Elma mentioned this in the comment section a couple of days ago and while I didn't respond to it - he was trying to distract me from my argument, I know it! - it did send me off to YouTube. I have nothing else to blog about so here, for your viewing enjoyment, is the only shootout that's ever mattered.
Look at that grin!
Oh, Hank. You're just full of surprises. Please come back soon!
15 comments:
Man, hearing RJ makes me want to watch a real hockey game.
On an MST3k kick so most of my posts until hockey starts will probably be clips that I find amusing.
I love the discernible shift in Crowd Noise when they announce Hank. There's a sustained "Yayyyyy!! that slowly blends in with the "Whaaaaattt???".
Even RJ's first words are "Tallinder?"
Now, c'mon, you can't tell me you want to go back to the silent drone parades out of HSBC after yet another mucked up 1-1 tie. There's no "honk..honk...honk-honk-honk" in the parking lots after a tie. Just the palpable vacuum of incompletion casting its pall over 19,000 unfulfilled patrons.
I'll take a shootout loss over that any day of the week (at least there would have been some excitement). If I have a roughly 50% shot at experiencing what you just showed, I'll live with 3 point games.
There's no "honk..honk...honk-honk-honk" in the parking lots after a tie... I'll take a shootout loss over that any day of the week (at least there would have been some excitement).
There's no honk-honk-honkhonkhonk after a shootout loss either :P And Elma, I got your back 98% of the time but you are CRAZY on this one. (I say that with great affection!) I want to leap from the 300 section after a shootout loss. I don't think there's a worse way to lose. It's miserable!
If Hank can participate and score crazily in every shootout, I'm in. Otherwise forget it :-D
I guess I just don't mourn about the "loss" the same way. I don't even consider it a "loss" - in my mind it's a "tie" (1 pt) just like it used to be.
I don't obsess about the fact that the other team picked up an extra point - in the end, those things will generally even out. I don't get mad that they picked up a "gimmicky" extra point, just like my ecstasy wasn't the least bit tempered after that YouTube moment realizing that NJ picked up a point.
Put another way, assume there were 16 ties in a season (and that the shootouts generally even out).
OLD WAY:
16 numb walks to the car with no sense of closure or fulfillment (but 1 point). (No honking)
NEW WAY:
8 blah walks to the car, but at least there was a peak of excitement near the end (and I still get the point).
PLUS....
8 BONUS days of honking & celebrating, AFTER having a 5 minute thrill with every fan standing (and I get an extra point that was never available before).
It seems like you get the opportunity to Celebrate more with very minimal downside. Now, if they ever went to 0 points for a SO Loss, I'd be leaping out of the 300's with you - but since they aren't, I'm enjoying the additional excitement.
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In terms of last season, I think that 10 game losing streak we had with all those SO losses in a row is having a much more prolonged effect on you. It's hard to consider the "everything balances out in the end" after you watch your sixth straight SO Loss, and you're just looking for anything to stop the bleeding, but that was just an unfortunate anomaly. When they were in a skid like that, it was easier to perceive the SO losses as "yet another loss" rather than "bonus chances to get an extra point."
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BTW - did you have a problem with the 3 point games under the "pre-shootout" rules? I felt the same way about those 1 pt "losses" as I do about the shootout (in a way 4-on-4 is gimmicky, too).
I don't think there's a worse way to lose. It's miserable!
Good to see you've managed to repress the memory of the Ottawa game.:-D
I'm quite certain I can think of MANY worse ways to lose (an Avery goal, a Campbell goal, Drury Goal in the last minute, etc. etc. etc).
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I suppose I'll end up my middle of the night ramblings with a quote from our Shawshank friend Andy Dufresne..
"How can you be so obtuse?"
(not sure if that's for me or for you) ;-)
That video has made my day infinitely better. Great clip!
"How can you be so obtuse?"
That's it, you're going to solitary!
(You're probably right that the streak of shootout losses has hung with me but I did find shootout losses particularly painful even before that. But shootout wins are nice so I guess you're not entirely wrong :P)
Amy, I can't believe it took me this long to dig up this video. I've watched it many, many times since I put it up last night and it makes me grin like a loon every time. Yay, hockey!
I've watched it many, many times since I put it up last night and it makes me grin like a loon every time.
How could you NOT grin like a loon while watching that? It just makes me happy! :)
I want hockey NOW-NOW-NOW. *stomps feet like 3 year old*
I remember watching that going, "Ooh....OHHH!!!!!!!" after watching Hank's move. It was so surprising and amazing.
