I've softened on the shitout... uh shootout... quite a bit since last season. At first I was dead-set against it and would not watch if a game went into a shootut. I boycotted them for the entire first season but eventually I started watching them and now I actually don't mind them that much. The only bad thing is that it's a really shitty way to lose a game and kind of a cheap way to win a game. You didn't win based on team play, you won in an individual skills competition. This is a team sport, why not just do away with the game altogether and just have the entire game be one big shootout?
Another thing is that I knew immediately that some team was going to miss the playoffs due to a shootout and sure enough the Leafs had that happen. Now it's the Leafs and as much as I enjoy seeing them fail can you imagine how shitty they must've felt for missing the playoffs because they couldn't score enough goals in a glorified breakaway relay?
The biggest fuckup the NHL has made is the point system, even if you lose the shootout you still get a point in the standings. What other league rewards teams for LOSING games?! It's caused inflated point totals, the Canucks set an all-time record for points in a season a couple years back but how many of those came in shootout losses? There should be an asterisk beside that record, just like the one that should be beside the Dallas Stars stanley cup.
I've never been a big fan of the 4-on-4 in OT and maybe I'm a traditionalist but I'm probably the only person in the entire world that doesn't have a problem with ties. They should put things back to the way it was before: 2 pts for a regulation win, 5 mintue OT 5-on-5, 1 point for a tie, 0 for a loss. That's the way it was for many years, if that's "too boring" for fans then let's get rid of the loser points althogether and just have wins and losses, none of this SOL shit.
As I said, I'm not nearly as sour on it as I was initially but I don't really love it either and certainly wouldn't miss it at all if it was gone. If people absolutely have to have it and think it belongs in the game I ask you this: would you want to see shootouts in the playoffs?
Another thing is that I knew immediately that some team was going to miss the playoffs due to a shootout and sure enough the Leafs had that happen. Now it's the Leafs and as much as I enjoy seeing them fail can you imagine how shitty they must've felt for missing the playoffs because they couldn't score enough goals in a glorified breakaway relay?
The biggest fuckup the NHL has made is the point system, even if you lose the shootout you still get a point in the standings. What other league rewards teams for LOSING games?! It's caused inflated point totals, the Canucks set an all-time record for points in a season a couple years back but how many of those came in shootout losses? There should be an asterisk beside that record, just like the one that should be beside the Dallas Stars stanley cup.
I've never been a big fan of the 4-on-4 in OT and maybe I'm a traditionalist but I'm probably the only person in the entire world that doesn't have a problem with ties. They should put things back to the way it was before: 2 pts for a regulation win, 5 mintue OT 5-on-5, 1 point for a tie, 0 for a loss. That's the way it was for many years, if that's "too boring" for fans then let's get rid of the loser points althogether and just have wins and losses, none of this SOL shit.
As I said, I'm not nearly as sour on it as I was initially but I don't really love it either and certainly wouldn't miss it at all if it was gone. If people absolutely have to have it and think it belongs in the game I ask you this: would you want to see shootouts in the playoffs?
:thumbsup:
