Rankings & End of Season Results
Every season at this time I get a number of questions about the rankings being inconsistent with how teams finished their end of the season tournaments, be they Nationals or State/Provincial tournaments. I'd like to take some time to address this issue.
MYHockey computes a mathematical average performance rating for every team in the system who has played at least one game. This rating is the summation of a team's Average Goal Differential (AGD) and their Strength of Schedule (SCHED). These numbers can be computed by anyone and are available on the math page of any team. The AGD is a relatively simple calculation on the average goal differential from each game played with a maximum goal differential of seven (7) for any single game. The SCHED is also relatively simple, it is the average rating of all the opponents of a team.
Because the rating of a team is a mathematical calculation, the simple sum of a teams average goal differential and their strength of schedule, there is no ability of MYHockey to adjust these numbers at the end of the season to reflect how teams might have finished at a National tournament. One of the great things about MYHockey rankings is their objective nature. Your team's ranking is based on it's rating which really comes down to who you play (SCHED) and how well you do against that competition (AGD). These are objective mathematical calculations, not subject to human interpretation.
While it is not uncommon for the #1 ranked team to win an end-of-season National or Provincial tournament, it doesn't always happen that way. There are teams that surge at the end of the season because they get healthy, are motivated, or are the product of great coaching. This surge may not always be reflected in the rankings because MYHockey currently uses a complete season of scores to determine a team's rating. A slow start to a season may never completely be erased by a late surging team.
Some people believe that rankings where the team that wins Nationals or Provincials and is not ranked #1 are rankings that are "invalid" or "wrong". When a team other than the #1 team wins an end of the season tournament it simply means that a team who was not the highest average performing team throughout the entire season won. This happens, maybe even more than 50% of the time. It often happens because of luck, skill development and great coaching. It does not change the fact that the team didn't have the highest average performance throughout the season (what the rankings are based upon). It simply means they won when it counted most. Congrats! That does not make the rankings "wrong", it simply means that the rankings cannot predict with 100% certainty who will win every game or series of games.
But, because MYHockey calculates a team's average performance rating, there is no ability to "fix" rankings to match end of the season tournament results. The only thing that can be done is to make sure that all the game scores for each team are entered and entered correctly.
Team's who are ranked relatively low and win these end of the season tournaments are, again, typically the product of great coaching. I would challenge people who are affiliated with these teams to take pride in the improvement that their teams has gone through from the beginning of the season to the end. In most cases, these coaches have done a great job in developing their players and deserve immense credit. Who knows, you might even see awards for these coaches in the future.
MYHockey computes a mathematical average performance rating for every team in the system who has played at least one game. This rating is the summation of a team's Average Goal Differential (AGD) and their Strength of Schedule (SCHED). These numbers can be computed by anyone and are available on the math page of any team. The AGD is a relatively simple calculation on the average goal differential from each game played with a maximum goal differential of seven (7) for any single game. The SCHED is also relatively simple, it is the average rating of all the opponents of a team.
Because the rating of a team is a mathematical calculation, the simple sum of a teams average goal differential and their strength of schedule, there is no ability of MYHockey to adjust these numbers at the end of the season to reflect how teams might have finished at a National tournament. One of the great things about MYHockey rankings is their objective nature. Your team's ranking is based on it's rating which really comes down to who you play (SCHED) and how well you do against that competition (AGD). These are objective mathematical calculations, not subject to human interpretation.
While it is not uncommon for the #1 ranked team to win an end-of-season National or Provincial tournament, it doesn't always happen that way. There are teams that surge at the end of the season because they get healthy, are motivated, or are the product of great coaching. This surge may not always be reflected in the rankings because MYHockey currently uses a complete season of scores to determine a team's rating. A slow start to a season may never completely be erased by a late surging team.
Some people believe that rankings where the team that wins Nationals or Provincials and is not ranked #1 are rankings that are "invalid" or "wrong". When a team other than the #1 team wins an end of the season tournament it simply means that a team who was not the highest average performing team throughout the entire season won. This happens, maybe even more than 50% of the time. It often happens because of luck, skill development and great coaching. It does not change the fact that the team didn't have the highest average performance throughout the season (what the rankings are based upon). It simply means they won when it counted most. Congrats! That does not make the rankings "wrong", it simply means that the rankings cannot predict with 100% certainty who will win every game or series of games.
But, because MYHockey calculates a team's average performance rating, there is no ability to "fix" rankings to match end of the season tournament results. The only thing that can be done is to make sure that all the game scores for each team are entered and entered correctly.
Team's who are ranked relatively low and win these end of the season tournaments are, again, typically the product of great coaching. I would challenge people who are affiliated with these teams to take pride in the improvement that their teams has gone through from the beginning of the season to the end. In most cases, these coaches have done a great job in developing their players and deserve immense credit. Who knows, you might even see awards for these coaches in the future.
