OlymPicks: Forget the NHL, Beijing 2022 Will Have Hockey Great Jaromír Jágr

OlymPicks is an ongoing blog series whereby we highlight news, gossip, and developments regarding the buildup to Beijing's 2022 Winter Olympics.

In the bitter struggle between the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the National Hockey League (NHL) regarding players partaking in the 2022 Games, the IOC has just scored a major goal, choosing as its hockey ambassador none other than Jaromír Jágr. The Czech NHL legend most notably played with the Pittsburgh Penguins during back-to-back Stanley Cup wins in 1991 and 1992 and is also famed for being the second-highest goal scorer in NHL history.

The announcement could be seen as a retort to the recent announcement by NHL commissioner Gary Bateman, who caused an uproar among players and fans by saying it will be unlikely that any NHL athletes will participate in the 2022 Games. He and fellow league executives take umbrage with the IOC’s unwillingness to cover insurance costs for players, along with having to put the regular playing season on hold so that players can compete in the Games.

Read: Why NHL's 2022 Snub Could Rub Hockey's Biggest Player the Wrong Way

However, many players have expressed interest in competing, including fellow Penguin Sydney Crosby, the most famous player currently in the league. Snagging Jágr has been seen as a coup for the IOC, especially after it was also announced that Wayne Gretzky (one of the few players more famous than Jágr) would also be promoting the 2022 Games. More noteworthy was Gretzky’s frank comments in a recent Associated Press interview, where he said:

"I'm hoping that the player's association and the league can somehow figure this out and understand that this is a great thing for our game and that we should be in the Winter Olympics. It would be so wonderful for our sport worldwide and for the people of China to see the best players in the world on center stage.”

Jágr, for his part, has remained mum, not even providing a statement about his Olympic ambassadorship, much less commenting on the thorny politics of the league. Experts are nevertheless impressed by the news. Chief among them: Pavel Procházka, a sportswriter who broke the news about Jágr for Czech newspaper Deník N. He also wrote about the wider implications for China, which he sees as “collecting the most famous players of ice hockey history in order to popularize the sport. Wayne Gretzky has his own hockey school for young players and it seems likely it will be open to Chinese talent as well.”

Now the proverbial puck has been bandied back to the NHL. How will they handle the increasing star power on the IOC’s side? By scouring the Olympic committee and coordinating even more exhibition games in China (which, in recent years has become an annual autumn event in Beijing and Shanghai)? Or will they relent and let their players realize their dream of competing in Beijing in 2022? Regardless of how it all pans out, sports fans will likely be as riveted by these politics as they are by a rink-side game.

READ: Will Beijing's 2022 Sporting Venues Go to Waste?

Photo: Inside the Games