The Central Collegiate Hockey Association is the first conference to officially re-introduce the shootout to college ice hockey after the option was installed recently by the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Ice Hockey Rules Committee.

Hockey East previously had installed a shootout in the mid-1990s and is among the conferences considering re-instituting it.

A three-player shootout will be used to determine a winner for all CCHA games tied after regulation and five-minute overtime.

“Every regular-season league game will have a winner while preserving the integrity of the national rankings,” said CCHA Commissioner Tom Anastos. “CCHA games decided by a shootout will still be considered ties for NCAA purposes. Bonus points awarded will impact the conference standings only.”

The CCHA has also approved the following point system for regular-season play: two points for a win in regulation or overtime, one point for each school if the game is tied at the end of the five-minute overtime period and one point is awarded to the team who wins the shootout.

Overtime will continue to be played similar to regulation time, with five skaters for each team (penalties excepted). The shootout may also be used for nonconference games hosted by CCHA schools pending the mutual consent of their opponents (and again, any game deadlocked through overtime would be considered a tie for NCAA purposes).