LEFT winger Brad Marchand of the Boston Bruins criticized the National Hockey League (NHL)’s decision of quitting the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in a statement on Twitter on Tuesday.

“The NHL and NHLPA can change the rules of the CBA to add a taxi squad so that they don’t miss any games and don’t lose any money – which has already been agreed upon that the players will pay back in escrow until the owners are made whole from what they have lost during this pandemic, regardless of how many games are missed. Yet they can’t do a taxi squad during the Olympics so they can honor the agreement they made so the NHL players can go [to Beijing],” Marchand wrote.

As two-time All-Star and champion member that won the Stanley Cup in 2011, Marchand was one of the most prominent NHL players to express his discontent with the league’s decision.

The NHL and the NHL Players Association (NHLPA) agreed to add the clause of allowing players to attend the Winter Olympics in 2022 and 2026 to the collective bargaining agreement that was forged in 2020.

However, as the league struggled to deal with the new spike in COVID-19 cases like its other counterparts in North America, the NHL and NHLPA reached agreement on opting out of the upcoming Winter Games in Chi-na. (CGTN)