The times, they are a’changing. Check out the newest NHL rumors!
This could be the change that sends fans of old-time hockey to the loony bin:
NHL To Move To 3-On-3 In Overtime Next Season http://t.co/pQST8x7XDU
— CBS New York (@CBSNewYork) June 24, 2015
Both the league’s general managers and players voted on Tuesday to change the format of overtime from a five minute period of four-on-four hockey to a five minute period of three-on-three hockey.
What, five-on-five with no goalies wasn’t on the table?
The NHL Board of Governors still must vote to approve the change today when it meets in Las Vegas . . . but come on. With general managers and players behind the change, you can bet your bottom dollar that this will be reality come the beginning of the 2015-2016 NHL season.
The logic behind the change is sound – the NHL would like to see less games decided by shootout – but why does the NHL have to be the only sport that drastically alters the way overtime is played? NBA teams still play five players in overtime; NFL teams, eleven. I don’t see MLB teams sending only one player to the outfield in extra innings.
Only the NHL feels the need to keep making changes in the name of making the game more exciting:
"There’s obviously a lot of space and I think once there is one scoring chance at one end, typically if you don’t score it goes back the other way,” PhiladelphiaFlyers general manager Ron Hextall said. “It ends up being exciting, fast-paced and, obviously, the skill level of the players comes out.“It’s just really risky hockey and it makes it very exciting. I saw some of it at the American League level, and it’s very exciting.”"
Based on the number of times that Hextall used the word, “exciting,” can we expect these overtimes to be three times more exciting than regulation?
I hate to break it to the NHL, but if you polled hockey fans, you would realize that the game is already exciting. Personally, I have no problem with a game ending in a tie if five minutes of five-on-five hockey doesn’t settle things. The shootout is boring, and three-on-three hockey sounds very amateurish – keep the minor league hockey stuff in the minor leagues.
This is just my two cents, of course – but Anaheim’s Ryan Getzlaf doesn’t sound too thrilled with the idea, either:
"I honestly don’t know if [three-on-three] will be good or bad or what it’ll be. I’m not a big fan of taking other players out of the sport, when you’re talking about a team sport we play. I know we have the shootout that helps decide things, and it’s generally the same guys, but when you’re talking about doing that in the overtime, you’re limiting another group of players that aren’t going to see the ice. And I’ll probably be on the ice—but I’m not a big believer that taking minutes from other guys is the way to go.I do like the shootout. Everyone has the same chance to win games, whether it’s in regulation, overtime or shootout. I am a big believer in ending games. I don’t like the tie."
Obviously, there are more players who like the idea than not, but I’m with the Captain on this one – the NHL is taking players off the ice, meaning teams’ third- and fourth-lines players will be lucky to get any overtime ice time at all.
Not that the NHL cares, but we here at Pucks of a Feather are curious – what is your opinion on the new overtime format?