Poly Reporter Uses Statistics To Prove Referees are NOT Biased
Dave Aiello wrote, "While I was researching the RPI-UMass Hockey story, I found an article in the Poly that provides statistical analysis of the penalties called in the ECAC Mens' Hockey Games last season. The reporter apparently set out to confirm the widely held theory on our campus that ECAC referees allegedly call more penalties on RPI than on opposing teams."
"The article points out that researchers were unable to prove the hypothesis, but they did discover something interesting -- home teams in the ECAC are penalized more often than visitors."
Dave Aiello continues, "Unlike some other issues that come up on this Web Site, I have some expertise in this area. I am a Level 4 USA Hockey Official and a member of the National Ice Hockey Officials Association -- the organization from which the ECAC chooses its officials. I also happen to have been one of the managers of the Mens' Hockey Team from 1985 to 1989. Therefore, I can state categorically that no official working NCAA Hockey today at any level is able to hold a grudge against a single team. Scrutiny of officials is simply too great for anything of the sort to occur."
"I also took enough statistical analysis classes when I was at RPI to know that good statistical studies do not often begin with an expected result in mind. However, John Maloney's results speak for themselves, and he ought to be saluted for having the guts to tell it like it is."