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U.S. College Hockey Online FAQ

If you have a question, read over our FAQ before writing to us. If your question is not answered here, feel free to send us mail. Thank you.

Q: Where is the USCHO office? Can I get a tour?

A: The home office is in Minneapolis. It consists mainly of a lot of computers. The large majority of USCHO work is done by staffers and reporters out in the field spread across the country.

Q: How can I contact an individual at USCHO?

A: There should always be Contact US links at the left and/or bottom of all pages.

Q: How many people work for USCHO?

A: There are approximately 15 staff members, including our main writers, who are each assigned to their own conference. There are also numerous stringers.

Q: Why the new design?

A: In September, 2000, USCHO launched a new site design aimed at improving navigational ability, and increasing functionality. The idea is to always be able to find what you're looking for in three steps or less, and to get to different major site areas from anywhere in the site in one step.

In September 2002, USCHO took this to another level. The same, popular structure first rolled out in 2000 was maintained. The site was given an aesthetic overhaul that is meant to look a bit more sleek and modern. USCHO also migrated its internal structure to adhere to the highest level of Web Standards. The philosophy of web standards is that content and presentation is separated. By doing so, the content and its structure (commonly known as the HTML), can be viewed in simple form on any number of devices (such as PDAs, cell phones, aural readers, etc...) without breaking. Meanwhile, for standards-compliant browsers that can handle the nice aesthetic effects, those are made available without interfering with the content itself.

This philosophy has the unfortunate side effect of making things look unseemly in certain old browsers (most specifically Netscape 4), whose support for style sheets are limited or poorly implemented. Other web sites gets around this issue by designing in hacks in order to support the older, non-compliant browsers. This, however, causes other problems and is against the spirit and intention of web design. USCHO therefore has decided to design with an eye towards the future, instead of the past.

Q: I am interested in writing/working for USCHO. What do I do?

A: USCHO is always looking for talented people, whether it be writers, designers or programmers. Send a resume and message to the Editor.

USCHO also offers an internship program where students can earn school credit. The USCHO internship consists of being an arena reporter for one particular team. For more information about employment or internships please write to USCHO's staff.

Q: I am interested in advertising on USCHO. Who should I contact?

A: Advertising opportunities exist in all parts of the site. USCHO reaches tens of thousands of readers each day during the season. To reach this targeted audience, send a message to the Ad Sales staff, or explore our marketing opportunities by going to our ad sales area.

Q: I have a favorite player. Can you send me pictures of him/her? Do you have additional information about him/her?

A: Please contact the individual schools for that kind of information.

Q: I am looking for a job as a coach/referee/goal judge/etc... Can you help me?

A: Those types of positions are filled by the schools or conferences. Please contact them. Also, try the new USCHO Classified Section (coming soon).

Q: I found a mistake on your site. How can I get this corrected?

A: USCHO strives for 100 percent accuracy, but, being human, mistakes happen. Please alert us to any mistakes you find by sending a message to the Editorial Staff.

Q: One of the scores is wrong on the results pages. How do I let you know about it?

A: Send mail to the Stat Crew. We will try to get the error corrected as soon as possible. Please include your source of information.

Q: What is your opinion on recent news or game happenings?

A: USCHO staff writers or editorial staff members will present opinions from type to time, either in editorial pieces or as part of their regular weekly columns. Please check our News/Features page for the latest work from our writing staff, or check the archives for past articles. Otherwise, try discussing the topic on our Message Board. Messages to USCHO staff should be used for questions specific to the site, not general hockey questions.

Q: How do I participate on the USCHO Fan Forum? Or, I am having trouble using the Fan Forum.

A: Please see the Fan Forum FAQ, specifically the area on Problems.

Q: I am having trouble voting in the "Question of the Week" feature. It always appears as if I have voted, even if I haven't. What's going on?

A: USCHO's "Question of the Week" feature tracks IP addresses to determine who has or has not voted. Thus, if you, along with a group of other people, are part of a group that uses a proxy server to connect to the Internet and one of those other people votes in the QOTW feature, your browser will not allow you to vote.

Most likely, there isn't much we can do about it at this time, but you may want to contact your local IT consultant/administrator for more options.

Q: Can I submit a question for the "Question of the Week" feature?

A: Sure. Send your suggestion to the attention of: Question of the Week. We will give your suggestion the proper consideration. There is no guarantee we will use your suggestion.

Q: When is the latest USCHO.com Poll available?

A: The latest poll is released by 8 p.m. ET on Monday, each week during the season until the start of the NCAA Tournament.

Q: Who votes in the poll?

A: There are 40 voting members to the poll, comprised of coaches, scouts and media members. Each conference is represented equitably on the poll. The names of the voting members are kept confidential out of respect for the privacy of the voters.

