You may recall back in September when we wrote about 3-on-3 overtime (if nobody scores 4-on-4) and the apparent momentum the idea was gaining among NHL general managers.
Today at the GM meetings in Toronto, one of the idea’s main advocates -- Detroit’s Ken Holland -- cited an appetite among his counterparts to extend OT as a way to reduce the number of games being decided by a shootout.
A pair of tweets from the CBC’s Elliotte Friedman:
There have already been 39 games decided by the shootout this season -- the Los Angeles Kings are already 4-0 in the so-called skills competition; the New Jersey Devils are 0-4 -- and that’s too many for GMs like Holland, who’s said in the past, “I’d like to have more games decided playing hockey.”
Of course, there are those who don’t consider 3-on-3 “playing hockey"any more than they consider the shootout “playing hockey"; hence, the ongoing debate.
For now, no changes are imminent. But expect the topic to be broached once again in March when the GMs get together for their annual spring meeting.