The biggest problem with not participating in the Russian Olympics in 2014, as Bettman and Burke hope to, is that the NHL may never be able to return to the Olympics.
Of course, Bettman is intent on running the sport into the ground and bankrupting the league in the name of the short-term demands of owners and general managers, but anyone who cares about the long term future of the sport would set aside time for participation.
All the league has to do is run a shorter year, perhaps 4 division games + 2 conference games + 1 cross-conference game = 20 + 20 + 15 games = 55 games instead of 81 games.
Perhaps Bettman is upset that the Olympics are upstaging him -- they will have higher TV rankings than any hockey game he's associated with this year.
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