Is it too early to start thinking about college hockey?

Probably.

But there was some interesting news that came out of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association last week, as the conference announced it was implementing a National Hockey League-style, three-player shootout to break ties in league play.

Last spring, during their annual meeting in Florida, college hockey coaches and officials declared their desire to cut down on the increasing number tie games in the regular season, but they didn’t come up with a universal solution for the upcoming season.

The NCAA hockey rules committee added the shootout to the official rule book in July but made it an optional experiment for the sport’s six conferences. Although the win and loss will count in the CCHA standings, a game that gets to a shootout will still be considered a tie as far as the Pairwise Rankings and national tournament selection go.

While Western Collegiate Hockey Association Commissioner Bruce McLeod said the conference, which has long been the national leader in rule changes (i.e., video replay and the two-referee system), would not be changing this year, the CCHA decided to spice up its games a little.

“The shootout has proved to be an exciting addition to hockey at a variety of levels, and we are anxious to bring it into college hockey,” CCHA commissioner Tom Anastos said in a press release. “The drama it creates is very popular with fans, and, importantly, today’s players love it.”

Minnesota State may even get a chance to participate in the new system, as it plays three games in CCHA arenas this season, including a series at Bowling Green and a lone game as a part of a home-and-home series with Nebraska-Omaha.

If a winner hasn’t been decided after 60 minutes of regulation and a 5-minute overtime, a shootout will take place. The shootout winner will get two points for the conference standings, like any other victory, while the loser will get one point (as opposed to no points in a regulation or overtime loss).

The CCHA had 19 ties in 31 regular-season overtime games last season. The WCHA had 20 ties, including four involving Minnesota State, in 26 overtime games. The Mavericks went 1-4-1 in overtime last season en route to its fourth-place finish.

The CCHA’s press release included praise for the shootout from Michigan State coach Rick Comley and Nebraska-Omaha’s Mike Kemp.

“Shootouts are going to be great for our fans,” Kemp said. “They will keep people excited and in their seats right up until the last goal or save. It’s going to be something that they will keep talking and raving about.”

They won’t be talking about regular-season shootouts as much as they’re still talking about the marathon overtime games between MSU and Minnesota in last March’s WCHA playoffs, but, as the NHL has seen over the last couple of years, shootouts will add some extra excitement to those mid-season ties that leave everyone in the arena wanting for more.

Shane Frederick is a Free Press staff writer. Access his college hockey blog through www.mankatofreepress.com