Brad Marchand isn’t shy to speak his mind and he’s done just that again.
The Boston Bruins star forward posted a statement on social media Tuesday expressing his disappointment in the NHL’s recent decision on taxi squads and withdrawing from participating in February’s Winter Olympics in Beijing.
Marchand’s tweet was in response to the league’s reintroduction of taxi squads, which is intended to help teams deal with COVID-19 absences and frequent, unexpected roster updates during the pandemic.
Marchand has represented Canada at various international tournaments throughout his career, winning world junior, world championship and World Cup gold but he has never participated in the Olympics.
The 33-year-old would’ve been on the 2018 Team Canada in Sochi had NHLers participated and likely would’ve earned a spot on Team Canada’s 2022 roster in what would possibly be his final chance at representing his country at the Olympics.
Marchand echoed in his tweet what he had been saying in media interviews in the preceding days, suggesting that at the end of the day decisions like these come down to money and profit.
“The National Hockey League respects and admires the desire of NHL players to represent their countries and participate in a ‘best on best’ tournament,” a statement from NHL commissioner Gary Bettman read last week. “Accordingly, we have waited as long as possible to make this decision while exploring every available option to enable our players to participate in the 2022 Winter Olympic Games. Unfortunately, given the profound disruption to the NHL’s regular-season schedule caused by recent COVID-related events — 50 games already have been postponed through Dec. 23 — Olympic participation is no longer feasible.”
NHLPA executive director Don Fehr said the following in a statement last week after the decision was announced: “Since the CBA extension was reached 17 months ago, NHL players have looked forward with great anticipation to once again participating in the Winter Olympics. Until very recently, we seemed to be on a clear path to go to Beijing. COVID-19 has unfortunately intervened, forcing dozens of games to be postponed this month alone. No matter how much we wish it were not the case, we need to utilize the Olympic period to reschedule these games.”
According to the Associated Press, the expanded taxi squad rules will remain in effect at least until early February.
