If you looked at the current USHL Standing in the West (prior to games played tonight) you’d see this:
| TEAM | GP | W | L | OL | TP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sioux Falls | 34 | 25 | 8 | 1 | 51 |
| Fargo | 36 | 21 | 10 | 5 | 47 |
| Waterloo | 35 | 22 | 13 | 0 | 44 |
| Lincoln | 33 | 20 | 10 | 3 | 43 |
| Omaha | 35 | 19 | 16 | 0 | 38 |
| Des Moines | 37 | 18 | 18 | 1 | 37 |
| Tri-Town | 35 | 15 | 16 | 4 | 34 |
| Sioux City | 34 | 6 | 20 | 8 | 20 |
And you’d see Lincoln sits in fourth place, on the cusp of elimination from post season play. But that really doesn’t paint an accurate picture of the season so far. For whatever reason, Lincoln has a game in hand against the division leader, two against the team immediately above them in the standings, and a whopping three games in hand against Fargo.
I, for one, prefer the baseball way of ranking teams in the midst of a season, taking games in hand into consideration instead of just throwing out the points totals. If we modify hockey standings to score as follows:
- Loss: -1 game in the standings
- Overtime Loss: -0.5 games in the standings
- Win–overtime or otherwise: +1 game in the standings
and apply it to the current USHL West we get a much more appealing picture (because, hey, Stars fan!).
| TEAM | GP | W | L | OL | GB | Playoffs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sioux Falls | 34 | 25 | 8 | 1 | ||
| Fargo | 36 | 21 | 10 | 5 | -3 | |
| Lincoln | 33 | 20 | 10 | 3 | -3 | |
| Waterloo | 35 | 22 | 13 | 0 | -4 | |
| Omaha | 35 | 19 | 16 | 0 | -7 | -3 |
| Des Moines | 37 | 18 | 18 | 1 | -8.5 | -4.5 |
| Tri-Town | 35 | 15 | 16 | 4 | -9.5 | -5.5 |
| Sioux City | 34 | 6 | 20 | 8 | -15.5 | -12.5 |
See, games in hand are actually important! In one view Lincoln is on the verge of not making the playoffs. In the other they’re tied for having home ice advantage in the first round. It is kind of a big deal.
Now, if Lincoln fritters them away, well…that’s just not going to happen. Go Stars!