Report: Gary Bettman made the Olympics a very, very interesting offer.

It's easy to lay blame at the feet of the National Hockey League for withdrawing their Olympic participation, but it sounds like the league actually tried to make things work before finally giving up on South Korea.

Bettman was a guest on Sportsnet 590's Prime Time Sports and he laid out his case for not moving forward with Olympic participation, and frankly Bettman made a strong argument for himself and the NHL owners. For those interested you can check out the full 18 minute interview right here.

By far the biggest takeaway however was the fact that Bettman offered to participate in the games if the Olympics would move the event to the Summer Games, something that would allow the NHL to run it's season uninterrupted. According to Bettman his offer was rejected by the International Olympic Committee, and he believes that decision was made because of hockey's importance to the Winter Games.

When you consider that the NHL doesn't get paid, doesn't get any sponsorship revenue or brand placement at the event, and has to pay what they claim is $14 million dollars out of pocket to make Olympic participation a reality, it's easy to see why they aren't jumping at the chance to risk having their star players injured.