Again, I'm pressed for time, but I wanted to make sure I pointed to an excellent post over at The Battle of Alberta about the new point scoring system and how it will change the way the game is played:
* ".500" ain't what it used to be; it looks like as many as 24 of the 30 NHL teams will finish with at least 82 points. Losing in regulation will be like a PGA Tour pro bogeying a Par 5 - he's actually losing more than a stroke to the field.* Surviving regulation time consistently is going to be the common bond of the most successful teams.
Read it all to get the full story.
The bottom line: shootouts are going to be awfully commonplace. About a year ago, I kicked around a story idea with an economist on applying game theory to the NHL scoring system. The outcome described above is the just about the same conclusion that we came to as well.
Back then, I thought the best solution was to rewind the OT format to before the days of the regulation tie with one proviso: Award three points for a win and only one for a tie. That's a system that would reward teams that take risks in regulation at the expense of team's who consistently play for the tie.
I couldn’t agree more. And I blame watching the standing of European football leagues. A team that wins outright should be rewarded for doing so.