The shootout, lots of times, decides who wins and loses in the NHL. By proxy, it decides which teams make the playoffs, and then who plays whom.

It's arbitrary and weird, and plenty of people hate it. Play 3-on-3 after they first overtime, you'll hear, or Play 10 minutes at 4-on-4. We're of the mindset that regular-season games need a defined endpoint, and that 4-on-4 is enough of a gimmick already, but whatever.

The saving grace of it all, though, is that the shootout can be fun to watch. Bonkers stuff can happen—and that's the right attitude to have. If you're going to attach real stakes to something that silly, you might as well sell all the way out in the name of entertainment value. Good job, NHL.


The current rule is that the puck must always be moving forward on attempts, but that spin-o-ramas are OK.

Next up: Games will be determined by best-of-three rock-paper-scissors, but you can't throw rock every time. THE AVALANCHE IS DEAD.

This all Alex Burrows' fault.

At least Luongo's happy.