Viewpoint

These people should know that in playoff hockey there's always the possibility of the game playing until someone scores a goal.. wether it be at 2am, or 2nd of the next month.

Give a man an inch, and they'll take a mile.

Get with the program people, there's nothing that can be done to change this. If they introduce the shootout to the overtime in playoffs, then Bettman and his idiotic 'ideas' on how to make the game 'better' will lose a die hard hockey fan, and i'm sure there's plenty of others who feel the same way.

A couple notes, Firstly, don't mess with the playoff overtime. It's exciting and with this being a team game, it would be disgraceful to end a playoff series with something as inane as a shootout. I don't like it in international play and I would hate it in the playoffs.

Secondly, we have an additional timezone in Canada, Atlantic time. The game was over at 4:30 here, I stayed up for the whole game, slept for an hour and then got up for work. I've done it before and I will certainly do it again.

Finally, for lind b of Sudbury, you've got to be kidding me! If I was a New Jersey coach, I wouldn't have played Brodeur either. It had nothing to do with fixing the season or a grand conspiracy against the Leafs and Canadian teams. They were preparing for the playoffs. The Leafs had their fate in their own hands. It shouldn't have come down to the last game. Maybe they should have beat the Islanders a couple games previously. More importantly, they shouldn't have blown that lead over Buffalo. If they had won those games, they would have been playing Buffalo instead of watching it on TV.

There is no need to go into over-time play in a seven game series except for the very last game if it is necessary. The winner of a seven game series is the team who gets eight points. Why then is it necessary to have a winner in each game? If six games are played to a tie each team would have six points and then the last game would have to be played to a win conclusion. Long overtime games do nothing for the winner when they may be facing a team which has not played as many games to get to the next level, however they are very exciting and it might be hard to convince fans that it is OK to leave a game in a tie situation in play-offs. There is also no reason to play all games in the regular season to a win. In a 82 game schedule the accumulation of points will eventually lead to the top eight teams in the standing.

I am one more who does not believe that the overtime format should be tampered with. Hockey is a team sport and games should be decided that way, not as a skills competiton. It is all part of the grind and endurance contest that is the quest for the Stanley Cup. It allows the winner to savour it all the more. May the best team win now that my Habs are out!

The purpose of overtime is to determine a winner. The first 20 min OT period should be 5 on 5, then 4 on 4, then 3 on 3. A shoot out isn't even an option in a playoff game. Kelly Hrudey was right for once when he said these types of games don't happen that often. But judging by the way Vancouver played last night I'm sure they wish game 1 was over much earlier.

Ah, Scott, I hate to be the one to have to tell you this, but Canada doesn't stop at the Quebec border when going east. There are 4 more provinces EAST of Quebec. We also have an "Atlantic Time Zone". So to correct you, it was 4:30 when the game got over for the folks in THE EAST who happen to be Canuck fans. Yes, I watched until it was over and would do it again.

Hey Matt..Hockey fans in America do not complain about overtime. We love it as much as you do. It's not about Canadian and USA hockey fans..we all become united on the hockey front...unless you cheer for the Leafs.
Go Wings!

Shoot outs are good in regular season but please do not change the playoff's OT rules. The players want to win and it shows. They would not endure going to fourth overtime. It's part of the sport we love to play and watch. If it's too late go to bed. As for Afternoon games i'm not for it.Baseball is a DAY Game.

Stanley Cup Overtime is part of our hockey tradition.
Let's keep it tough. Many players are fancy within a certain period of time. How are they after an extended period of time?
After sixty minutes, the real players arrive. They last and last. The winning team has this makeup.
For fans? Go to bed if it gets too tough!

It's called TIVO. These people who complain need to get it, it has been like this for the past 100+ years, that's what makes this great game so unique. Plus, how often does a game make it to 4 OT's, not that often so just put up or shutup. OT is really exciting and that's why the playoffs are the best time of year. I will be really turned off if they install shootout's into the playoffs. Regular season, I get. But the playoffs are a grueling 16 hard fought wins to gain the most prestigeous trophy, and it's a TEAM game, so please, please, please leave it the way it is.

I've read that the Stanley Cup is the hardest professional championship to win. Adding shoot outs, and four on four would cheapen it for both the palyers and the fans. If you don't want to stay up, or if you think the games are too long, GO TO BED!!!!! Catch the score in the morning, but don't ruin it for those of us that enjoy watching play off hockey, especially at 2 AM in the third OT period. This is not the NBA, where they only play best of five for the first two rounds.

:)

i refuse to watch hockey any more after the fiasco during the regular season. come on for toronto to stay in playoff contention new york islanders would have to win 2 games (not sure if it was nyi) but what happens the other teams put in their worst golies and they win both games. what a good way to get rid of a canadian team fixed is what i call it. those american teams do not want a canadian team in the playoffs. and i thought that hockey is a canadian sport. i guess there is no way to fix this. but i wont be watching anymore.

Luongo, he's so hot right now, that's the reason the game went into quadrouple overtime, luongo.

How is complaining about the long overtime? Is it the Americans? I cannot imagine that a Canadian would complain about getting a bonus set of overtime periods that more then double the regulation time. If it is these Americans complaining...the Canadian NHL fans better watch out because I am sure Betman will do anything to make them happy...perhaps that is what he is hoping to get out of the Saturday afternoon timeslot for Ottawa v. Pittsburg?? If it went 7 periods...you would have happy Americans that get to watch Crosby in the afternoon and happy Canadians that get to watch him in Prime time!!

