An interesting thing happened over Winter Break. The 13,484 fans that made it out to the first round of the 19th annual Badger Hockey Showdown between the Wisconsin men's hockey team and the Colgate Red Raiders witnessed a strange sight: a shootout.
The shootout was a result of a 2-2 tie, but since the Showdown is a tournament, the shootout followed a short overtime to decide which team would move on to the championship game.
Shootouts are usually not a part of college hockey, at least not yet.
Ever since the NHL brought in the shootout in 2005, the thought of doing the same in college hockey has been a highly debated topic.
The shootout has brought more fans to the NHL, since any game can now end with a series of exciting one-on-one goals that leaves the fans with the feeling that the entire game was that tense.
The shootout has also gotten rid of the pesky tie, which many college fans have grown to despise.
But with a tie, each team at least receives a point, which, for a team like Wisconsin in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, can mean a lot in the long run.
However, most fans are not enthusiastic about ties, and would rather have a shootout to decide a clear winner and loser.
But coaches like UW men's hockey head coach Mike Eaves are not in favor of the possible format changes.
Eaves stated that he would have to be convinced"" that the shootout would be integrated appropriately and would not affect the current pairwise rankings formula.
And with the anticlimactic play of the shootout between Wisconsin and Colgate, more and more people may be crossing over to Eaves' side of the line.
During the shootout, seven players from each team had a chance to score before senior forward Tyler Burton was able to send the Red Raiders into the championship game.
As player after player skated down the ice to no avail, the shootout began to lose its thrill. If the shootout would have gone on for a few more rounds, who knows if the crowd would have began to lose interest?
That brings up one of the main issues with the shootout.
After a 20-minute third period and a five-minute overtime, both teams spent about two minutes at their respective benches before heading back out for the shootout.
The result was choppy ice that barely even allowed players to change the directions of their skates, let alone deke the puck.
""I was going to deke, but obviously the puck hopped over my stick a little bit,"" freshman forward Patrick Johnson said. ""I probably should have shot just because the ice was so chopped up.""
Obviously if the shootout is implemented in college hockey, things like the condition of the ice will have to be taken care of.
The NHL brings out a Zamboni that smoothes straight down the middle of the rink to give players a path of slick ice, and it can be expected that a similar solution would be sought in college hockey.
Whether the shootout is brought into college hockey or not, both fans and players alike were excited to see the shootout against Colgate.
""It's fun for us and the crowd,"" junior forward Ben Street said. ""It would have been nice for any of us to put one in, but that's the way it goes.""
E-mail ncarey@dailycardinal.com.
