“Skills Competition” Decides the East. And, so What?

I’m obviously in the minority here. I have no problems with the shootout. In fact I like it.

If it’s so wrong to have a player skate in alone on the goalie why not whistle a breakaway dead like an offside play?

If it’s so wrong to have a player skate in alone on the goalie why isn’t the penalty shot as maligned? Why not just call a two minute interference? Arguably that would eliminate the very subjective nature of the penalty shot call.

And then there is always the “it’s a team game” argument. An argument even touted right here in Denver by Craig Anderson. Look, a SO is still a team effort. Any guy on the team can participate but no guy can take a shot a second time until the entire team has had a shot.

And how about that backup goalie? Here in Denver it’s well known that Peter Budaj is regularly consulted by the shooter about strategy. If that isn’t a team effort I guess I don’t get the concept.

As for the argument that the same guys always play the shootout, well I can make the same argument about the power play and the penalty kill. It’s called special teams. Oops, there’s that word “team” again.  Now I will give you this, five shooters would include more of the team than the current three.  But it very often goes beyond the first three anyway.

The shootout has been around since the early days of the game, even in the Motherland. I’m no historian but I’ve seen references to it as early as the 1934-35 season, it’s got history. You tell me where the NHL has a history of four on four overtime play? Four on four is for roller hockey.

I just can’t get on the hockey-purity bandwagon when it comes to this one.