Ken Holland is onto something....

So, Ken Holland has said that he wants to do something about the shootout. As reported first by the Free Press and then echoed and expanded upon by Puck Daddy, Holland is going to suggest that the overtime format currently in place be tweaked so that more games are decided by the teams, rather than by a skills-competition involving less than a third of a teams' roster. His suggestions are to expand OT to 8 or 10 minutes, and maybe get a little three-on-three action going (or as I call it, the "late-'70s-porn-option").

I like this idea. I think Holland is really on to something. I say that not just as a Red Wing fan, because it has been well-documented how terrible Jimmy Howard was in shootouts last year. Did you get the feeling that I did? That the other team was just biding their time until 5 minutes was over so they could get a free shot at Jimmah? I always cringed whenever the game went beyond OT, mostly due to Jimmy, but also because I witnessed this. However, as a hockey fan, it really bugs me that teams get in the playoffs because 3 of their players were better at breakaways than 3 players on the other team *cough* Flyers *cough*. However, people are afraid that prolonged OT will make the games too long, or that 3-on-3 is just a gimmick that should never be touched in a hockey game (but these same people say an OT is ok - ah, the hypocrisy of people). That got me thinking; what else could the NHL do to decide games besides the SO? Here's a couple of suggestions:

• Instead of regular OT, every player throws their stick on the ice at center. The ref will then throw a random stick to each side of the ice and voila! New teams. Imagine facing a line of Pavel Datsyuk and Sidney Crosby with Nicklas Lidstrom and Sergei Gonchar on defense?
• In a move that makes Kyle Wellwood the hottest commodity in the NHL, it is announced that instead of a shootout, a hot dog-eating contest will decide the winner.
• Rumour has it that Brian Burke is going to suggest that the NHL institute a WWE-style Royal Rumble so that he can finally get his money's worth out of Mike Komisarek.
• The games are already being broadcast on Versus, so I am thinking anything involving either bullriding or cycling - or both.
• 2 words: beer pong.
• We could.....never mind. Chris Pronger just stole the game puck muttering something about "his precious" under his breath.

So those are my ideas. Do you have any? Let me know.

Oh, wait....nevermind. Gary Bettman just held a press conference to announce that shooutouts are staying. Apparently Sidney Crosby called him up to say that since he isso good at shootouts (career 41% shooter), he wants them to say. Gary was heard to say "whatever Sidney wants, Sidney gets". In fact, look for the "Sid Exception" - anyone who's initials are SC gets to shoot more than once in a game. In completely, absolutely un-related news, the Penguins have traded for Sean Collins for a player to be named later.

Good luck Kenny. You're going to need it.