I'm not sure if I'm willing to call this a trend, but it's a trend-ish, and that's better than nothing. Three point games suck. They muddle up the standings, make it impossible to make up ground on anybody anywhere, and in the end reward a team for playing for a tie, something that I don't think any sport should ever do. The fewer three point games the better in my opinion. I'd love if we didn't have to reward teams for playing for a tie at all, but it's not my league.
The same goes for shootouts. Shootouts are not an alternative to ties. They are an alternative to hockey, and I'm very happy that they seem to be disappearing. I think the next logical question would be why that is. Are shootouts dependent on skill? Does the better team systematically win the shootout more often than the less good team, or are they entirely luck-based? I'm too much of a novice in hockey numbers to know the answer to that question, but that would be a good place to start. Either way. Two thumbs up to all the teams for getting that junk out of the average game altogether!
Just like three point games, I'd love if we could get from 5% to zero percent of all games featuring a shootout, but for whatever reason the NHL seems to want to cling onto this gimmick for dear life, so it's on the teams to get rid of it themselves, and good on them for that.
It's the age old NHL story. A great sport hampered by a bad league. This points system makes no sense, and the NHL insists on doubling down and tripling down on it anyway. Perhaps they like it because it makes the standings seem artificially close, but in fact I think it's the opposite. The three point games make any effort to make up ground futile. If there were no three point games I feel like there could be a lot more fun comeback stories.
It certainly looks like randomness across time. The one part about three point games declining later in seasons might reflect widening disparity between playoff teams and non playoff teams as the season progresses. Non-playoff rosters are weaker after the trade deadline redistribution of talent upward and non-playoff teams have more reasons to just “mail it in”
I'm not sure if I'm willing to call this a trend, but it's a trend-ish, and that's better than nothing. Three point games suck. They muddle up the standings, make it impossible to make up ground on anybody anywhere, and in the end reward a team for playing for a tie, something that I don't think any sport should ever do. The fewer three point games the better in my opinion. I'd love if we didn't have to reward teams for playing for a tie at all, but it's not my league.
The same goes for shootouts. Shootouts are not an alternative to ties. They are an alternative to hockey, and I'm very happy that they seem to be disappearing. I think the next logical question would be why that is. Are shootouts dependent on skill? Does the better team systematically win the shootout more often than the less good team, or are they entirely luck-based? I'm too much of a novice in hockey numbers to know the answer to that question, but that would be a good place to start. Either way. Two thumbs up to all the teams for getting that junk out of the average game altogether!
Just like three point games, I'd love if we could get from 5% to zero percent of all games featuring a shootout, but for whatever reason the NHL seems to want to cling onto this gimmick for dear life, so it's on the teams to get rid of it themselves, and good on them for that.
Fully agree. Wish the league would go back to awarding a max of 2 points for games or make wins worth 3 points
It's the age old NHL story. A great sport hampered by a bad league. This points system makes no sense, and the NHL insists on doubling down and tripling down on it anyway. Perhaps they like it because it makes the standings seem artificially close, but in fact I think it's the opposite. The three point games make any effort to make up ground futile. If there were no three point games I feel like there could be a lot more fun comeback stories.
It certainly looks like randomness across time. The one part about three point games declining later in seasons might reflect widening disparity between playoff teams and non playoff teams as the season progresses. Non-playoff rosters are weaker after the trade deadline redistribution of talent upward and non-playoff teams have more reasons to just “mail it in”
i do like this theory