We have reached the middle of the year for college hockey and people are starting to look towards the standings of divisions. They have separated out, giving indications to what might occur the rest of the year. One problem seems to come up: everyone scores differently. This is going to educate you on how each conference gives out points for wins, ties, OT losses…etc. You can find the conference standings here.
Atlantic Hockey:
Probably one of the more generic and easier to score of the conferences is Atlantic Hockey. The conference doesn’t do shootouts. If the game is tied after 3 periods they play a OT and then count it as a tie.
Win: 2 points
Tie: 1 point each team
Big 10:
The Big 10 conference is confusing; they mix things up a little bit. If after 3 periods and one 3 on 3 OT battle the teams are still tied, the game counts as a tie for both teams (for the pairwise). After the 5 on 5 OT the teams play a best of 3 shootout, that continues until there is a winner. Purely for conference points. If a team scores in the 5 on 5 shootout they go out of the game with all 3 points.
Win: 3 points
Shootout Win: 2 points
Shootout Loss: 1 point
ECAC:
The ECAC is simple again. In the same as Atlantic Hockey,the ECAC scores their standings without shootouts or 3 on 3 overtime.
Win: 2 points
Tie: 1 point each team
Hockey East:
Conveniently, Hockey East also scores their standings the same as Atlantic Hockey and the ECAC bynot having 3 on 3 overtime or shootouts. The games simply end after 1 overtime.
Win: 2 points
Tie: 1 point each team
NCHC:
The NCHC is different. They have a 5 minute 3 on 3 overtime after the normal 5 on 5. If a team scores during the 5 on 5, they earn all 3 points with the loser getting 0. If they do not, the game counts as a tie for everyone (for the pairwise), and they continue playing for conference points. The NCHC uses a first to score shootout, or sudden-death shootout, not best of three. If the first team to shoot misses, the 2nd team can end the game by making the first shot, and this repeats until someone scores. (different from NHL rules).
Win: 3 points
3 on 3/Shootout Win: 2 points
3 on 3/Shootout Loss: 1 point
WCHA:
The WCHA conference recently took up using the same model as the NCHC. The teams play out the normal 3 periods of regular hockey, and the 5 on 5 overtime. If a team scores in the 5 on 5 overtime they earn all 3 conference points. After the first OT, it counts as a tie for the pairwise rankings. The conference then has the teams play a 3 on 3 overtime, and if needed, a shootout for conference points.
Win: 3 points
3 on 3/Shootout Win: 2 points
3 on 3/Shootout Loss: 1 point
The trend of 3 on 3 overtime and shootouts seems to be an increasingly common trend in college hockey. It has picked up into half of the conferences so far, and we will likely see more conferences start to use the same model in upcoming seasons.