Olympics Remain a Goal for NHL : Hockey: At Bettman’s first board of governors meeting, decision is postponed.

In making no decision on Sunday, the NHL’s Board of Governors might have furthered the concept of having professional hockey players in the 1994 Winter Olympics at Lillehammer, Norway.

There have been other opportunities for the governors to vote on the proposal, but each time it was postponed. Baaron Pittenger, executive director of USA Hockey, came to Montreal believing the concept wouldn’t get the necessary two-thirds majority from the governors. And here, the issue was declared dead by several governors--but that was before new NHL commissioner Gary Bettman ran his first board meeting on Sunday morning.

Bettman, from his NBA days, is aware of the exposure the Olympics can provide. He said Sunday that he will speak with CBS television executives about the concept, adding that he has a meeting scheduled this week with IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch.

“The question is whether or not we can make it work,” Bettman said. “A couple of weeks isn’t what is going to make the difference. It’s whether or not we’re on a time frame now that can make it happen. And I still have a little bit more homework to do on that issue.

“If we’re going to do this, you want as little disruption to the season as possible and you’ve got to focus on ways to do that.”

One suggestion is to combine the All-Star game in Olympic years with the Olympics. Next year, the U.S. Olympic and Canadian teams would practice for a couple of days, play each other in New York and fly to Norway. This would shorten the NHL’s Olympic break. Even Chicago owner Bill Wirtz, firmly against the idea in its previous form, says that he will consider a revised proposal.

Because neither Anaheim nor Miami are able to say when they will be ready to play, the governors could only discuss realignment in vague terms. Several scenarios, including a three-division alignment, were discussed. Miami owner Wayne Huizenga might sign his arena lease as early as this week and Flyer senior vice president Bobby Clarke is considered a top candidate to become Miami general manager.

Clarke spoke with Huizenga this weekend and claimed he hasn’t been contacted by anyone from Anaheim. “I know Tony (Tavares),” he said of the team’s expected president. “But I don’t know what the situation is there.”

Former Islander general manager Bill Torrey, still under contract to the team, said he has talked with Anaheim and Miami.

The eventual general managers in Anaheim and Miami will have a difficult task if they hope to be ready by next season. “I couldn’t do it,” said Neil Smith, the Rangers’ president and general manager. “I’m pretty conservative, but it seems mind-boggling to pull it off with no staff assembled. There’s just 3 1/2 months from now to pull everything together by the (June) draft.”

By then, the league will have some answers about the Olympics and realignment.

And Sunday’s meeting?

Said Bettman: “I read all the clips and it was written frequently: ‘Welcome to your worst nightmare. You have your first board meeting today.’ There’s this faction and that faction. I haven’t seen any of that, and I hope not to. And if I don’t, it means that we’re on the right track.”