As expected, the NHL pulled the plug on participating in the Winter Olympics in February in Beijing, citing the need to reschedule league games postponed this month due to a rapid rise in COVID-19 cases sparked by the omicron variant in North America. The league and its players association made the announcement jointly Wednesday morning.

Instead of sending the best players in the world to the 2022 Games, top hockey nations are expected to send teams made up of players from the AHL, ECHL, the NCAA and from European leagues. Men’s hockey is one of the marquee events of the Winter Olympics but far from the only one.

“Our focus and goal have been and must remain to responsibly and safely complete the entirety of the NHL regular season and Stanley Cup playoffs in a timely manner,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. “Therefore, with stringent health protocols once again in place, we will begin utilizing available dates during the Feb. 6-22 window (originally contemplated to accommodate Olympic participation) to reschedule games that have been, or may yet be, postponed.”

The league has postponed 50 games and expanded its annual Christmas break in order to limit the spread of COVID-19. Three Ducks games and two Kings games were postponed this week after the league banned cross-border travel Sunday and then expanded the holiday break Monday.

Ducks road games against the Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks must be made up, as well as a Kings’ home game against the Oilers and a road game against the Vegas Golden Knights. No makeup dates have been announced for any of the postponed games, however.

Kings fans with tickets to the game against the Oilers will be contacted by the team or their point-of-sale location regarding postponement policies, including further information once the game is rescheduled.

No decision has been made on additional NHL postponements, although that could be the next domino to fall. More than 15 percent of the league’s 700-plus players were placed in the COVID-19 protocol, unable to practice or play after positive tests, most within the past two weeks.

The move to pull out of the Olympics wasn’t taken lightly, according to Bettman.

“The National Hockey League respects and admires the desire of NHL players to represent their countries and participate in a ‘best on best’ tournament,” he said in a statement. “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 (Thursday) – Olympic participation is no longer feasible. We certainly acknowledge and appreciate the efforts made by the International Olympic Committee, the International Ice Hockey Federation and the Beijing Organizing Committee to host NHL Players but current circumstances have made it impossible for us to proceed despite everyone’s best efforts. We look forward to Olympic participation in 2026.”

The next Winter Olympics will be in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.‎

NHL players first participated in the Olympics in 1998 in Nagano, Japan. Skipping the Beijing Games marks the second consecutive Olympics without NHL players, after the league pulled out of the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, in a dispute over financial and scheduling concerns.

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“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,” Don Fehr, the players’ association executive director, said. “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. Certainly, the players and hockey fans are quite disappointed. But playing a full 82-game season this year, something the pandemic has prevented us from doing since the 2018-19 season, is very important. We expect that NHL players will return to the Olympics in 2026.​”