After careful deliberation, I’d have to say “yes” and “yes.” While I don’t go out looking for games that end in shootouts, I do love a winner, no matter how they come about it…unless it’s by some faggot-ass pussy from Detroit running our goaltender while scoring. Ahem, back on task, the shootout has definitely grown on me. Although I still cringe whenever it goes to the shootout, I think that is more due to the fact that I hate the added stress of waiting for the shootout to run its course. But yea…don’t think I wasn’t waking the fucking neighbors when the Teej faked Kuh-bib-u-lin out of his shorts. Oh, and I don’t care what the pronunciation is supposed to be. He’s Kuh-bib-u-lin to me.

But then again, I’m not a full-fledged purist.

If we could only combine THIS stuff with the old “rock ’em sock ’em” mentality from the old days . . . hockey would be damn-near perfect. Teams policing themselves and each other, wide open rinks, the talentless sit on the sideline . . . it’s Andy Murray’s NIGHTMARE! But if you think it wouldn’t work, then you’re dumber than I thought you were.

I too think that the shootout is exciting, and I’m O.K. with it deciding Regular Season games. Let’s just hope they don’t add it to the Playoffs.

Example: Canada-Russia in the WJC semis a couple of days ago. First they had a short overtime and then straight to the shootout. I mean, it’s a game deciding who gets to play for the gold medal and it ends with a shootout. To me, that’s just too cruel for the losing team.

I’ll admit it…at first, I hated the idea of games being decided by a shootout. I changed my mind during the course of last season because I realized it was exciting, and it was arguably a hell of a lot better than a tie.

I was also watching that CHI v. STL shootout with two of my friends who had never even seen a hockey game (one of them was from Hong Kong). They both loved Oshie’s goal at the end, and it was clear to me then that the shootout works and can bring in new fans.

Keep it out of the playoffs, because five and six overtime periods are an even bigger gimmick that attracts fans and attention.

find it appropriate that it looks like Bettman is giving himself a dirty sanchez?

But sadly you are correct. Everyone gets excited. I liked the shootout at first and now it’s just silly to me. Plus because the games now are three pointers and tie in the third the teams play it safe.

I might be less inclined to hate the shootout and the overtime system(I do like four on four and wish it lasted ten minutes at least), if regulation wins had more value.

Also if the stupid media stopped pushing these .500 clubs when they fail to count the overtime and shootout losses. To me it’s a win or a loss. I like losses that get you points more of course but you’ll notice, any team that has a true above five-hundred record usually is in a play off spot.

But your contention is correct. As a fan of Italian soccer let me tell you how much it sucks to have big games decided by shoootouts. After ninety minutes of regulation play, not counting injury time, and then a couple of short over time halves the World Cup games and semi-finals then are decided by shootouts. Three times I watched Italy fail and once win. But the win still felt cheap. Thankfully the NHL has yet to do this in the playoffs but they keep making suggestions they might, that overtime games can last too long.

Let me tell you there is nothing more exciting than reaching the third period of an overtime game. The players are more and more tired. The build up grows and grows as more time passes the realization is—it must end sooner. A team can dominate in the overtime and make one bad play, have a bad bounce and the other team is off on a breakaway or throwing a random shot and scores. Remember Yzerman?

While the gimmick works and I’d rather have fans excited by the mini-skills competition than two talentless ass holes throwing punches, the system needs to be fixed.

The NHL should also expand a few teams and split the league down. The teams that suck every year should then be regulated to the B-league and the top B-league teams to the A-league. It’d force teams to remain competitive. Just my humble opinion.

And while I’ll tell people, when trying to explain my hockey mania, that I will watch a random NHL game between two teams that I don’t really care about, I really don’t mean any two random teams. Because I have zero interest in watching Atlanta’s team (they seem really boring to me, Ilya Kovalchuk seems to always be ‘in a funk’ and their jerseys give me seizures) and just about the same amount of interest in watching the Canucks (those twins give me the creeps, just like the twins from ‘The Shining.’ Just wait until they’re joined by the big-headed Frankenstein that is Mats Sundin. Yikes.).

That’s a fairly fair assessment of the Thrashers and the whole deal down here, but I admit that as someone who usually hates the SO, the one at the game on Friday was fun. The upshot of it is, I got an extra 20 minutes of hockey for free.

The added upshot is that being at a Thrashers game, I got to see it from the front row because no one cares enough to actually buy those seats.

I had an issue with the Canada/Russia WJ game being decided with a shootout… you’re playing for a medal. How can you decide that with a skills competition? Yeah, it was exciting and cool and fun and stuff, but is that really legit?

I still don’t like the shootout, but I’ve acquiesced because of the viagerrific effect it has on people — that story about your friend’s son is a perfect example. I just wish they’d tweak the points so a shootout didn’t mean a two-point game’s now worth three points. (Make regulation wins 3 points if they have to — as long as we’re tweaking things, let’s get it right once and move on to other things like lowering the price of beer.)

As I was working on the paper last night I found myself doing the exact same thing as my buddy’s eight-year-old; flipping channels looking for a tie game late in the third period.

That’s exactly how I am during the playoffs: flipping around for potential OT games. The shootout just doesn’t touch me that same way; always makes me feel like I’m watching roller hockey, which makes me feel dirty (not in a good way).