It looks like NHL stars are set to head to Beijing in February 2022 for the Winter Olympics, although they refused to attend the previous 2018 games in Pyeongchang.

On September 3, the International Olympic Committee and the National Hockey League reached an agreement to have their players appear at the games. This official announcement was expected, given that a 3-week Olympic break was built into the 82 game NHL schedule.

The NHL’s decision to attend the games is in large part due to the new Collective Bargaining Agreement reached with the NHL Players Association in July 2020, when the NHL promised to do everything in their power to attend the event.

Many of the best young players in the League are excited to attend their first ever Olympics. Edmonton Oilers’ superstar Connor McDavid is ecstatic to represent his home country on the world’s biggest stage: “Just to be able to represent Canada at the Olympics and compete for a gold medal would be an absolute dream come true.” McDavid is evidently hoping to follow in the footsteps of other Olympic ice hockey greats by bringing home gold. This time, two-time gold medal winner Sidney Crosby may play alongside the young star.

Toronto Maple Leaf star Auston Matthews will be playing against McDavid, in the fierce rivalry between team USA and Canada. Matthews was a clear advocate for the decision to attend the games: “One of the many things as a hockey player growing up that you dream of doing is playing at the Olympics. Hopefully it all happens,” he vocalized earlier this year. It is expected that many young stars will appear on other teams, including Team Sweden, where Vancouver’s Elias Pettersson may be joined by Toronto’s William Nylander.

The 12 countries participating in the event are split up in to 3 unique groups:

Group A: Canada, Germany, U.S.A, China
Group B: R.O.C (Russia), Denmark, Switzerland, Czech Republic.
Group C: Sweden, Finland, Slovakia, Latvia.

In terms of players from the Vancouver Canucks appearing at the games, look out for Elias Pettersson and the newly acquired Oliver Ekman-Larsson on team Sweden, and Brock Boeser, J.T. Miller, and Quinn Hughes on team USA.

According to the IIHF, Team Canada is expected to take home gold, whereas the host team China is expected to come dead last. The safety of the games remains a glaring question, with no clear COVID-19 protocols mandated for the event. Even with the stark time difference between Canada and China, it will be exciting to watch Team Canada try and win gold in early February 2022.