ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The NHL emerged from the lockout with a new look, including a bold new way to determine a winner for each regular-season game. Plenty of skepticism from the purist wing of the sport surrounded the introduction of the shootout. Grumbling about using a skills competition -- akin to a home run derby after 10 innings of a tied baseball game -- to settle the score after 65 minutes probably will never go away.
The shootout, though, has won over some of the initial doubters. With the current collective bargaining agreement set to expire this summer, the opportunity exists to make another round of significant rule changes, but commissioner Gary Bettman made it sound as if this tiebreaker is here to stay. http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=386468
Shacks Take: I am one of those hockey purists they speak of. I hate the instigator rule, I think Don Cherry is usually right although his meanderings are getting worse as the years pass and I was awfully skeptical of the shootout. Turns out, I don't hate it. I don't love it. If it went away tomorrow, I wouldn't pine for the good old days of shootout hockey but I don't advocate its banishment either. It's a fun little piece of eye candy that has little or nothing to do with actual hockey, although I still sorta cringe at the thought of a team missing the playoffs because their trick shooters weren't as good as another team's trick shooters but these are the rules so if its costing your team, get better at them. That said, if they ever contemplate these for the playoffs this will become a football only blog.
No comments:
Post a Comment