The clamor to change playoff OT

As has been well-documented on many telecasts and blogs of late, overtime is fast-becoming the latest aspect of the NHL that MUST BE CHANGED. The cynical side of me thinks that merely the mention of alternate methods to determine a winner means that a change is sadly inevitable. And now even Lindy Ruff is on board for a change:

"I think the overtime should go to four-on-four. I think it creates more ice; it creates more chances," Ruff said yesterday. "(In overtime) teams get fatigued. The scoring chances go way down."

Ruff said the additional 37 minutes of hockey on Sunday produced five combined scoring chances from both teams.

"I looked around and it looked like people had left. I don't think people want to come here to see six periods of hockey and the last three periods (have) one or two scoring chances. I don't think that's what the game is about.

"Two or three periods of overtime, I don't think it's good for the game."

Are overtimes really that much more prevalent now or is it merely our perception? I tend to think the latter is true, and to me - even if the number of chances gets fewer and fewer - there is no comparison to playoff overtime. Are they really that onerous to the general public? Has there ever been a clamor in baseball to start lobbing pitches from behind a screen for a home run hitting contest after reaching 11 innings? Just as with any sport, if it isn't your team in it you might grow tired of the game but as for me I was fully engaged for the entirety of overtime in game 3 on Sunday.

As much as 4-on-4 even is distasteful to me (although I do wish regular season OT would extend to at least ten minutes of 4-on-4 before giving up and going to the shootout), if they ever implement the shootout for playoff hockey it would be a horrible decision.

Over at James Mirtle's site he posed the question"have there really been that many more lengthy overtime games these playoffs than in the past?" and I haven't been able to find the answer yet. Over at the trust-at-your-own-risk Wikipedia page they list the 20 longest games in history with #20 clocking in at 53:50 of OT played (just past the midway point of the 3rd OT). There are nine games on the list played since 1994. That just doesn't seem like a lot to me - the human mind tends to remember the exceptions rather than the norm.

poll: how many fans in southern ontario like the shootout?

none.

Wade Dubielewicz makes the save on Sergei Brylin in the shootout to send the Isles to Buffalo on Thursday and keep the Leafs at home. Quite a way to end the season, whether you like shootouts or not.


...but if the Leafs had only taken care of business three Fridays ago in Buffalo instead of gagging away a 4-1 lead they'd be crossing the Peace Bridge this week rather than watching the playoffs at home. Nobody to blame but themselves.

I'm hoping nobody took seriously the whining (most notably from Don Cherry on Coach's Corner) that the Devils "had" to play Martin Brodeur in net on Sunday to "be fair." Please. The Devils have a primary obligation to themselves only. Playoff position is set, Brodeur has played 174% of New Jersey's games this year and will obviously play every minute in the playoffs as well. He has to rest. Scott Clemmensen played a strong game regardless.

Shootout leaders

among all players who have taken at least four shots in shootouts this year (an arbitrary cutoff to be sure, but the number of players increases drastically at three or less), these are the most deadly:

			shots	goals	shot %	winners*
PETTERI NUMMELIN	MIN	D	7	6	85.7	1
VYACHESLAV KOZLOV	ATL	L	9	7	77.8	5
BRENDAN MORRISON	VAN	C	8	6	75	0
MARCEL HOSSA	NYR	L	4	3	75	3
LADISLAV NAGY	DAL	L	4	3	75	3
ALES KOTALIK	BUF	R	7	5	71.4	4
PHIL KESSEL	BOS	C	6	4	66.7	4
MARIAN HOSSA	ATL	R	8	5	62.5	1
PAUL KARIYA	NSH	L	10	6	60	1
WOJTEK WOLSKI	COL	L	5	3	60	0
ALEXANDER RADULOV	NSH	R	5	3	60	2

*"winners" are simply goals that decide (win) the game.

(i still hate the shootout. just acknowledging that it is - sadly - an important aspect of the regular season game.)

Shootouts suck

Yes, today's Canada-USA shootout was - in and of itself - riveting. It may sound hypocritical...but having a shootout in an elimination game? Hideous.

Sincere congratulations to Canada - Carey Price was fantastic in the Canadian net (as was American goalie Jeff Frazee). I'm looking forward to Friday's final - and hope the result is settled before 70 minutes are up...