The NHL announced the possible absence of its players at the Olympics.

Hockey players from the National Hockey League (NHL) may not go to the upcoming Olympics, which will be held in Italy in 2026, if the North American-sized playground is not completed. Bill Daly, the league's deputy commissioner, announced this on December 3.

"If the rink is not completed, not a single NHL player will go to the Olympics," the Daily Faceoff portal quotes him as saying.

In addition, Peter DeBoer, a member of the coaching staff of the Canadian men's national team, said that even if the arena is built in time for the start of the competition, it is likely that its size will be less than the NHL standard. According to the portal, problems with the construction of the rink may prompt the NHL not to allow athletes to attend the Olympic Games in the future.

Contractual data: how our hockey players got new agreements in the NHL

Successful deals for Ivan Provorov and Alexander Romanov, soon Vladislav Gavrikov will join this row.

The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) announced on July 2 that NHL players will participate in the 2026 Winter Olympics. The agreement on the return of NHL players to the Olympic arena was reached at a meeting of representatives of the IIHF, the NHL, the NHL Players Association (NHLPA) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at the IIHF headquarters in Zurich. The participation of professional hockey players should be the first since the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.

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