Continued fallout in the press today from Saturday night's Garden thriller. Jason Diamos reviews the epic shootout in the Times, Mark Herrmann of Newsday waxes rhapsodic over the grand new rule, Sherry Ross of the Daily News reminds us that it masked a brutal Ranger performance, and Larry Brooks of the Post believes this contest sealed the ultimate fate of shootouts in playoff games.
Not that we're in favor of shootouts, but if the powers that be (especially TV) are going to insist on using them to decide playoff games, how about a sensible compromise that they be banned from elimination games? If a team's fate is not on the line and a twenty minute OT cannot put an end to a game, go to a shootout. But don't let anyone be eliminated that way -- play on in OT if a team's playoff life is at stake.
While we're making outrageous suggestions, this occurred to us when a penalty was whistled with twenty seconds left in overtime: why not play on until all power plays have expired? If a power play commences with less than that amount of time on the clock, reset the clock for the duration and give a team a chance to capitalize on the advantage it earned. It's a small thing they can do to help offset the impact of shootouts.
By the way, no one noticed that about 15-20% of the Garden crowd left after the end of overtime, before the start of the shootout. Maybe it was because the late-starting game was running over and they had a train to catch or a child to get to bed (there were a lot of kids there, with no school the next day).
15-20% left before the shootout? Not a chance. It was much closer to 0% than 1 out of 5 patrons. The crowd was electric and greatly anticipating some satisfaction after a subpar effort.
Posted by: Matthew Smith | November 28, 2005 at 03:03 PM
Actually, I was there (sect 329) and there were a few people in my section who left. I agree, a lot of people need to catch trains and thus have to go at a certain time. However, the place was still electric and hasn't felt/sounded that way in years.
Posted by: Jackolantern22 | November 29, 2005 at 03:10 PM
Having the shootouts in the regular season is more than enough "compromise" -- to add them to any playoff games, even non-elimination ones as you suggest, would make a mockery of this team sport, turning meaningful games into individual contests.
Posted by: throwaway | November 29, 2005 at 09:15 PM