Ryan Robbins already posted the major details about the most recent
development in the continuing drama that is known as UMaine athletics,
but I'd like to add a few more details and a few comments.
 
First, I want to make a brief comment about UMaine's President, Fred
Hutchinson.  People may look at the fact that several problems with
athleticsat UMaine have come to light during Hutchinson's brief tenure
and wonder if there is a connection.  There is.  But it is not a negative
one.  Hutchinson is the best president UMaine has had in several years,
he is not using this job as a stepping stone to get to the "next level",
he genuinely wants to make positive changes to the University.  He has
taken a no-holds barred approach that was unpopular at first but I believe
has shown results.  He is not only doing this on the academic front, but
also on the athletic front.  He is not allowing traditions or egos to stand
in the way of progress on campus, and he is getting results.  Everytime
he has had to give a press conference during the past year, his number one
concern has been "the efficiencyand integrity of the [athletic] program."
and if that means, as Ryan put it, heads must roll, then they will roll.
In the past week several posts have appeared on hockey-l with rumors
about illegal activities within the UMaine hockey program.  In recent
months the university has come under fire for several wrong doings, and
each time, Hutchinson has acted swiftly when all the facts were presented
to him.  Hutchinson is going to clean up the program, and hopefully put a
stop to the rumors (some true, some unfounded) that have been circulating
about UMaine athletics.  I think a lot more schools around the country
could use a man like him in charge.
 
End of "Fred Hutchinson for President of the Year" speech.
 
How this will affect the hockey program:
One Maine hockey player was found to be ineligible.  Unfortunately, the
player named was Patrice Tardif, who has endured more than his share of
heart breaks in the recent past and has risen to become the emotional
(and scoring) leader on the team.  Accordingto Hutchinson,"[He] played
by the rules" and "did nothing wrong", the fault goes to the UMaine
Athletic Department, not the students.  Too bad the students involved
are the ones who are going to have to pay a dear price for the incompetance
of the people in the Athletic Department.  Because Tardif has been named
ineligible, it is likely that UMaine will have to forfeit every game in
which he played (any of this sound familiar?).  It is unclear exactlyhow
the NCAA and Hockey East will handle this situation but its likely to
 
have a profound impact on the Hockey East standings and seedings for the
Hockey East Tournament, now only a couple of weeks away.I don't have
the stats sheet, but I believe Tardif has played in every game this season
for the Black Bears, which means they would have to forfeit the entire
season to this point, effectively placing them last in the league.
However, the Portland Press Herald article does paint a rather optimistic
picture, saying that UMaine would still qualify for the HE Tournament, and
if they won that, they would gain an NCAA automatic bid and the chanceto
win the title again.  I think the PPH is trying to sugar coat this story
just a tad.  They fail to point out that both HE and NCAA could bar the
Black Bears from entering their respective tournaments.All this kind of
makes the Jeff Tory incident look small, and it appears that the decision
by the HE AD's earlier this month to give 6 points to Providence will be
inconsequential since Maine would have to forfeit them anyway, and I think
PC would have gotten all 6 points in this situation anyway.
 
As for the integrity of Maine's program, that is shot for now.  The NCAA
is likely to begin (if they haven't already) a broad-sweeping investigation
into the Athletic Deptartment.  However, in the long run, I think that
the fact that this has come to lightwill be beneficial to the program.
For several people (myself included) the integrity of Maine's programhas
been in question for some time, even before the Cal Ingraham/Jeff Tory
fiascos, the Women's Basketball debacle and this most recent situation.
Hopefully this is a step in the right direction.  I only wonder how much
more will be found out in the coming months.
 
One other note, as soon as this came to light, AD Michael Ploszek and
others re-examined the roster of the 92-93 hockey rosterand found no
similar cases, so at least the the National Championship will remain
in Orono...for now.
 
John Forsyth
1991-93: 73-5-2..oh how the mighty have fallen.
UMaine/Team Canada: The Gold Medal Connection