Whether the Detroit Red Wings’ 2021-22 schedule will include a break for the Winter Olympics remains uncertain. But it will include helmet advertisements.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said Monday evening that “we have real concerns about whether it’s sensible for us to participate,” for the league to break for the Beijing Games — and with the event only seven months away, that’s causing problems.
“We don’t know as of right now, and that is causing us, in addition to consternation, a fair number of issues relative to getting next season up and running,” Bettman said. “It’s reaching the point that we are getting concerned about the impact on the season, because of the uncertainty.”
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Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly addressed the topic during their annual availability with media prior to the start of the Stanley Cup Final. Daly touched on the role of COVID-19, saying that, “with the continued uncertainty with the virus and the games being halfway around the world — not necessarily an ideal Games to elect to go to.”
Daly said the NHL is negotiating “in good faith” with the Players Association and the International Olympic Committee regarding participation. Both men alluded to time running short. The NHL expects to release the 2021-22 schedule within a few weeks.
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“We’re already past the time the we hoped this would be resolved,” Bettman said. “We’ll deal with it, just as we’ve managed to be agile and flexible over the last 15 months. But we’re getting to be on a rather short time frame. This can’t go on indefinitely.
In other topics, Bettman said the NHL does not plan to allow for any compliance buyouts this offseason, even though the flat salary cap has caused issues for some teams. The Wings have a prime buyout candidate in veteran Frans Nielsen, and without a compliance buyout, he will count against the salary cap.
Bettman also said the NHL plans to keep the helmet sponsors that teams took to using this past season as a source of revenue to offset the impact of not having fans in the stands when the season began. The Wings wore a decal advertising United Wholesale Mortgage on their helmets, a move endorsed by general manager Steve Yzerman.
“We have to be creative,” he said in January. “Our revenues have taken a significant hit and you’re always, regardless, looking at ways to grow revenue.
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“You see it in Europe, you see it at international events. I don’t really have too big of an issue with it. I think it’s a good opportunity to see if we can’t generate revenue from it. It’s the norm outside of North America.”
There are no plans to change the NHL’s longstanding policy not to disclose injuries. Wings coach Jeff Blashill limits information to lower- or upper-body, and rarely discloses a definitive time frame unless a player has suffered a season-ending injury.
“We have to have policies that facilitate the game on the ice, because the game on the ice is what’s most important,” Daly said.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her book, The Big 50: The Detroit Red Wings is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.