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)?