This is good news for the hockey purists that don't like shootouts deciding tie breakers. I also think it his is the first step in the NHL backing away from the shootout.
ESPN - The NHL plans to finalize a change to its regular-season tiebreaking system for 2010-11 at a Sept. 14 Board of Governors' meeting, a league source said.
Under the new plan, the first tiebreaker will be a combination of regulation time and overtime victories, with shootout wins excluded. In the past, the first tiebreaker had been total wins of any kind.
