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Hockey at the 2010 Winter Olympics begins Tuesday in Vancouver. Enjoy it. It might be the last time fans will get to witness National Hockey League players participate.

At least I hope so.

The NHL is not committed to providing its players for the world showcase beyond 2010. Rumblings that this may be it has brought controversy and varied reaction from many around the league. I have always appreciated great hockey and the Olympics certainly have provided that in recent years.

But I have always had a hard time letting go of the fact that the Olympics are where the world’s finest amateurs go to compete. They pour their heart and soul into becoming the best in the world, training non-stop. Their dedication and commitment is without peer.

It really bothered me when the NBA began sending its Dream Team to the Summer Olympic Games. I watched one blowout and then tuned out. I was even more perturbed when the NHL got into the act. The fact is, the United States grew tired of finishing second or third or worse at the Olympics, arguing that the athletes sent by Russia, Germany, China and other countries were actually professionals anyway, so what’s the harm? Putting professionals on the stage was justified.

I never bought it.

The 1980 Olympics at Lake Placid, N.Y. provided the greatest thrill of my life. Watching the United States defeat the Soviets and then go on to defeat Finland for the gold medal provided the most electrifying moment of my life as a sports fan. I have thoroughly enjoyed re-living those moments with the likes of former Blues Bill Baker, Mark Johnson and Dave Christian, who were integral parts of that wonderful event 30 years ago. The Olympic stage belongs to amateur athletes.

All of this is easy for me to say. For the NHL, it will undoubtedly spark great debate in the coming months or years. It will be a very tough decision, one that many foreign NHL stars will probably not accept. Washington’s Alexander Ovechkin, arguably the NHL’s greatest player, has said publicly that if the NHL turns its back on the Olympics, he will go anyway and represent his native Russia.

“I think there are two sides to it,” said Blues captain Eric Brewer. “For the players, it’s the greatest tournament on earth. You can showcase the best players. From the teams’ perspective, there are probably some teams out there who aren’t real happy about sending six or eight guys to Vancouver.

“You get those guys, all of whom are big minute guys, that are playing the extra two weeks. It makes a big difference. It’s a lot of hockey for guys. But at the end of the day, we’re all hockey guys. We just want to watch hockey.”

Forward David Backes (Team USA) and defensemen Erik Johnson (Team USA) and Roman Polak (Czech Republic) are representing the Blues in Vancouver. They are thrilled. They certainly earned the honor of representing their country.

But while they are away, Blues President John Davidson will be reaching for blood pressure medication to soothe his nerves. He understands the players’ point of view and cited Russia’s passion for the international competition, but he can’t help but worry about the health of his players and other factors.

“They’ll want to play,” said Davidson. “The players will probably want to play. At the same time, it’s tough to shut your business down for two weeks. It’s scary as can be with the thought of injury. You have season ticket holders who invest in seats to be able to watch the best play and if the best get injured…like what happened to Dominik Hasek the year he played for Ottawa and got injured over in Torino (Italy)…that was really hurtful to their organization.”

NHL owners and senior management people appreciate the great publicity the NHL gets during the Olympics. But beyond that, the risks outweigh the benefits in their minds.

“From an ownership standpoint, in the middle of the season, we would just as soon skip it,” said Rocky Wirtz, owner of the Chicago Blackhawks. “It doesn’t add any more to our sport.”

Don Maloney, general manager of the Phoenix Coyotes, echoed Davidson’s concerns about the risk of injuries to star players. He also sees other elements that are not benefiting the league or the teams.

“(For) the NHL, at least at this stage, there is no tangible financial benefit,” Maloney told the Arizona Republic. “We all enjoy the Olympics, love to watch it, but I personally like the amateurs. I like the unexpected.

“It’s all revenue, television revenue. If they had some tangible benefit other than the good will of seeing the best players – we all enjoy that, the fans love it – but I think there’s some really hard discussions going forward to see whether it makes sense for this league to shut down.”

Davidson agreed and talked about how the buildings are full for the Olympic hockey games.

“Those tickets are very, very expensive,” he said. “NHL teams get zero.”

The Coyotes are one of the most financially troubled teams in the NHL. Currently being operated by the league, they are also one of the best and most surprising teams. Fans are coming back.

“People are coming back,” said Maloney. “Now we’re hitting this abrupt stop and then you start up again in a few weeks and then you have (injury) potential.”

Losing Backes, Johnson or Polak to injury could be devastating to the Blues’ hopes for reaching the playoffs. The team won its last three games before the two-week Olympic break and appears poised to be making another strong stretch run to earn a berth in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

“My point of view as a broadcaster when I worked five of them, I loved it and loved having the best in the world there,” explained Davidson, a longtime broadcaster for the Madison Square Garden Network and other national media outlets. “But my view as an executive with a club, I’m scared to death. I feel so good for our players that are going. I want them to have the time of their lives. But please come back healthy. There’s no guarantee. So that’s a scary situation.”

The Olympic federations carry insurance on the players who participate, so their salaries are covered.

“But that doesn’t mean your talent’s protected,” said Davidson. “Your salaries are, but not your talent.”

Washington Capitals Coach Bruce Boudreau discussed the issue with reporters Saturday morning. He is neutral on the issue.

“I have no opinion of what the league should be doing,” he said. “I just know that if I was a player and the Olympics were in my country and I was good enough to play, I’d certainly want to play. I think it’s going to be a great tournament this year. Then we’ll see where it goes.”

