Yes, of course, teams already have too many different
records. But, so far, a loss according to one record
has always been a loss in another. Never before have
we had the chance for single game to go in the books
as a win for one record and a tie for another. (Except
forfeits.)
 
 
Hockey East has a chance to make this not-so-confusing.
Here is how they should report on team records in league
play. Let's say a team has 8 wins from regulation/OT,
4 losses from reg/OT, and 3 games then went to shootouts.
Of those 3, it won 2 and lost 1. The standings should be
shown as:
 
            League
       Wins Losses Ties SOW SOL  POINTS
Team     8    4      3   2   1     21
 
(Points are all that really matter in league play, anyway.)
 
That is, the shootout results should count for LEAGUE
POINTS ONLY. Thus, you can get 2 points for a tie, if you win the
shootout. You get 1 point for a tie if you lose it. You don't
actually win the game, you just happen to get as many league
points as if you had won it.
 
 
Then, if this team goes 4-1-1 non-conference, it is easy
to calculate its overall record as 12-5-4. If it goes 3-1-1
vs. NCAA D1 teams non-conference, then it is easy to compute
its "NCAA" record as 11-5-4.
 
But, if the league reports this league record as 10-5, then
it becomes very confusing to see an overall record of 12-5-4.
It looks like this team went 2-0-4 in NC play.
 
Even reporting the league record as 10-5 has problems, you see.
This team happens to have 21 points; someone else could also
be 10-5 but only have 20 league points.
 
 
Finally, here is a hare-brained idea sure to please all who think
college hockey should be more exciting. Why not have a shootout
(worth 1 league point) after EVERY game? Is your team losing 9-2?
No worry, you can still salvage a point by winning the shootout.
Trailing by 5 points with 2 games left? No worry, just win both
games and both shootouts and you pick up 6 quick league points.
 
 
 
Keith