <\/p>\n
The 12-team Olympic field will be rounded out by Czechia, Slovakia, Switzerland, Germany, Latvia, Denmark, France and hosts Italy, with six players from each country having already been named to preliminary rosters. <\/p>\n
Vegas Golden Knights centre Jack Eichel \u2014 like McDavid, Makar, Nylander, Canada\u2019s Nathan MacKinnon, Auston Matthews of the U.S. and a host of others among a generation of elite talent yet to taste the Games \u2014 said that while hockey is the No. 1 focus, the entire spectacle will be memorable. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s something that we\u2019ve wanted for a while,\u201d said the American forward. \u201cJust to be at the Olympics, I think that\u2019s such a cool thing to be a part of. I know it\u2019s something I\u2019ve dreamt of \u2026 like, what an honour, what an incredible experience. I couldn\u2019t be more excited that we\u2019re getting the opportunity.\u201d <\/p>\n
Florida Panthers and Canadian winger Sam Reinhart said despite that overwhelming anticipation, getting off to a good start to the NHL schedule is the focus for now. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s only going to help you,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd trust that when that moment comes, that you\u2019re going to be at your best, and you\u2019re going to put in the work, and that you\u2019re going to have that juice.\u201d <\/p>\n
Makar said that while the Games might feel close to those on the outside, the event is still many tough nights of battling in the NHL away for both himself and his contemporaries.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody keeps talking about how close it is,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you\u2019re an Olympic athlete, you\u2019ve been training for four years, so it seems really close now. But I think for us, since we have this other job that we have to do and focus on first \u2026 it still feels like it\u2019s a long ways off.\u201d<\/p>\n
Boston Bruins defenceman Charlie McAvoy of the U.S. was preparing to head to Beijing for the 2022 Games when the plug was pulled. The elation on his end is hard to contain. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to happen \u2026 you know you\u2019re going to the tournament,\u201d he said. \u201cIn so many ways, I\u2019ve already begun the process of just being overjoyed and excited for it. What a dream come true.\u201d <\/p>\n
Crosby has lived that moment twice before. Now another sits right around the corner.<\/p>\n
\u201c(I was) hoping that it would work itself out,\u201d Crosby said. \u201cAnd it definitely has.\u201d <\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 30, 2025. <\/p>\n
Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NHL first skipped the 2018 Games in South Korea for financial reasons following a run of five…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":180486,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,575,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-180485","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180485"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180485\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/180486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}