3x3 OT proven silly

[French Rage]

I don't like 3x3 or shootouts either. But to the casual fan, the type of person hockey is trying to attract, there is a clear distaste for ties. The goal is to fill the seats, not to maximize fairness. The NHL does the same thing.

The previous 87 ideas to bring casual fans into hockey didn't work, but I have a good feeling about idea 88!

39 failures before they got WD 40.

And 7 before they got to Preparation H!

[Al DeFlorio]

I don't like 3x3 or shootouts either. But to the casual fan, the type of person hockey is trying to attract, there is a clear distaste for ties. The goal is to fill the seats, not to maximize fairness. The NHL does the same thing.

The previous 87 ideas to bring casual fans into hockey didn't work, but I have a good feeling about idea 88!

And I shudder to contemplate what 89 might be.

[RichH]

I don't like 3x3 or shootouts either. But to the casual fan, the type of person hockey is trying to attract, there is a clear distaste for ties. The goal is to fill the seats, not to maximize fairness. The NHL does the same thing.

The previous 87 ideas to bring casual fans into hockey didn't work, but I have a good feeling about idea 88!

39 failures before they got WD 40.

Don't even ask about Preparations A-G.

[RichH]

I don't like 3x3 or shootouts either. But to the casual fan, the type of person hockey is trying to attract, there is a clear distaste for ties. The goal is to fill the seats, not to maximize fairness. The NHL does the same thing.

The previous 87 ideas to bring casual fans into hockey didn't work, but I have a good feeling about idea 88!

39 failures before they got WD 40.

And 7 before they got to Preparation H!

Dang it!!

[Beeeej]

I don't like 3x3 or shootouts either. But to the casual fan, the type of person hockey is trying to attract, there is a clear distaste for ties. The goal is to fill the seats, not to maximize fairness. The NHL does the same thing.

The previous 87 ideas to bring casual fans into hockey didn't work, but I have a good feeling about idea 88!

39 failures before they got WD 40.

And 7 before they got to Preparation H!

23 before they got to SpaceX. Don't ask.

[BearLover]

I don't like 3x3 or shootouts either. But to the casual fan, the type of person hockey is trying to attract, there is a clear distaste for ties. The goal is to fill the seats, not to maximize fairness. The NHL does the same thing.

Show me the study.

If you want to reduce the number of times, the best way is to make it easier to score.  A game with eight or ten goals is less likely to end in a tie than one with two or four.  Just get rid of the absurd amount of padding today's goalies wear and make them have to make saves with a glove or stick or blocker, not just by standing in the right place.  Surely today's technology can protect a goalie without making him or her look like the Michelin man.

I don't have a study. My assumption that the casual fan prefers a game to have a winner and a loser is based on having attended a lot of sporting events with casual fans, and the fact the NHL made this change. Ties are always a buzzkill; they feel closer to a loss than a win. I think it makes sense that someone who pays money to watch a competition gets to see a winner of that competition.

[Trotsky]

I don't like 3x3 or shootouts either. But to the casual fan, the type of person hockey is trying to attract, there is a clear distaste for ties. The goal is to fill the seats, not to maximize fairness. The NHL does the same thing.

The previous 87 ideas to bring casual fans into hockey didn't work, but I have a good feeling about idea 88!

39 failures before they got WD 40.

Don't even ask about Preparations A-G.

Fine Ferrari joke.

[abmarks]

I don't like 3x3 or shootouts either. But to the casual fan, the type of person hockey is trying to attract, there is a clear distaste for ties. The goal is to fill the seats, not to maximize fairness. The NHL does the same thing
The previous 87 ideas to bring casual fans into hockey didn't work, but I have a good feeling about idea 88!

What makes anyone think there's a connection between ties and fans in the seats?  What fan said "I don't go to games because they might have a boring tie?"

Just look at soccer around the world...all the ties aren't exactly stopping stadiums from selling 30,40,50,60,70,or even 80k tickets a game.

Given that there's been no serious consideration  of declaring games over at the end of regulation, the question is better framed as "what's the best/preferred way to decide a game after regulation time?"

If we surveyed fans about ot preferences and their options for OT were 5min, 10 min, 20min, 20min but play until someone scores, 3x3 and shootouts, I wouldn't be surprised if bearlover was right (for once) and 3x3 and/or shootouts was the winner.

But if fans were asked "what's the main reason you don't (or didn't) go to games", I can't imagine that the OT format is going to be high up on that list.

One other important factor that's not been mentioned in this thread.  For NHL games, TV matters.  I'd think that the networks would prefer shorter and more predictable lengths for overtime so that they can stick to their schedules.  

For me, I want the 10minute OT 5x5. Too easy to play for the tie in a 5 minute OT and 3x3 and shootouts are way too gimicky.

