OlymPicks: Time Ticking for NHL Decision, Testing Zones for Self-Driving Cars Expand

OlymPicks, we highlight news, gossip, and developments regarding the buildup to Beijing's 2022 Winter Olympics.

Speculation on hockey Olympic picks despite NHL indecision

It’s not yet clear whether the National Hockey League – the professional ice hockey league that includes both Canadian and American teams – will allow its players to compete in the Beijing Olympic Games, but that hasn’t stopped speculation from the experts at thehockeywriters.com.

According to their analysis, at least a few of the Vancouver Canucks are shoe-ins for 2022, but none of them will play for Canada. Elias Petterson (pictured above), for example, would play for team Sweden, while Brock Boeser, Quinn Hughes, and J.T. Miller would all play for the US. Only Bo Horvat is likely to shoot pucks for the pride of the great maple leaf.

Canada's men's team has historically been the strongest team on the Olympic ice, winning 22 medals in total, including 13 gold. In comparison, Russia's team trails with only seven gold, with the US coming next with four.

The NHL has until August to decide whether or not its players will hit the ice in Beijing.

New testing zone for Olympic self-driving cars opens

As we have previously reported, the city is going to be a bona fide playground for new technologies in the lead up to Beijing 2022. We've already seen the ice-cooling system that takes carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere as well as China’s official cryptocurrency, but now there's a new shiny toy rolling onto the scene: self-driving cars, which are expected to chauffeur Olympians around the city.

More than 50 roads in Haidian District, totaling a length of 244 kilometers, have been dedicated to testing these automated automobiles and the tests have already placed passengers in the vehicles, according to China Daily.

No cost is being spared for the development of the vehicles – over RMB 49 million is slated for testing alone – but of course, the technology's use will continue to expand well beyond 2022.

Olympic Committee head: Beijing may benefit from Tokyo delay

Despite a long hold-out, Japan was not able to stop the delay of its Tokyo Olympic Games. It's good news for Beijing though, because Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee, told Xinhua that Tokyo’s bane could be Beijing’s boon.

That's because Bach predicts back-to-back Olympic years could result in sustained hype for the Beijing Games, as the world will still be gripped by Olympic fever.

"We will also have to see and consider what advantages it may even offer to the organization of Beijing being so close to the Olympic Games in Tokyo, because this will keep and even raise the awareness of the world for the Olympic Games at a very high level," Bach said.

READ: OlymPicks: Qualifiers Postponed, Beijing's "Ice Jar" Nearly Complete

Images: Vancourier, Xinhua News