Real-Life Math
It is a busy week for the National Hockey League (NHL) team that
employs you as their sports equipment manager. On Tuesday 2 players were traded;
on Thursday 1 of your star players was injured in a game and will be out for
6 weeks; on Saturday 1 player was sent to the farm team and 2 farm team players
were called up. You're usually busy during the season, but this week,
with helping players pack and unpack, you're really hopping.
However,
the recent personnel changes do not mean that you can shirk your regular duties,
one of which is making periodic hockey stick purchase orders. "I use math
a lot in my job, but probably the most important math I do is when I make
purchase orders," says Barrie Stafford. He ia a sports equipment manager for
the Edmonton Oilers. "With purchase orders, I'm spending the team's
money, so I have to make sure I get it right."
Hockey
sticks, like bats in baseball, are used in every game and practice, so they
often need replacing. "It changes all the time as players are traded or get
injured, but we order sticks approximately once a month. So, I'll take
a monthly inventory by consulting the players to check the quality and amount
of sticks we have and then make a purchase order based on that," says Stafford.
"When
we order sticks it's usually 2 dozen [24] at a time, but a lot depends
on the patterns, quality, or breaking of certain lines of sticks, so it changes
every time we order," he adds.
It is your job now to consult all your
players -- newcomers and veterans alike -- and find out how many sticks you
need to order.
After consulting all your players, you've compiled
the following list:
- Player 1 -- sticks needed: 24; Brand: Easton; Model: Hat Trick
- Player 2 -- 24; Easton; Sharpshooter
- Player 3 -- 12; Easton; Goalie
- Player 4 -- 24; Sherwood; XJY2000
- Player 5 -- 24; Sherwood; XJY2000
- Player 6 -- 24; Nike; Excalibur
- Player 7 -- 12; Nike; Enforcer
- Player 8 -- 24; Bauer; Supreme
- Player 9 -- 24; Canadian; Heavy T5R
- Player 10-- 12; Titan; Deluxe
- Player 11 -- 24; Koho; Lemieux
Sticks for NHL players are all custom-made, but the
prices vary based on the brand and model of stick. Your job now is to figure
out what your hockey stick purchase order will cost.