First of all, a shoot-out loss is not the same as a tie in the old system because the team that wins the shoot-out gets 2 points, not just one.
The Sabres had 12 shoot-out losses this past season, some of them against teams who did make the playoffs. (I can't find the list of teams we lost to in shoot-outs last season right now and I don't feel like spending 3 hours going through google results trying to find them) So against teams like NJ we "lost" a point per shoot-out loss under this system that we would have "gained" in the tie system. If I had the list of teams who beat is I'm sure it would be interesting to see how much closer the play off race would have been.
Oh, and one more thing. In the Olympics the Germans bet the Dutch in a shoot out (or as they call it "penalty shots") in the semi-final game! At least the NHL has the sense to go back to sudden death OTs for the playoffs.
Sharpie, that's a good point. In a shootout loss you're giving up a point that you don't in a tie. See, Elma! THE SEASON WAS RUINED BY SHOOTOUTS! I'm right and you're wrong :PPPP (I desperately need hockey to start in case you hadn't noticed.)
I'm pretty sure the Czech Republic won the gold medal in a shootout a few Olympics back. Totally crazy.
I'd take a regulation loss over a shoot-out win. It's more honorable. :D
(Seriously, though, if I was told I could have the shoot-out removed from hockey but it meant the Devils would be guaranteed to miss the playoffs this coming season, I'd agree to that in a heartbeat.)
See, Elma! THE SEASON WAS RUINED BY SHOOTOUTS! I'm right and you're wrong :PPPP
Oh, Snap - no you didn't! How can you spit on a man you already banished to Solitary? Just for that - I say "Lets. Go?! Buffalo!?!"
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Sharpie - I realize it's not the same as the old system. But for every "bonus point" our opponents picked up, we also had a chance to pick up a "bonus" point.
My joy over Shootouts is based on the premise that, in the long run, the SO Wins and Losses will generally even out, so no one really gains a clear advantage. If that's the case, there's no real "down side" to the increased excitement and fulfillment provided by the Shootout.
But, even if it didn't "balance out" exactly, I think the impact on the Sabres playoff chances were greatly exaggerated. Bolstered by Heather's razzing (still wiping the spittle off my keyboard), I actually looked up the Stats for the first time.
http://www.nhlshootouts.com/ShootoutStats2007-08.htm
Surprisingly, we didn't get hurt by the "shootout system", mainly because we played so many. We were 4-9, which gave us 4 "bonus" points.
In reality, we actually benefitted relative to Ottawa (3-5) & Philly (3-6), who only had 3 "bonus" points.
Boston (6-7) had 6 "bonus" points, but since we finished 4 points back, it wouldn't have mattered (our old "points" would have been reduced to 86 vs 88 for Boston).
So the Shootout itself (3 point games) didn't cost us a Playoff Spot. The teams that picked up the "bonus points" in our 9 losses weren't those we were chasing for 8th. Rather it just increased the difference between us and the Top 5Playoff Teams.
You could argue that our "sub-.500performance" in the shootouts may have cost us, as we could have picked up more "bonus points", but that kind of flies in the face of the argument against having 3 point games (i.e we could have been the ones to squeeze in with those cheesy extra bonus points). Besides, OTT, BOS, PHI all were < .500 as well.
Now that I know the Shootouts didn't cost us anything, my joy over the Shootouts is retroactively unfettered!!!!
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"Now, go away, or I shall taunt you for a second time"
:PPPPPPPPPPP
(Man, it's been way too long an offseason when I'm needing to debate Heather for hockey stimulation).
Lovingly, Elma
Just for that - I say "Lets. Go?! Buffalo!?!"
:::gaaaasp!::: Elma, it's like a knife through the heart.
(Man, it's been way too long an offseason when I'm needing to debate Heather for hockey stimulation).
For reals. You know when we're turning on each other we're getting pretty desperate :-D
I knew my fellow night-owl would still be up! Aaaagh, I need some fresh Hockey News!
Training Camp is going to be a double-edged sword. It'll be exciting to start, but if Pommer doesn't have his contract yet, the freaking out will start in earnest.
I never really understood how negotiating takes more than 1-2 days, tops. Side A makes an offer, Side B makes a counteroffer - eventually end up somewhere in between.
Why does it take weeks between offers? What new developments are being assimilated in those weeks other than playing some macho game of Chicken?
Have a good night - Elma.
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