Q: How many teams are in the NCAA hockey tournament? How are those teams selected?

A: There are 16 teams in the Division I tournament, 9 in the Division III tournament, and 4 in the Women's Division I tournament. Teams are selected by a combination of automatic qualifiers and a selection committee. Schools gain automatic qualification, in most cases, through winning their own conference's postseason tournament. The remaining slots are filled by the selection committee.

In Division I, the process of choosing teams for these extra slots is determined by use of a mathematical algorithm. USCHO has attempted to mimic this process with its PairWise Rankings. For more information on the PairWise Rankings and the selection process, see our FAQ on tournament selection.

Q: Who is on the selection committee?

A: To see a list, see the NCAA Tournament page for each classification: Men's Division I, Men's Division III, and Women's Division I.

Q: Can you send me a media kit/media guide?

A: USCHO is a news organization. It is not affiliated with any school and does not have a media guide. USCHO keeps a pretty extensive collection of records, old stats, and team information within the pages of the web site.

Q: I know a potential student athlete who wants to play college hockey. How does he go about getting noticed by Division I programs?

A: Please see our FAQ on Recruits and Recruiting.

Q: Why aren't there any game recaps for my favorite team?

A: USCHO has a well-rounded staff of game reporters that attend a number of games each week. Obviously, however, they cannot be everywhere. In those instances, USCHO tries to obtain game reports from stringers or the school's themselves. We make every effort to get a report filed on every game. USCHO already has the best coverage in terms of quantity and quality than any other news source, but we won't rest on our laurels.

If you know of a good story at your favorite school, or know someone interested in helping us provide better coverage of your school, feel free to write to our editors.

Q: I know someone who played college hockey several years ago. How can I find out information about him/her?

A: Try contacting the school they played for. Go to the team's page using the drop-down menu on the left, then click the link for the "official page." You can also try the excellent site, HockeyDB.com.

Q: Where can I find a listing of televised hockey games?

A: The best way to find this information, is by using this search engine. In 2004, USCHO began maintaining a partial TV list.

Q: There used to be a listing of next year's recruits for a particular team. What happened to it?

A: An excellent list of incoming recruits is maintained meticulously by Chris Heisenberg. See his page for the current list.

Q: I remember seeing a weekly television show about college hockey. Was that USCHO? Is it still on?

A: The show, called "College Hockey U.S.A.," originated out of Minneapolis and its host, Jim Rich, did some writing for USCHO, but the two were not affiliated. The show no longer airs.

Q: I subscribed to your magazine and I have a problem. Can you help me?

A: Until 2003, USCHO was not affiliated with a college hockey magazine. There have been a variety of publications in the past that you may be confusing USCHO with. In 2003-04, USCHO did partner with Hockey Media Group to publish USCHO Magazine. Try contacting the magazine editors.

Q: I read an article at USCHO several years ago. Can I get a copy of it?

A: Visit our archives for a list of available past articles. USCHO and its writers maintain copyright over all published work. Copies can be made for private and other fair use only. If there are any questions, please review U.S. copyright law.

Q: I have created a Web page for my favorite team. Could you add a link to it?

A: USCHO does not currently keep a list of all independent Web sites. A gentleman named Eric Carlson maintains an exhaustive list of college hockey-related sites. Try searching Carlson's site.

Q: I want to link to USCHO from my website. Can I have permission? Do you have any images or graphics for me to use?

A: A link to USCHO from your web site is allowed and certainly encouraged. The use of USCHO graphics or images is strictly prohibited under U.S. copyright law. To obtain a photograph, you should contact the Media Relations department of the school where the picture originated. If it's an USCHO photo, contact us for permission to use it.

Q: Where can I find a list of basic rules (e.g. icing, offsides) for hockey? How are the college rules different from the NHL?

A: The NCAA site has college rules in PDF format. You can also find NHL Rules or USA Hockey rules.

College rules differ in few ways. The biggest difference between the college and NHL rules is, in college, they play "without a red line." That is meant figuratively. It means you are allowed to pass over two lines, whereas in the NHL, passing from your own zone, over your blue line and the red line, to a teammate, is considered a two-line, or offsides pass. College players are also required to wear face shields or cages. There are other minor differences.

Q: Where can I find out what the signs are the referees use for the various penalties?

A: Try this site.

Q: I am interested in getting hockey started at my school. How should I go about this, and who should I talk to?

A: You need to talk to the athletic department at your school. That's the only place to start. They'll tell you what you need to do, or why it's not possible at this time.

USCHO Issues | NCAA Issues | Tournament Selection | Recruiting | PWR Explained | D-III PWR Explained | Fan Forum Posting Guidelines | Privacy Policy


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