Update on college hockey OT rules (because we misunderstood)

Boston College men’s hockey opened its season last night with a draw 2-2 against Quinnipiac, then won a penalty kick and led us incorrectly into a tweet:

Except … no, this is wrong. It was a draw and drops as such (50-50) to a pair of rankings. The shooting was only for placement in the Icebreaker.

Actual rule:

1) All draws, both conference games and conference games, go for a 3: 3 overtime.

2) The winner of three matches gets 55% of the win in pairs, while the loser gets 45% of the win.

3) If the 3-3 extension time is equal, all conference games go shooting. In Hockey East’s placement rules, regulatory wins are 3 points, 3-3 extra or penalty wins are worth 2 points and 3-3 extra or penalty kicks are worth 1 point.

4) If the 3-3 overtime ends in a draw, the game is officially a draw. 50-50 divided into pairs.

5) If teams decide to play a penalty shootout, it can, but it has no effect on the national record. In-season tournaments, such as Icebreaker (and unfortunately Beanpot), can be used to shoot for classification / tournament progress.

6) An OT win is a win for your historical record, although it is not really a full win in pairs. A fighting win in a conference game is a draw for a historical record, even though it is worth the same number of conference points as overtime. If this confuses you, you are not alone.

7) The cheese stands alone.

Too bad we got a mistake last night. Guilty of what might have cheated our memory? Our old friend HEPI, Hockey East Power Index. In the HEPI program, shootings and 3–3 follow-up results were counted the same towards each other in the rankings, and there were no pairs functionally last year.

If you’re confused, you’re probably not the only one. But the long story in brief: BC tied last night. Now we win tonight!