The NHL is saying no to the Olympics because it's inconvenient from a scheduling perspective, because players could get hurt, because it costs them money, and because they can..  Elite soccer clubs hate World Cup commitments for the same reasons but manage to run their leagues anyway despite the many more frequent interruptions.  They do it because FIFA forces them to.  Somehow, life goes on and the leagues make money.  As for the analogy to the U23 soccer teams at the Olympics -this is a weak argument   Olympic soccer is largely ignored because it isn't best-on-best, which is plain to see in the TV ratings for the Olympics vs the World Cup..  Yes, it gives younger players a chance to play, but there is no comparison in the eyes of the audience to a competition where the world's best players are in attendance.  That doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad thing, but everyone knows that without the NHL Olympic hockey is a significantly less important.