Even the NHL isn’t crazy enough to bar its players from the Olympics

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It might be hard to believe after two weeks of memorable hockey, but NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman remains noncommittal about having NHL players compete in the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Although Bettman acknowledged Monday on the Fox Business Network that the gold medal game between the U.S. and Canada gave the NHL a great amount of exposure, he also said the league ‘has plenty of time’ to make a decision about participating in the 2014 Games.

‘This notion, this demand to have an immediate decision is silly,’ he said.

I’d like to hope Bettman is speaking on the behalf of money-grubbing team owners who can’t see beyond their two-week revenue gap. However, he needs to break free of his puppet-masters and state the obvious:

NHL players will be competing in Sochi, Russia, in 2014.

Sunday’s game sealed the deal -- and yes, it’s Bettman-proof.

The gold medal game was the most-watched hockey game in the United States since the 1980 ‘Miracle on Ice’ game against the Soviet Union. Many of the 27.6 million people who tuned in Sunday were exposed to names of Ryan Miller, Patrick Kane and Dustin Brown for the first time, giving the NHL a level of publicity it hardly ever sees.

And speaking of the players, do you really think they’ll just give up on the Olympics? Do you think a guy like Miller will let go of his dream of Olympic gold so some 19-year-old amateur can get hammered by a Kontinental Hockey League-infused Russia team?

No, they won’t. The U.S. has not advanced this far in international hockey to have the NHL take it away. If you want another miracle, cheer for Belarus.

The NHL needs to promote itself and its players through its involvement with the Olympics. I realize the league doesn’t always make the smartest moves, but its owners would be crazy to fight hard on this issue once negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement begin.

A two-week interruption every four years is a small price to pay to remind everyone (especially fans in the United States) that the best hockey players in the world play in the NHL.

-- Austin Knoblauch