There were doubters when the night began. Looking at the teams, one very prominent Tomcat inquired of Rocky if the teams were chosen by a person or if the Tomcat Algorithm was used. Rocky confirmed the teams were selected by the algorithm. Here is what this genius piece of code created for the night:
White Sequencers – Falcon, Kamikaze, Chevy, Tonto, Animal, Hurricane, Cribz, Soupy, Snowpants
Black Iterations – Bender, LaBamba, Killer, Green Giant, Jingles, Shack, Bullwinkle, Matador, Rocky
What is the Tomcat Algorithm you ask?
During the pandemic. While the Tomcats were shutdown, Rocky enlisted some computer engineers to develop code that could be fed a list of Tomcats and use a rating system devised by Rocky to select the most even teams possible for a night of two-team hockey. Each year, the player ratings need to be updated based on how the person’s game changes, what their top skills/weaknesses are, their age, etc. The code makes sure each team is balanced with play makers, scorers, big shooters, lockdown/shutdown defenders and balance between the pipes. Once the final list of players is confirmed, the names are fed into the algorithm and two teams are generated.
To date, the algorithm has been very accurate. Rocky only uses on nights he is there as he likes to see when teams are picked by a person, how it compares. It is considered ongoing validation by not using the algorithm on those nights.
So back to this past Tuesday….once the boys had on their colored shirts, there were skeptics over the team balance., mostly saying the Black team was clearly stronger.
Game 1 started off with Black getting a big lead, and Rocky feared the algorithm may be failing. However, the game ended in a 7-7 tie, with Black squeaky out a victory in the 1-minute OT period. 8-7 final.
Game two was more back and forth with white winning 9-8 after each team scored late to make it a nail biter.
In the end, the real winner was the algorithm. Despite early read on the teams, the algorithm clearly creates two even teams. “And the First Star (le premiere etoile) goes to number 3.14159…The Tomcat Algorithm!”
Windsor Tomcats 