I was recently at a college hockey game between St. Cloud State University (SCSU) and the University of Minnesota-Duluth with my dad. The game originally was supposed to take place in December but was rescheduled due to COVID issues. When I was growing up my parents had season tickets to SCSU games and it was a family event nearly every weekend. It was also time to spend with my cousins who had season tickets as well. 

Being able to be back in that arena really brought back a lot of memories even with all the renovations since the time I went to games regularly. This game was a little quieter than it used to be, mainly since it was during the week and also during a snow storm. It was also my first time at a hockey game since before COVID began nearly two years ago, it was great to be back watching hockey in person. 

The game was great back and forth action, both teams were extremely fast and the hitting was more intense than I remember. It was so close it ended up going into overtime and a shootout. When I was growing up, college games didn’t go to shootouts, they played one round of overtime and if they didn’t score it stayed a tie. 

This game went to a three-on-three overtime which is something I love both in the NHL and college level. That brings me to the main point, should the shootout be kept? Some fans hate the shootout while others love it. As far as college hockey goes, I loved watching the three-on-three overtime, it opened the ice up so much and allowed the players to really show their true talent as well as their speed. It wasn’t only the offense that was visible but also the defensive side. 

When it’s just three players to each side, playing defense can be hard and it’s fun to see how creative they can be when they don’t have all five players to rely on. So, the overtime has to stay, but the shootout has some reasons it should stay and go. 

Firstly, I love watching the talent in the shootout. There’s always a thrill to watching a player go one-on-one with a goalie and seeing it from both perspectives. Being excited for your player to possibly score, and then watching and hoping your goaltender makes the big save. However, a shootout can throw the game for a strong team who possibly could have won had it not been for the breakaway. It can seem unfair to put it all on the goalie in the end or even the shooter. 

The game I went to, it could have gone to either team. I’ve watched a number of shootouts but this one was quite different in the fact that the SCSU goaltender was super aggressive. Most goalies in a shootout go as far back into the net as they can to block as much as they can, but not this goalie. He came out about two feet above his crease on each shot he faced to challenge the shooter as much as he could. 

Sadly, it didn’t work on either shot, the first one the shooter beat him with a clean shot. The second shot was something I don’t believe I have ever seen at that level, and that was the goalie poke-checking the stick of the shooter. It nearly worked too and it looked like it did from the stands, but he just barely missed and the shooter was able to slide it by him. 

In my opinion I think the shootout should stay unless it’s a playoff game, then it should be overtime until there’s a clear-cut winner. Shootouts bring a level of entertainment and skill that needs to stay in the game but overtime is the fair way to determine a winner. Using both in regular games is a great way to keep fans entertained and going to just overtime for playoffs is the best way to do it and I love it that way. I wish SCSU would have won in the end but UMD had the better shootout attempt. Here’s to hoping I can get to another game soon because it had been way too long.