Bettman talks about the future of the shootout
Gary Bettman is confident that fans love the shootout according to CBC.
“All the research that we do on a regular basis tells us overwhelmingly our fans like the shootout,” Bettman said glowingly during all-star weekend in Ottawa. “We’re looking at numbers in the 70 and 80 per cent approval range, which on any question is an extraordinarily high number. Anecdotally, I try to go to a game at least once in every building, and when you see an overtime game that goes to the shootout, the reaction in the building is sensational. Everybody’s on their feet.”
70 to 80%? If you look around at 10 of your hockey friends, are 7 or 8 of them in support of shootouts? More likely you find the opposite.
Our own research, which includes 7 cats, 4 dogs and 1 hamster, concludes that there is a 99.9% chance that Bettman is wrong.
And thankfully, the Board of Governors approved going to a 3 on 3 overtime format that should more than double the number of games settled in OT:
The 3-on-3 overtime is designed to create more space on the ice, allowing for more goals to be scored and more games ending in overtime rather than the shootout, similar to the success that the American Hockey League experienced this season.
By adding a 3-on-3 element to its overtime format, the AHL had 75 percent of its games that went past regulation time in 2014-15 decided in overtime. The number was 35.3 percent in 2013-14, when they played under a 4-on-4 overtime format.
So will the shootouts be entirely eliminated anytime soon?
Don’t count it.
Bettman shared this words with the Boston Globe:
Though the NHL is willing to do its best to cut down on shootouts — enter the five minutes of three-on-three overtime that will kick off next season — the shootouts themselves remain non-negotiable, according to GaryBettman. As he said, “I think to the extent some people wanted to see fewer shootouts, this will get us there, and that’s fine. The shootout isn’t going anywhere. You go to a building during a shootout, everybody’s on their feet, nobody is leaving, which is what it was designed to do. It’s exciting, it’s fun, it’s entertaining, and so if we’re going to try and reduce the number of shootouts, this may do it.” Despite the anecdotal evidence — the legions of fans (and media, and GMs) that are vocally anti-shootout — Bettman pointed to fan research that says “overwhelmingly fans like it.” He added, “I think you see some people in the hockey community say they’d rather see fewer shootouts, but this is a sport that had ties for so many years and nobody liked that. And we’re not in the position in the regular season for a whole host of reasons to play games to the end in sudden death the way we do in the playoffs.”
Image courtesy of Mike Durkin.
