The End of Tied Games

Ever since the National Hockey League came up with the hair-brained idea of eliminating ties from hockey, I have been against it. I see nothing wrong with a tie at all. Some games are played so well that having a winner is not necessary while other games are so horrible that neither team deserves the win. It seems sports these days are not about enjoyment any more but more about having a distinct winner and loser. After all, it’s hard to brag about a tie isn’t it?

Society has “evolved” so much that we are not happy with being entertained for a few hours unless we can throw insults at another group of people based on the outcome of a child’s game. A game for which we fans have little, if any, personal involvement in. But now I am getting off topic a bit. Society needs closure in everything. A movie needs a happy ending; a mystery novel needs a clear description of the crimes and how the clever detective solved those crimes; and sports need a clear, decisive winner. Ties have become a thing of the past.

Now that society’s need for closure is so overwhelmingly powerful, the NHL has taken note and is making sure each game has a clear winner. When the league went on strike, the league brass thought it a perfect time to address this issue and came up with the shootout. Now a team sport, deadlocked after both regulation time and a short overtime period, is decided on the ability of individual players. Brilliant! The OHL All-Star game was a perfect example of why shootouts are perhaps the worst possible method of deciding a game. Out of the five skaters that stepped to the line, only one put the puck on net. I can’t think of anything more exciting then the missed shot. Watching the zamboni flood that thin patch of ice prior to the shootout is pretty exciting too.

Someone has to realize that shootouts are not the right way to end a hockey game. Despite the fact that the fate of 20 plus players should never rest on the shoulders of any one of them individually, shootouts are boring. There is no big play that leads up to each scoring chance and no chance of anything really exciting happening. The player either scores or he doesn’t, plain and simple. A really bad end to what could have been a great game all because society needs closure. The only good part is that the refs all but disappear during shootouts. Maybe shootouts aren’t that bad after all.