There’s also the condensed NHL schedule to deal with. The league started a week earlier to help offset the two-week break, but the Blues just finished a stretch where they played 18 games in 32 nights.

That’s insane.

“During an Olympic year, the schedule is tough on everybody…the players, referees, even the fans have more games clustered together,” said Davidson. “It’s tough on everybody. And the value of the hockey itself overrides it. The hockey is fantastic. Having worked five of them, I can attest to that.

“But I’m sitting here trying to figure what’s best. If I was leaning, I’d go 55-45 no. Our league is the best league in the world. Let’s take care of our league and that’s the value of it.”

Oshie Olympic snub:After Friday night’s impressive 4-0 whitewash of the Toronto Maple Leafs, talented Blues forward T.J. Oshie was one of the stars of the game. He was asked by reporters afterward if he was attempting to send a message to Team USA General Manager Brian Burke, who made the final decision to leave him off the roster.

“No, not really,” he said with a smile. “Just trying to get two points.”

While the Blues are certainly well represented at the Olympics, many fans, media and hockey officials felt Oshie should have been given one of the slots. Burke addressed the issue at a pre-game press conference Friday night at Scottrade Center.

“We spent a lot of time on T.J. Oshie,” said Burke. “What you raise, I’m getting every place I go. ‘Why isn’t this guy on the team and why isn’t that guy on the team?’ T.J. Oshie’s going to be an Olympian, no question. And he’s a real good player now. And he’s a great kid. We didn’t feel given the skill sets we were trying to put together… he just missed it. He just missed the cut.”

Burke is in a tough position. When he goes to Columbus, Ohio, he’s pelted with outrage over not including R.J. Umberger. Or when he goes to Atlanta, he gets hit with angry questions about why Ron Hainsey and Zach Bogosian were left off.

“I say, ‘Guys, it’s a small wedding…only 23 chairs.’”

Assuming the NHL continues to participate in the Olympics and assuming Oshie continues to develop, he’ll surely occupy one of those chairs in 2014.

Ron Wilson’s future:The Leafs poor showing this season has been trying for Coach Ron Wilson. But Wilson’s adversarial relationship with the tough Toronto media has been unreal. During Burke’s press conference here, a Toronto Sun reporter asked Burke if Wilson’s job as coach of the Leafs was tied to the success of the Team USA, which Wilson is coaching. Burke paused and tried to stay calm before responding.

“See the newer, gentler Brian Burke hopefully…that’s ridiculous,” said Burke. “I would have said something that the film guys would have had to edit out. Ron Wilson is a helluva coach and our failures are not coaching failures. Our failures have been player and management failures. And I think we’ve addressed some of the player failures. I think some of the changes we’ve made, you can see it’s turning into my kind of team. And Ron Wilson, his tenure is not linked at all to how this tournament goes.

“Talk about a short tournament, it turns on specific factors and turning points: goaltending, officiating…it wouldn’t be fair to a coach. It wouldn’t make much sense when you have a coach like we do that’s as accomplished an NHL coach.”

More Burke: There’s no question that this year’s United States Olympic Team signifies a passing of the torch between the proven, successful veterans of old to the new, younger, vibrant players who are currently occupying the NHL limelight.

And while some have questioned Burke’s wholesale transition, he bristles at those who say this year’s Team USA is a team assembled to win in the future, not in 2010.

“We’re going there (to Vancouver) to win,” he said. “I didn’t pick these players to be better players in Sochi (Russia, site of the 2014 Winter Olympics). We talked about that the first day of the orientation camp. Anyone here who thinks their time is in Sochi, get up and get out right now. We’ll go with the guys who think it’s their time now.

“We had to turn a page. I call them the greatest generation, the U.S. players in the late 1990s and early 2000s that answered the bell every time every time we asked them to and did with accomplishments, success, World Cups.”

Burke cited the Blues’ Keith Tkachuk as one of those from the greatest generation. Another is Dallas forward Mike Modano, who was left off the roster.

“We’ve turned the page and, barring injury, we’ll go with this group,” said Burke. “There were some real gut-wrenching decisions about leaving those guys off, but we’re turning the page.”

Burke spoke of how he and his fellow Olympic advisors built the 2010 U.S. team, how they are multi-faceted and feature the NHL’s best American top six and bottom six forwards and defense tandems. He noted that he used the same process that he employs when building NHL teams.

“Putting together a hockey team is a lot like putting together an orchestra,” said Burke. “You need first violins, you need French horns, you need percussion and then someone’s got to move the stage when you’re done. We’ve tried to put people together that do specific jobs well.”

Puttin’ on the foil, coach: One of the beneficiaries of the recent extreme makeover in Toronto is the promotion of Christian Hanson to the Leafs’ roster. Hanson is the son of “Slap Shot” star Dave Hanson, who was in St. Louis with his brothers Friday night for the big Trivia Championship at Chaifetz Arena. While the Hanson Brothers - the bespectacled enforcers who played for Paul Newman in the cult film classic, entertained the trivia folks - Christian Hanson played for the Leafs against the Blues a few blocks east at Scottrade Center.

Hockey fans remember Dave Hanson, who played 33 games in the NHL.

“He was a fighter,” Christian said of his father. “Wherever he had to line up to get the guy from the faceoff, that’s where he was.”

Christian Hanson centers a line between former Blues right wing Lee Stempniak and left wing John Mitchell.

Around the league: Los Angeles Kings second-year defenseman Drew Doughty earned a $212,500 performance bonus for scoring his 10th goal of the season…