I sent this to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune (The Newspaper of the Twin
Cities) in regards to their reporting the Hockey East standings
incorrectly.  Mike Machnik defended them knowing that they probably just
got them from the wire and that he (Mike) just got the correct standings
from the HE office.  I see his point and agree with him, but I had to get
it off my chest.  I just hope they don't get mad or anything at me.
 
Tony Frolik
University of Minnesota Duluth
 
P.S.  They reprinted the standings today, again incorrectly, but I know
that they hadn't seen my letter by press time, and even if they had, they
wouldn't have changed it probably, without checking with other sources.
 
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 9 Nov 1994 20:46:29 -0600 (CST)
From: Anthony J. Frolik <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Hockey standings error
 
In today's paper (11/09/94) you reported the Hockey East collegiate
hockey standings incorrectly.  The league has changed it's way of
reporting standings, due to the fact that it has adopted shootouts to
decide the final outcome of games.  The game is a tie in the eyes of the
NCAA, but according to Hockey East, one team is a winner, one is a
loser.  The league has changed it's point system, for it was thought that
if teams could just play for a tie and get the same amount of points as
the other team, the teams might not play as hard to try to win the game,
among other reasons.  Therefore, the league adopted the following:
 
5 points for a win in regulation time, or in the 5 minute overtime.
3 points for a win in a shootout decided game.
2 points for a loss in a shootout decided game.
0 points for a loss in regulation time, or in the 5 minute overtime.
 
So, here are the correct standings that should be reported, originally
posted by Mike Machnik, on the Hockey-L mailing list.  This list is for the
discussion of collegiate ice hockey, including scores, team info, schedules, etc.  allowing fans
to become more involved and knowledgeable about the game.  For more
information on this list, you may want to contact the administrator of
the list, Mr. Wayne Smith ([log in to unmask])
 
 
11/7/94                Hockey East                   Overall
                       GP  W-L-T  SOW Pts  GF-GA  || GP   W-L-T    GF-GA
                       ==================================================
 1  Maine               4  2-0-2   0  14   17-11  ||  7   5-0-2    32-18
 2  Boston University   3  1-0-2   1  10   19-17  ||  4   2-0-2    24-18
 3  Merrimack           2  1-0-1   1   8   10-9   ||  6   1-4-1    21-28
    Northeastern        2  1-0-1   1   8   12-7   ||  6   4-1-1    33-20
    Mass Lowell         3  1-1-1   1   8   20-17  ||  5   1-3-1    24-25
 6  Providence          3  1-1-1   0   7   14-14  ||  6   3-2-1    27-30
 7  Boston College      2  1-1-0   0   5    7-10  ||  7   2-4-1    27-28
 8  New Hampshire       2  0-2-0   0   0    4-10  ||  6   3-3-0    23-21
    Mass Amherst        3  0-3-0   0   0    7-15  ||  5   0-5-0    11-26
League ties includes all games ending in a tie after overtime.
SOW = shootout wins, a subset of ties.  Teams receive 5 pts for a win,
2 pts for a tie, and 1 pt for a shootout win.
 
 
I realize that you may be getting the standings from a source, and you
just report them as you get them, and I am sure that you trust the
reliability of this source, but the information you printed was blatantly
wrong.  If necessary, I would be willing to forward these standings to
you, via e-mail, to insure the accuracy I have been accustomed to seeing
in your newspaper.
 
Thank you.
 
Anthony J. Frolik
1721 East Third Street #106
Duluth, MN  55812
(218) 722-0861 x318 (W)
(218) 728-5885 (H)
[log in to unmask]