We’ve all seen the gripping NBA game that goes into 4, even 5 overtimes. Ditto with the exciting NFL knuckle-biter or even the more leisurely (but exciting nonetheless) 18 inning baseball game. Yet those in the NHL seem content to conclude a regulation game as a tie. I’m hoping some hockey-haired Dopers out there can explain.
“My hovercraft is full of eels.”
NFL games end in ties, too, you know.
I don’t have any explanations, other than that’s the way it’s always been done. Sorry I can’t be more help.
Truth does not change because it is, or is not, beleived by a majority of the people.
-Giordano Bruno
I realize that, but NFL ties are rather uncommon. NHL ties occur on an almost daily basis during the season.
“My hovercraft is full of eels.”
In the regular season the NHL plays a five minute sudden death OT. At the end of the 5 minutes if nobody scores, thats it. In the playoffs, they keep playing 20 minute periods until somebody does score.
The idea is that since hockey is probably the most physically demanding sport, limiting OT in the regular season saves wear and tear on the players.
Playoff games in OT are about as exciting as you can get. The OT in the Toronto-Ottawa game yesterday was great end to end action.
“And so he says to me, I don’t like the cut of your jib. And I go, I says, but it’s the only jib I’ve got baby.”
My best guess… (Being a hockey Fanatic 
)…
In MLB/the NFL/NBA… “status” for lack of a better term is given based on won-loss records. That is, higher win percentage = first place.
In the NHL, win percentage = jack! Teams are awarded points based on wins/regulation ties/overtime wins/ties. The teams with the most ammount of points = first place. Ties then become an important part of who goes where, and its actually conceivable for a team that has a lot of wins, to not be placed as high as a team with less wins, but a lot of ties.
And, yes, when the games require a winner… this is altered. The point system only goes for the regular season. Why is the regular season done like this, most likely some traditional type of thing… there is a LOT of tradition involved in the sport. But, I’ll look it up; cause now I’m curious.
Incidentally-- if anybody has never watched hockey… nows the time to get hooked. If you want to see two teams go out and just go at it… I’ve never seen teams so intense in any sport as hockey teams at Stanley Cup playoff time. And the first round has had some great games.
Screeme
Ties happen more frequently in hockey than in baseball or basketball because there isn’t as much scoring.
WAG alert:
I think ties are also acceptable because hockey, with most of its traditions being Canadian (and by extension) draws a lot from soccer where you get even more ties than hockey.
End WAG.
Americans like to see somebody win and somebody lose. It’s just our nature. In Japanse baseball, ties are fairly common and no one gets worked up about them.
Hockey, like soccer, has a relatively low incidence of scoring. Also, like soccer, it has a very high work rate with few stoppages. Thus, overtime has less to recommend it as a method of tie-breaking because it is hard to break a tie in overtime, and it places considerable added physical strain on the players.
Basketball plays overtime because A) ties during regulation happen rarely; B) scoring happens frequently, with multiple point combinations, making resulution of the game within one overtime period likely. Baseball plays overtime because the need is small and the extra physical effort expended is negligible (face it, baseball isn’t the most active game you’re gonna play). Football plays one overtime period during regular season because ties are relatively rare in regulation (the scoring combinations give teams options to attempt a regulation win), but the physical effort involved precludes going more than one extra period except when necessary to obtain a winner (playoffs).
Soccer has a number of other methods for breaking ties that it uses besides ‘extra’ time (the term used in soccer). Often, teams in a competition will play a home and home series; the result is determined not by the number of wins but by the aggregate score of the teams over the two ‘legs’ of the ‘tie’ (meaning the series of games). If the aggregate is tied, then the team that scored the most away goals will usually be deemed the winner. Only if that statistic is also tied will ‘extra’ time be played. And it should be noted that ‘extra’ time is rarely ‘sudden death’; often the whole extra time is played regardless of how many scores occur in that time frame. I personally think the NFL ought to adopt that idea to avoid the value of winning the coin toss in overtime.
Hockey recently started tweaking the overtime rules to try to avoid the incidence of tied games. This season was the first with the new rules for playing 4 on 4 (plus goalies) during the overtime period (to increase scoring chances by creating space on the ice). They also created the confusing statistic of the Overtime Win, which rewards a team with a bonus point for winning a game in OT. It should be noted that soccer has mulled some of these ideas itself in an attempt to avoid that most dreaded of results, the penalty kick shootout.
The focus of the NHL on reducing ties is likely the result of becoming almost exclusively an American league. I find it ironic that the NHL would go to all this effort to reduce ties the very same season that MLS dumps its own tie-breaking efforts and accepts ties during the regular season.
Part of the ties explanation goes to a little secret the NHL would prefer you not discover (as I’ve mentioned in other NHL-related threads) – that the regular season in this sport doesn’t mean a whole lot.
All but the real bottom-feeders make it into the playoffs (I hope that hurts, Bruins, Canadiens and Rangers fans. Your teams oughta be ashamed of themselves! I’d expect it from the Carolinas of the world, but not from the real hockey cities.)
The regular season is basically for teams to get their games together for the real season, the playoffs. (And it’s to pay the players’ salaries, of course. More opportunities to put fannies in the seats, sell merchandise and concessions, etc.)
In the playoffs, when the games really matter, the ties go out the window, and they’ll play as many overtimes as it takes.
I was out in L.A. last year during the Stanley Cup finals. We were out at a restaurant and it was about 10:30 p.m. West Coast time. On a TV, I noticed the Sabres-Stars game. I thought it was highlights, but after a few minutes, I realized it was STILL LIVE. They were in the third or fourth OT, and still playing at about 1:30 a.m. their time.
Give me immortality, or give me death!
The longest NFL OT game went into 2 OTs (I think it’s happened 3 times). By that time, all the players are pretty tired. However, unlike soccer or hockey, it’s easier to score this way because:
Another reason ties are allowed is because of the point system. A win = 2 points, a Tie = 1 point, and a Loss = 0 points. So teams ending with a tie are not necessarily “not winning” as they are still earning a point.
…for more silky smooth segues, write to “silky smooth segues” 610 n 10th street, Albuquerque NM 87109.
I’ve wondered somewhat why the NHL feels that ties are so bad. Because of the way the point system is set up, a tie can be a very good result for a team, and the fans are well aware of this fact. In a chess championship there are ties all the time, and again, because of the point system used, a tie in itself can help lead to overall victory.
In the playoffs, I think the winner should be the first team to get eight points, and there should be an overtime only if it goes into a seventh game.