Hi, this is Fred Wallace with ” Off the Wire “, brought to you by 49th Marketing.com
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I watched a bit of the Leafs and Philadelphia exhibition game the other night at the Air Canada Centre.
Toronto and Philly played to a draw, went scoreless through overtime, and then went to a shootout to decide the issue.
As the shootout started, I watched the fans behind the Leaf net, couple of elementary school kids who were right into it.
They whooped and gave the ” thumbs up ” when Leaf netminder Drew MacIntyre made a save. They reversed the thumb direction as each Flyer took his turn in the shootout. And all the while, in my head, I kept hearing the mantra that the ” shootout is for the fans “
Maybe.
But for me, as a fan, I don’t think there’s any comparison between overtime & shootout.
Think of the shootouts you can remember.
Then think about the overtime goals that excited you or deflated you.
From Bobby Orr’s goal for Boston in 1970 to Ryan Sproul of the Sault Greyhounds last year in the OHL, the level of excitement ratio for me is about 1,000 to 1.
If the NHL, and other hockey leagues not pressed for time, really want to do something for the fans, they’ll go overtime all the way.
I’m Fred Wallace