OTD in 2005 the Maple Leafs fall on the wrong side of history

After the infamous lockout, the NHL returned for the 2005-06 season, but the game that fans knew so well had changed after the league implied a salary cap. One of the other significant changes was to the overtime format. Gone were the days of 10 minutes of overtime and tie games. The NHL instead adopted a four on four overtime period, which was dropped to 5 minutes, followed up with a shootout if no one scored during 4-on-4 play.

Many NHL fans were excited at the time for this new rule as it was only seen in international matches. The allure of no tie games was enough to make the idea an instant success.

As fate would have it, the Leafs and Sens opened up opening night, going to distance to the shootout. The goaltenders in the game were Ed Belfour and Dominik Hasek and on this night, Hasek would best Belfour during the shootout as the Senators would defeat the Maple Leafs 3-2. Daniel Alfredsson scored the first-ever shootout goal, and Dany Heatley ended the game.

It is crazy to see the change of how far the shootout has come and what we see now. While its implementation made sense at the time, there are many who believe that it's now time for another change. Some want to get rid of the "loser point", while others want to do away with the shootout altogether and roll with continuous 3-on-3 play until someone scores. At this point, the league does not seem open to discussing the idea of making any drastic changes, but perhaps when it comes time to negotiate the next CBA, we could see some more major changes implemented.