yeah, another win...

Sarcasm does not translate well on blogs. Don't get me wrong, I am very happy that our Minnesota Wild defeated the Colorado Avalanche last night. Points are hard to come by this time of the season and there is nothing that I would like to see more than the Wild playing past April 11. But my disgust and disdain comes from the way that the NHL has decided to award wins and losses. Yes, I am an anti-shootout fan.

Its really easy to figure out why the league implemented the shootout to decide games. First, all you have to do is to look at the current standings and you'll see several teams hanging on hopes of making it to the post season. Bettman & Clowns are simply giddy and love the fact that more teams than ever have a 'shot'. Truth be told, some of these teams have no business being in the position that they are in and should be making vacation plans and tee times rather than thinking of the playoffs. But fans all around the league have 'settled' for this substandard system and life has never been better for the league.

The second reason I believe the league went to this system was to attract more fans from the non-traditional markets, or mainly the southern markets. The virgin fans unfortunately do not know any better. They don't realize that the 1-on-0 battle between the shooter and goaltender, although exciting, is not a real big part of hockey. How many beak-away plays do we see a game? Probably close to the same number of penalty shots that are awarded. In fact, it's such a small part of the game that I am having a real hard time finding a break-away or penalty shot stat to reference from (18 penalty shots have resulted in goals so far this season but no total on number awarded). Don't be fooled into thinking that this euphoric moment that the shootout produces is nothing more than a break-away or penalty shot. It's not some new made-up play...it's been around forever and it's still rare. There are several other stats and/or indicators that league could have used to break the tie that are as ridiculous but have merit simply because they tell a better story on which team deserves the win.

The points awarded are always a point of contention this time of year, especially now that we have the shootout. That extra point handed out when a game goes to a shootout is a topic all on it's own. But the one thing that you can count on is that the league is not going to change this. Why would they? It's all about filling the seats and what better way to do that than having 13 of the 15 teams from each conference hanging in there. Never mind that it cheapens the regular season. Forget about the fact that die-hard fans have been screaming about this since it was implemented. A league that allows games to be decided by different standards between the regular season and playoffs is laughable at best. Hitting The Post did a piece on a solution to this that carries some merit. But my vote goes to the old system with modifications. I have no problem with leaving the game tied but if you want to try and gain a winner, extend the overtime to a full period. 4-on4 hockey for a full 20 minutes will almost undoubtedly produce a winning team. If by chance it does not produce a winner, then leave the game tied. But because we have who we have running the league, this solution will not happen and we'll be forever stuck with this ridiculous method of declaring a winner.

It was a great win for the Wild. They gained the 2 points that are much needed. I am happy & satisfied but really crave a different system for this league.