Donald Fehr, executive director of the NHL Players' Association (NHLPA), was a guest on Sportsnet's "The Jeff Blair Show" on Wednesday morning and talked about the league's decision to sit out the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

The main takeaway: the players will not forget the NHL's decision, one they vehemently disagree with. They want to be there.

Fehr said Olympic participation wasn't part of previous collective bargaining talks because no one saw this decision coming, not after NHLers have become such an integral part of the winter games.

"No one envisioned that the owners would take this kind of view. It's basically just shortsighted, and clearly, as we see it, contrary to the best interests of the game and the growth of the game," Fehr said.

Fehr added that while last summer's World Cup was a success, it's nowhere near the level of popularity that ice hockey at the Olympics has enjoyed, and it's going to take time for the World Cup to get there - if it ever does. The PA believes the 2018 Games offers an inroad into Asia, where the league wants to make its mark, making this decision all the more unwise.

"The real question is, why do you simply walk away from incredible numbers of hours of programming that are going to reach all kinds of people that would not otherwise see NHL players," he said.

"All I can say is this," Fehr added. "If the notion is that players will just say 'Oh well, it's too bad, the CBA didn't provide for it or we wish it were different' ... and we can just go on with life as usual, or as if this hadn't happened, I think that's a very, very, very unlikely possibility."

Fehr went on about what the Olympics mean to players, what it means to represent their countries, and how the opportunity only comes along on rare occasions for a select few, who take much pride in it.

"In the statement we issued, I said that a decent respect for the opinions of the players matters, or ought to matter, and it's clear here that it did not and that's too bad. And we also think it's a very foolish and shortsighted marketing and promotional decision.

"If the notion is that everybody will just forget about this, I suspect that's not going to be the case."

The current CBA between the PA and the NHL was ratified in January 2013 and is in effect until Sept. 15, 2022, according to the PA's website. Both parties have the right to terminate the deal after eight years.

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