Steve Wilk founded Neutral Zone, the world’s largest amateur scouting platform in North America, in a small town in Rutland, Vermont in 2015. While the focus of the company has always been in evaluating AAA/Junior/NCAA/CHL/NHL prospects, the mission statement has been to improve the game for the better.
This past weekend, a team of U10 players in Steve’s hometown were playing in the qualifier for the Vermont State Tournament where the top 2 teams advance from round-robin play to the State Tournament. Rutland went 3-1-0 along with two other teams and therefore were in a three-way tie breaker. The rules from the Vermont Amateur Hockey Association for determining tie-breakers are as follows:
- Most Points
- Head to Head
- Most Game Wins
- Goal Differential
- Fewest Goals Allowed
- Quickest First Goal
USA Hockey and the 2022 Olympic Hockey Committee have a very similar set of rules with the priority most on points, head to head and most wins but their next criteria is goal differential which is defined as: “a team’s total goals scored minus their goals conceded.”
Pretty simple. But that wasn’t the case for the Rutland U10 State bound hockey program who was told after the fact their team would not be moving on to the state tournament despite having the best goal differential of the 3 teams in the tie-breaker. They were told that while the rule states “goal differential” that it’s not what they “meant.” What they “meant” by goal differential was really goal quotient which is total goals scored divided by goal against which put Rutland in third place and therefore without a spot in the State Tournament.
“Hockey is the ultimate team sport from the locker room to the ice surface; it’s one of the things we cherish most and the lessons we learn being a part of it,” said Wilk. “I think it’s wrong on many levels for Vermont Hockey Association to be sending the message to our youth players that people in positions of authority can interpret written rules however best fits their agenda.”
Wilk admits he isn’t someone who likes controversy or to be involved in petitions but he wanted to set the record straight for his hometown team who was devastated by not making the State Tournament.
“Hockey isn’t always fair, refs can make a bad call, you can get a bad bounce and lose a game and that’s all part of what we sign up for being in hockey,” said Wilk. “But this is a different matter entirely. This is adults changing written rules after the fact to alter outcomes. That goes against everything we stand for at Neutral Zone.”
Please sign this petition to the Vermont State Amateur Hockey Association to revisit this and rectify the situation: