If you’re opposed to the shootout and you want some additional ammunition for your argument to abolish the skills competition, you’re going to love this article. After all of the games were complete on December 30th, a total of 81 games on the NHL calendar were ended in a shootout. This boils down to 14.9% of all games played have ended in the shootout this season.
This information, which was beautifully collected by Reddit Hockey, illustrates that far more games are being ended in a shootout than you might have guessed. The percentage actually represents a slight increase in the number of games decided by the shootout when compared to previous years.
Again, kudos to Reddit Hockey for this awesome chart:
The 2014-15 season still has a long way to go and that percentage should vary as we add more games to the sample, but it’s clear the usual percentage of games influenced by the shootout is right around 14 or 15. That seems like an awfully high number and it means that the standings would probably look a lot different should the NHL rework its current point structure.
If you’re not a fan of the shootout, good news may be coming from the AHL. The AHL has been experimenting with a seven-minute overtime which starts out with four-on-four hockey but reverts to three-on-three hockey for the final four minutes of OT. This change has resulted in only 25% of games making it to OT needing a shootout. Prior to this change, approximately 65% of games which made it to OT in the AHL needed the shootout.
The AHL has proven that you can reduce the impact and important of the shootout by adjusting the rules in OT. However, some purists may argue that 3-on-3 hockey is just as gimmicky as a shootout. They may have a point, but at least it more closely resembles the main game of hockey more than a 1-on-0 skills competition with the goaltender.
