It would be interesting to pursue the reasons for discrepancies in CHODR, TCHCR, and RPICH ratings. Here's a couple of quick observations: Suppose that we assume that the East (particularly the ECAC) has a couple of weak teams. How should this affect the ratings of the "good" teams that play them? Contrary to an earlier post, playing a weak team will not necessarily help one's CHODR rating, since the "good" team would already be predicted to win by a considerable margin. They can only improve their rating by exceeding that margin. For example, given the current CHODR ratings, if Michigan were to visit Yale, they would need to score more than 10 goals to improve their offensive rating. Anything less than 10 and their CHODR offensive rating would decrease. On the other hand, if Michigan were to add a two game set against Yale at this point in the season, regardless of the outcomes of those games, I believe we would see Michigan's TCHCR and RPICH ratings go down. It is true that a couple of extraordinary outings (like Harvard's 12-1 win over Yale or UMass-Lowell's two recent losses) can have a lasting effect on one's CHODR rating which is not nearly so dominant in TCHCR or RPICH. I wouldn't characterize either of the UMass-Lowell games as involving any weak teams. I wonder if style of play in the East makes such games more likely. Certainly, winning a number of close games (Northeastern is probably a good example here) will help one's TCHCR and RPICH ratings much more than one's CHODR ratings. My sense is that the ECAC has suffered a pretty dismal out-of-conference record this year, but many of the games have been fairly close (lots of one-goal or OT losses to HE) - something good for Mike M. to dig up some stats on(:>)? This greatly affects TCHCR and RPICH strength of schedule values throughout the ECAC, but has less impact on CHODR ratings. Finally, it has seemed to me that teams which play more games tend to fare better in TCHCR and RPICH than they do in CHODR. It's not clear whether this is a function of the systems or just confounded with the other east/west distinctions. Robin Lock [log in to unmask]