NHL weighs value of future Olympic exposure
Last Updated: Thursday, January 21, 2010 | 9:25 PM ET
The Canadian Press
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman wonders if it will be worth it for the league to commit to the Olympics beyond Vancouver. (John Ulan/Canadian Press)No decision is coming any time soon on the future participation of NHL players in the Olympic hockey tournament, but the issue will require extensive discussions between the league and the NHL Players' Association, according to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.
There is no agreement in place for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, and Bettman said in Calgary on Thursday that the league isn't leaning one way or another.
"Every time I discuss the pluses and minuses and I articulate what the minuses are people say, 'Oh, well they've made up their mind — they're not going,"' Bettman said.
"It's difficult for any business, any league, to shut down for two weeks with the attendant loss of attention and everything that flows from it, and there are competitive issues," he added. "Our teams send varying amounts of players to the Olympics and so a team that sends eight or nine players may come back a little more tired and banged up than an NHL team that sends none or one or two."
Bettman said a decision doesn't have to be made right away, and he expects heated debate with the players.
"I know the players are passionate about representing their countries — we have a long history as a sport in international competition and that's something that's important to the players. But we have to decide, on balance, is it worth it?" he asked.
In addition to the problems of shutting down the league for two weeks, Bettman repeated earlier comments about the NHL basically getting enough bang for its buck in terms of publicity during the event.
"In some places, the benefits are greater for the Olympic participation than others," Bettman said. "When you're in Vancouver or Salt Lake City and you're in North American time zones and you're getting that type of coverage, then you are getting coverage that may be commensurate with shutting down.
"When you're halfway around the world maybe the coverage isn't as great. The time zone in Sochi, Russia, for example is 10 hours ahead of the mountain time zone," said Bettman, noting the Games will be played when it is in the middle of the night in North America. "Is it worth it? I don't have an answer to it yet."
