Here's a conundrum:

You're the coach of an NHL team -- a team in a very important market -- and there's a lot of pressure on you to win a Stanley Cup. Your best player -- the guy who has carried you for three seasons -- is going to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.

	Curtis Joseph, in the final year of his contract with the Leafs, is a candidate for Team Canada.

Now, this guy -- let's say he's a goalie -- wants a few things out of life. One, is a contract worth about $9 million a year, another is a Stanley Cup and yet another is to lead Team Canada onto the ice at the 2002 Olympics.

Now, you just happen to be the head coach of Team Canada and you pretty much have the final say in who plays goal for the 10-day Olympic tournament. So what do you do? Do you lean toward playing your goalie, who is pretty good and might be able to win the whole thing? Or, do you select another goalie knowing it might hurt your chances of getting your own team to the Stanley Cup finals?

Welcome to the world of Pat Quinn, the Maple Leafs coach and general manager who will be trying to negotiate a new contract with Curtis Joseph and also trying to pick among Joseph, Patrick Roy, Martin Brodeur and Ed Belfour as the top goalie for Team Canada. In some ways, Quinn can't win. Select Joseph as the top goalie and there will be at least some who cry impropriety. Pass on Joseph and there is every chance that the goalie -- who says he won't take it personally -- takes it very personally.

"Hopefully, we're not thinking about 'our's'," Quinn said at Team Canada's orientation camp when asked about the dilemma. "Of course, we know our guy's better, but we have to look beyond that and make the right decision for the good of the team."

But whether you make the right decision or not, the process could very well affect your season. Just as the process could affect Belfour's season...or Brodeur's or Mario Lemieux's or Jaromir Jagr's or Derian Hatcher's. Like it or not, the NHL has three seasons this year -- the Olympics, the regular season and the playoffs. When the league takes a break from Feb. 14 to Feb. 25 to participate in the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City, the ramifications will be significant.

"I think they'll (be) pacing themselves through the season thinking like the Stanley Cup is going to be played in February this year," said Oilers GM Kevin Lowe, who serves as associate executive director for Team Canada.

But can athletes do that? Can they concentrate on their own team and on their country at the same time? What if there's a conflict in the locker room between two players on the same team but playing for opposing countries? What if Scott Stevens knocks out Petr Sykora or Brett Hull beats Dominik Hasek at a key moment? Will that cause problems that linger into the regular season?

What if Eric Lindros' much-feared and much-predicted "next" concussion comes on Olympic ice? What are the insurance issues on that topic?

Just how big an effect will this Olympic year have on the regular season?

Wayne Gretzky left Team Canada's orientation camp with the promise that evaluations during the first three months of the season would pretty much determine his roster. Team USA sent clear messages to players like the Stars' Hatcher, the Predators' Mike Dunham and the Rangers' Mike Richter -- saying that their importance in the Olympics would be dictated by their performance in the regular season.

	“	I think instead of seeing a slow start to the season, you could see a lot of guys just take right off. And that has to help the teams they play for. ”
		— Joe Nieuwendyk, Stars center

How can that not affect how the players approach their paying job? And is that a good thing?

"I think you look at the players and you see they've already been working harder," Stars center Joe Nieuwendyk said. "They're coming in already in better shape, they're probably going to fight a little bit harder to try to earn a spot on the team. I think instead of seeing a slow start to the season, you could see a lot of guys just take right off. And that has to help the teams they play for."

But what if a Roy or Joseph or Belfour gets the nod and then loses the gold medal? Does that hurt the team they're playing for? Was Hasek revitalized by his gold-medal performance in 1998? Did Roy carry baggage that hurt him and resulted in a first-round playoff loss to the Oilers that season?

That's what makes the Olympics so intriguing. There are at least six countries from which teams have a better-than-decent shot at winning the gold medal. There are at least 120 players who will be in the effect window -- in a situation where they could be positively or negatively affected by their performance in Salt Lake City.

Is Peter Forsberg's return to the NHL quickened by the lure of performing for Mother Sweden? Will Russian players get a boost from playing for Slava Fetisov? And does that boost carry over to the regular season? Could Pavel Bure become a real leader? Are Finnish players inspired in playing hard for Saku Koivu? Are the host Americans inspired in playing hard for their country? Can the Canadians handle the expectations that seem 10-times what fans of other countries apply?

Pat Quinn will tell you he understands the distractions and can deal with the distractions. But it's naïve to say that dealing with a player -- especially a player with contract issues like Joseph -- doesn't present some very challenging situations.

And that, in itself, could have a marked effect on how the game is played this season.

Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.