TERRENCE GILDRED 4XW 271-6782 (NICK) wrote:
 
>I say lets have a Hockey-l vote on the shoot-out
>now the regular season is over and send the results to the Commissioner,
>and all HE AD's. Of course I'm assuming most Hockey-l posters are against
>the shoot-out ;).
 
If an offline Hockey-L poll is set up,  I think what would be interesting to
find out is how people feel about tie games in general.  Say from a range of
"never ending a game in a tie" to "satisfied with a tie game at the end of
regulation".
 
I think "how important (acceptable?) is it to allow games to end in a tie"
is the debate.  How ties are decided is secondary.  From a general sports
view, it seems as if every sport has their own way of handling tie games.
How would fans feel about regular season tie baseball or basketball games?
 
Even though the various sports have different ways of handling ties, those
methods have been around long enough to become an accepted standard  by the
sports world.  Any changes to those standards causes both players, media,
and fans to adjust to a "new and modified" game.  Therefore, I think fans of
all sports are generally against rule changes to their sport because
changes, in general, make people uncomfortable.
 
For hockey to eliminate something (e.g. tied games) that has become accepted
causes unrest.  What arguments can be made specifically for hockey that
can't be used for baseball (as an example).  A bottom of the league team
fights to tie a game against the league champ (after being behind 8-2 in the
7th inning) only to lose it in the 14th inning.  Shouldn't we just call the
game a tie after the 11th and go home?
 
Sorry, I digress.  If a poll is put together, I lobby for finding out how
people feel about games ending in ties.
 
Can't wait for Providence,
 
Nick
 
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