Just two weeks ago, Donald Fehr still believed NHL players could be headed to the Olympics. Albeit with some important qualifiers.

Things have changed in a hurry since that Dec. 9 interview with the executive director of the NHL Players’ Association.

By the time the NHL and NHLPA made the Olympic pull-out official Wednesday, it was hardly a surprise on any level.

“As we began to lose games, it became more and more likely and then eventually inevitable that we would not be able to make up the games without utilizing the Olympic break,” Fehr told The Athletic over the phone.

“And it’s a real shame. But that’s the world we’re in.”

The NHL was well within its right, as per the Olympic agreement with the NHLPA, to pull out once the integrity of the season schedule was threatened by the latest COVID-19 wave. A wave which isn’t done threatening the schedule.