It's hard to justify what hockey fans saw on Sunday morning. Canada dominated the USA at five-on-five for most of the gold medal game, but the Olympics ended with Jack Hughes scoring an overtime winner in three-on-three hockey. While it made for great theatre, it left some hockey fans wondering whether ending an all-time classic game with a gimmicky overtime setup does more harm to the sport than good.
Paul Bissonnette, a noted TNT Analyst and co-host of the Spittin' Chiclets podcast, didn't hide his allegiance to Canada on social media throughout the tournament. It might sound like he was being a sore loser on his appearance on Wake Up Barstool, but he shared the sentiment that 3-on-3 doesn't belong in a game of that magnitude.
“It was just an amazing play, and I agree. I think it's electrifying watching guys go three-on-three, and you know that it's going to end quick,” Bissonnette explained. “So no complaints here, and that's kind of the setup of the tournament. I would like to see them moving forward, go back to five-on-five. I don't think any of us want to see it end like that.”
Ryan Whitney, a fellow Spittin' Chiclets podcast co-host, was also on the show and added that Canadians weren't complaining after defeating Czechia in three-on-three in the quarter-finals. While that might be true, most Canadians still felt the quarter-final game shouldn't be decided that way.
Every regular-season game during the NHL season is five minutes of three-on-three, followed by a shootout. The league then switches to five-on-five, continuous overtime in the playoffs. The Olympics tries to implement these rules to avoid long overtime games, but the committee might need to consider changing them.
