Today I felt like changing things up a bit. I am going to lead off with some Hartford Wolf Pack news.

Last night, the Wolf Pack lost to the Manchester Monarchs in a battle for first place in the AHL Eastern Conference. What bothers me most is that they lost in a shootout. So now, instead of remaining two points behind the Monarchs, they drop to three back.

Let me paint a picture here. Jason LaBarbera gets the start in net for the Pack. Alexandre Giroux scores at 14:05 of the first period to give Hartford a 1-0 lead. LaBarbera stops 19 shots in the first period. The Monarchs score at 8:27 of the third period off of a Dominic Moore turnover. LaBarbera goes on to make 41 saves in the game, including killing off a power play in overtime.

So now we have the shootout. After 65 minutes of great goaltending and defensive play, it is all going to come down to five penalty shots. And the Wolf Pack end up losing the shootout, and a point in the standings, 2-1.

I just find that to be incredibly stupid. The shootout is a novelty, a gimmick. It is an exhibition that should be saved for All-Star games and charity events. It is not hockey. Yes, penalty shots are fun. But two things that make them fun are the fact that you are penalizing the other team for an infraction, and the rarity of the event. Would Mike Richter's save on Pavel Bure in the 1994 finals been as memorable or special if we saw the same thing 5 or 6 times during the course of the series? Yeah, yeah, I know shootouts would only be for the regular season, but if they were really legitimate, which they are not, why couldn't you have them in the playoffs?

I hate gimmicks. I hate the shootout.

Ok, with that out of the way, on to the other news.

Spector speculates that the direction the NHL is heading is the wrong one.

"The cynics can be forgiven, as it's almost impossible now to find fans and pundits who believe a negotiated settlement within several weeks is possible after over two years of negotiations failed to accomplish that goal."

Here is a little bit on what the NHLPA is doing now, after receiving those two proposals from the league.

If you like some pro-owner pandering, we give you Stan Fischler. I have taken a generally pro-owner stance since the beginning of this lockout. But Stan is just silly.

Scott Burnside at ESPN gives you the rundown on how the AHL has benefited from the lockout.

And in case you missed it yesterday, there is a new Birdcage up. Bird talks about what most sports fans are talking about these days . . . steroids.

Lockouts. Shootouts. Steroids. I need a drink.

HDH

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