N.H.L. needs the Olympics more than it may know;League hints at a pullout, but participation is

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Gary Bettman could be finding himself boxed into a corner, his position that National Hockey League participation in future Olympics may not be worth the sacrifice rendered untenable by the big television audience last Sunday for the game between Canada and the United States.

Bettman, the N.H.L. commissioner, has suggested that shutting down for 15 days may be more costly to the league than the benefits it derives from having its stars showcased internationally. The league gets no revenue from Olympic telecasts, but the high viewership numbers suggest that the N.H.L. is getting more exposure from the Olympics than Bettman or anyone else expected.

Even if his reluctance to embrace participation in future Winter Games is mainly a bid for leverage in negotiations for a piece of the Olympics pie or in talks with the N.H.L. Players' Association for a new collective bargaining agreement, it is becoming increasingly difficult to envision saying goodbye to a platform that provides undeniable benefits.

According to figures, the game had 10.8 million viewers in Canada, making it the most-watched sports program in Canadian television history.

It was not even an elimination game, yet viewership in both countries surpassed that of Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals last spring.

The numbers for the game Sunday seem to contradict the notion that the Olympics are too costly a sacrifice for his league. Rather, the presence at the Olympics of N.H.L. players seems to be putting the spotlight on the league in a way the N.H.L. itself has not quite been able to do.

Joe Sakic, formerly of the Canadian team and the Colorado Avalanche, said: ''The players love doing it, the fans love it, it grows the sport. Everyone at the end of the day realizes it's the best thing for hockey.''

Bettman made some persuasive points last Thursday when he listed the reasons the N.H.L., which in 1998 began taking a break for the Olympics, may decide not to send its players to the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

''It costs us money, it disrupts our season,'' he said about the league's Olympic shutdown. He cited other issues as well, including the control the International Olympic Committee asserts over rights and media access and, of course, the risk of injury to its best players.

Bettman is not alone among N.H.L. executives in expressing doubts about taking part in the Sochi Games, where travel and time-zone differences will make it more difficult to participate.

Even Brian Burke, the general manager of the U.S. men's team but also the president and general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, has publicly raised doubts about the advisability of continued N.H.L. participation in the Olympics.

''We suspend our season for more than two weeks, and we get very little benefit from it,'' Burke said in August at the U.S. team's orientation camp.

''We get some bang when the Olympics are in North America, in Vancouver or Salt Lake, but when they're overseas, we have gotten no bang at all. I wouldn't be surprised if this is the last Olympics the N.H.L. takes part in.''

Surveys have shown that a majority of the players union favors participation in Sochi, which is sure to be a factor when it negotiates a collective bargaining agreement at the end of next season.

And Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin and Ilya Kovalchuk have declared that they will leave their N.H.L. clubs, if necessary, to take part in the 2014 Games in their homeland.

Vyacheslav Fetisov, a former Russian minister of sport and now chairman of the Kontinental Hockey League board, not surprisingly spoke in favor of the N.H.L.'s coming to Sochi. He said that if the league skipped 2014, there might be further consequences.

''When they get out of the Olympic family, I think there's no chance to get back,'' Fetisov said. ''It's not hard to find a couple of weeks to send the best players to sell the game.''

The K.H.L. wants everyone at their Olympics, of course. Like all European leagues, it makes its top players available for international competitions.

Ren? Fasel, president of the international federation, acknowledged Bettman's concerns about media and branding questions but said there were bigger issues. ''I understand when Gary says, 'We lose money,' but it's not that.

''Gary should not forget that people in Asia and Europe are watching this tournament, and that's also promotion for the N.H.L.''