"While the NHL spends the next couple of years gnawing on the pluses and mostly minuses they see in stopping play for the Olympics, maybe they should poll the players, starting with the Avalanche's Paul Stastny.

Sunday afternoon's heartbreaking 3-2 overtime loss to Canada for the gold medal didn't tarnish his overall Olympic experience.

"I think it's unbelievable," Stastny said. "At this tournament, it turned out pretty good with Canada and U.S. in the finals, if you're looking at ratings and looking at the sport. I'm pretty sure a lot of people are watching it. It's a good way to grow the sport and show it off to the rest of the world besides Canada."

Stastny scored a goal and had two assists in Team USA's six games but was minus-one in his nearly 18 minutes of ice time Sunday."