There has always been the debate over whether National Hockey League Players should participate in the Winter Olympics.

Those in favor will tell you that the Olympics aren’t about amateurism any more and the world’s best players should be allowed to participate as they do in basketball during the Summer Games.

The detractors will argue that the Olympics are still about amateurism and this gives younger players an opportunity to realize their dreams. They will also tell you that this disrupts the NHL season as teams began their stretch runs for the playoffs and that it could lead to injuries that prove costly to NHL teams.

The bottom line: There is no better showcase for the sport than the Olympics and the viewers deserve the opportunity to see the best players in the world.

Add to that the extra incentive derived from playing for your country and you’ll get to see hockey at its best.

Plus, the rules used in the Olympics are similar to the college rules rather than the NHL: two-line passes are allowed; the tag-up rule is in place so you don’t have as many off-sides whistles and, lastly, there’s automatic icing.

Allowing two-line passes opens the game up and would significantly benefit the NHL. Trapping would be more difficult and there would be more breakaways.

It would help put the speed back in the game and reduce the neutral- zone logjams as well as the scrums in the corners.

The tag-up rule allows players to shoot the puck into the offensive zone with teammates already in the zone without the referee blowing the whistle for a faceoff.

As long as the attacking players don’t touch the puck and come back to tag-up at the blue line, play continues.

The automatic icing saves a potential injury which could occur because you have two players racing to touch the puck first. If an attacking player touches it first, the icing is waved off in the NHL.

The six hockey powers haven’t even played yet but the qualifying- round games have been more exciting than any NHL game I’ve seen this season.

It has been interesting seeing two former University of Maine players from the two NCAA championship teams playing for Austria: Kent Salfi, Class of ’93 and Matthias Trattnig, Class of ’01.

Both were important role players at Maine: Salfi as a speedy, hard-working checker and penalty-killing specialist and Trattnig as the consummate power forward and possessor of a terrific shot.

Salfi has had a long international career, spending the last seven years in Austria, while Trattnig is playing in Sweden this season.

The Austrian team didn’t qualify for the final round but did give a good account of itself. It outplayed Germany but lost 3-2 on a late goal.

Two of Salfi’s teammates, Canada winger Paul Kariya and United States goalie Mike Dunham could square off against each other.

Kariya has been toiling for a lame Duck franchise in Anaheim but is still one of the world’s fastest and most explosive players and Dunham has emerged as a star for the Nashville Predators.

New York Ranger goalie Mike Richter has the edge in goal for Team USA due to his vast experience – he was the goalie in the 1998 Olympics in Nagano – but Dunham can’t be discounted.

Look for the Canadians and Americans to square off in the gold-medal game.

Both are eager to atone for their humiliating non-medal finishes in 1998 and both will have the home-crowd advantage until they meet each other.

A United States gold medal wouldn’t be nearly as dramatic as 1980. Nothing will ever be. But it would certainly provide a moment to be cherished at a patriotic time in our history.

Larry Mahoney’s column appears every Wednesday. He can be reached at 990-8231 or by e-mail at lmahoney@bangordailynews.net.