The National Hockey League holds a peculiar place in the American sports landscape. Although the NHL has some of the most loyal, passionate and knowledgeable fans in certain pockets of the country – such as Detroit, Minnesota and Philadelphia – the league has consistently struggled to attract a casual fan interest, the lifeblood of any successful league.

Among the other major American sports leagues – MLB, the NFL and the NBA – the NHL is always the one facing the steepest uphill climb to boost the sport’s popularity and establish its relevance. Due to its Canadian roots and the scarcity of Americans who play the sport as children, most Americans do not display the same type of interest or pride in hockey as they do for baseball, football or basketball. Excluding the Stanley Cup Finals, the only time hockey usually receives attention in this country is after a serious injury, when members of the media – unfamiliar with the nature of the sport – unfairly criticize hockey for what they deem to be its violent and goon-like mentality.

But every four years the NHL has the opportunity to capture the hearts and minds of all Americans – not just sports fans – when it allows its players to compete for their native countries in the Winter Olympics. And despite legitimate concerns about what it does to the integrity of the regular season, NHL players should remain a permanent staple in future Olympics to increase the growth of the game.

At first it seems strange to say that a two-week break during the regular season is a good thing for the NHL, but what other league receives more attention and fanfare when it goes dark just as the playoff push is about to begin? As sad as it may be, few care about a random February game between the Carolina Hurricanes and Atlanta Thrashers. In a league where teams play 82 regular season games and 16 teams reach the playoffs, few will miss the fortnight of games.

What makes the Olympics a perfect fit for the NHL is that its hockey tournament provides moments that transcend the game itself. Think about how much the U.S. team’s improbable “Miracle on Ice” victory over the Soviet Union during the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics still resonates in American sports lore. Think about how much enthusiasm there was for the 2002 Salt Lake City games that saw the United States advance to the gold medal game against Canada.

Even more recently, the widely successful NHL Winter Classics played at Wrigley Field and Fenway Park on New Year’s Day have attracted casual fans to watch regular season hockey. It is possible for hockey to matter in this country. But the setting and moment must be perfect.

Of course, a number of factors from this year’s Olympics have made that point. First, Vancouver’s location meant the games were played at times when most fans were able to watch. The 2006 Torino Olympics struggled with the issue of time differences because most of the games were played in the mornings when fans had work or school. In addition, Vancouver is closer to NHL cities than Torino and allowed for shorter travel time for players and thus a shorter break in the NHL season.

But second and more importantly, the storylines from this Olympics have been nothing less than riveting. Coming into the games, many wondered if the veteran Canadian team would be able to deliver gold under extraordinary pressure to win at home. For American fans, the question was if this young U.S. squad could gel fast enough in order to medal.

In retrospect, the drama of these games far exceeded anything imaginable.

The preliminary rounds saw the United States pull off a significant upset over the heavily favored Canadian team, causing enough panic up north to compel Canadian Head Coach Mike Babcock to replace veteran Martin Brodeur for the talented but less experienced Roberto Luongo.

But the rematch between these two countries in the gold-medal game will be remembered for ages. After the U.S. tied the game with 24.4 seconds left in regulation, Canadian center Sidney Crosby’s overtime goal finished off one of the most important hockey games of all time. It is still too early to say what this game will do for the state of the NHL, but the amount of attention it received can only be seen as a positive. When was the last time every news show in this country began with a hockey game?

But even with this notoriety, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has signaled this may be the last Olympics that will feature NHL players. Among the NHL’s concerns are worries about player safety (over $1 billion worth of salaries are invested in Olympic participants), complaints about the fact that most of the games have been played on cable rather than NBC, and the reasonable fear that the 2014 games in Russia will not attract the same kind of attention as Vancouver’s because the contests will be played at inconvenient times for Americans.

Plus, there is that issue of suspending the NHL regular season for two weeks.

The NHL wishes that it did not need the Olympics to promote the game both domestically and internationally. But the reality is that the Olympics is the only platform in which most will have ever seen Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby (Canada), Washington’s Alexander Ovechkin (Russia) or New Jersey’s Zach Parise (USA).

After the memories of this Olympics fade, most will forget the names of the American heroes from this weekend – goaltender Ryan Miller and forward Zach Parise. But what will not dissipate will be the positive feelings Americans will have for this Olympic team that they took so much pride in cheering for.

Who knows? Maybe it will lead a few more Americans to ask, “What’s icing?” That would be a good problem for the NHL to have.

Nick Macri is a junior in the College. The Big Picture appears in every other Tuesday issue of Hoya Sports.”