Re: Scoring statistic for 08!
Punch and Freezebone make some very good points within the body of their arguments.
Pers...
Punch and Freezebone make some very good points within the body of their arguments.
Personally I don't like deciding games based on a shootout in the first place, nothing wrong with a hard fought (or in Lemare's case hard trapped) battle to a standstill, be it 0/0 or 100 points per side. Ties reflect the balance of play between two combatants; a forced victory, which is what the shootout is - and in no way does a shootout reflect team play, nor does it really reward individual skill, because eventually someone has to wallow in an empty hallow victory - it's just a matter of time...
As to awarding points based on shootout goals, there is some merit it too it, but more merit lies in awarding for saves because, as Punch so rightly pointed out, it's the goalies that are the common factor and thread.
If points are to be awarded for shootout goals it should only be for the tie breaking goal and not all others that occurred during the shootout - because it is only the final goal that decides the outcome of the game. Goals that occur during regulation time effect the flow of the game and influence the efforts and outcomes of all participants. In Overtime, a lone goal decides the victor, there is no chance for rebuttal. The shootout in contrast offers a chance to neutralize a goal, therefor a shootout goal that is countered by one from an opponent should count for nothing because after it has been nullified it has no influence or impact on the outcome of the game.
I would probably never draft Jarrko Ruttu, and if he was on my team I would be reluctant to play him unless I needed penalties - but he is money in the shootout. However I am not going to waste a roster spot or a game on the slim possibility that their might be a shootout and Ruttu might get a shot that might be the winning goal. It's hard enough guessing which goalie is going to start, let alone win on any given night - shootout specialist's are a minutiae that is best left unseen.
What gets my goat most about the shootout is that it has destroyed one of the most elegant moments of the game, the penalty shot. Penalty shots are like a mountain orchard that blooms occasionally in the alpine meadows, their rarity and beauty when successful can not only turn the tide of the game - but entire seasons have swung for or naught with that solitary flash of the blade and gasp of the crowd - and were events that became part of a players legend and enshrined in a teams lore. And now we get to see 9 of them in rapid succession as the last act of mediocrity and compromise at the end of about 12% of the games.
