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Gary Bettman spoke about the future growth of hockey after the Milano Cortina Olympics. Bruce Bennett / Getty Images
ST. LOUIS — With 20 U.S. Olympic hockey players expected to attend the State of the Union address in Washington, D.C., NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was asked for his reaction Tuesday afternoon.
“Player decision,” Bettman said. “We want to get our players back as quickly as we can to resume the season, but USA Hockey and the players consider it an honor to be invited the way they are, and we all have to respect those decisions.”
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U.S. President Donald Trump invited the team to the Capitol after its 2-1 overtime victory over the Canadians in the gold medal game Sunday in Milan. Of the 20 players, seven are on NHL teams playing Wednesday night, which could affect their availability for games.
Bettman traveled from Milan to Florida and onto St. Louis, where he spoke for an hour Tuesday at the National Sports Forum at Union Station. He touched on several topics, including the Olympics.
NBC announced that 20.7 million viewers watched the Americans’ win over the Canadians across the NBC, Peacock and USA Network outlets, marking it the most-watched sporting event to start before 9 a.m. (ET) in U.S. history. According to CBC, 8.7 million viewers watched the game in Canada.
In the NHL’s first Olympic participation since the 2014 Sochi Games, Bettman said 147 of the league’s players played in the tournament.
“The exposure that our game got being played at the highest level … people got to see what I think is the best best-on-best in sports,” Bettman said. “It was on a wide platform worldwide, and the more people that have an opportunity to see how great our game (is a long-term benefit).
“It’s not about capitalizing today or tomorrow in an immediate way. It’s more about our continued growth of the game. We’re coming off a season of record attendance, and we’re going to break that. Our ratings nationally are up dramatically. It’s just more of a great game being given to more and more people.”
Bettman took note of this year’s U.S. players who said they were inspired to be Olympians because of the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” team.
“The Miracle on Ice at the time started the momentum and growth of the game,” Bettman said. “A lot of the players that are playing now are the beneficiaries of what was built off of that and I’m sure there were a lot of young people who saw the game on Sunday — no matter what country they’re from — and said, ‘I’d like to be a part of that game.'”
In the commissioner’s typical tone, however, he wouldn’t go as far as saying what a U.S. win could mean for the NHL because of the popularity it will create in America.
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“Somebody wins, somebody loses on all the games,” Bettman said. “It was exciting and that’s the most important part of it. If you’re a U.S. hockey fan, you’re thrilled, and if you’re a Canadian hockey fan, you’re a little disappointed, although you lost the tournament by one goal in overtime.
“What’s more important about it is games like we saw (in the Olympics) unifies countries, and at a point in time where there’s a little disunity within countries, between countries, bringing people together for a great hockey match is our contribution to the world.”
A year ago, the NHL announced it had reached a deal to send players to the 2026 and 2030 Olympics in France. But while the league has confirmed its commitment, that doesn’t mean there aren’t continuing challenges with halting the regular season.
“The reality is we’re a winter sport and we have to be in the Winter Games,” Bettman said. “Having more access to more of what goes on would help feed the various platforms that we have and it would mitigate it. (But) listen, there’s a change of momentum (in the season). Teams send different numbers of players to the Olympics, and that’s just a fact of life. We have to see how the rest of the season plays out. It’s a balancing act. There are benefits to being there, but there are also issues to be there in the middle of our season. It’s just the reality.”
Part of that reality includes the injuries suffered by Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby and the Los Angeles Kings’ Kevin Fiala, the latter of whom is out for the season.
“Things happen in the course of taking a break where some NHL teams — for example, the Panthers and the Lightning — send 10 players and other teams send a couple,” Bettman said. “Some teams are going to come back a little more tired, and others that rested are going to be (less) banged up. But we do it first and foremost because it’s important to our players. They want to represent their countries, and we could see intensity with which they brought to the competition.”
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There were also concerns about the rink dimensions at Santagiulia Arena in Milan, which proved not to be an issue once the tournament was played.
When asked if there would be more attention paid to those details going into the 2030 Olympics, Bettman said, “Obviously, there were building issues that were well-chronicled, and the competition and the event came off well, and we learn for next time.”
The next international competition involving NHL players will be the World Cup of Hockey in 2028, but the host cities have not yet been announced.
“Soon, soon,” Bettman said. “That’s the timeline.”
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Jeremy Rutherford is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the St. Louis Blues. He has covered the team since the 2005-06 season, including a dozen years at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He is the author of “Bernie Federko: My Blues Note” and “100 Things Blues Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die.” In addition, he is the Blues Insider for 101 ESPN in St. Louis. Follow Jeremy on Twitter @jprutherford
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