The N.H.L. said on Monday that it would not participate in the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, depriving the Olympics of the world’s best players in a marquee sport.
N.H.L. players have participated in every Olympics since 1998, and many players had expressed interest in playing at next winter’s Games.
But N.H.L. owners and officials do not like the idea of shutting down the league for several weeks. They have argued that they deserve a portion of the revenue that the International Olympic Committee receives from the tournament, and they do not like the injury risk it poses to their players.