Say what you want about NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, but let's face it — the man's a genius!

Sure, he hasn't said whether or not NHL players will take part in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia,

The reasons? It doesn't make the NHL money (that's debatable), but it shuts the league down for two weeks right after the void that follows the Super Bowl.

Actually, it's just once every four years. That being said, Bettman is downplaying the idea, but I don't think he would want to make a colossal blunder, which would be to keep the NHL out of the Olympics.

Even before the dream matchup of the United States against Canada, Olympic hockey had the world buzzing.

Do you recall the outrage when the United States-Canada game in pool play was televised on MSNBC instead of NBC?

Apparently, ice dancing had a more universal appeal than USA-Canada, but NBC didn't drop the ball when the gold medal game featured USA-Canada, Part II.

This time, the Canadians avenged the 5-3 loss with a thrilling, 3-2 overtime triumph over the Americans, thanks to the game-winner by Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby less than a year after bringing the Stanley Cup back to Pittsburgh.

Getting back to the genius that is Bettman, it seems not having the NHL players in the Olympics would be a bad move. To have NHL stars representing their countries for all the world to see is a wasted chance at a windfall.

The aforementioned gold medal game drew 27.6 million viewers, according to NBC, and was the largest audience since the 1980 gold-medal game pitting the United States and Finland, the game following the epic 3-2 USA win over the Soviet Union.

It also drew 10.5 million more viewers than the USA-Canada gold-medal game at Salt Lake City in 2002.

Those numbers just flesh out the appeal NHL players add to the Olympics, particularly those from North American. Plus, with about 20 games before the NHL playoffs, there's going to be a big interest in the rest of the season.

I'm guessing Bettman just wanted to hear from fans and players what they think before making a big commitment.

The players are all for it, especially Washington Capitals and Russian forward Alexander Ovechkin. He wants the opportunity to play in his home country and would be willing to walk away from the Caps to do so.

Plus, Ovechkin wants what Crosby has.

You think Bettman wants his stars leaving? Have a mass mutiny on his hands? The guess here is no.

Can you imagine the storylines for that Olympics? It would make for some thrilling television, although Russia, sitting eight time zones away from the East Coast, is a lot less TV friendly than North America.

Still, it's up to Bettman to come out smelling like a rose, which may have been part of his plan all along.

Sam Tallarico is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle.