A few more thoughts on the shootout issue  about which I am more than a
bit ambivalent.
 
First, what is wrong with a tie? There are in fact games in which two
teams play their hearts out, play at nearly the same level, and both
deserve to win.
 
On the other hand, and this seems more prevalent in
hockey, there are games in which one team clearly outplays another but
the score is tied. But of course the shootout doesn't guarantee that the
dominant team from the game will win.
 
Second, it is clearly a cultural thing. Americans simply must have
winners and losers. In a society where finishing second is a humiliation,
where people repeatedly chant "we're number one," the notion of a tie is
unacceptable, or as the saying goes "like kissing your sister." So
perhaps those who argue that if hockey is to increase its appeal it must
eliminate or minimize the tie are correct and a shootout is needed.
 
In Canada and in Europe where the level of performance is valued as much as
who wins and who loses this is not as significant an issue. Does anyone
know if there is a shootout in the Canadian college game or in the
European professional and club game?
 
But I go back to the fact that there are games when a tie is deserved by
both teams, and I must say I am comfortable with that fact, and willing
to settle for the tie in most cases.
 
Dick Crepeau
Go Gophers!
 
"You don't have to be a good sport to be a bad loser."--Morgan Mundane