Barring some sort of unforeseen development, one that borders on a miracle, NHL players won't participate in the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics.
Penguins captain Sidney Crosby wishes that wasn't the case.
"I'd love to be there," Crosby told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Sunday at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex for Day 3 of Penguins training camp. "It's a great experience for everyone involved. Everybody gets up for it. It's too bad that we're not going."
The NHL not sending its players ends a five-year run of that happening.
Commissioner Gary Bettman doubled down on the league's stance in his state-of-the-league address before Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final, using the line: "We now consider the matter officially closed."
Nothing has changed in the interim, save for minor speculation that a hail mary could be attempted or other NHL players such as Washington's Alex Ovechkin talking about how much playing in the Olympics would mean to them.
Crosby's list of international accomplishments isn't short and includes a pair of Olympic gold medals. Through all of that, Crosby said he basically expected to be allowed to represent Canada whenever the Olympics rolled around.
Not this time, anyway.
"It's been something that's been talked about for a long time, all the anticipation," Crosby said, speaking of the debate of whether NHL players should be allowed to go. "In years past, you just think it's going to happen. That hasn't been the case, and it's unfortunate."