[Al DeFlorio]

I don't like 3x3 or shootouts either. But to the casual fan, the type of person hockey is trying to attract, there is a clear distaste for ties. The goal is to fill the seats, not to maximize fairness. The NHL does the same thing
The previous 87 ideas to bring casual fans into hockey didn't work, but I have a good feeling about idea 88!

What makes anyone think there's a connection between ties and fans in the seats?  What fan said "I don't go to games because they might have a boring tie?"

Just look at soccer around the world...all the ties aren't exactly stopping stadiums from selling 30,40,50,60,70,or even 80k tickets a game.

Given that there's been no serious consideration  of declaring games over at the end of regulation, the question is better framed as "what's the best/preferred way to decide a game after regulation time?"

If we surveyed fans about ot preferences and their options for OT were 5min, 10 min, 20min, 20min but play until someone scores, 3x3 and shootouts, I wouldn't be surprised if bearlover was right (for once) and 3x3 and/or shootouts was the winner.

But if fans were asked "what's the main reason you don't (or didn't) go to games", I can't imagine that the OT format is going to be high up on that list.

One other important factor that's not been mentioned in this thread.  For NHL games, TV matters.  I'd think that the networks would prefer shorter and more predictable lengths for overtime so that they can stick to their schedules.  

For me, I want the 10minute OT 5x5. Too easy to play for the tie in a 5 minute OT and 3x3 and shootouts are way too gimicky.

Wish I could buy you a drink.

[scoop85]

Wish I could buy you a drink.

Well, there's always Venmo **]

[billhoward]

Just look at soccer around the world...all the ties aren't exactly stopping stadiums from selling 30,40,50,60,70,or even 80k tickets a game.

1. Come for the game. Stay for the riot.

2a. Wait'll we seduce them with fútbol americano. We'll take CTE global.

2b. Love how in a few short years the NFL has gone from "there is no gambling" to the announcers talking about betting lines.

[French Rage]

I don't like 3x3 or shootouts either. But to the casual fan, the type of person hockey is trying to attract, there is a clear distaste for ties. The goal is to fill the seats, not to maximize fairness. The NHL does the same thing
The previous 87 ideas to bring casual fans into hockey didn't work, but I have a good feeling about idea 88!

What makes anyone think there's a connection between ties and fans in the seats?  What fan said "I don't go to games because they might have a boring tie?"

Just look at soccer around the world...all the ties aren't exactly stopping stadiums from selling 30,40,50,60,70,or even 80k tickets a game.

Given that there's been no serious consideration  of declaring games over at the end of regulation, the question is better framed as "what's the best/preferred way to decide a game after regulation time?"

If we surveyed fans about ot preferences and their options for OT were 5min, 10 min, 20min, 20min but play until someone scores, 3x3 and shootouts, I wouldn't be surprised if bearlover was right (for once) and 3x3 and/or shootouts was the winner.

But if fans were asked "what's the main reason you don't (or didn't) go to games", I can't imagine that the OT format is going to be high up on that list.

One other important factor that's not been mentioned in this thread.  For NHL games, TV matters.  I'd think that the networks would prefer shorter and more predictable lengths for overtime so that they can stick to their schedules.  

For me, I want the 10minute OT 5x5. Too easy to play for the tie in a 5 minute OT and 3x3 and shootouts are way too gimicky.

Hell, I'll use myself as an example.  I didn't care the slightest bit about hockey until I got to go to a game at Cornell my freshman year and the Lynah atmosphere got me into it.  Hockey is a sport you have to watch and appreciate in person before you can get into on TV.  If there was a reason I was not into hockey before, it was because neither of my parents were, the area I grew up in (NoVa) was not, and it's frankly something you can't really get into by just turning on the TV, glowing puck or not.  The OT rules did not factor in in the least.  It's not baseball or football, which you can fall bass-ackwards into in this country, it's a sport you have to have a specific connection to get into, and cute gimmicks aren't going to be the deciding factor.

[Trotsky]

Ties are the hockey gods' way of saying nobody deserved to win.  We thwart Their will at our peril.

Some moron at ESPN decided Americans are too stupid for ties.  This is fallacious reasoning, since, while Americans are indeed stupid, Europeans are stupid too, and they can handle them.

[BearLover]

I don't like 3x3 or shootouts either. But to the casual fan, the type of person hockey is trying to attract, there is a clear distaste for ties. The goal is to fill the seats, not to maximize fairness. The NHL does the same thing
The previous 87 ideas to bring casual fans into hockey didn't work, but I have a good feeling about idea 88!

I wouldn't be surprised if bearlover was right (for once)

You've been strangely obsessed with me for awhile now.

[jtwcornell91]

2b. Love how in a few short years the NFL has gone from "there is no gambling" to the announcers talking about betting lines.

I grew up watching Jimmy the Greek on CBS's pre-game show, so I'm pretty sure sportscasters have always acknowledged gambling in the NFL.