NHL shouldn’t add shootouts to the Stanley Cup Playoffs

No, the NHL shouldn’t even think about thinking about getting rid of the pure, unadulterated chaos that is overtime in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Some things in life are just meant to be chaotic. One of those things is the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It’s perfectly chaotic. You never know what’s going to happen next. Which is why the NHL should definitely not listen to anyone who wants to replace sudden death overtime with a shootout.

Now, in the regular season, shootouts make sense. Sometimes teams have a game the next day. You don’t want players destroying themselves in the regular season. That’s what the postseason is for. But in the playoffs? Heck no.

All of this stems from the epic five-overtime thriller between the Columbus Blue Jackets and Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 1 of their postseason series. It lasted six hours. You could have watched Avengers: Endgame nearly twice from puck drop until Brayden Point‘s game-winning game in quintuple overtime!

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And you know what? I enjoyed every second of it. The sudden death overtime made that game what it is – one of the greatest hockey games I’ve ever watched. It wouldn’t have been the same without Joonas Korpisalo making 85 saves and Seth Jones playing over an hour. Nor would it have been the same if Andrei Vasilevskiy didn’t join Korpisalo in beating the previous postseason record for most saves in a game.

Yet here we are with people complaining about sudden death overtime. In the spirit of Fire Joe Morgan, I’m going to go through all the complaints I’ve seen and explain why they’re all extremely wrong and silly.

“People Get Bored”

This is partially true. I have ADHD, I know all about being bored. But you know what? I watched all six hours of the Blue Jackets and Lightning game. During that time, I experienced various feelings. Happiness. Joy. Angst. Anxiousness. But at no point was I “bored”.

How could anyone be bored while watching two teams fight for one more goal? You know the next goal wins, and you know the goal has a pretty good chance of being one of those wacky goals. Fans hold their breath with every shot attempt, knowing it could be the one that costs their team the game.

It’s like watching a suspenseful movie. Yes, you know the huge plot twist is coming. But you watch it anyway! It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve seen the movie, the plot twist gets you every time! So does playoff hockey!

“Think Of The Players”

This is actually a fairly valid concern. I’d be worried about any player who has to endure a six-hour game. But we’re not talking about your adult beer league here. We’re talking about NHL players. The best of the best. The most conditioned players in the world. They can handle it.

Teams have stuff available for energy. They have water, sports drinks, bananas, energy bars, and other stuff available so players don’t cramp up or get tired. Also, go look at the overtime goal I posted above. Look at the sheer emotion after Point scored. You want to take that away from the players?

Conclusion

Look, I like to think of myself as a pretty accepting guy. I’m open to just about anything. I’ll listen to crazy ideas about pretty much everything. I’m all for hearing new ideas and exploring new possibilities. Want to talk about how every team should make the playoffs? Want to go nuts and ban offsides? Hey, I’m all ears.

So don’t take it lightly when I say if you would prefer to have a shootout to a five-overtime thriller, you have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.

Hockey’s all about chaos and having unexpected things happen. Sure, it’s scary and frustrating, but that’s a part of the agreement we all sign when we become hockey fans. A shootout isn’t a fair way to determine a regular-season game, let alone a postseason game.