T-bone
NHL Still All Tied Up
Since the NHL's inception in 1917, its taken 90 years but in a collectivefit of logic, We (and/or people inside the NHL with IQ's above roomtemperature) finally bellowed, "No more boring ties!" Big kudos to the newNHL for taking action. To most hockey fans, the shootout is a gem andproof-in-the-pudding of the exhilarating crusade to make the NHL the best itcan be. So Ding-dong, the witch is dead. Good riddance to the ugly,anti-climactic NHL tie. Or is it?
Until teams can no longer go into thelocker room and say, "Well, at least we got a point out of it." , the answerhas to be no. With more than two-thirds of the regular season gone andonly 8 points seperating 4th place from 11th in the Eastern Conference,those precious points earned have not been resolved by the shootout.
In its noble quest, the new winner-in-every-game NHL hasn't eliminated the tie. Notice how a team at 25-25-6 looks suspiciously like one with six tiesused to. Shouldn't that now be 26-31? Have they not LOST thirty-one games?But wait! There's more [logic] ! Second place San Jose currently has 35wins and first place Anaheim 33. The Ducks have three more points in thestandings. So now, the end-of-regulation charity point for being tied notonly encourages and rewards mediocrity like the tie used to, but creates adouble-whammy that can inadvertantly punish teams who win games inregulation.
The NHL needs to take action for next season. They can reward the loftieraccomplishment of a regulation win with three points and leave theOT/shootout structure as it is. But in the spirit of integrity andsimplicity, a campaign to truly eliminate a tie is best acomplished when ateam leaves the ice with nothing if they don't win the game. Win the game,two points. Lose the game, zero points. Why? Because it's good for the game.Top-4 professional sports league can't have a winner and a kind of, sort ofloser. It needs a winner and loser. And by the way, think OT and shootoutsare good now? Watch what happens to the intensity when it's all or nothing.......What do you think?
12 comments:
Well put, DJ!!! There was always something suspicious about the way the teams play cautiously in the last few minutes, to try and preserve the tie and go for the extra point in OT or shoot-out. If it's all or nothing, you would see a lot of intensity in trying to get the win in regulation, I'm sure...
Rene "Jump on the bandwagon" Boucher.
Knowing how long it took for the last changes to occur in the NHL, I don't think we'll see that in a close future. But I guess the 3 pts. win will be in soon enough. Then when they'll see teams going at it to get 3 pts instead of 2 or 1, they might (just might)condider it.
Look at the NBA, working your ass off an entire game and the win often comes in the last seconds. It should be the same in the NHL.
I strongly agree that all games should be worth the same number of points in total. Giving out 2 points in some games and then 3 points in others (2 to the winner and 1 to the sort-of-loser) totally screws up the standings. I don't like 3 points for a win: it should be 2 if you win, 0 if you lose... period. And plus, the standings would get all crazy again with four columns worth of outcomes (wins, OT wins, losses, OT losses). With Bettman in the driver's seat, his solution will probably be 5 points per game and free tacos if the game ends with both teams having scored a prime number of goals.
I also agree with Claude that the drama and intensity of an OT or shootout where everything is on the line would be far more exciting.
MMMMMmmmmmm.....tacos!!!!!!
it should be just football-like. 3 points for a regulation or overtime win, 2 points for a shootout win and 1 point for a shootout loss....of course, 0 points for a loss
that way players would work harder for a win and it makes the shootout a little less important.
Seabass, you got it wrong. Football is 7 points for a touchdown and 3 points for a field goal.
Actually, I agree with no points if you lose (whether in regulation, OT, or a shootout). The NHL is awarding failure. The attitude of "a point on the road is a win" only leads to less effort to win. Making it cut and dry eliminates any option of not playing to win.
And in any case, a touch down is only worth 6 points in the NFL. You have the option to score 1 extra point with the kick or go for the 2 point conversion, or zero points if you screw either of those two up. If the other team blocks your kick (or if you fumble or get intercepted) and they run it back, they can get the two points.
Ohhh....CFL!!! But, can anyone explain Cricket to me?
and for me... for me - baseball, please - more detailed if you don't mind :)
Grigory.
PS - I've just got my new bauer scates right from the box - I am looking for Sunday...
Girgory, where did you buy them from?
By the way, I am down for Breakfast!
It was relatively "complex" way :)
Prices for skates in Korea are just unreal!
I had bought skates (+some staff) in HockeyMonkey in-line shop.
And there was a problem: they (all on-line shops I had asked) cannot send Bauer skates outside of USA/Canada.
So - I use free shipping to destination in USA (to my friend in NY). And next – he just sent to me received box. He describe items as “gifts” and shipping cost was 45$ for 6 lbs box.
You can choose shipping method and estimate time & price here
http://ircalc.usps.gov/default.asp?Mode=Intl_Single&CID=10234
For me everything takes ~10days – shipping from shop to NY and next to me by EMS
Actually on-line shops can send items directly to you with approximately same shipping cost. The Bauer staff is exception as I understand – but any others aren’t problem for them. And you may ask them to make “correct” invoice for you – usually they can do it – if not you may just use two “hop” technique as I did. First “hop” almost always free :)
Custom tips:
1. they calculate sum = price in invoice + shipping cost
2. if sum below 150$ - custom clearance is free
3. 150-300$ – 10%
4. 300$+ they want 17% of sum from you
So you are really interesting to have sum less than 150$ - in my case parcel was marked as “Gift” without cost and it becomes free for me (no custom payments).
But even if you will pay full range custom clearance taxes – it will be cheaper than in shops here in Korea.
Yo folks,,,if theres room on the roster for sunday me and Donny Caldwell would like to play
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