Pour un joueur canadien de hockey mineur, il existe un rapport étroit entre son mois de naissance et les chances qu'il aura de jouer dans une équipe de très haut niveau. Les joueurs nés dans les premiers mois de l'année sont avantagés. On attribue généralement ce fait au système de classification, dans le hockey mineur, qui groupe les joueurs en catégories selon l'âge. Dans cet article, nous commençons par un examen de la situation actuelle. Ensuite, nous montrons que le système de classification basé sur l'âge ne constitue pas une explication suffisante; il faut aussi compter avec une répartition qui s'opère très tôt (c-à-d. la division des joueurs en équipes représentatives et en équipes de ligue-maison.) Nous suggérons un système de classification plus équitable et, finalement, nous examinons les implications de politiques d'intérêt public.There is strong relationship between birthmonth and the chance that a Canadian minor hockey player will play at an elite level. Players born in the early months of the year have an advantage. This is generally attributed to the slotting system: the way in which minor hockey groups players into age divisions. In this paper we first review the evidence. We then argue that there is more to the explanation of this relative age effect than just the slotting system; it also depends on early streaming (i.e., the partitioning of players into representative and house league teams). We suggest a more equitable slotting system, and finally, we discuss public policy implications.

No abstract

No abstract

We de"ne a wash criterion as one where the decision-maker is indi!erent among the alternatives when they are compared on that criterion. In view of the Belton}Gear example and other such anomalies associated with the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), we ask whether eliminating a wash criterion will a!ect the overall ranking of objects. In the case where there is only one level of criteria, the rank-order of objects is una!ected by leaving out a wash criterion. However, in the case where the wash criterion is a subcriterion, the rank order may be a!ected by leaving it out. Scope and purposeA wash criterion is de"ned as a criterion where the decision-maker is indi!erent among the alternatives when they are compared on that criterion. We would like to think that the overall rank-order of objects would be una!ected in the case where the wash criterion is excluded. We give an example of an AHP hierarchy where this is not the case. In our view this presents another challenge to the AHP methodology.