A star-studded generation of hockey’s best is finally going to the Olympics
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Jack Eichel in the fall of 2021 still did not believe he and the rest of the world’s best hockey players would be going to the Olympics in Beijing a few months later, even after the NHL reached an agreement to do so. “Don’t hold your breath,” Eichel said at the time. His skepticism proved to be prescient, as pandemic scheduling issues led the league to withdraw. Eichel is part of a generation of NHL stars who have never gotten the chance to play in the Olympics. Unlike players of the past — before the league allowed its stars to take part — Eichel, fellow American Auston Matthews, Canadians Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon and many others of their vintage grew up expecting to go to the...