Ties Suck.
Posted by: ron
Earlier today Adam unleashed his fury upon the shootout after Team USA’s loss to Canada in the World Junior Championships, which ended earlier today by North Dakota’s Jonathan Toews. (Singlehandedly might I add thanks to the IIHF’s ridiculous “you can shoot all you want” rule, but that’s a different rant.)
I’m in the camp that shootouts should never EVER be used to determine the champion of any tournament, that even means you World Cup. There is nothing more exciting than sudden death overtime and that’s the way it is. Unfortunately you’re not going get that green lighted by any sport that plays a grueling sport such as hockey in the regular season.
While I tend to agree with Adam usually, I’m on the opposite side of the red line on this one. I think shootouts are great for regular season hockey. Nothing burns me more through the 82 games of the NHL season and the 35+ games of college hockey than sitting through 65 minutes in a tie. It is simply unsatisfying. The question is there a middle ground? Do we start with 4 on 4? Then go 3 on 3? Do we go NHL style and give a point for the tie, but an extra point for the shootout win? After each shot does the goalie have to remove an article of padding? I don’t care how you do it, there’s gotta be a winner.
And one more thing, if you think ties are great, tell me after you see little Timmy after a 1-1 tie. He’s not exactly jumping up and down telling Grandpa about how the Gophers pulled out a 1-1 tie, don’t let anyone fool you. Timmy would rather see Phil Kessel roof one on the seventh shot and go home a winner. Purists will pick on me but hey I got two points not one. Bottom line. Ties suck. People like winners.
January 4th, 2007 at 12:13 am
No Shootout = Foolishness – in any situation. You’re given 60 minutes to win the game. If you can’t do it in that amount of time we’ll even be nice and give you an extra 5 minutes. Ya know, catch you’re breath and give it all you’ve got. Then this tie-crap has to end. It’s shootout time baby. Done right, the shootout is a fantastic display of hockey skill and since the rest of the skills involved in hockey couldn’t get it done in 65 minutes it’s time for the good ol’ mano-a-mano, penalty-shot, shootout. Winners and Losers, that is the point of a game. If you want no one to win and no one to lose go find some Communist game to play. We don’ t need endless games that are won by luck when all the players are near-exhaustion – let it be settled with skill. Let the winners get on to their celebration and the losers who hate shootouts in any situation go home and cry – only losers shy away from a contest because they might lose.
January 4th, 2007 at 2:50 am
The problem with shootouts is that in the feeble minds of NHL president Gary Bettman, he has been successful in converting people to the theory that shootouts are good, if not great for the game.
The main reasons for the shootouts is two fold. Money and television ratings. Ratings for hockey is abysmal compared to the “mainstream” sports, and in the infinite wisdom of Bettman, it is inherently better to bastardize the game in the vain attempt of gaining a fraction of a ratings point.
A day doesn’t go by where it can be argued that Bettman has helped ruin the game.
The question I ask, is why is a tie that bad? Sure it leaves you wanting more, but in the pre Bettman era those ties helped foster rivalries, something Bettman apparently doesn’t believe is important anymore.
Adam was right. If baseball goes to a homerun contest instead of extra innings, or basketball goes to a free throw shooting contest, then you’d have a fair comparison. The trouble is, the only way those sports would sink to that level is if they needed a gimmick to condense their games into a shorter block of time to merely appease network television executives.
The thing that infuriates me the most about shootouts, particularly in the NHL is that they have forsaken their own rule book on penalty shots to allow for more creativity from the “goal scorers”. Afterall, statisitically speaking, the goalies stop more shots than scorers score. Read the rulebook verbatim on the penalty shot and you’ll find thatmost of the spin moves and creative stickhandling violates the letter of the rule.
Then again, not following their own rulebook is something Bettman is used to. AS deputy commissioner of the NBA he was on watch when that league stopped using their own rulebook and allowed playground ball to replace actual skill laden basketball.
Keep that in mind next time you see a jump step on a drive or every player in the league dribbling the ball illlegally.
When it comes to shootouts, I am reminded of the quote of NHL Hall Of Fame Broadcaster and former owner of the then IHL Milwaukee Admirals, Lloyd Pettit. When the IHL approved the shootout, Pettit stated emphatically,”I will walk out of the arena when the shootout starts. I will not witness such a heinous spectacle.”
There has to be better ways to excite fans on the gloriousness of hockey. Shootouts fail miserably. So if you can eassily accept bastardizing the traditions of hockey, I can only compare Bettman to Jim Jones and implore you to put down the Kool-Aid.
January 4th, 2007 at 8:47 am
I’m not an advocate for the shootout for different reasons that I’m seeing expressed here. I’ve followed and commented on the ongoing debate about using the shootout in college hockey for some time. The one glaringly misguided point that I see among those against it is the fact that nearly everyone seems to think there is something wrong with a tie.
I say nothing is wrong with a tie. I say two teams took the ice and battled hard for 60 minutes plus overtime and neither team was better. So they tied. The dissatisfaction with that result is beyond my comprehension I’m afraid. Neither team was better on that specific night in that particular venue. That’s the only reality that makes sense to me.
From my perspective, that and that alone is enough reason to fight against shootout’s and/or other witless bastardizations of what we all agree is the best implementation of the sport in the world.
If the anti-shootout contingent in the college hockey world continues to stipulate to the shootout crowd that “ties suck” then shootouts will be here sooner rather than later. You guys are granting them their most potent argument. If everyone agrees that “ties suck” then is naught to do but fix the problem. Get on the “there’s nothing wrong with a tie” bandwagon and don’t let them ruin our game.