After my and Dave Fischer's comments on assists being called by the
official scorer or from the press box, several folks have noted that
the NC$$ rule book says the referee shall call goals and assists.
This is true, it does say that.
 
However, the rule book also says that interference shall be called
when a player sets a pick for the puckcarrier. :-)
 
Trust me, the way I described it is how it is done.  I have personally
called many assists over the years.  I am under the impression that
the referees in HE, and apparently in the WCHA too, have simply
passed on that responsibility to the scorer or press box personnel in
these leagues.  It is a system that works well and frees up the
referees to pay attention to other things.
---                                                                   ---
Mike Machnik                                            [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc.                                    *HMM* 11/13/93