Yes the hockey shoot out was exciting in the olympic's.  But I think a continued
overtime game would have been even more exciting.  Heck why play extra innings
in college baseball, you could pull everyone off the field except the pitcher,
catcher and batter and have a home run contest.
 
I think shootout competitions are great for pre All-star games like in the NHL
but in a game it comes down almost to luck.  The only thing that might dampen
the pain is that if you lose you still keep your one tie point you would have
had under the old format.