There have been some very ugly moments during the course of recent negotiations between the NHL and its Players’ Association, and they have led to a season and a half being entirely canceled over the previous 12 years. But calling each other greedy or uncaring is nothing compared to the owners’ new coup, a disgrace to the sport they are supposed to be nurturing and growing.

That the Board of Governors finds it appropriate to use the participation of NHL players in the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, as another bargaining chip for the seemingly inevitable lockout coming in the summer of 2020 — and all of the complications that come with the decision not to let the players go — is another glaring sign they are committed to a philosophy based 99 percent on profit. When the league announced the decision to deny their wonderfully international group of athletes the chance to participate in the world’s most important international sporting competition, they made it very clear why.

“The NHLPA has now publicly confirmed that it has no interest or intention of engaging in any discussion that might make Olympic participation more attractive to the Clubs,” read their statement, a shot across the negotiating table in what was already an awful blow to players.

“This will confirm our intention to proceed with finalizing our 2017-18 Regular Season schedule without any break to accommodate the Olympic Winter Games. We now consider the matter officially closed.”

First of all: No, it’s not. This is a like a parent pretending to turn the car around because the kids in the back are acting up. It could be called posturing; it could also be called negotiating in bad faith.

In an ideal world, the talks between the players and owners about the Olympics should have been done outside of the context of the next CBA. It has been made very clear that the players are (rightfully) unhappy with the current deal, and they have begun structuring new contracts to be “lockout-proof.” The current CBA was supposed to go through 2021-22, but the ability for both the NHL and the NHLPA to opt out after eight years now seems like it can’t come soon enough.

Another reason this is hardly a closed subject is because marquee players all over the league have implied they are willing to walk out on their teams for two weeks in February to represent their countries. Alex Ovechkin said it, and he was soon backed by Russian compatriot Evgeni Malkin. Not sure if they’ve entirely thought through the implications of insuring their own contracts, but the point was made nonetheless.

And if push comes to shove, individual owners will have to figure out a way to deal with their star players leaving.

How do you rationalize that to your fan base, that you and your fellow billionaires made the decision to undercut the team’s pursuit of making the playoffs for two weeks — if not undercut the integrity of the regular season entirely — because you wanted to dig deeper into the pockets of the players? How can a fan consciously turn over hard-earned money to that kind of unwavering greed?

There were legitimate concerns about players going to the Olympics, squashed when the IOC and IIHF said they would pick up the insurance and travel costs for the players. That led to almost all players wanting to go. Now this.

As Henrik Lundqvist pointed out, the league has conceded it’s a smart idea to try to grow the game in Asia. Next preseason, the Kings and Canucks will play a two-game set in Beijing, branding it: “2017 NHL China Games™,” with a tagline of: “Serves as Part of League’s Long-Term Commitment in China.”

But the ability to showcase their best in South Korea, on the world’s biggest stage? Well, to the owners, the game never means more than the bottom line. That philosophy should turn everyone off, and in a few short years, it’s going to shut down the game.

Hoping ‘Okey’ is OK

You meet a couple people along the way doing this job whose personalities stick with you; people who are nice and caring and thoughtful. Kyle Okposo is one of those guys, an Islander for the first nine years of his career, now in his first year with the Sabres.

Okposo, 28, recently was admitted to the Neurological Intensive Care Unit in Buffalo as he battles “an illness.” It’s a scary situation. Here’s hoping he’ll soon be back to reading his beloved “Harry Potter” series to his eldest daughter, Ellianna, and doing crossword puzzles in the locker room before games.

UPDATE: WIVB in Buffalo reported early Friday afternoon that Okposo has been discharged from the hospital.

Bad Brad and more DOPS nonsense

Brad Marchand was suspended for the final two games of the regular season — after his Bruins had already clinched a playoff spot — for his egregious stick-to-the-groin of Lightning defender Jake Dotchin. It was the eighth time Marchand has been fined or suspended, six of them now for attacking the “lower body.” I’m sure this little two-game slap on the wrist while resting for the playoffs will really show him.

The immediate debate was how Golden Boy Sidney Crosby had not been penalized or suspended for his spearing of Ryan O’Rielly on March 21. So the Department of Player Safety (DOPS) tossed in a little clarification near the end of the video, alluding to Crosby’s play by saying: “This is not light contact, that, while illegal, does not rise to the level of supplemental discipline.”

Here’s a novel idea: How about a groin shot is always a penalty, and always a suspension — and how about five games being a starting point?

Murray in a tizzy

Ducks general manager Bob Murray went on a bit of a rant the other day, still reeling from one of his best defenseman, Cam Fowler, suffering a knee injury that will keep Fowler out “two-to-six weeks” and at least the beginning of the playoffs. Fowler was hurt when he was hit by Flames defenseman Mark Giordano, and the hit and the hitter are what got Murray going.

“I have no use for knee-on-knee hits, especially if I think they’re somewhat intentional,” Murray said, according to the Los Angeles Times. “I hear how Gio’s a good guy, he’s this, he’s that. The media in Toronto is saying, ‘We’ll, he’s a good guy.’ He’s done this before. I have no respect for people who go after knees.”

Doesn’t seem like a malicious hit to me, but good to hear a GM be outspoken.

Stay tuned …

… to the race for the final playoff spot. With 15 of 16 postseason spots having been clinched, all that remains in the second wild-card in the Eastern Conference. The Maple Leafs have a three-point lead on the Islanders and Lightning, who are the only team in action on Friday night, playing host to the Canadiens. Anything but a regulation win would end the Lightning’s season.

The Leafs are home to the Penguins on Saturday and Blue Jackets on Sunday, with two more points in any fashion locking up the spot. If they gain only one point over their final two games, the Lightning (assuming they win on Friday) are done, having lost the head-to-head tiebreaker. But the Islanders still would be alive, and two regulation wins would punch their ticket. Doug Weight’s group is visit the Devils on Saturday and is home for the Senators on Sunday.

Parting shot

People are longing to dethrone Crosby as the best player in the world. Yet Sid keeps making plays like this, and even Connor McDavid has to blush.