Anyway, unlike in soccer where they only use them when strictly necessary (they try to avoid them as much as possible), the shootouts exist in hockey purely for the entertainment factor. The regular season could work very well with ties as it did for a long time. But people love the shootouts.
I mean - I remember perfectly well when Lapierre scored the shootout goal with that sexy speed change. I can't remember though who we were playing against and who else score that game
Or - the Dallas fans were excited over Ribeiro's SO goal - though they missed the playoffs.