Sidney Crosby agrees with Connor McDavid’s “crappy” shootout changes weighing on extending OT

<strong>Sidney Crosby agrees with Connor McDavid’s “crappy” shootout changes weighing on extending OT</strong>

Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid [Image Credit: ESPN]

Last week Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid suggested NHL change the 3-on-3  5-minute shootout by extending overtime by 5 more minutes. He called the ongoing system “crappy”, as he voiced out his idea. Though his talk with ‘Tim and Friends’ gained attention, Pittsburg Penguins captain Sidney Crosby’s intervention made things more interesting.

He agreed with McDavid and said that it would be good if the League changes its rule and extends the overtime by 10 minutes. Though extending 10 minutes will undoubtedly be hard on the players who’ll be participating all-round the season, it’ll make the game all the more interesting.

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Last week, McDavid stated, “Yeah, I would like that”. “No one loves the shootout. It’s a crappy way to finish a game.” “At the end of the day, it’s about the players’ health and safety”. “It’s a long season. The overtime, it taxes a lot of guys, so making it longer could have some effects there. But I agree … that no one wants to see a game end in a shootout.”

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Related: Connor McDavid calls NHL shootout “crappy” suggesting changes in format while proposing extended OT

Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid promote OT extension rather than shootouts

Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid [Image Credit: Youtube]
Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid [Image Credit: Youtube]

Sidney Crosby weighed on Connor McDavid’s opinion saying “I’d be for that for sure”. He spoke on PHN Monday in an interview following the Oilers captain’s endorsement. When players like McDavid and Crosby join hands on a particular issue, fans as well as the league may start to think about it seriously.

The shootout system began in Crosby’s rookie year and even before McDavid took on NHL stage. It was established in 2005-06, this system allowed the league to easily figure out the winner of a game. If NHL removes the shootout rule, they’ll go back to ties with each team taking 1 point.

For Crosby, this seems more palatable than the current scenario. He said, “Yeah, I’d play with ties”. “It’s not great, but with a 10-minute three-on-three, I’d like to think that (somebody would usually win in that span).

“It just gets hard, though, if you put ties back in. Late in the year, it’s going to create issues because teams are going to have to make up points, and they’re going to have to pull their goalie in overtime to try to avoid a tie. And then it’s going to throw everything off.”

Just like McDavid pointed out, 10 minutes of play will be undoubtedly taxing with the other option being, keeping the shootout play with a 10-minute 3-on-3 OT, hoping not many teams will get to this point.

“If they did (go to 10 minutes), maybe they could cap the (number of) back-to-back games”. “Then I think it would be a little bit more manageable.” “Yeah, I would like that”.

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