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FYI: Players don’t get entire Olympic break off

James Reimer; Randy Carlyle

Toronto Maple Leafs’ James Reimer, center, walks past head coach Randy Carlyle, during NHL hockey training camp in Toronto on Friday, Sept. 13, 2013. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Chris Young)

AP

Informative article here by the Globe and Mail’s James Mirtle about how the 17-day Olympic break works. In case you thought otherwise, the players who aren’t representing their countries in Sochi don’t get to spend the whole time lounging by the pool in some tropical destination.

For players not going to the Games, the break does in fact start on the ninth, but it actually ends on the 19th at 2 p.m. local time, which is when teams will call them back to practice. Instead of a two-and-a-half week break, they really only get 10 days away, and some will spend that time in the AHL.

According to Maple Leafs head coach Randy Carlyle, the days leading up to the resumption of the NHL schedule (on Feb. 26, except for Buffalo and Carolina) will “basically be a training camp all over again.”

Which the players will surely enjoy.

Related: The Blues have a ‘plan’ to battle Olympic fatigue