How to fix the NHL’s 3-on-3 overtime problem
Tyler Yaremchuk and Steven Ellis discussed whether it makes sense to change the overtime rules on the latest episode of Daily Faceoff Live.
Tyler Yaremchuk: Frank Seravalli sent out a tweet saying that the NHL is considering changing the rule to limit teams from looping back and regrouping in 3-on-3 overtime. Some potential solutions include if you cross the red or blue line you can’t go back again or a shot clock. The discussions are ongoing and it’s been tabled for March. Steven, I would love your opinion on this. Do you want to see them try to adjust the way the game is played in 3-on-3 or are you happy with the way things currently are?
Steven Ellis: I used to not have a strong opinion on the loser point they should just make it so the winning team gets two and the losing team gets none. I think that would eliminate a lot of these issues here where you’re just trying to survive and some teams might just be better to get to the shootout and use your guys there. You look at what Toronto was doing for the last year, putting two defensemen out there and that looked very weird but it really helped shut things down and slow the game down.
And in a lot of cases it did work but I think they should just get rid of the loser point. It makes it simple and it makes a lot of people happy in that way. If you can’t win in 60 or 65 minutes, maybe you just don’t deserve to be there, it’s not your night. The other alternative is to give three points for a win and one point for a loss and make it a bit more painful for the team that loses. There’s got to be a lot more consequences for the team that loses than just not having one extra point in the standings.
Right now, losing in overtime is significantly better than losing in regulation, Captain Obvious there. I like the idea of making it where you can’t go past a certain line after you’ve entered. I think that’s going to be a little confusing for new fans though, that’s kind of how I see it.
Tyler Yaremchuk: I agree with you, my point was going to be that it’s confusing for new fans. It would be confusing for existing fans like okay we go over the line then what happens if we miss the net on a shot and it rims around and goes back, who’s allowed to touch it. It sounds good in principle but when you start to go through the scenarios that happen in a hockey game and suddenly there are a handful of ways this can get very confusing in a hurry. And the thing with the shot clock too is that is presents a logistical problem too.
You’ll need to build a shot clock in every rink in the league but also most nights it would just sit there as an unimportant thing there. There’s a part of me that thinks it is what it is, 3-on-3 is one of those things that maybe it will go through a cycle, now everyone is nice and laid back but eventually some coach will come and say let’s be aggressive and win four overtime games in a row and in a copycat league everyone will start being aggressive again.
You can watch the rest of the episode here: