評論
打印
The Americas
美洲版塊
Ice hockey
冰球
A puck in the teeth
牙齒上的冰球
Canada's best ice-hockey players cannot go to the Olympics
加拿大最好的冰球運動員不能參加奧運會了
Ice hockey matters in Canada.
冰球在加拿大很重要。
It is the official winter sport and national pastime.
冰球是加拿大官方的冬季運動和全國性的消遣。
Canada has won more Olympic medals for it than any other country.
加拿大在冰球項目獲得的奧運獎牌比其他任何國家都多。
Fully half of Canadians tuned in to watch their team win gold in the men's ice hockey final at the winter Olympics in Vancouver in 2010, making it the most-watched broadcast television programme in the country's history.
在2010年的溫哥華冬奧會上，整整一半的加拿大人收看了他們的球隊贏得男子冰球決賽，這使其成為該國歷史上收視率最高的電視節目。
But the chances that a Canadian team will win at the games in Beijing, which start on February 4th, are looking dismal.
但是，加拿大隊在2月4日開始的北京奧運會上獲勝的機會看起來很渺茫。
Similarly the United States, the sport's other powerhouse, looks unlikely to win gold, despite the two countries hosting the National Hockey League (NHL) in which 32 teams of the world's best players do battle every week.
同樣，這項運動的另一個強國——美國看起來也不太可能贏得金牌，盡管這兩個國家主辦了國家冰球聯盟（NHL），該聯盟的世界頂尖的32支球隊每周都會比賽。
This year the league bosses have forbidden players from competing in China.
今年，聯盟老板已經禁止球員在中國參賽。
The NHL blames the disruption wrought by covid-19.
國家冰球聯盟將其歸咎于新冠疫情。
Indeed, the pandemic has meant that the league has postponed more than 100 games this season, which started in October.
事實上，疫情意味著從10月份開始，該聯盟本賽季已經推遲了100多場比賽。
Before Christmas more than 15% of players (or 119 people) were out for the count because of the virus.
圣誕節前，超過15%的球員（約119人）因感染病毒而缺陣。
Some fans cry foul, however.
然而，一些球迷抱怨犯規。
The league also pulled out in 2018, after a dispute with the International Olympic Committee (ioc) over who should pay for players' travel, accommodation and insurance.
2018年，在與國際奧委會就誰應該支付球員的旅行、住宿和保險費用發生爭執后，該聯盟也退出了比賽。
The NHL loses money from lending out its players, so it has few incentives to do so.
國家冰球聯盟因出借球員而虧損，所以它不想這樣做。
It also cannot use footage from the games for its ads.
它也不能在廣告中使用比賽的鏡頭。
In 2020 players negotiated to go to the Olympics as part of their collective-bargaining agreement with the league.
2020年，球員們與聯盟簽訂了集體談判協議，同意參加奧運會。
But even before the Omicron variant, few thought the NHL would stick to its word.
但即使在奧密克戎變種之前，也很少有人認為國家冰球聯盟會信守諾言。
"I think they would have looked high and low for an excuse to not send them," says Ryan Lambert, a hockey writer.
曲棍球作家瑞恩·蘭伯特表示：“我認為他們會到處找借口不讓球員參加比賽。”
Canada and the United States now have just a few weeks to scrape together teams from junior leagues and college players.
加拿大和美國現在只有幾周的時間從青年聯盟和大學球員中組建球隊。
Russia's men, who won the gold medal in 2018, are almost certain to do so again (though under the Olympic flag, rather than their own, because of a doping ban).
2018年獲得金牌的俄羅斯男子運動員，幾乎肯定會再次獲得金牌（盡管是在奧運會旗幟下，而不是他們自己的旗幟下，因為有興奮劑禁令）。
The league is betting that fans care more about their home-city teams.
聯盟正在打賭球迷們更關心他們的家鄉球隊。
Past Olympic glories have not translated into ratings bumps for the NHL.
過去的奧運輝煌并沒有給冰球聯盟帶來收視率上漲。
Its decision to miss the previous games did little to hurt the league's popularity in North America, according to Cliff Grevler of the Boston Consulting Group.
波士頓咨詢集團的克里夫·格雷夫勒表示，取消前幾場比賽的決定并沒有影響到該聯盟在北美的受歡迎程度。
Gary Bettman, the NHL's commissioner, has suggested that ice hockey be moved to the summer games, during the league's off-season, but the ioc put his idea on ice.
冰球聯盟主席加里·貝特曼曾建議將冰球運動移至夏季奧運會，在聯盟的淡季期間舉行，但國際奧委會將他的想法暫時擱置。
The NHL may feel it is tapping into a larger feeling in Canada.
冰球聯盟可能會覺得在加拿大比賽感覺更好。
The Canadian government has been one of the loudest proponents of the diplomatic boycott of the Olympics.
加拿大政府一直是在外交上抵制奧運會最強烈的支持者之一。
