NHL Rule Changes That Would Improve Playoffs

Overtime in the NHL playoffs is a necessity in the sense that a game can’t end in a tie and winning by a shootout would just be ludicrous. Overtime hockey is the embodiment of excitement; it causes heart palpitations, situational Tourettes and even the occasional incoherent screeching sounds only animals can hear. It is everything you want in a hockey game, except when it’s not.

What does that mean? Well overtime periods in the NHL are 5-on-5, sudden death and last 20 minutes. That’s a long time. It gets even longer if one OT turns into two and so forth; it happens more than you think. It isn’t just tiring for the players, but for the fans watching. Depending on what time the game starts and your time zone, you could be up until the mid-morning waiting for a winner to be determined.

One way the NHL can make these overtime games more tolerable without losing the factors that make it great is to change it to 4-on-4. I have a feeling, if teams skate four aside, OT games will end a bit sooner. Four-on-four hockey opens up the ice; it creates space and, as a result, more opportunities. It works in the regular season, granted it is only five-minutes long, but still. Why not use the same structure in the playoffs?

For those people who think the game should end how it started (5-on-5) here’s a compromise: the first OT period will be 5-on-5, but if 20 minutes expire and a tie is still in place then the next OT period and moving forward the teams will skate 4-on-4. It will help players fight fatigue and may end the OT periods from going longer than two.

Next: Good Bye Game 7, It's One and Done, J.A