Olympic ice hockey is incredible, except for one thing | Matt Vautour

Over about 34 hours, spanning from early Wednesday morning to Thursday afternoon, sports activities followers had been reminded of two issues:

1. Olympic hockey it is superb — Three of the 4 males’s quarterfinal video games on Wednesday and the ladies’s gold medal sport on Thursday had been every tied on the finish of regulation. Not solely that, the game-tying aim in every of these 4 video games got here with lower than 3:30 left within the third interval.

It’s the type of thrills that create new hockey followers, as a result of nothing matches the joy of a Game 7 that is shut and that is primarily what these had been.

2. Three-on-three additional time when the video games matter is horrible — When the NHL determined to eliminate ties after the lockout in 2004, it took a number of tries for them to land with the present format of three-on-three for 5 minutes adopted by a shootout.

It’s gimmicky, but it surely means each sport has a winner. For the common season, it is fantastic. It’s enjoyable to observe sometimes, however not a real decider of who is higher. But it is acceptable within the common season.

But in elimination video games, it is terrible.

Three-on-three hockey is merely not the identical sport. Physicality and toughness are pillars of hockey all through the primary three durations. But when the sport is on the road, powerful and bodily gamers usually get marginalized and are not utilized in three-on-three OT.

Fortunately, the three-on-three disappears within the NHL playoffs, that are determined by actual hockey.

But within the Olympics, even within the medal spherical, three-on-three exists straight by way of the gold medal sport. It’s arrange as follows:

Current Olympic additional time

Group stage and preliminary medal spherical — Same as NHL common season. 5 minutes of 3-on-3 adopted by shootout.

Quarterfinals and semifinals — 10 minutes of 3-on-3 adopted by shootout.

Finals — Recurring 20-minute durations of 3-on-3 till there is a winner.

Here’s a greater model

It’s vital to grant one level to start with. The NHL won’t ever permit Stanley Cup playoff fashion additional time guidelines (five-on-five till its determined) within the Olympics. The gamers have to return again for a stretch run that may have most of the Olympians preventing for playoffs spots or seeds. The NHL is keen to expose their players to injury to assist develop the sport, however there is a restrict. They’re not going to be OK with video games extending to 2 or three overtimes.

Plus the Olympics aren’t constructed for it both. The identical individuals volunteering at a sport one night time, may need different obligations at snowboarding or one thing the following day.

So in some unspecified time in the future there will probably be a gimmick.

Group stage —Same as NHL regular season. 5 minutes of three-on-three adopted by shootout.

Medal spherical: Preliminaries, Quarterfinals and semifinals — 10 minutes of five-on-five adopted by shootout.

Men’s Finals — One 20-minute interval of legit five-on-five hockey. In most video games, this will probably be sufficient to crown a winner. Even if it is not, it was not less than a worthy try.

After that they will begin with both three-on-three interval or a shootout.

Women’s Finals — The girls ought to play 5-on-5 sudden loss of life till there is a winner. While the NHL is not more likely to threat its superstars to Stanley Cup playoff guidelines, it could be totally different for the ladies.

The PWHL has an excellent product, however they’re within the early phases of making an attempt to get the eye of increasingly sports activities followers. A classic USA-Canada matchup that goes 5 durations can be excellent to observe and great for the ladies’s hockey and the PWHL. No motive to chop that off any prior to they should.

Outtakes from a busy week…

Baseball labor struggle was already going to be ugly, now it’d get ugly

It’s too early to find out precisely how, however the MLBPA altering management this near a seemingly inevitable work stoppage will virtually definitely alter the negotiations. For good? For dangerous? Who is aware of?

But a special common means a special battle.

Tony Clark’s substitute Bruce Meyer is a polarizing man, even among the many gamers, with a popularity for being combative. Meyer vs. Rob Manfred may very well be a scary matchup for individuals who simply need baseball to get performed.

Neither man has a popularity as a compromiser. It might get ugly.

From the goalies are bizarre division

Bruins goalie prospect Michael DiPietro is a nice and interesting man, however he had a request originally of his interviews:

Please do not point out any of his AHL stats to him. He goes out of his strategy to keep away from realizing them.

Don’t inform him, however they’re actually good.

Top 5

The Top 5 Players the Patriots in all probability aren’t going to get, however they’re enjoyable to daydream about

5 —Alec Pierce

4 — Trey Hendrickson

3 — A.J. Brown

2 —Brian Thomas

1 —Maxx Crosby

Real Jeopardy! Clue

Sports clues from present editions of America’s favourite quiz present. As all the time, thoughts the date

CATEGORY: Hockey $400

date: Oct. 26, 2025

One idea on the origin of this Canadian insult phrase is with the shedding group’s process of spraying water to refresh the ice

— Answer beneath

Today in Boston Sports History

Feb. 20

1929 — Boston Red Sox announce they may play Sunday MLB video games at Braves Field; Fenway Park situated too near a church (Source: OnthisDay.com)

Lightning spherical

• If you get an opportunity, learn Chris Cotillo’s story on Wilyer Abreu deciding to do interviews in English this 12 months. Chris does a pleasant job of customizing a problem that loads of gamers face. – Wilyer Abreu on doing interviews in English: ‘It took me time… it means a lot’
• Like most middle-aged males, I sometimes go to sleep watching tv and generally the TV and my goals co-mingle. (I as soon as dreamed Scott Van Pelt was interviewing me on the late SportsHeart. I awoke and he was really interviewing Bruce Pearl). So I could have dreamed this, however I’m fairly certain I noticed that WWE is broadcasting an event on SyFy network. That can’t be right, can it?
• How shortly can the Boston Fleet get a Megan Keller promotional night time onto its schedule?
• Kansas State fired Jerome Tang for trigger as a result of he ripped his gamers within the postgame. We’ve bought rather a lot softer since John Chaney prompt Bruiser Flint ought to hit one of his UMass gamers with a bat to wake him up and no one was fazed.
• Alysa Liu needs to be the least hyped American gold medal-winning girls’s determine skater ever.
• Not certain which is worse: The Chicago Bears would possibly presumably construct their new stadium in Hammond, Indiana they usually would possibly put a dome on it. Both appear improper.
• Years from now, we’re nonetheless going to be making enjoyable of France for banishing a man for preventing Tom Wilson.
• The first 15,000 followers into Citi Field on May 29, will get a Bobby Valentine glasses and mustache disguise. The Red Sox ought to one-up them with Theo Epstein Gorilla masks.

Real Jeopardy! Question:

What is a hoser?

Finally…

Happy National Love Your Pet Day to those that have fun.