SHL coach on Olympics: 'should we release our players when the NHL doesn't?'
A coach in the Swedish Hockey League is speaking out against releasing players from the league to go to the Olympics when the NHL isn't doing the same. Niklas Eriksson is the head coach of Örebro and a former player himself. With the NHL not going to the Olympics in February, countries will be drawing heavily on secondary leagues like the SHL to fill out their rosters, something Eriksson is overly happy about.
"...should we release our players there when the NHL doesn't? We'll see what happens, but I think it would be incredibly strange to hold the hockey tournament in the Olympics under these conditions. I think it's a goner," said Eriksson.
In fact, he isn't sure the tournament should be held at all right now.
"Postpone the hockey tournament for a year instead when everything seems so uncertain over there in China with what applies around quarantines and other things," Eriksson added.
The official reason the NHL isn't going is because so many games have had to be postponed due to positive COVID tests. However, players were expressing concerns with quarantine times in China before a large amount of games were pushed back.
Eriksson was a pro hockey player for close to 20 years before getting into coaching. He was drafted in the sixth round by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1989, but spent his entire playing career in Sweden. He won Olympic gold as a player with his home country at the 1994 Olympics.
Source: Expressen.se
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