I
LOATHE the shootout.
Seriously guys...I turn off the tv or if in the arena put my head down and not watch (I have to stay since I am there with family). I find the SO to be incredibly boring and quite possibly the dumbest way to settle a hockey game (except for maybe Rock Paper Scissor).
Anyone who thinks the SO is a good idea I assume thinks baseball should be decided by a home run hitting contest or football games with a FG kicking competition or basketball with a slam dunk contest. UGH!
Therefore, anything that resembles real hockey and reduces the use of the SO is worth a try in my book. I don't really worry about whether it is good or bad for the current CBJ team because that is cyclical. Rosters change. I think I agree I would have rather seen the 4 on 4 for three minutes followed by 3 on 3 for four minutes but this is what the players wanted and I am OK giving it a try.
Now for my soapbox though...all of this is simply a bandaid to two of the issues hurting hockey today.
1) The "loser point" the NHL awards in games that go past regulation. This is beyond idiotic and can be fixed in a number of ways. I am a fan of the 3-2-1 system (understanding that the SO isn't going away). Not only would this reduce the impact of the SO but teams will less likely pull back in the last five minutes of the 3rd period playing for the guaranteed point. There is an incentive to win in regulation...the extra winner point! I am open to other suggestions but the current point system is possibly the worst system they could have chosen for any intelligent fan. In a 30 team league, 15 should be +.500 and 15 should be -.500. In the NHL 24 teams were +.500 and 6 were -.500. That's not right.
2) The lack of scoring in regulation: to me the problem is blocked shots. Sure they could make the nets bigger or reduce the goalie pads but the problem is the players are getting bigger (not just goalies) and the rinks are not. In reality the ice surface is getting even smaller because in the past twenty years more and more shots are being blocked in the shooting lanes. Blocking shots takes very little skill....I am sure, for the most part, guys in the ECHL can do it just as well as guys in the NHL. Scoring opportunities would go up and scoring would go up.
You can't ban blocking but you can change the rules governing it. Bob Gainey once proposed a rule...that defenders must keep one blade on the ice at all times. Blocking would actually become more of an art fem and you won't see players flopping on the ice like a fish out of water anymore. The league gets more scoring and the players even wind up less bruised over an 82 game regular season.
A win for everyone except Goalie's GAA.
OK...off my soapbox. Go ahead and rip my idea apart...but I still like it