When your team wins a game, you should be able to take the result, go right to the table and understand immediately where your team stands. Many times during the past season, the AP and USA Today had to revise the tables on a daily basis because they got either the number of points or the number of goals wrong. And it is not just a problem that occurs occasionally either. Winning team receives six points for a victory in regulation time or overtime. In games decided on shootouts winner receives four points, loser receives two.
Teams receive one point for each goal scored in regulation up to a maximum of three per game.
As everyone agrees, matches should be settled on the pitch and not via some artificial method such as penalties or shootouts. This current scoring system is broken and desperately needs fixing. Whatever combination of professional leagues we have next year MUST have another system. In 1994 we had an APSL Championship game between only the 3rd and 4th best teams in the league, and not the top two. In the APSL in 1993, for example, Montreal had more wins than either Toronto or Ft.