NAGANO, Japan -- There's more to Olympic hockey than defeated Team USA, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said as he defended the league's presence here as anything but a "waste of time."

"We

Bettman: Jury is still out on having NHL players in Salt Lake City Games. (AP)

believe that when all is said and done, this will have been a very, very positive experience that made sense for us to do," Bettman said today. "The players have virtually unanimously told us that they ... were thrilled to be a part of the Olympics."

DOES THAT INCLUDE U.S. alternate captain Keith Tkachuk, who gave the NHL a public relations nightmare Wednesday? After the Americans' 4-1 quarterfinal loss to the Czech Republic, Tkachuk looked into a CBS-TV camera and said: "It was the biggest waste of time, ever."

"When I heard it, my reaction was, `That couldn't have been what he meant,"' said Bettman, whose league is participating in the Olympics for the first time. "The comment was addressed to the team's performance, not to the Olympic experience, and that was confirmed to us by the player himself."

Bob Goodenow, NHL Players Association executive director, said he spoke with Tkachuk, who told him: "The Olympic experience is absolutely tremendous. It was not at all a waste of time."

BETTMAN ACKNOWLEDGED that the United States' elimination from the tournament before the medal round even began might reduce the U.S. television audience.

"But we never had the belief that we could rely on the U.S. going to the gold-medal game as the justification for participating in the Olympics," he said.

"There are still 70 (NHL players) on the remaining four teams (Canada, Russia, Finland and the Czech Republic). Worldwide, this is having the delivery of our expectations."

Bettman noted that Buffalo Sabres goaltender Dominik Hasek was chiefly responsible for the Czech victory over the United States.

"If the league's MVP from last season is having a spectacular game ... I'm not sure it's fair to look at it and say, `Well, this is a bad experience for the United States,"' Bettman said.

HE SAID IT'S TOO early to know if NHL players will participate again in the 2002 Games. For one thing, the league must wait to see if its 17-day Olympic break will adversely affect the playoffs.

"If all vital signs continue to be good, as we hope and expect them to be, we'll look forward to doing this again in Salt Lake City," he said.

"This is about exposure and building your fan base. This is about more people getting turned on to the game. That doesn't happen overnight. It's not like turning on a light switch. That's why this was never intended to be a watershed event for us."

Also today, Bettman said the Calgary Flames and San Jose Sharks will open the 1998-99 season in Tokyo. The NHL also staged an opener in Tokyo this season, when Anaheim and Vancouver played at Yoyogi Arena last October.