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The Winter Olympics will be held in December of 2021.
M. Anthony Nesmith is a sportswire.
The NHL and NHL Players Association are in agreement that the league's players will not participate in the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022.
An announcement could come this week.
Several teams have already been shut down because of a rise in COVID-19 cases among players, and a league-wide holiday shutdown will begin Wednesday and run through December 26.
The NHL needs two weeks in the February schedule to make up games lost to the Olympics.
According to Greg Wyshynski, the NHLPA said last week that they weren't sure if they'd be able to play in the Beijing Olympics because they hadn't received answers about COVID-19 protocols.
If athletes test positive for COVID-19 during the Games, they will be forced to stay in China for at least 21 days. Wyshynski said that the players were worried about the length of the ChineseQuarantine, which could have left them stuck in China for an uncertain period of time and missed out on pay for lost games and practices after the February break.
The NHL didn't participate in the Olympics after failing to come to an agreement with the IOC on player insurance and other accommodations.
The NHL has participated in every Olympics since 1998. The Canadians won the gold medal at the Olympics with Drew Doughty and Carey Price in goal.
In the year, Sweden won silver and Finns won bronze. The United States was led by James van Riemsdyk. The Americans haven't won the Olympics since 1980's.
Russia won the gold medal in the Winter Olympics.
