Dustin Byfuglien takes aim at 3-on-3 OT format again

In case there’s anyone out there that missed Dustin Byfuglien chastising the NHL’s new three-on-three overtime format—you’re in luck. The Winnipeg Jet took a shot at it again.

Following the Jets’ 3-2 shootout loss to the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night, Byfuglien echoed earlier disdain for the new setup, according to Pro Hockey Talk on NBCSports.

“It’s terrible, it’s not hockey,” Byfuglien said. “It’s for the fans, not the hockey players.”

Doesn’t seem like he’s any higher on what the fans want than he is on three-on-three, does it?

The vocal defenseman said something very similar after the Jets’ OT loss early in the season. His commentary might have been dismissed had he been the only one to shun it. But Jets’ coach Paul Maurice admitted that he sees the appeal for hockey viewers but doesn’t like the pace, the Winnipeg Sun reported:

“You enjoy it half the time. We had good control of the puck, so I enjoyed it more than half the time,” said Maurice, whose club rallied from a 2-0 deficit but fell 3-2 in a shootout to the Ottawa Senators on Thursday at Canadian Tire Centre. “I get it and I get the excitement of it. But for me, how much cotton candy do you give your kids, right? At some point, you've got to say enough. I think I could have walked out of that game as a fan after the three-on-three and said 'you know what, tie it up boys and everybody goes home happy and you talk about that game all the way home.”

Being that it’s only November, this format isn’t going anywhere any time soon. Maybe the Jets need to get an OT win to feel less down on three-on-three.

Or maybe there just needs to be a running tally of every time Byfuglien calls it “terrible” during the rest of the 2015-2016 campaign.