STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- As the NHL celebrates a weekend of international hockey, league commissioner Gary Bettman and the head of the players union yesterday foreshadowed a potential power struggle over whether the world's top pro players will continue to participate in the Olympics past the 2010 Games.

The NHL is committed to sending its players to the Winter Games in Vancouver in 16 months -- Penguins center Sidney Crosby playing in his first Olympics and in his native Canada is expected to generate tremendous interest -- but not to Sochi, Russia, in 2014.

Bettman seems to favor a hockey World Cup, which is expected to start during the 2011 offseason so it will not conflict with the Olympics or soccer's World Cup. The Olympics, he noted several times, causes a break in the NHL season every four years.

"We believe a regularly scheduled World Cup will make some sense," Bettman said in a news conference at the Globe Arena before the Penguins and Ottawa Senators played the second game of the Sweden half of NHL Premiere.

"Both the World Cup and the [annual IIHF] World Championships don't disrupt our season. We're going to have to make a decision as to whether or not the Olympics is something that gives us benefits that at least equal if not exceed the detriment that disrupting the season have."

Paul Kelly, executive director of the NHL Players Association, seemed to lean more toward sending players to the Olympics.

"At the end of the day, players strongly favor international play," Kelly said at the same news conference. "The players, if you gave them the choice today, they would continue to participate in the Olympics."

The question could end up pitting the league and its club owners against the players and, possibly, the fans.

Bettman and Kelly agreed that a decision will be made after the 2010 Games.

As for NHL expansion to Europe, Senators owner Eugene Melnyk said it is inevitable. Bettman said the league has no firm plans to place franchises overseas but noted the possibility for the future as the world "shrinks" because of the Internet and other technology.

Kelly countered "that door is very much open" and expansion overseas could happen in "five, 10 years down the road."

In the meantime, Bettman said the league hopes to continue to have regular-season games such as the NHL Premiere outside of North America.

Former Penguins winger Jarkko Ruutu is with his second Canadian team after signing with Ottawa over the summer, so he has some perspective on the state of hockey in Pittsburgh.

"You can't compare Canada and the U.S. Hockey is a religion in Canada. Everything is about hockey," he said.

"But I'll say this -- I think Pittsburgh is the best market in the U.S. I think it's as close as you get to Canada for hockey. People are real excited, sold out games every night. Not many cities in the U.S. do you have people recognize you on the street, and it happens in Pittsburgh a lot. I think that tells a lot how much there's interest in hockey.

"I feel for Pittsburgh, the Penguins are getting pretty close to the Steelers, the way it's been the last two years. With the young guys they have, the attention they're getting all over the world, they're getting there pretty soon."

Three Pittsburgh league statisticians -- Keith Schrieber, Jim Gricar and Phil Spano -- joined three from Ottawa at the games because of their familiarity with the NHL computer technology. ... Forward Ryan Stone has cleared waivers and remains with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League. ... Penguins owner Mario Lemieux, who got warm applause the couple of times he was shown on the Globe Arena video board, turned 43 yesterday.