For some coaches, like Spartak's Milos Riha, Vancouver 2010 is a headache. I'm sure, he would love the tournament to be postponed, not to say cancelled at all.

At the moment, the Czech has at his disposal 5 Slovakian players who have strong hopes to travel to Canada next winter. And Riha can only hope they won't get hurt representing their country. With Slovakia's flops at the recent world finals, there is also a question mark about the players' mental conditions after the Olympics.

I hold no doubt about the guys' professionalism — they'll give everything, no matter which team they are playing for. But will they be able to keep the highest fitness level throughout the season?

The situation is the opposite at Dinamo Riga and Dinamo Minsk, which are the only KHL sides from their countries.

During the summer, the Riga side tried to boost the squad with as many Latvians as possible. Dinamo is a basis club for the national team, and bringing the players together was crucial for them.

Hockey is a huge sport in this Baltic country, and Dinamo will probably sacrifice the KHL season in favour of the Olympics.

The European league will have an Olympic break for a month, starting in early February. And it's interesting how it will affect the clubs, as the play-offs will be looming at that point.