Sheesh. I though that after the Olympics I wouldn't have to drag this article
back out for a _long_ time. That's OK. I stand ready to fight the forces of
darkness wherever they may appear!
 
This is an article that I wrote in rec.sport.hockey about four months ago.
There is one thing that I'd like to add to it. A couple of people have said
that you would need to flood the ice for a 10-minute OT.  B.S. Playoff games
in Canadian amateur hockey are decided with a 10-minute OT and NO FLOOD. If
the game is still tied, then they flood the ice and go to 20 minute periods.
 
>*******************************************************************
>Date: Sun, 2 Jan 1994 04:32:48 GMT
>
>In a previous article, [log in to unmask] () says:
>
>>I was wondering what the opinion was regarding adding a shootout to decide NHL
>>games.  I've gone to **only** four IHL games this year (but two more next
>>week), and one was decided by the shootout.  I love it -- just the skater
>>one-on-one with the goalie, it's so dramatic and exciting.  It seems like that
>>playing 65 minutes of hockey with no winner is just anticlimatic.
>
>Car crashes are exciting, does that mean we should see more of them? :)
>
>Actually I think shootouts are a great idea, so great it should be exported
>to other sports. Why not decide basketball games that are tied the same way?
>Wow, just think. If the Bulls and Magic are tied, we can have Scottie Pippen
>and Shaq go one-on-one to decide it. Oooeee, the excitement. Maybe we
>should have field-goal kicking contests to decide football games. (off the
>freeway, off the scoreboard, split the uprights). What crud.
>
>I don't see why a hockey game should be decided by something that isn't
>hockey. A hockey game should only by decided by teams playing hockey. A
>shootout isn't hockey. Hockey is a team game, not a one-on-one sport, so it
>shouldn't be decided by a one-on-one confrontation.
>
>I've got a better idea. Let's have the zamboni driver come out after a tie
>game and flip a big coin at centre ice. The home team would call the toss.
>WOW!!!! The excitement. The drama as the coin sails up in the air and the
>captain calls "heads." The anticipation of the result as it lands, and the
>referee says....IT'S HEADS! The home team wins!!!!!!! WOW!!! That sure was
>exciting. You could even keep stats on it. You could track what a zamboni
>driver is most likely to toss. You could track players' calling percentages.
>Fans could second-guess him on sports talk shows! "Why'd that moron call
>tails? He should know that our driver mostly tosses heads!! Let's trade him
>and get someone who know what he's doing."
>
>Ridiculous, you say? Well, it's just as much hockey as a shootout. If ties
>truly are evil to be avoided at all costs (and I'm not convinced they are),
>then why not just keep PLAYING HOCKEY? Why go to this artificial crap?
>What is wrong with playing hockey? That is what you paid to see, right?
 
See you later,
John
 
--
John C.K. Edwards         Stats Geek, Ottawa Jr. Senators (CJHL, Jr. A)
Poli Sci/Law III                    PRINCE GEORGE SUCKS!
CUSA Arts/SS Rep  [log in to unmask]     [log in to unmask]
Ottawa, ON      Unfortunately, my opinions aren't those of CUSA or Carleton U.