Why are there so many shootouts?

by chillicothe20 on Mar 25, 2011 1:43 PM EDT

Our dear Flyers have now played in four straight games which resulted in shootouts. Three of those, we have lost. Despite this, I just cannot be too worried about our Flyers. Why?

Because shootouts are fake. When the shootout was first brought in, I liked it. Someone always gets two points. However, for some teams (like the Flyers), shootouts are awful (we are 3-6). Columbus (4-7) is also mediocre in shootouts, just to name a fellow SO struggler. Edmonton is 2-8, but they are one of the NHL's worst teams. We are not. LA is 9-2, Colorado is 5-1 and NJ is 3-1. What is different about those teams that allow them to excel in SOs? Regarding the recent SOs, I have two points to make, one Flyers-related, the other more NHL-related.

First, the NHL one. Let's chuck the SO. They aren't the exciting force we expected, and as a Flyers fan, I dread them. I propose we extend the 4x4 OT to ten minutes and get rid of the shootout. Then, after ten minutes, just let it be a tie. We had ties for years, and ten minutes of 4x4 OT shouldn't result in too many ties. Anyone else want to get rid of shootouts?

Second, the Flyers one. The Flyers aren't great in shootouts as mentioned before. This does not worry me. In the playoffs, there are no shootouts. We get to win the old-fashioned way. I feel this really favors us. We aren't #1 in the East by accident. This should mean we are the best team at regular regulation hockey. If that is the case, these SO losses are meaningless. We also have playoff experience from last season on our side come playoff time. So, I am not worried for us because of the SO losses.

So, fellow Flyers faithful: Do you want to get rid of SOs? Do our recent SO losses worry you? What could we do to get better at SOs (like LA or COL)?

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Comments

it’s worrisome that we’re not getting it done in regulation and that we’ve had average performances against weaker opponents. to get better at shootouts we need to turn down the suck and turn up the good. /s i think many will agree that the shootout is a joke. i wouldn’t mind seeing a 10 minute 4 on4.

by McNabbSoup on Mar 25, 2011 1:58 PM EDT reply actions

You shouldn’t be worried about the shoot out losses rather the desireless way the team is finding themselves involved in them.

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by MJDII on Mar 25, 2011 2:47 PM EDT reply actions

I don’t care about shootouts because they don’t exist in the playoffs. I do care, however, that the team is unable to make in-game adjustments when need be to counteract whatever the defense is showing them. That needs to change.

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by doubleh on Mar 25, 2011 2:55 PM EDT reply actions

I dont think your gonna find too much resistance on this one. I dont like the SO and think we should get rid of it. If its not good enough for the playoffs, its not good enough ever. However, if the SO stays, I would definitely be in favor of a 10 minute 5×5/4×4 overtime. 5 minute OTs clearly arent enough.

by philiafan14364 on Mar 25, 2011 2:58 PM EDT reply actions

OT is very short. This is part of the problem. Look at other sports: NFL uses a 15-min OT (another quarter’s worth) and NBA uses 5-min OT (41.7% of a quarter’s time). NHL OT is 5-min (only 25% of a regulation period). 25% < 41.7% and 100%. What harm would 10-min OT do?

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by chillicothe20 on Mar 25, 2011 4:21 PM EDT up reply actions

It doesn’t matter whether or not hockey purists despise it. The shootout is not going anywhere because the average ticket buying fan likes the shootout, since it brings closure to the games. People who pay a lot of money and drag the whole family out to a game want to see their team have a chance to win, or at least be forced to try and win the game, and for that reason alone they won’t be changing it any time soon.

by Gizmoitus on Mar 25, 2011 4:26 PM EDT reply actions

We could still extend the OT to 10 minutes. Even with the SO after, more games would not need SOs.

Evan Turner = Future NBA MVP

by chillicothe20 on Mar 25, 2011 4:31 PM EDT up reply actions

Is this just an assumption? Because I don;t know anyone that still likes the the shootout. Even those who liked it at first are bored now.

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by JasonB on Mar 26, 2011 10:02 PM EDT up reply actions

FWIW. I sit in 124, several of the season ticket holders there leave after OT because they hate shoot outs. They do it every time (excluding the NYR season finale because the season was on the line). However, they still buy season tickets, so it’s not like the Flyers are losing any money.

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by DLJr on Mar 29, 2011 10:49 AM EDT up reply actions

there’s some solutions to this problem. I’ll start with the traditional methods and move on to the more outside-the-box ones.

1) Make every game worth three points. It awards teams for getting it done in regulation (or punishes them for not), games are accurately reflected in the standings, and all games are worth the same number of points. It’s simple and eloquent.

2) Make every game worth 5 points, with 5 for a regulation win, 4 for an OT win, 3 for a SO win and the losing team getting the remaining points (if any). This way, we still have no ties, Bettman gets his shootouts and once again, the games are accurately reflected in the standings. However, some of the simplicity is lost.

3) Make every game worth 4 points, and do away with the shootouts. 4 for a reg. win, 3 for an OT win, 2 for a tie, 1 for an OT loss.

4) Turn the clock back to before the shootout, every game worth two points, winner gets two, ties get one, loser gets nothing, regardless if it’s in OT or not. The league survived this way for 70+ years, it can survive another 70+.

I love the idea of 10-minute OTs. Five minutes just isn’t long enough, and would reduce the number of these coin-flip endings. Hopefully they find a way to do anyway with them once and for all.

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by goldomatic on Mar 25, 2011 6:52 PM EDT reply actions