MNHockey Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. How does MNHockey compute its ratings?
2. Are some teams or districts given preferential treatment?
3. How accurate can this be?
4. We beat Team X twice, how can they still be ranked ahead of us?
5. We won both our games this past weekend and our rating went down, how is this?
6. What does a team's overall rating number mean?
7. What does each of the columns on the ratings page mean?
8. Why are some game scores missing and team records inaccurate?
9. Which teams and leagues are being ranked?
10. A game score is incorrect, how do I get it corrected?
11. There are missing or duplicate game scores, how do I correct them?
12. How can my league help?
13. How can my team help?
14. How can I help?
15. How is it that MNHockey is free?
16. Do we have to pay to see the rankings now that you are selling memberships?

MNHockey's ratings are computed mathematically, with no subjective weighting or human determined values. MNHockey rates teams based upon how well they play against other teams and how good those teams are. These two factors are "AGD" or "average goal differential" and "SCHED" or "strength of schedule". AGD is currently calculated by accumulating the goal differential of each game, to a maximum of 7, and divides it by the number of games played. Using a max game goal differential of 7 does "penalize" teams that blow out opponents, but this is common in rating systems as it takes away the incentive for teams to run up scores and allows them to have a bad game by capping the mathematical damage. The strength of schedule is computed by averaging the rating of each game opponent. AGD and SCHED are added together to compute a team's rating.

There is no preferential treatment for teams from certain districts. All teams are assumed to be equal and having a rating of zero before the system mathematically calculates your SCHED and AGD based entirely upon game performance. A team's SCHED is not only determined by the teams it plays, but by the teams its opponents play and its opponents' opponents play, etc.

In general, as teams start getting 20+ games under their belts, the system tends to be very accurate. There are, however, some occasional exceptions.

Some teams play differently (a lot differently) depending upon which goalie is in net for a specific game. In this case, the ratings average out the play and may not completely reflect either scenario. Missing players, home vs. away, H1N1 (illness) are a few other scenarios that could influence the accuracy of the ratings. It's not an exact science. The ratings should be used to determine what teams might be good opponents, they are not meant to be the AP Poll for youth hockey.

There are a couple weaknesses to the current system. The first deficiency is with teams that emphasize development in some games. They are "penalized". That same team may then focus on winning big tournaments and succeed, but may never achieve the rating that they "deserve". Secondly, teams that "come on" in the second half of the season are "penalized" by early poor performances. All games throughout the season count equally and that may not reflect a teams performance near the end of the season.

Yes, it seems wrong, but a team that you have a winning record against can be ranked ahead of you. It's all in mathematics. It depends on who else your team has played and how well you did as well as who the other team has played and how well they did. In a season of games, there will be some anomalies.

Your rating can go down even though your team wins. This can happen for a couple different reasons. First, if your team is rated 3.0 points (1 point = 1 goal) better than your opponent and you win two close games by 1 goal each, your average goal differential (AGD) is +1.0 against a team that it was expected to be +3.0. This would likely have a negative impact on your rating. Another scenario has you doing as expected against your opponent, but a large percentage of the teams you played earlier in the season doing unexpectedly bad. This lowers your strength of schedule and would lower your team's rating. It is almost impossible to guess how much and in what direction your rating will move each week because of the complexity of the math.

Everything is relative. The number specifically means nothing, but might be used to understand the relative competitiveness of two different teams. A 1.0 point differential equates to a theoretical goal 1.0 goal advantage by the team with the higher point value. The teams in each age level are calculated separately so you cannot compare a peewee team to a bantam team.

"Record" is represented by wins-loses-ties. As described above, the "Rating" is simply the sum of the "AGD" and "SCHED". "AGD" is average goal differential. This can be a positive or negative number that equals goals for (GF) minus goals against (GA) divided by games played (GP). One caveat, the system currently has a maximum goal differential of six (7) for any single game played. This means that if a team plays a number of games decided by more than seven goals, it's not quite as simple as GF-GA/GP. "SCHED" is the average strength of schedule of all opponents. Fundamentally you can add the "RATING" for all opponents and divide by GP. "Details" will give you more information about the team while "Scores" is a link to a team's complete set of season game scores as recorded in MNHockey.

A couple hints to give you the full power of MNHockey. Any teams with known team websites will be represented by underline/hotlinked team names. Clicking on the team name will open an additional window to this team's web site. When viewing scores, each opponent's schedule is just a click away. For example, if you are viewing the game scores of Team X and they played Team Y, you can view Team Y's game scores by simply clicking on Team Y's name.

Missing scores are typically not in the system for one of a couple reasons. First, the district and/or team may not be accurately recording some or all game scores. Second, there may not be a volunteer for the district that the team plays in. If that's the case, please consider volunteering. To find out more, go to the Report Scores Page.

MNHockey is now tracking Boys Peewee A, Bantam A and High School teams. The 2009-10 season will see MNHockey expand to cover Girls 12U A, 14U A and High School teams.

MYHockey, MNHockey's sister site, covers squirt, peewee, bantam and midget teams from all across North America. It has also expanded to cover Junior and College Hockey as well. CLICK HERE to visit the MYHockey website.

Sometimes mistakes happen. It may be on our side, or it might have come from a team or league web site. Too many humans involved... If reasonable, work to get the score corrected on its posted site first. For the 2009-10 MNHockey has released an online game score correction request for that allows anyone to report an incorrect score the MNHockey game scores page for a given team. No email, just fill out a form and tell us what is wrong with the score.

Again, mistakes are inevitable. If duplicate scores have been posted, complete an online score correction request to get things corrected. We try to catch these ourselves, but we appreciate your help. To resolve the issue of missing game scores, please visit the Report Scores page for more information on volunteering and/or reporting these scores.

Accurately post all league scores! The number one thing a league can do is post, on the internet in a timely fashion, all league game scores. Encouraging associations/teams to create team web sites and make non-league game scores available to the public would also help.

Create a team web site and list all game scores in an area where our volunteers can easily find it. Also, please clearly identify your opponents. Ambiguity means we cannot post the results, even if you have them on your web site.

Volunteer to enter scores. Become a member. Keep us honest by reporting any errors.

MNHockey is free just as Google is free. Advertising covers most of the cost of running the website. Volunteers, from the founder to the quiet goalie's mom on your team, contribute countless hours with a common goal in mind. MNHockey's mission is to provide you the best, most complete and accurate information about youth hockey. Memberships are available at a very low price for those wanting extra features and/or who would like to provide financial support for the site.

No! Everything that was available for free during the 2008-09 season is still be available for free during the 2009-10 season. However, you can now choose to join MNHockey/MYHockey for a small fee to obtain additional services that have been requested by our users. This is very similiar to how Google and the Wall Street Journal provide services. Basic content is free, premium content is available for a small fee. It's optional.