The SBP Archives - Your less than frequent dose of SBP!

I am glad that some players of the NHL, for which without them there would be no professional hockey, no fans, no TV deals, no millions of dollars to be made for the overstuffed greedy owners of the NHL, are taking matters into their own hands and not allowing Gary Bettman and his gang of idiots take away something that both fans and players of the game of hockey look forward to every four years.

Alexander Ovechkin, my personal choice for overall best player in the NHL, isn't waiting for an agreement to be made with the NHLPA and the owners to allow the players the right to play at the 2014 games in Russia. He's gone on the record and saying he's going no matter what. And rightfully so: On an international stage, in his home country, where more people will tune in to watch worldwide than the Stanley Cup finals. Shortly afterwards, Evgeni Malkin made the same declaration. He's also not going to allow Gary Bettman tell him he can't play in what could be one of the most exciting moments of not just his hockey career but his whole life.

In some ways, I would personally love to see the agreement on the Olympics fall through between the union (who want to give the right to have players participate) and the NHL just to see how the league will react when they see Alex and Evgeni book their flights and miss games 62 through 67. What will they do? Suspend them? Bar them from the league? Yeah right: The fans and certainly their fellow players wouldn't stand for that crap. They would look ridiculous for not allowing the best players in the league play for their country to see who's the best of the best.

The good and growth of the game is more important than lining the wallets of NHL owners who put on too many regular season games. For being allowed the right to make money off of the sport of hockey and exploiting the talents of the athletes to sell tickets and merchandise, the absolute least the owners can do is allow the players the thrill of playing for their country and allow the fans a chance of seeing something truly special. And this is coming from someone who perhaps saw his Ottawa Senators lose the Stanley Cup in 2006 because Dominik Hasek was injured during the previous Olympics.

Let's hope common sense prevails.