NHL should send its players back to 2014 Olympics

The Winter Olympics in Vancouver wrapped up on Sunday with a rousing gold-medal hockey game between the United States and Canada, which Canada unfortunately won in thrilling fashion when Sidney Crosby scored in overtime.

More than 80 percent of the Canadian population tuned in to watch the game at some point and nearly 35 million Americans were watching when Zach Parise scored the tying goal for the United States in the last 30 seconds of the third period.

It was the most watched hockey game since the "Miracle on Ice" game between the U.S. and the Soviet Union at the 1980 Olympics, and it's reason enough to send NHL players to the Winter Olympics again in 2014 in Sochi, Russia.

Some hockey fans and experts have called for the Olympic tournament to go back to using amateur players, as it did up until the 1998 games in Nagano, in order to avoid a two-week break in the NHL season and possibly recreate the fantasy situation of the "Miracle" games in Lake Placid. But what they fail to realize is that without the world's best players, the tournament would fall flat.

Amateur and college players aren't as polished as professionals. Sure, college hockey can be more fun to watch than most NHL games, but much of that comes from the rowdy atmosphere and connection to the school. Competition is most entertaining when talent is at a premium.

While the fantastic Olympic hockey tournament will likely fail to attract more viewers to the NHL – fewer than 5 million viewers watched last year's seven-game Stanley Cup Final series between Detroit and Pittsburgh on average – the big numbers from the gold-medal game show the country's interest in world hockey when national pride is on the line. It's an interest that can't be matched by amateurs, and the NHL should not hesitate to send its players back for another go in 2014.