Well said....that game was awesome....and who cares about the complaining from east...this game was in the west and ask any fan in BC.....that game was absolutely riviting, exciting and fun to watch....making it 4 on 4 or having a shootout would ruin the intensity that every fan felt watching the game....it was awesome!!

What is wrong with the CBC? When a penalty is on at the begining they post the time remaining. During the penalty the time remaining disappears. And the announcers do not mention constantly how much time is remaining. Is this some dumb union problem. I would think that after doing hockey all year and showing time remaining in penalties that they could continue through out the playoffs.

B

More OT means more beer!

No one would suggest that they remove a player from the field or have a homerun derby to decide a baseball game in the playoffs.
There is a reason that the Stanley Cup is the hardest trophy in sports to win. It takes more blood and guts and sweat and that's a big reason why so many of us love it.
No real fan would EVER mess with OT in the playoffs. Do what you will in the regular season, but the playoffs are pure perfection just the way they are.

Long overtimes are what the playoffs are about. Sadly I had to work at 5am (Newfoundland Time) this morning and so the late game was not an option for me....had to get some sleep. However to wake up at 4:15am and then arrive at work to hear my colleagues say "the Canucks and Stars game is still going in quadruple overtime!!!" was music to my ears. I recall last year when Edmonton defeated San Jose in triple overtime only moments before I got to work at 5am here in Newfoundland. Man this is what the playoffs are about....late nights, little sleep and the ups and downs of your team winning or losing in a marathon. That's what makes the playoffs the playoffs...keep it comin' because I can sleep after work when I'm waiting for the next night's games to begin.

Scott Morrison, you are correct sir! Leave OT the way it is. I had to work this morning but there was no way I was going to turn off that game. I would have pulled an all-nighter if I had to. The quality of play had deteriorated but it was still exciting and you're just sitting on the edge of your seat to see who will make that one deadly mistake to cost the team the game.

Love the sudden death OT, don't ever change!

Don't touch my playoff overtime games! I'll stay up all night and the next day until noon if I have to. If others on the East Coast have a problem with it... move West. :)

No four on four. No shootout. No changes to the *best* thing about NHL playoff hockey. Just say no.

Bring on 4 on 4 hockey for overtime. It is FAR more exciting that the same old and allows the skilled players to dominate.
In fact, while we're at it, let's go 4 x 4 all the time. Let's see now, fewer players on ice, fewer players on bench, better hockey, lower overall salaries, cheaper tickets -- what am I missing here?

Amen to that. The Canucks/Stars game was compelling and though the intensity of the action on the ice may have dropped off somewhat during the overtime periods, the intensity in the room I was in was palpable. Every play was marked by rousing cheers, angry shouts, and laughing cries of "pass it to Bulis!" All eyes were glued to the TV throughout all 7 periods and Henrik's fantastic winning goal led to jubilation and innumerable high fives.

There were at least 15 of us watching the game together and not a single one of us would have wanted to see that game finished by a 4-on-4 overtime or - heaven forbid - a shootout. That was a brilliant hockey game, marked by outstanding goaltending and a surprising amount of offensive firepower. Yes, it became a grind at the end, but it's playoff hockey: you've gotta love it.

I believe that having a classic 4 ovetime playoff game is terrific for the game. It's good old fashion hockey, which makes this game great. At least it prooves which team deserves to win. Shootouts would not.
Leave the game the way it is, and always should be!

Just have the damn shooutout and get it over with and than go watch the Raptors, a real entertaining team.

Yes! Thank you! Harry Neale mentioned last night in the 2nd or 3rd overtime about how people would be wanting shootouts now and I was almost sick. Playoff overtime is one of the great traditions that we must leave alone. It's bad enough there are shootouts in the regular season. Last thing anyone should want to see is someone winning the cup in a "skills competition".

If you want shorter overtimes, just put Andrew Raycroft in as your goalie...

Either way extra frames are handled, the Leafs would still loose

Absolutely no change to the rules - Last team standing wins !!

As a fan of the Canucks that stayed up until 1:30 (local time), I say that the game was riveting. Any other solution to end the game earlier wouldn't be fair to the players. They win as a team, they should lose as a team.

I love overtimes, they better not change OT too shootouts, that'd be ridiculous. Then the better teams wouldn't always win.
Go Leafs Go!
Pablo

Playoff OT is one of the last few links we have to the real NHL, not the NHL of today thats all gimmicky and being presented all pretty to audiences south of the border. If you take that away, essentially we're dealing with an entirely different game than we all grew up with.

I love long overtimes, just wish the Maple Leafs were playing!
Go Leafs Go
Pablo Sagucci

Keep to OT!!

I have to agree with you, it's the playoffs, you play hurt, you do whatever it takes to win. If it means playing 7 periods of hockey you do it. If you can't, you are in the wrong profession. Any other position you work in, and are paid to so, if you don't meet the standards put in place they let you go. Same for a hockey player.

As for people compalining, it's the same people over and over again that complain about every other aspect of the game. You will never please everyone, but our game is fine. You will always have that 10% who want it their way, but those people are everywhere.

AMEN!!

I agree with Scott. Mess with sudden-death OT at your peril; it is one of the distinguishing marks of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Some of the greatest games in history were classic OT battles that went on into the wee hours. It's heroic in an era that has too few heroes.