from Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe,

Though the NHL is willing to do its best to cut down on shootouts — enter the five minutes of three-on-three overtime that will kick off next season — the shootouts themselves remain non-negotiable, according to Gary Bettman. As he said, “I think to the extent some people wanted to see fewer shootouts, this will get us there, and that’s fine. The shootout isn’t going anywhere. You go to a building during a shootout, everybody’s on their feet, nobody is leaving, which is what it was designed to do. It’s exciting, it’s fun, it’s entertaining, and so if we’re going to try and reduce the number of shootouts, this may do it.”

Despite the anecdotal evidence — the legions of fans (and media, and GMs) that are vocally anti-shootout — Bettman pointed to fan research that says “overwhelmingly fans like it.” He added, “I think you see some people in the hockey community say they’d rather see fewer shootouts, but this is a sport that had ties for so many years and nobody liked that. And we’re not in the position in the regular season for a whole host of reasons to play games to the end in sudden death the way we do in the playoffs.” If nothing else, three-on-three should be a boon for the Bruins, who certainly would rather see any other way of deciding a game than the shootout.

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