Bettman: 'We're very comfortable with not going' to Olympics

Gary Bettman is maintaining his stance of wanting to hold the NHL and its players out of Olympic participation.

"From our standpoint, we believe and our experience, both with going to five Olympics and then not going to Pyeongchang, tells us that going is extraordinarily disruptive to the season," Bettman told reporters Friday at All-Star Weekend, per TSN.

Bettman added, "I know it maintains itself as a priority for the players' association, but having said that, we're very comfortable with not going."

The NHL commissioner has been keen to hold his players out of the Olympics since barring them from participating in 2018. After taking office in 1993, Bettman permitted players to attend each quadrennial tournament from 1998-2014.

Trips to the Olympics have typically caused the NHL to shut down for several weeks in February while teams worry about their players potentially facing injury. When the league last went to Sochi in 2014, John Tavares, Henrik Zetterberg, Aleksander Barkov, and Tomas Kopecky all sustained season-ending injuries.

While Bettman doesn't appear ready to budge on the issue and give in to the players' desires, the NHL is aiming to organize a World Cup of Hockey in 2024 and make it a more regular tournament.