UND Hockey: More on the Shootout

The NCAA hockey season kicked off this past weekend with a series of exhibition games and three regular season games. The newly founded National Collegiate Hockey Conference is set to begin play this season. The NCHC will use the shootout to break ties during conference match-ups, if the game is tied after a standard five-minute overtime period.  

Like I mentioned in an earlier article, while this move is going to be a controversial to some NCHC hockey fans, I think it’s a smart move by the NCHC to adopt the shootout.  Why not? To me, it seems like a no-brainer.  According to College Hockey Inc., Division I College hockey is responsible for providing and supplying about 30 percent of the players that play in the NHL. If Division I college hockey is going to continue to be a top development league and a route to the NHL, College hockey rules “should” closely mirror those of the NHL. I believe this is a move in the right direction.

Last night during the exhibition game the Manitoba Bison, at the end of the game, the two teams had a shootout. It was a practice run for UND. UND outscored the Bison 2-0 with UND goalie Zane Gothberg stopping both Bison shooters that he faced.

In interviewing some of the players on the UND Hockey team, they do seem excited about the prospects of the NCHC using the shootout to break ties. This past week, UND goalie Zane Gothberg was asked about the new league and unsolicited he brought up the shootout.

“I am looking forward to it, especially with the shootouts that they’ll have at the end of the game, if there’s a tie,” Zane Gothberg said. That will be kind of cool.

Junior forward Michal Parks was asked about his thoughts on the shootout and this is what he had to say.

“I like it,” Parks said. “It will make our game more like the NHL game.”

To be honest with you, I am excited about the shootout as well. I think it’s going to be an exciting feature of the NCHC. I also believe the fans, for the most part, will embrace them.

For those that are interest in online betting, check out this site Ice Hockey betting online.

Related articles

• UND Hockey: Age Not a Factor for Dillon Simpson (thehockeywriters.com)
• NCHC Hockey: Top Stories Surrounding New League (thehockeywriters.com)
• UND Hockey: Two Headed Monster in Net for UND (thehockeywriters.com)
• NCAA Hockey: Focus on Obstruction and Checking from Behind (hockeywilderness.com)
• UND Hockey: Two Cousins set to make Debut for UND (thehockeywriters.com)

RoughRiders Fall to Lancers in Shootout

The RoughRiders battled the Western conference leader Lancers, losing 4-3 in a shootout.

Austin Ortega (4) sends a shot into former teammate Nolan Zajac (11)

Former RoughRider Nolan Zajac.  Sorry Sioux fans.  He's committed to Denver.

Tanner Pond gets up close and personal with the glass

Ryan McGrath took a lot of beatings on the night

Riley Bourbonnais scored a hat trick. All three goals were scored in the 2nd.

NHL shootouts being killed off?

Here is an article that I found interesting over on Yahoo.com, it’s also a flash point issue with many college and NHL hockey fans. Many of these hockey fans are also passionate about the shootouts, both for and against. Personally, I think the shootout is exciting part of the post lockout NHL and I think it’s a very good way to end a game during the regular season, however, I would never endorse it for ending/deciding a game in a league champion.

TORONTO – Two-on-two? Not gonna happen. But three-on-three? Now that’s something we could see in NHL overtime someday.

Of all the ideas being tested this week at the league’s Research, Development and Orientation Camp, the most realistic ones with the biggest potential to impact the game involve overtime. The league is looking at two-on-two and three-on-three concepts, as well as four-on-four with teams switching ends to create long line changes.

Most everyone agrees the shootout has become too common. The debate is over what to do about it.

”I’d like to look at anything that reduces the number of games that are decided by a shootout,” Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke said. ”I mean, basically we’re deciding an astonishing percentage of games with a shootout. We never envisioned that when we approved that rule.”

When the NHL introduced the shootout in 2005-06, the thought was that teams would go all-out in the five-minute, four-on-four overtime period, trying to earn two points in the standings.

It will be interesting to see where the NHL goes with this. While some hockey fans like ties in hockey, personally I can't stand a hockey game that ends in a tie, I call them sister kissings. A tie feels like a loss to me in some instances.

CCHA to Continue Shootouts in League Play

It would be interesting to see what the breakdown of the vote for the shootout was. Personally, I am a fan of the shootout and find them entertaining in the NHL games that I watch. I know there are a lot of college hockey fans and hockey purists that DON’T like the shootout and to many fans it’s a person preference whether they like it or not.

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. - The Central Collegiate Hockey Association will continue to use shootouts and a three-point system in league play, as determined by a vote at the CCHA Council Meeting in Dearborn, Mich., Aug. 16-17.

In addition, the council voted for the CCHA to begin using standardized media timeouts in all league games and non-conference games hosted by CCHA teams. In 2008 the CCHA became the first Division I men’s ice hockey conference to institute the shootout in league play. For the 2009-10 season, the CCHA adopted a standings format for league play where a team that wins in regulation or overtime receives three points, a team that wins a shootout is awarded two points, a team that loses a shootout gets one point, and a team that loses in regulation or overtime earns no points. This past season 25 CCHA games went to a shootout, with Alaska being the most frequent participant at eight shootouts.