Thursday, instead of paying attention to the Private International Law lecture I was in, I got involved in a twitter based debate about the shootout with my favourite HNIC Host Jeff Marek (who has managed to push aside my adoration of PJ Stock by being so damn nice to me on twitter) and good friend Brynna.
Now, I’m not big fan of the shoot out for one reason and one reason only. As someone who plays goal, the fact that an entire game comes down to the individual performance of a goaltender in a one on one situation, resting an outcome on their shoulders, seems rather cruel punishment to me.
In a team sport like hockey, where the team is valued above any individual performance, it seems at odds to institute such a decider that removes that element from the game and turn the outcome into something determined by a skills contest (as Brynna puts it). Whilst Jeff thinks the whole game is a Skills contest (and that’s another enitre argument) on this point he raises a good question. If the shoot out is essentially an extension of the penalty shot, how is a penalty shot any different when it comes to removing a team from a game and placing the pressure on the goalies shoulders?
On this point, in my oh so humble opinion I believe, the penalty shot lacks the finality aspect (except in Overtime as he pointed out, by this time I, in an incredible display of maturity, was sticking my tongue out at the screen in frustration) of a shoot out as well as being a result of the team’s actions in that moment. A penalty shot arises from the mistake of a team during a game, whether that be blowing a coverage to allow a one on one, pulling the player down and if converted to a goal, the game continues allowing the team as a unit to atone for their mistakes through further play.
Whilst the penalty shot and the shoot out attempt are essentially the same thing, identical in every way of performance, the purpose, that of punishing the offending team or determining a winner or loser are essentially different.
However, honestly? The Shootout, as I pointed out to both Brynna and Jeff, and they agreed with me on, isn’t going anywhere. It has become part of our game whether we admit it or not and as long as the NHL believe it adds attraction to the sport and makes their standings life easier it will remain. The shoot out will forever remain one of things that whilst incredibly frustrating to the old school hockey fan is an exercise in futility to complain about.
Admittedly, you’d make a lot less of us hate it if, like we have down here in the AIHL, a 3 – 2 – 1 situation was instituted to balance out the value awarded to games that end in pure wins, SO wins and losses. That’s a whole new argument though.
P.S. My favourite hockey player is absolute money in the SO, so I don’t mind that part even.
P.S.S. Brynna hates the shoot out and would like it gone. 
No related posts.
From a player’s perspective, as opposed to that of a netminder, the shootout is a chance to define yourself.
We dream every night of making that killer curl and drag through our feet and slamming that little rubber bastard where he belongs, but the reality is when you’re parked in front, or you’re moving cross-crease, you’ve got defenders F*&#ing up your every chance.
The one on one, oh-shit-here-it-comes, shootout is as nerve racking for the shooter as it is for the goalie. The split second decisions that can spell victory or total ruin are yours and yours alone.
The fans love it. The arena is tense.
The cacophony of half drunken, staggering, and mostly retarded spectators fuels the fire. It makes for the sparking of our most deeply developed, but entirely primal, emotional responses.
If the shootout were to go away, it would indeed be a sad day for hockey.