Quote:
Originally Posted by GioforPM
Befoer though, you had teams encouraged to play for the tie, to preserve one point. So you had neither a winner nor an exciting finish. You just had 5 minutes of regulation before the end of the game which was boring.
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No, there was no encouragement to play for the tie. If you played for the tie (and succeeded), you preserved one point; but you also guaranteed that you would not get two points. Under the current system, teams can play for the guaranteed point at no cost, because they still have the chance to get two points in OT or SO.
I have been at games late in the season, before pity points came along, where the score was tied late in the game but the action was terrific. Both teams needed two points, either to make the playoffs, or to get a better seed; neither team was satisfied with the tie. Nowadays, if that happens, both teams play it safe till the buzzer sounds, then open up and go for the extra point.
When the league introduced pity points, the number of ties went down, but the percentage of games decided in regulation also went down. When the shootout came in, the percentage decided in regulation went down again. No less a hockey authority than Scotty Bowman warned the NHL that this would happen, but they refused to listen. Now they are searching for even more gimmicks to help them out of the hole they dug for themselves.