A couple of weeks ago in a speech at the National Press Club, NHL Comissioner Gary Bettman promised that the league would never adopt the shootout as part of the Stanley Cup Playoffs because multiple playoff overtimes where part of the essence of the sport.
But after Saturday night's epic 15-round shootout between New York and Washington, Larry Brooks thinks that it's only a matter of time before endless playoff OT finds itself on the endangered species list (registration required):
[Y]ou can take this to the bank right along with the owners' share of the players' escrow fund
I’ve noticed a lot of sites with a verification system where you type in a set of displayed characters. That seems to work pretty well and is not too bothersome. I know I often forget my Typekey password, which prevents me from leaving many comments.
By the way, I love hockey’s new look (more hooking/obstruction calls, no center line, etc.). The shoot-out is fun to watch, but I like the triple overtime playoff barn-burners, too.
Agreed…I can only post comments to TypeKey-enabled sites from work, because I have the login info saved on that computer and can never remember it at home.
As for the marathon shootout, as a Rangers fan, I enjoyed it thoroughly. As a hockey fan, I deplore it for the travesty it was.
I have a good method for stopping comment spam.
Just give me a shout (for a reminder) and I’ll email over my helper.
As for the shootout in the playoffs: blech.
Maybe I’m a glutton for punishment, but I absolutely LOVE playoff OT.
If the shootout ends up infiltrating the playoffs, I will throw a hissy fit to end all hissy fits. Seriously.
If they keep calling penalties and obstructing the way they are and keep a 20 minute OT in the playoffs I’d be shocked if more than 1 in 30 playoff games goes to a shootout.
I hate the idea of the Cup being awarded on a shootout win but I could live with them deciding first and second round games…
Help! I’m slipping down the slope!
I can’t stand 3 pt games either. It completely undermines the 4pt divisional game. It’s not a 4 point game at all. It it diluted to a 1 pt game, which is utter BS! Either have ties, or 3 pts for win, or something. But sharing the 2 points and then giving out a bonus point is garbage! If ties are out, the current scoring system for OT wins and losses should remain, but a regulation win should be worth 3 pts. It just makes sense. My apologies to all who have grown accustomed to the 2pt game as gospel.
re: PO SOs – That Cosh character is quote sharp.
You definitely need to ditch the Typepad route. If others’ experience with it matches mine, the reason for depressed feedback is that it NEVER FRICKIN’ REMEMBERS TO KEEP ME LOGGED IN, no matter what. And Eric, the sole reason I evern registered with Typepad was for your site.
I don’t know what version of MT you’re running, but current version have other/better options for fighting comment/trackback spam. Of course, you could always ditch MT in favor of WordPress, which generally has stronger protection for such things (and maybe fix that broken-trackback problem you’ve got). And since I’m about to acquire a good amount of free time (check my blog), I could be persuaded to help you with the transition.
As for the main topic of this post: Shootouts are a foregone conclusion for the playoffs. Not only is it more fan- and camera-friendly, it replaces a postseason OT format that makes no sense from a competitive, spectative or business angle.