Jarome Iginla is a man with simple needs. He likes his team to win games and earn two points. He also wants it so that if his team loses in overtime or a shootout that they don’t get any points as well.
Yes, Iginla wants to see the point teams “earn” by losing in the extra session to go away. His reasoning? Simple: He wants games to actually mean more to the teams as he tells Randy Sportak of the Calgary Sun.
“It would be a little more stressful when you’re in a shootout but be more fun. You’d have more riding on each game,” Iginla said. “I’m sure I’m in a minority in that, but it would be exciting.
“Why I like sports so much is because it’s unpredictable and so much is riding on it. It would add more.”
The NHL loves the loser point because it tightens up playoff races and makes the end of the season potentially more exciting. Of course, the issue there is that games ending in regulation are worth two points while overtime/shootout affairs are ultimately worth three.
Where Iginla is right, however, is that it would make games more exciting and more cutthroat ultimately. It also might mean that teams take bigger risks in overtime so as to not lose out on two points in the soul-sucking skills competition that is the shootout. If only we could get Iginla to storm the NHL offices and make this magical dream of normalcy returning happen.
Of course, the NHL could just make regulation wins worth three points and help balance things out that way too. Having your cake and eating it too isn’t so bad either.
