Sarah Michaud writes:
>Quoted from the Bangor Daily News without permission today.
...
>"I think it will be terrific" said Maine Coach Shawn Walsh. "It will add
>a tremendous amount of excitement for the fans."
 
Just to add, the shootout was a topic that came up during the
conversation that I mentioned a bunch of us had with Shawn in St Paul.
He did not convince me of his point of view, and I knew I did not
convince him either. :-)  (although I think we both understand where
the other is coming from.)
 
However, it did seem clear that a majority of the 15-20 people there,
most BU fans and few HOCKEY-Lers, did not like the idea of a shootout.
If others saw it differently, please speak up.  But I only mention
this because I don't believe Shawn is correct when he uses fan
interest as the basis for pushing this change.
 
Of course, who knows if the group of people in St Paul was an accurate
cross-section of hockey fans; I don't even think HOCKEY-L is.  And
perhaps Shawn's argument is that when the fans get to actually see a
shootout, they will find it exciting and it will lure them back to
future games.  But I would point to the reaction of people after the
gold medal shootout.  True, everyone thought it was exciting; but most
were disappointed that a game, let alone a gold medal, was decided in
that fashion.
---                                                                 ---
Mike Machnik                                          [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc.                                  *HMM* 11/13/93