Bettman Stands Behind NHL’s Line Change

The gold medal success of the Czech Republic, which had the fewest NHL players of the six major hockey powers here, and the inability of the U.S. and Canada to win medals don’t mean the new format, allowing NHL stars into the Games, failed, according to NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman.

“The NHL players more than held their own, in particularly Messrs. [Jaromir] Jagr and [Dominik] Hasek, who was our MVP last year and he showed why,” Bettman said. “We said all along we thought one of the six seeded teams would win, and we were right. The NHL, in some measure, won today, because if you look at Mr. Hasek’s performance, he gave up one goal in the last two games.”

Soviet Coach Vladimir Yurzinov, however, saw the 1-2-3 finish of the Czech Republic, Russia and Finland as a tribute to the quality of European hockey.

“I’m very happy the way European ice hockey is played at these Games,” he said. “God willing, this is the kind of ice hockey tournament we will have in the future.”

Czech assistant coach Slavomir Lener said the North American teams never fully adjusted to the wider ice surface.

“It was an advantage for the European teams, and as the tournament progressed, Russia, Canada and Finland took advantage of that,” Lener said. “We could see the U.S. team and Canadian team get lost too often. Their orientation in the space wasn’t as great as they’re used to seeing.”