Great Hockey Debates

Shootout or not to shootout
What the hell is with all this talk about the NHL shootouts being a joke? Look, I'm not a traditionalist. I'm all for making a professional sports league as beneficial and entertaining as possible. Hence the reason, I'm for having a shootout. Can you imagine if the Sabres vs Devils game didn't have a shootout? It would be the dullest game since..well..the last Sabres vs Devils game.

If the entertainment factor doesn't comply, well, who the hell wants to see ties? Ties are for little league, bush league or the league that you take the losing team to get ice cream. This is the problem with the NHL, they have too many old-schoolers who cry when the league needs to make changes for the betterment of the league.

Sorry, but having 2-1 hockey games from the late 90's isn't something I want to see. As far as I'm concerned, old-schoolers are marks and would watch hockey on hot coals with bean stocks as sticks. Your old-school ways haven't worked in the states, so you may as well just shut it.

NHL Players in the Olympics
I'm going to sound very wishy washy and maybe a lot bit of a hypocrite after what I said about wanting the most entertainment for pro sports. But the NHL doesn't belong in the Olympics. Look, do I think the games would be as fast with amateurs playing? No. Would the games be as entertaining? No. But here's the bottom line: The NHL came to the Olympics with the idea that the league would make leaps into the American culture as a sport, and it just hasn't happened. I already wrote about people thinking Ryan Miller would become a household name if the USA brought home gold. Sorry, but Mike Richter and Mike Dunham didn't become household names when the team brought home silver in 2002. Hell, I couldn't even tell you who played well on that team.

The Olympic audience is more into following ice skating and young cute guys/girls with their underdog stories. Ryan Miller may be good looking, but he's not an underdog. I think if Olympic hockey went back to the old ways of showing kids who've never been heard of and can showcase a story of youth prevailing, it would be something that the American public can get behind. Plus, who the hell wants to see a break in the NHL season (Besides Thomas Vanek)?

The Olympic Games are built around the competition among the best amateur athletes in the world. Take 1980, yes, I get that USA was going through a cold war with USSR. But if Team USA was led by professionals, would it have been as nice of a memory for fans who speak so highly of a bunch of teenagers playing a game they loved?

To fight or not to fight
FIGHT!!! I don't know much about women, but if there's one thing that is universal about the ladies of the world, it's they are a sucker for the bad ass guy. That same logic goes for the typical sports fan. Hockey Fights are awesome. I've seen it first hand at arenas when the crowd rise to their feet and start yelling and hollering.

Why the NHL is trying to get rid of it? I have no clue. It's the one thing that the other 3 major sports don't have. The NHL should try and be different from those sports. If you don't believe me, go to YouTube and type in Flyers vs Sabres+ fights, and enjoy. I'll never forget the Senators vs Sabres game, where Drury got knocked out by Chris Neal and Ruff told his team go out their and fight. Revenge is bitter sweet and so is fighting.