NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman says he's doubtful about the future involvement of NHL players in the Olympic Games.
He made the comments at a question and answer session event hosted by The Greater Vancouver Board of Trade to kick off the festivities for the 2019 NHL Entry Draft in Vancouver.
Canucks Owner Francesco Aquilini also took part in the session.
Bettman and Aquilini discussed a wide range of topics asked by moderator and Canucks broadcaster Dan Murphy.
When asked by Murphy about the NHL's involvement in the Olympics, Bettman paid tribute to Vancouver's 2010 hosting.
"Every time I come to Vancouver, it's a walk down memory lane, I loved the two weeks that I was here for the extraordinary Olympics that Vancouver hosted, this was the focal point of the world. I've been to a lot of Olympics… this was as good as it gets."
Bettman went on to explain various reasons why the NHL, the International Olympic Committee and the International Ice Hockey Federation haven't been able to agree to terms for the leagues players to participate in future Olympic games.
"The disruption to the season is a real concern to the competitive imbalance to the integrity of what we put on every night, second is when I say we disappear, we disappear, we're not allowed to promote the fact the we're there, we're not allowed to use footage, we're not allowed to cover for NHL.com or the NHL Network or any of our digital outlets what's going on.
"We literally disappear because the IOC says we own your game, we own your players for that two-and-a-half weeks, that doesn't seem right."
The NHL Commissioner even suggested that the IOC include the NHL in the Summer Olympics.
"We've talked to the IOC about the summer and they go 'no, they need hockey in winter because it's the most hours of programming and the most tickets are sold are for the hockey competition,' which should at least give us some credibility when we say to the IOC we need to be able to promote our players and our game while they're there."
Bettman says without the NHL's participation at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, the television ratings were off by 40 per cent and many rinks weren't full of fans.
The event also featured confirmation of two more Canucks being added to the team's Ring of Honour.
After a short video promoting the upcoming Canucks 50th year in the NHL, Aquilini confirmed the organizations plan to add fan favourites Daniel and Henrik Sedin to the ring this upcoming season.
While there are no guarantees about the future participation in the Olympics, one guarantee you can count on at the 2019 NHL Entry Draft this weekend in Vancouver will be the sound of hockey fans booing Bettman as he takes the stage and cheering for their favourite teams as they select the latest crop of future NHL players.
