While Mattias Ohlund’s and Sami Salo’s injuries were the result of hard hits, the same cannot be said for Czech Republic goaltender Dominik Hasek, who suffered a groin injury in the Czechs’ first game and may not be available to the Ottawa Senators when NHL play resumes this week.

The Olympic tournament was absolutely grueling; the Swedes and Finns played eight games in just 12 days when all was said and done. That brutal schedule, combined with a condensed NHL schedule designed to accommodate 82 games and the Olympic break, does not adequately serve anyone’s needs in the long term.

In an act of unprecedented support for hockey, NBC televised each and every game played in these Olympics, giving the NHL’s best players unprecedented exposure. For many casual sports fans, it was an overdue chance to witness the mastery of Russian forward Alexander Ovechkin, a Washington Capitals rookie who might already be the most exciting player in the NHL. And of course, for those who woke up early enough to watch the Swedes and Finns do battle yesterday morning, they saw a rivalry that can be fairly compared to the Yankees and Red Sox.

But while the quality of the Olympic play was undisputedly high, there’s little doubt this tournament would have been even better if the teams had had time for a three- or four-day mini training camp prior to its onset. On Tuesday night, five members of the Sweden squad – Tomas Holmstrom, Henrik Zetterberg, Nicklas Lidstrom, Niklas Kronwall, and Mikael Samuelsson – will be expected to suit up for the Detroit Red Wings in their Tuesday night game against the Sharks in San Jose, a full nine-hour time difference from Turin. Needless to say, it’s unreasonable to expect those players to be at their best for that game.

Put bluntly, if the NHL is truly committed to Olympic participation, then some obvious compromises must be made. For one thing, they should seriously consider shortening the NHL schedule during Olympic years to 74 games. This would amount to losing an average of one home gate receipt per year (for each team), which seems to be a fair price for the league to pay for the opportunity to have its stars featured on the world stage and receive tremendous exposure.