I rarely agree with Dave Fischer (just kidding Dave! :-) )
 
However, his comments about assists and how they are scored in the
WCHA is very good. I wished all of the leagues would do it the same
as is done in the WCHA. It is very hard to both follow the game and
to know who actually touched the puck in complicated situations. I have
seen announcers fail to pick up who is even on the ice in these
circumstances. (In one case, a team had changed a goalie at the half way
point in the third and the announcer failed to notice this until after
the game was over!) While replay is perfect, it sure beats my temporary
memory cells. (Even Dave Fischer sometimes beats my memory cells!) Where
tape was not used, I have seen assists awarded to players DQ the night
before. In one case, even the scoring goal was scored to the wrong person.
 
In any case using replay tapes to assign assists if far more accurate than
any other method I know of.
 
Walt Olson
MTU