Every NHL fan who has dished out cash to see a game, or stayed up well past midnight to watch a playoff game, should give Patrick Roy a nod of appreciation for his decision to skip the upcoming Olympic games -- and it has nothing to do with giving Team USA a better chance at winning a game against Team Canada.

	Wayne Gretzky no longer must decide between Patrick Roy and Martin Broduer.

The message Roy sent is that the fortunes of the Colorado Avalanche mean more than the fortunes of Team Canada.

Are there extenuating circumstances? Perhaps.

There is the fact that Roy has already been in the Olympics. There are the security issues in the United States during these turbulent times, and there is even the issue of his son playing in a prestigious pee wee tournament in Quebec during the Games.

The bottom line is that Roy is not a 24-year-old with reserves of energy. He is coming off a season in which it took the Avalanche seven games to beat New Jersey in the finals, and he realizes that two weeks away could make the difference between a brilliant playoff performance and something less. That is as much as Patrick Roy wants to say about the situation, except to add that Canada's goaltending will be in good hands, obviously referring to goalies such as Martin Brodeur and Curtis Joseph.

But that is not all there is to say about the situation.

Although the NHL believes that the Olympics are a great stage for its product, the other side of the argument is that participating in the Olympics is a waste of time and energy, and it takes away from the greatest hockey tournament on earth, and maybe the toughest postseason competition on the planet -- the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Everything an NHL player does should be done with the idea that he and his team will be prepared for the playoffs. It is that simple, and for many players the Olympic Games do not fit into that equation.

The sturdy truth of the matter is that players such as Roy, Mario Lemieux, John LeClair and Eric Lindros, among others, have no business competing in the Olympic Games. Lemieux (back and hip), LeClair (back) and Lindros (concussions) are risking the fortunes of their own teams for the Olympic experience.

If the NHL was really concerned about the Olympic traditions why isn't there a rule that the Slovakian players have to be allowed to leave for the preliminary round? Why leave it up to the teams to make that decision? No general manager in his right mind should let a player leave early for the Olympics. No way Washington GM George McPhee should let Peter Bondra go, the Bruins allow Jozef Stumpel, the Senators Marian Hossa, etc. If those teams miss a playoff spot, or a playoff seeding by a single point, the general managers would be responsible because of that decision.

More to the point, the players should realize they have no business putting their team at a disadvantage. The crest that comes first is their NHL team crest -- it is that simple.

As for the attention generated by the Olympics -- no argument there is a huge upside if Team USA does well. If not, it's a giant waste of time, and this is not a parochial view. Consider that in the United States there is virtually no buzz about the upcoming Olympic roster selection. All most fans care about is how their team is doing in the standings. Do you really think fans in Chicago care about Tony Amonte's spot on the U.S. Olympic team, or the fact the Hawks are back in contention?

On Long Island, does anybody care if Mark Parrish makes the U.S. team, or is the turnaround of the Islanders more important? In New York City, Mike Richter is simply the backbone of the Rangers. Given his two knee surgeries, most Ranger fans will be holding their breath if he plays at the games.

On the other hand, Canadian fans actually seem to care about the Olympics. They have heated discussions about Joseph or Brodeur in goal, about Jason Allison's snub. The difference is that the sport is already huge in Canada, where is the upside of shutting down a league for two weeks for the fans of a country already in love with the game?

It makes no sense.

Two tickets out of Dallas
If it wasn't already clear that Ken Hitchcock has the full and total backing of the Dallas Stars ownership and management, it was reinforced this week when the Stars sent Donald Audette packing to Montreal and Jyrke Lumme to Toronto.

Over the summer, general manager Bob Gainey tried to change some of the style of the club when he acquired Audette as a free agent for $12 million over four years and added free agent Valeri Kamensky. Right away there were questions about how players of their style would fit into Hitchcock's defensive system or compete under Hitchcock's demanding style of play.

Well, it didn't work for Audette, and give Gainey credit for standing behind his coach. Gainey, a graduate of the Montreal Canadiens team-first approach, and a man who had great success while playing for Scotty Bowman, is sending a very clear message that the players will have to deal with Hitchcock. If they are not comfortable playing for him, as appeared to be the case with both Lumme and Audette, they can play elsewhere.

At some point, the effectiveness of a coach such as Hitchcock will wear off. That point might not be far off, but at least right now the GM is saying that it's Hitch's way or the highway.

Now, the Stars had better start winning.

Al Morganti covers the NHL for ESPN.