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The Americas
美洲版块
Ice hockey
冰球
A puck in the teeth
牙齿上的冰球
Canada's best ice-hockey players cannot go to the Olympics
加拿大最好的冰球运动员不能参加奥运会了
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运动和全国性的消遣。
Canada has won more Olympic medals for it than any other country.
加拿大在冰球项目获得的奥运奖牌比其他任何国家都多。
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年的温哥华冬奥会上，整整一半的加拿大人收看了他们的球队赢得男子冰球决赛，这使其成为该国历史上收视率最高的电视节目。
But the chances that a Canadian team will win at the games in Beijing, which start on February 4th, are looking dismal.
但是，加拿大队在2月4日开始的北京奥运会上获胜的机会看起来很渺茫。
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.
同样，这项运动的另一个强国——美国看起来也不太可能赢得金牌，尽管这两个国家主办了国家冰球联盟（NHL），该联盟的世界顶尖的32支球队每周都会比赛。
This year the league bosses have forbidden players from competing in China.
今年，联盟老板已经禁止球员在中国参赛。
The NHL blames the disruption wrought by covid-19.
国家冰球联盟将其归咎于新冠疫情。
Indeed, the pandemic has meant that the league has postponed more than 100 games this season, which started in October.
事实上，疫情意味着从10月份开始，该联盟本赛季已经推迟了100多场比赛。
Before Christmas more than 15% of players (or 119 people) were out for the count because of the virus.
圣诞节前，超过15%的球员（约119人）因感染病毒而缺阵。
Some fans cry foul, however.
然而，一些球迷抱怨犯规。
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，在与国际奥委会就谁应该支付球员的旅行、住宿和保险费用发生争执后，该联盟也退出了比赛。
The NHL loses money from lending out its players, so it has few incentives to do so.
国家冰球联盟因出借球员而亏损，所以它不想这样做。
It also cannot use footage from the games for its ads.
它也不能在广告中使用比赛的镜头。
In 2020 players negotiated to go to the Olympics as part of their collective-bargaining agreement with the league.
2020年，球员们与联盟签订了集体谈判协议，同意参加奥运会。
But even before the Omicron variant, few thought the NHL would stick to its word.
但即使在奥密克戎变种之前，也很少有人认为国家冰球联盟会信守诺言。
"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·兰伯特表示：“我认为他们会到处找借口不让球员参加比赛。”
Canada and the United States now have just a few weeks to scrape together teams from junior leagues and college players.
加拿大和美国现在只有几周的时间从青年联盟和大学球员中组建球队。
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年获得金牌的俄罗斯男子运动员，几乎肯定会再次获得金牌（尽管是在奥运会旗帜下，而不是他们自己的旗帜下，因为有兴奋剂禁令）。
The league is betting that fans care more about their home-city teams.
联盟正在打赌球迷们更关心他们的家乡球队。
Past Olympic glories have not translated into ratings bumps for the NHL.
过去的奥运辉煌并没有给冰球联盟带来收视率上涨。
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.
波士顿咨询集团的克里夫·格雷夫勒表示，取消前几场比赛的决定并没有影响到该联盟在北美的受欢迎程度。
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.
冰球联盟主席加里·贝特曼曾建议将冰球运动移至夏季奥运会，在联盟的淡季期间举行，但国际奥委会将他的想法暂时搁置。
The NHL may feel it is tapping into a larger feeling in Canada.
冰球联盟可能会觉得在加拿大比赛感觉更好。
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奥运会最强烈的支持者之一。
