TORONTO — Even though fewer NHL games are ending by shootout than ever, the custodians of the sport proposed another way on Tuesday to make the skills competition more exciting.
St. Louis Blues GM Doug Armstrong presented the idea of allowing coaches the discretion to use the same player multiple times in a shootout once it has advanced past three rounds. That is the style used in international events, which has produced some of the most memorable endings to games.
Who could forget T.J. Oshie's heroic performance in the 2014 Sochi Olympics when he nearly singlehandedly knocked off Team Russia?
Or the epic shootout in the 2007 World Junior Championship between the United States and Canada when Jonathan Toews, Jack Johnson and Peter Mueller traded shots for what seemed like an eternity?
"I've got to admit, it's entertaining," Minnesota Wild GM Chuck Fletcher said. "Certainly we all remember Sochi with T.J. Oshie and ... that was a lot of drama. They kept scoring and it was great. It's certainly something to consider. It was a good idea, a good suggestion."
Heading into Tuesday night's action, only eight per cent of NHL games this season have been decided by a shootout (18 of 229). The number has dropped dramatically with last season's institution of Red Wings GM Ken Holland's brainchild of the dizzying three-on-three overtime. In fact, seven teams had not yet participated in a shootout this season through Monday.
Nine per cent of games went to a shootout in 2015-16, compared to nearly 14 per cent in 2014-15.
Most general managers, including Fletcher, said Tuesday they would like to think more about tweaking the shootout further. Whether the issue survives to the more in-depth GM meetings in March in Boca Raton, Fla., remains to be seen.
"I don't know," Devils GM Ray Shero said. "We get on TV when something goes to 18 shooters, to be honest with you. Everyone remembers Marek Malik scoring."
The GMs also watched two shootout clips of questionable goals, one of them being the bizarre tally by Florida's Vincent Trocheck against Tampa Bay earlier this season, before responding to an informal poll on whether they passed muster or not as legal goals.
"Each situation was obviously different," Islanders GM Garth Snow said. "The two they showed this year I didn't personally like. It didn't really pass the smell test."
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said there was discussion about whether Trocheck "whiffed, the puck stopped moving forward or he lost control." Shero likened Trocheck's goal to golf.
"When I get up to the tee and take a swing, if I miss, it still counts as a stroke," Shero said. "Well, he took a swing to begin with, that should be it. That's the first time I've seen a goalie celebrate when it actually was a goal. Poor (Ben) Bishop. That sucked."
BLINDSIDE HITS TABLED: After intense debate about Nazem Kadri's hit on Daniel Sedin from earlier this month, the NHL's GMs remain very much split about whether more action needs to be taken to remove a hit like that from the game.
Kadri, of course, did not receive supplemental discipline because his initial point of contact was Sedin's right shoulder. Whether or not Sedin was defenceless or it came from the side, there was nothing the Department of Player Safety could rule on because it did not break anything in the letter of the law.
"It's something I believe the group requires more thought and discussion on," Bettman said. "You don't try to overreact to one or two things that happen. You don't change a rule in the middle of the season."
Fletcher said it would be a "slippery slope" to ban all hits from the blindside.
"There's a lot of different types of blindside hits," Fletcher said. "We were looking at some video and there was probably 20 hits you could call blindside that aren't that egregious or aren't that physical, so it's a slippery slope there. Certainly, there's continued emphasis on protecting players.
"I think we've done a good job over the past couple years of eliminating a lot of shots to the head. We're trending the right way, but it's a physical game, so you want to keep the balance. Player safety is paramount, but so is keeping some physicality in the game."
The issue is far from resolution and discussion will resume in March.
"The rules are clearly written," Flames GM Brad Treliving said. "It's the interpretation and what passes as sort of the smell test. There's going to be deliberation and some thought on it. There's certain hits you don't like where you think a player doesn't have the opportunity to protect himself."
GM NOTES: NHL director of hockey operations and goalie equipment Kay Whitmore said slimline pants have finally been delivered to all NHL goaltenders. The next step is chest protectors, though there has been pushback from goaltenders and the NHLPA, plus delays with equipment manufacturers. "It's complicated simply because one size does not fit all," Bettman said ... Bettman disagreed with the notion that goaltenders entering a game should be given a brief warmup if the incumbent netminder is forced to leave as a result of the concussion protocol. "The concern is that it becomes a delaying tactic," Bettman said. "We'll keep an eye on it, see how many times it happens."
QUOTABLE: "Everyone understood going in that this would be a deeper expansion draft. I'm sure if you asked (Las Vegas GM) George McPhee, he would tell you they're not liberal enough in terms of who they're going to get to draft."
— NHL commissioner Gary Bettman on the 2017 expansion draft. GMs received clarifications to questions and concerns in an update on Tuesday.
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