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"The Ten Minute Misconduct"
The last piece of the (rebuilding) puzzle, MO • 27 Years Old • Male
If you look at the standings as of Tuesday afternoon, 20 teams are above .500 and 4 teams are right at .500.

How is this mathematically possible? Is this the ‘parity’ that Bettman insisted would exist under the new CBA, or is it just an illusion?

Why are the standings like this?

Because the NHL rewards losing teams that are tied after regulation.

At one time, the extra point served a purpose, back when teams could earn a tie. In other words, the extra point was an incentive for teams to play to win, not to play to avoid losing their one point for the regulation tie.

That being said, now that we’ve eliminated the tie, why are we STILL giving away the extra point? Because your team played a good sixty minutes of hockey and ALMOST won? “Almost” only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, and apparently on most hooking calls in the “new” NHL.

So here’s what we do. We get rid of the regulation point. So what if you don’t like shootouts. Live with it! In my opinion, it’s a better alternative than making some games worth three points (2 for an overtime win and 1 for an overtime loss) and some only worth two (only 1 team getting points for a regulation win.) The shootout is just another element of the game for a team to be strong or weak in, just like a powerplay or penalty kill or forecheck, etc.
Filed Under:   ties   shootout   blues  
December 19, 2007 11:20 PM ET | Delete
I'm with you man - the loser pint has got to go!
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