Outaouais hockey league seeks culprit behind sneaky stats tampering

Someone has been modifying the results of hockey games in the Outaouais so players can avoid serving suspensions, according to a local hockey league for youth aged 8 to 21.

The Ligue de hockey régionale de l'Outaouais (LHRO) system was accessed three times — on Jan. 27, Feb. 1 and Feb. 17 — to change about 40 past and future games, the league announced this week.

"It is disappointing for us," league president Éric Vézina said in French.

"There is a bond of trust with the young [employees] ... Even if we were not robbed, it is disturbing to go back and set the record straight."

As the league deals with the aftermath of the changes, it has no clues yet about who may be responsible but is taking steps to ensure its season wraps up with no further complications.

What happened?

The changes were possible because LHRO staff share multiple accounts to access the computer system that records the scores of games and other statistics, Vézina explained.

"We noticed that changes were being made later than 11 p.m., which is not normal," Vézina said. "When we saw that matches were being changed in the future, we started to dig deeper."

They realized future games were being modified so it seemed like suspended players had already served their suspensions. One young player had been suspended for two games a few days earlier, but the computer system registered that he was eligible to return to the ice.

Other changes were also made to past games, which Vézina said was surprising.

"The results are there for wins and losses, but for the rest, we don't compile the best scorers or passers," he said. "If someone makes a change, it's for a personal reason."

Who's to blame?

Vézina said it took hours of work to reverse all the inappropriate changes, and staff were already busy with the end of the season approaching.

"I've been in the hockey world for 18 years. We've been using an electronic system for 8 to 10 years, and this is the first time we've seen a situation like this," he said.

Whoever accessed the system altered player statistics or scores for about 40 games, according to the league. About 30 of the games were affected the first time the system was inappropriately accessed by someone in the Masson-Angers region.

To ensure there will be no more unauthorized changes, Vézina said the Masson-Angers timekeepers and scorekeepers now have codes which are linked to their email addresses. The codes make it easy to identify the account from which changes originate.

The entire system will be reviewed after the season is over and before a new one starts next fall.

But finding out who made the changes this season will be challenging. Vézina estimated more than 100 young people and adults across nine associations in the region have access.

The LHRO is asking its members to send it any information that could help the league identify who's to blame.

"It's just about making people aware, telling them that these are things that are not done," Vézina said, adding anyone found responsible could face consequences, including suspension.