Richard Hungerford says:
 
>I like it a lot, because you're always in it, right up until the end of
>the second game.  A 5-10 minute spell of magic anytime can give you the
>overall win.
 
        Unless my math is lacking (and they do say that about
physicists), a team is less likely to be "in it" till the end in a
total-goals series than in a best-of-three, three points, or even two
games + mini-game series.  If you get blown out in game one, it's a
lot harder to win the total goals series in game two than it is just
to win the second *game* and tie the series.  In any situation where a
total goals series would still be up for grabs, a real two-game series
would have just as strong a possibility of going to a deciding game.
Granted, a team might fall hopelessly behind in the deciding game, but
they could fall even further behind in a two-game total-goals series.
(5-1, 5-1 means you need an eight-goal comeback in a total goals
series.  How much magic are you looking for?)
 
        Then again, I think 2-1 is the most exciting score a hockey
game can have, so perhaps I'm one of those defensive types. :-)
 
                                         John Whelan, Cornell '91
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