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NHL players believe competing for Olympic gold, Stanley Cup are both special

Ice Hockey - Winter Olympics Day 8 - United States v Russia

SOCHI, RUSSIA - FEBRUARY 15: Evgeny Medvedev #82 of Russia challenges Patrick Kane #88 of the United States for the puck during the Men’s Ice Hockey Preliminary Round Group A game on day eight of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics at Bolshoy Ice Dome on February 15, 2014 in Sochi, Russia. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Bruce Bennett

Patrick Kane would know what it’s like to compete for and win a Stanley Cup. Twice with the Chicago Blackhawks, he’s been a champion in the National Hockey League.

Olympic gold, well, that’s the hope this time around in Sochi. Kane is a member of the U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team. He was part of the squad in 2010 when it lost in heart-breaking fashion to the Canadians in overtime of the gold-medal game.

“You can’t compare them; it’s totally different,’’ said Kane, as per the Chicago Sun-Times.

‘‘But they’re both obviously very high competition and very high levels of hockey, so it’s fun to be a part of them both. . . . Now you’re here in the Olympics, so it seems like it’d be great to get the gold medal. But we have something special in Chicago, too.’’

There are only eight teams left in the competition, with the quarter-finals set to begin Wednesday morning.

There is a reality that NHL players may never again have the chance to compete at the Olympics, once this competition comes to an end on Sunday.

According to commissioner Gary Bettman, there will be no discussion on NHL participation in the 2018 Olympics while the league and its players are in Sochi.

“I don’t want to get into what the pros and cons are for participating. Everybody knows them, and they’ve been debated ad nauseam. We are here because we think it’s great to be here today at this tournament. What comes next we’ll all have to figure out, as we’ve done each of the other times that the NHL players have participated,” Bettman told reporters.

There have been notable injuries to NHL players during the tournament in Sochi. Most notably: Henrik Zetterberg, Sweden’s captain, who was expected to fly back to Detroit on Tuesday with a back injury that knocked him out of the competition. It doesn’t appear as if he’ll be ready to play for the Red Wings when their portion of the NHL schedule resumes on Feb. 26.

Slovakian forward Tomas Kopecky, who plays for the Florida Panthers, was knocked out of the tournament with a head injury.

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