It wasn't until maybe the fifth or sixth straight Alaska Aces game decided by one goal recently that I noticed said occurrence -- The Blog is not often referenced for his razor-sharp mind.
In any event, the Aces have not played eight consecutive games decided by one goal, and that got The Blog to thinking: Is that a lot? Is that a team record? Do I have the necessary data to figure out whether that is a club record?
Turns out I have the results from all 13 Aces seasons in the ECHL, and it turns out that yes, until the Aces' current streak of eight games decided by one goal, the club had never in the regular season or playoffs had a streak of one-goal games longer than five. And that's out of 1,049 all-time ECHL regular season and playoff games for the Aces.
So, that got The Blog to thinking (so far, that's a lot of thinking for him), huh, wonder what the UAA record is for most consecutive games decided by one goal? Actually, because ties are still a thing in NCAA hockey leagues like the WCHA (UAA, UAF, etc.), which does not employ the shootout, I decided to see how many consecutive one-goal games or tie games are the most in Seawolves history.
Turns out that in 37 seasons -- and that's 1,295 total games -- UAA, like the Aces until recently had several times gone five straight games decided by one goal or a tie. But never more than five.
So, I'm thinking, relatively at least, why yes, the Aces' eight straight games decided by one goal (5-1-2, with one win in OT and one win in a shootout, and one shootout loss) is indeed a lot.