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‘Absolutely ridiculous’ -- Voracek frustrated with no Olympic deal

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There's still no final word on whether or not the NHL will participate in the 2018 Winter Olympics, but commissioner Gary Bettman's latest comments aren't sounding optimistic.

It’s no secret that NHL players want to go to the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea. They haven’t been shy about saying so.

Yesterday, Flyers forward Jakub Voracek really wasn’t shy about saying so.

“Absolutely ridiculous,” Voracek said, per CSN Philly. “We have it once every four years. I read something that (NHL deputy commissioner) Bill Daly said we’re not going. Nobody wants you to go. The players want to go. Why you’re saying you’re not going? You’re not part of the players’ association. ... Nobody wants you there. They want the players.”

The last Olympic update that commissioner Gary Bettman shared was not all that encouraging.

“There’s absolutely nothing new,” Bettman said Wednesday, per NHL.com. “I think the overwhelming sentiment of the teams is that it’s very disruptive on the season, and there’s somewhere between fatigue and negativity on the subject.”

But Bettman refused to set a deadline to make a decision one way or the other, so there’s still time to get something done.

According to outspoken agent Allan Walsh, Voracek’s remarks were “just the beginning.”

Presumably, Walsh meant that other players will soon be speaking up, and speaking up loudly, just like Voracek did yesterday.

“The players want to go, I guarantee you that,” said Voracek, who represented the Czech Republic at the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia. “I want to see how you are going to hold [Alex] Ovechkin back. The Russian players. Tell them they can’t go.”

Related: IOC chief calls it a priority for NHLers to be at Olympics