1. An ANN Approach to Predicting NHL Game Outcomes Erik Everson ECE 539 12/10/01

2. Problem Description NHL Background –Began in 1917 with 5 teams –Today one of the most popular sports in North America, with 30 teams Lack of accurate prediction system –Most systems adapted from other sports –Unique aspects to hockey

3. Data Acquisition Data culled from www.hockeynut.com, wrote PERL script to process html fileswww.hockeynut.com Used results of 3 seasons for training data (1997-2000) Testing data set from 2000-2001 regular season

4. Data Processing Basic MLP inputs –Wins, losses, goals for, goals against Additional MLP inputs –Home or away game –Tie games –Winning or losing in overtime vs. regular play

5. Data Processing (continued) Three possible outputs –Win, loss, or tie –Did not factor any overtime information into output Schedule abnormalities –Teams play 82-game season over 7 months, games occur on all days of week –Four NHL teams introduced since the 1997- 1998 regular season

6. Results Pending