Since we are now about 2 1/2 months away from the start of the regular season
(and 2 months from my self-imposed starting date for the Contest), it seemed
like it was time for the Pre-Pre Announcement.
 
(Excuse me while I move a few mothballs out of the way, the Contest Department
is in pretty bad shape at the moment.)
 
The 1994 Hockey-L Regular Season Prediction Contest will consist primarily
of picking the correct order of the finishers in each of the four conferences.
Points will be awarded (or, in this case, disawarded) based on how far off
from the actual position that your pick is.  For example, if you pick Maine
(to pull one out of the air) to finish 4th in HE and they finish 2nd, that
cost you 2 points.  Add that up for the 41 (or so) teams in the four major
conferences and you have your grand total.  Like in golf, low score wins.
 
The tie-breaker between positions will be decided based on the prediction
of the total conference points of one team from each of the four conferences.
I originally was going to pick one team at random, but I felt that would be
sort of unfair to those in the other three conferences, so I decided on one
from each conference.  I also decided to pick teams that don't have a large
following (if any) on Hockey-L, to make it even more of a challenge.
 
Thus, the four teams are:
        ECAC- Vermont
        HE- Providence
        CCHA- Illinois-Chicago
        WCHA- St. Cloud St.
 
Before I can set the total framework for the contest, I do need some info
from someone in three of the four conferences, so that I know what teams
are ineligible, etc.
 
So, my set of questions:
1) In Hockey East, how will shootouts (if that is what will be done this
   season) be scored in terms of points (I realize this may have been dis-
   cussed [or disgusted, depending on your point-of-view] previously on
   Hockey-L, but I didn't follow it as closely as some others)?  Will it
   be two points for a shootout win and one for a shootout loss?
 
   Also, is UMass-Amherst considered a full member of the conference, and
   do all their "conference" games count in the conference standings?
 
2) In the CCHA, I do realize that Alaska-Fairbanks is an affiliate member for
   the upcoming season.  How many of their games against conference opponents
   count towards that team's conference standings?  (Since UAF is an affiliate
   member, they will not be included in the Contest.  Therefore, when ranking
   CCHA teams, you will only have to rank #1-10.)
 
3) In the WCHA, I realize that Colorado College is on probation.  Do their
   games count towards the conference standings?  If they do, can CC finish
   anywhere in the standings, or are they automatically assigned to finish
   10th?
 
I hope someone out there in the Hockey-L world can answer those for me, as
those questions will affect how people pick their teams (and the all-important
tie breaker).
 
Well, back to mothballing... The Contest Department will reopen in September
for the pre-announcement of the Prediction Contest, during which time hope-
fully all my questions will have been answered and the contest will be set up.
 
I had originally scheduled to start accepting entries on October 3 (the day
after the baseball season ended) but I may move that up to late September
(since the baseball season may end next Friday).  Watch this channel for
further details as they become available.
 
G. M. Finniss
Michigan State University
WVU '87, UTenn '92, MSU who the hell knows when?
73 days until faceoff in East Lansing....
56 days (or so) until the start of the Contest....