Bettman says league OK with missing Olympics

VANCOUVER— The NHL has no regrets about not sending its players to the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, says commissioner Gary Bettman.

“We’ve very comfortable with the decision we made as a league,” Bettman said Wednesday.

The NHL announced in April it would not participate in the Pyeongchang Games. It was the first time in five Winter Olympics where the world’s best hockey players didn’t play.

It meant there was no “disruption to our season,” Bettman said, adding it ensured players remained healthy for the run to the playoffs.

“The fact our teams would have come back in varying conditions, some teams more banged up and tired than teams where there weren’t that many players at the Olympics, we’re very comfortable with it,” he said.

Canada’s men’s hockey team, a collection of former NHL players mostly playing in Europe, won bronze at the Olympics. The team from Russia defeated Germany in overtime of the gold-medal game.

“The tournament was entertaining,” Bettman said. “The hockey was not best on best . . . Based on the overall reaction that these Olympics got, I think we were justified in our decision and comfortable it was the right decision.”

Bettman didn’t want to speculate if the NHL would return for the 2022 Games.

“I’m not in a position to predict,” he said. “The fact is, even in four years the issue of disruption of our season will be there. It’s not something we are focused on right now.”

Bettman was in Vancouver to announce the Canucks will host the 2019 NHL draft.