One of my favorite books I have ever read (I know, you can’t believe I read books) was Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner. The biggest piece of information I gathered from the book itself is that not only are there different sides to events or statistics (also known as “Hidden Side”), but we can also make numbers look differently with how we present them.
For example, let us take the recent self-promotion going on over with the NA3HL and their ability to send players to the NAHL.
From the NA3HL’s very own website this article popped up stating:
The North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) is pleased to announce that it is has set a new standard for player exposure and advancement to the North American Hockey League (NAHL) thanks to some record-setting numbers on the heels of the completion of the 2019 NAHL Draft, which took place on Tuesday, June 4th.
NAHL STAFF
Not only did 26 NA3HL players sign a tender to play in the NAHL for the 2019-20 season, but 26 more players were selected in the 2019 NAHL Draft.
No other league has had more movement and advanced more players onto play in the NAHL than the NA3HL. Thanks to additional and enhanced initiatives that were put in place this past season in cooperation with the NAHL, more players from the NA3HL play, practice, and earn NCAA Division I scholarships with the NAHL than any other league.
That’s all great news to hear, but there is a caveat in here that isn’t explained to the casual reader looking for information about the league unless you know what those “initiatives” were.
That “initiative” was mandating and forcing all NAHL teams to HAVE to sign a minimum of 1 player from the NA3HL each season AND DRAFT 1 player from the NA3HL each year.
The league this last season had 24 teams in the league, and since joining with the NA3HL has stayed at 24 teams in the league or below.
But, this upcoming season two new franchises have been added to the league making the number (for those who don’t handle math well) of teams for the 2019-2020 season at…
26!
So if you can do the math or just read between the lines, of course, they set a new standard because there are now 26 teams in the NAHL and because each team has to draft 1 NA3HL player AND Tender 1 NA3HL player you get to hit that magical number of 26 in each possible advancement category.
To be fair the NA3HL did have 50 alumni play in the NAHL this past season (could have been 24 of last year’s forced tenders and draft picks) so I’ll give credit where credit is due because those players stuck.
As I said, I’m all for self-promotion and the information above is all factual, but there is a hidden side to it.
-TDC
Originally published to TJHP, June 21, 2019
