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Sunday, March 19, 2000

Shootout may go way of the dinosaurs
WPHL considers implementing 5-minute, 4-on-4 OT period to decide ties
By Mark Button
Caller-Times
It's sold as the most exciting spectacle in all of sports.
   And it might disappear next season.
   The shootout.
   Fans love it. Hockey purists, such as Central Texas coach Todd Lalonde, loathe it.
   One of the proposed rule changes for the 2000-01 Western Professional Hockey League season involves ditching the shootout for five minutes of four-on-four hockey.
   Rather than have games end in ties, the WPHL has opted for shootouts to determine the outcomes. Fans have come to embrace the quick climax the shootout delivers. Players and coaches, however, think it steals from the integrity of the game.
   The NHL agrees - there are no shootouts at that level. And the NHL added a five-minute, four-on-four overtime period prior to the start of this season.
   "I understand that the fans like the shootout," Lalonde said. "But hockey is the ultimate team sport, and games should be decided by teams. I don't see anything wrong with a well-played, hard-fought hockey game ending in a tie. They don't have home run derbies to decide baseball games."
   Brad Treliving, the WPHL director of hockey operations, constructed a document Thursday for review by the league's board of governors, which is made up of owners from each of the franchises, regarding potential rule changes for next season.
   Two of the most radical proposed changes include the institution of a five-minute, four-on-four overtime period and adding a second on-ice referee. The governors will vote on the changes at the league's spring meetings June 2-5 in Scottsdale, Ariz.
   Treliving said he is a proponent of the four-on-four overtime - the game would end in a tie if no team scored - but he knows the fans' opinion is important, too.
   "I really enjoy the four-on-four," he said. "The games I've seen, it's been met with overwhelming support. I'm real conscious about our fans and they've come to enjoy the shootout. I know from a purist's standpoint and from a coach's standpoint, it's not necessarily the best way to end a game. I think the four-on-four reinstates more of the team aspect of the game. So from a concept, I very much enjoy it. I want to see what our board of governors thinks."
   As for the extra referee, the NHL tested the two-referee system in more than 500 games before instituting it in last year's playoffs.
   "I'm a proponent of it," Treliving said. "Hopefully, having another set of eyes out there will eliminate stuff behind the play. I don't think it's conceivable that one gentleman can see everything on the ice."
   YEAR-END AWARDS: Lubbock's Artus Kupaks won the league's Outstanding Defenseman award on Thursday, completing his exceptional individual season. Kupaks also won the league's best offensive defenseman award in the Best of the Best poll and he finished second to Paul Vincent of Odessa for the most outstanding player of the league award in the same poll.
   Through 62 games, Kupaks had 14 goals and 64 assists. His plus-minus ratio was plus-13.
   The WPHL will announce its Scott Brower Most Outstanding Goaltender award Tuesday, its Coach of the Year award Wednesday and its Rookie of the Year Thursday.
   The league's Most Valuable Player of the season will be announced Friday. Corpus Christi's Geoff Bumstead, Central Texas' Ron Newhook, Lubbock's Kyle Reeves and Odessa's Paul Vincent are nominated for the award. Former IceRays forward Chris Robertson won it last season.
   MEN OF THE YEAR: Shreveport's Scott Muscutt and Amarillo's Brad Haelzle were honored as co-winners of the WPHL's "Man of the Year" award.
   Muscutt, a third-year member of the defending champion Mudbugs, spearheaded several programs designed to positively impact the Shreveport-Bossier City (La.) area. Most notable was his creation of a program called "Lapping Up Cash to Make Wishes Come True," a fundraiser benefiting the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The program raised more than $7,000 for the foundation on March 12 during a Mudbugs home game.
   In Amarillo, Haelzle has made a comparable impact. This season, Haelzle made appearances at more than 50 schools and churches, while working with the March of Dimes, the Boy Scouts of America, the Crown of Texas Hospice, the Special Olympics, the Make-A-Wish Foundation and several pediatric units.


Staff writer Mark Button can be reached at 886-3613 or by e-mail at buttonm@caller.com

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