This is why Leon Dresitl is missing from the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing

The Winter Olympic Games to be held in Beijing in 2022 are drawing near. The German ice hockey team will go to China next February in search of the precious metal. However, NHL star Leon Dreitel would not be able to help the effort. Here we explain you all the background information.

The German national ice hockey team will play its first match at the Olympic Games in Beijing on 10 February. On this day the opponent will be the Canadian team. Both teams would have to do without their NHL stars. Thus, German NHL star Leon Dreitel would also be absent from the duel.

Ice hockey: this is why Leon Dresitl is missing from the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing

The Olympic ice hockey tournament in Beijing will take place next year without NHL stars. For the 2022 Olympic Games, the NHL has not allowed players to participate in the tournament. According to the NHL, this is due to the league’s current problems with the coronavirus.

About 50 games had to be canceled in the current NHL season. Players on every NHL team have failed — and the number of players who have tested positive continues to pile up. An NHL season is too long, with about 80 games. To meet this season’s schedule, the NHL would like to make up for games that were canceled in February during the Olympic Games.

For Leon Dresitl it means he will have to compete in the Olympics again. The man from Cologne never participated in an Olympic tournament. For scheduling reasons, NHL teams did not approve their stars for the Olympics in 2018. The Edmonton Oilers, for whom Leon Dreitel has played since 2014, have done the same. Draisaitl’s absence is a significant weakness for the German team. The 26-year-old Kendra is one of the best ice hockey players in the world. In the final season, for example, Drisette was awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy and the Ted Lindsay Award for Best Player in the NHL.