(Reuters) -National Hockey League will send players to compete at the Winter Olympics in 2026 and 2030, the league announced on Friday, marking the return of NHL players to the Games for the first time since 2014.
“The international composition of National Hockey League rosters is unparalleled, and NHL Players take great pride in representing their countries,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said at a press conference during All-Star weekend.
“We are pleased that today, after intense collaborative efforts with the NHL Players’ Association and the International Ice Hockey Federation, we can formally announce that NHL Players will participate in both the 2026 and 2030 Olympic hockey tournaments.”
The 2026 Games are scheduled to be held Feb. 6-22, 2026, in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.
The host of the 2030 Olympics is expected to be named later this year by the International Olympic Committee.
The NHL did not send players to compete at the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022 due to COVID-19 concerns, a disappointment at the time for players who had negotiated a return to the Games into their Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Unhappy over the prospect of interrupting the NHL season to send their most valuable assets overseas where they could get hurt, the league ended a run of participation in five consecutive Winter Olympics when it decided not to go to Pyeongchang in 2018.
The presence of NHL players at the Olympics had made the men’s ice hockey tournament one of the marquee events of the global sporting showcase.
“For years, the players have embraced the opportunity to compete for Olympic gold, and we are excited that today’s announcement makes it a certainty for our members in the 2026 and 2030 Olympic Winter Games,” said NHLPA Executive Director Marty Walsh.
“We also know that hockey fans worldwide have long been anticipating the next best-on-best international competition, and now they can finally see some of their favourite players represent their countries and line up together.”
Also on Friday, the league and its players announced an international tournament between NHL players from Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United States.
The “2025 NHL 4 Nations Face-Off” will take place in February 2025 in two North American cities – one in Canada and one in the United States. The NHL All-Star Weekend will not be held in the 2024-25 season.
The tournament will consist of a total of seven games played over a nine-day period from Feb. 12 to 20. Each team will be comprised of 23 NHL Players (20 skaters, 3 goalies) selected by each National Association.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los AngelesEditing by Christian Radnedge)
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