VANCOUVER, British Columbia  Gary Bettman could be finding himself boxed into a corner, his position that N.H.L. participation in future Olympics may not be worth the sacrifice rendered untenable by the big television audience last Sunday for the game between Canada and the United States.

Bettman, the N.H.L. commissioner, has suggested that shutting down for 15 days may be more costly to the league than the benefits it derives from having its stars showcased internationally. The league gets no revenue from Olympic telecasts, but the high viewership numbers suggest that the N.H.L. is getting more exposure from the Olympics than Bettman or anyone else expected.

Even if his reluctance to embrace participation in future Winter Games is mainly a bid for leverage in negotiations for a piece of the Olympic pie or in talks with the N.H.L. Players’ for a new collective bargaining agreement, it is becoming increasingly difficult to envision saying goodbye to a platform that provides undeniable benefits to the N.H.L.

According to figures, the game had 10.8 million viewers in Canada, making it the most-watched sports program in Canadian television history, and 8.2 million in the United States on the cable news channel MSNBC, matching the channel’s election-night viewership.