The Shoot Out and Point System in the NHL = Bogus

[BigBen07 285]

Wow. This thread is OLD, lol.

 

I really dislike the shootout. Not only is it nothing more than a skills competiton that is used to decide hockey games, a shootout loss is unfairly reflected on a team.

 

Now the NHL has a new tiebreaker rule in an attempt to reward a team victory (Regulation/OT) rather than one in an individual skills contest. All this did was make the shootout even less relevant and therefore unnecessary to have. If the NHL wants to continue to avoid ties, dump the shootout and go to 10 minute 4-on-4 continuous overtime.

[SteVo+ 3,702]

I've thought this ever since they adopted the shootout. It was nothing more than a gimmick added to make games more "exciting" and boost ratings after the strike. A shootout does not determine the better team, and should not be used as a measure of winning or losing. If a regular season game is tied after three 20-minute periods of hockey, the teams go into a 5-minute sudden death period playing 4 on 4. If it's still tied after that, the teams deserve a tie.

 

I disagree about the Olympic system, though. I don't like how an overtime win is 2 points compared to a regulation win being 3 points. A win is a win, and a loss is a loss. To me, it should be like this.

 

Win = 2 points

Tie = 1 point

Loss = 0 points

 

Yes, that simple. Two points are awarded at every game, and you don't have the diluting of overtime. Actually, this should make the overtime period more intense because a loss is worth nothing, compared to the current system.

 

Almost two years later, I still stand by this. Fuck shootouts.

[BigBen07 285]

Almost two years later, I still stand by this. Fuck shootouts.

 

Exactly. But the NHL is still hellbent on keeping ties out of the system. That's why I say go to 10 minute continuous overtimes. At 4-on-4, there's plenty of players to keep the action fresh, and it's more than likely that there will a goal scored before a 2nd OT period is needed.

 

However, ths WILL require the league to change the standings from a point system to straight winning percentage like in the MLB, NFL, and NBA. Or another solution will be to make a regulation win 3 points, and an OT win 2 points with 1 point for an OT loss and 0 for a regulation loss.

 

And for the record, 10 minute overtimes were around in the early days. They were removed in the 1942-43 season due to the Second World War's travel restrictions. The NHL brought it back in it's 5 minute form at 5-on-5 in the 1983-84 season.

Edited February 10, 2012 by BigBen07