Ken Johnson wrote:
 
> I won't question that the Hockey East schools have overall good academic
> programs that would be well worth attending in their own right.  I will
> question the assertion that Hockey East and the ECAC are on equal academic
> footing when it comes to recruiting players for Div. I Hockey.  Last I
> looked, Hockey East had significantly lower academic restrictions for their
> hockey players.
 
        Looked where?  Show me the facts you looked at.
 
        And what about *once* the player is at the school?  What are the
grade point averages of the ECAC players?  Hockey East lists every
player with an average of 3.0 or higher for the two semsters they
play hockey.
 
        Also, what about graduation?  How many players graduate.
 
        You can not use *just* admissions to judge the academics for the
schools.  You need to know all the facts, including majors, GPA,
graduation rate.
 
> I've been following eastern college hockey for many years and I can't
> remember a post-split ECAC team that was cited for academic improprieties,
> but Hockey East's Maine quickly comes to mind as using athletes of dubious
> academic standing (and in fact has been cited by the NC$$ for
same).
 
        I was hoping that a Maine person would answer this, but as none have
so far, I will.  I find using Maine both unfair to the school and
Hockey East.
 
        First, except for Jeff Tory, who Shawn Walsh played despite a
question regarding his academic standing, I know of no other players
who played despite dubious academic standing.  The problems at Maine
all appear to steam from the administration of the athletic
department, not the student-athletes.
 
        As for Hockey East, you can not use one school to make a blanket
statement.  No matter what occured at Maine, it can not be used as an
example to all Hockey East teams do the same.  I know that Merrimack
and BU have both suspended players from the hockey team in regards to
academic problems.
 
Sean Pickett
Go Boston University Terriers
1995 NCAA, Hockey East and Beanpot Champions
BU Hockey:  http://www.tiac.net/users/spickett/hockey.html
E-mail: [log in to unmask]