Next week’s general managers meetings in Toronto could provide even more momentum for the idea of 3-on-3 overtime as a way to reduce the number of shootouts in the NHL.
From TSN’s Darren Dreger:
While NHL executive vice-president and director of hockey operations Colin Campbell is closely guarding the meeting’s agenda, the laundry list of items - and early season observations - will most certainly include a lengthy debate on overtime.
Based on the success of 3-on-3 in the American Hockey League and the growing number of believers outside of the NHL Commissioner’s office, GMs are confident the league’s current overtime format - as compared to the AHL experiment - will be a primary focus next week.
We’ve already written this season about the success of 3-on-3 overtime in the AHL, so far as reducing the number of shootouts.
“We are encouraged by a very positive response to the new OT format,” AHL president David Andrews told ESPN.com recently. “We have not only reduced the percentage of our games being decided by the shootout, but more importantly, have found the three-on-three competition to be very exciting for our fans.”
In the NHL, 36 games have gone to the shootout so far. That’s almost 15 percent of the total games played.