Greg Gdowski writes:
>But the Boston Globe had an interesting story on the game. They interviewed
>Kariya since it was one of his last games before leaving for the
>Canadian olympic team. They asked him if he would return to Maine or
>to the NHL (following his 4th round draft pick) following the Olympics.
>His comment was simply, "I dont know."
 
A couple of weeks ago, I had heard (rumor!) that the Ducks were offering
him $10 million for three years.  I don't know how credible this is...but
I would expect them to try to lock Kariya up for a lot longer than 3
years, unless they are not sure how he'll turn out.  IF this is true,
I would think it would be difficult for him to turn down the money.
 
>What does the Hockey-L think of a Soph... taking off for the NHL
>and not completing their degree. Considering the current situation of
>other players and their eligibility what does this say about Maine...
 
First, let's remember that Kariya isn't just a hockey player.  If that
were true, he could have gone someplace else to improve his chances
hockey-wise (or signed right away and taken the bucks).  He's got one
of the higher GPAs among Hockey East players, so the things he says
about education being important to him are clearly true.
 
But with the situation he's in, I don't think he should be criticized
if he leaves early to sign.  You can ALWAYS go back to school.  But
ten million bucks (or whatever) doesn't come along every day, and what
if he were to get seriously hurt after returning to Maine and the
Ducks withdrew their offer?
 
I'd take the money.  I don't know anyone who wouldn't.  And ever since
I saw John Carter almost suffer a career-ending injury in 1985, I
never have been able to second-guess anyone who signs when they do.
Carter passed up what was reportedly a million-dollar offer with
Boston to return for his senior year in 1985-86.  He was to be the
first in his family to graduate from college.  2/3 through the
year, at Yale, he tried to make a move 1-on-1 against a Yale D and the
guy hit him low with his shoulder right on the knee.  Carter ended up
in the hospital, where he was initially told by a doctor that he'd
never skate again.  He had to be restrained by a cop.  Another doctor
did more work and told him that he WOULD play, and after a few weeks
of rehabilitation, he returned to the team and finished out the year,
then signed with Boston.  But things were quite scary for a while, and
he also did not sign for as much as had been rumored.
 
COLLEGE == MINORS?
Also, it has been my opinion for a while that major college hockey is
certainly a form of minor league, no matter what we say about it.  But
I don't have a problem with it because it's used that way by all sides
involved.  Players use it to increase their marketability and chances
at getting the big bucks.  NHL teams use it to get a player experience
and find out how good he is before having to commit any money to him.
And let's not forget the schools.  Many college coaches are also using
it as a training ground for bigger & better things (maybe not
intentionally, but they sure hope the pro offers will come along), and
the schools themselves (again, some - not all) gain prestige and
profits off the money that their teams bring in.  As long as everybody
realizes this is the way it is, then it's okay by me.
 
MAINE & ELIGIBILITY
As to the eligibility problems at Maine: I cannot believe that Walsh
or any of the people involved with the hockey program at Maine would
have intentionally tried to put players they knew were ineligible on
the ice.  But having said that, it also does not look good that the
program has had two of these situations to deal with in the last few
months.  So it's good to see that the school president takes it
seriously and has called for an investigation, whether or not there
was any actual wrongdoing.  This shows the integrity of the
administration.
 
Just like the Ingraham situation, this one is complicated and we keep
finding out new information.  But from what I have read so far, I do
not think that Walsh or Maine attempted anything underhanded here.  It
seems to me that at first, they thought there *could* be a problem with
Tory's transcript.  (thus the story that "Walsh knew there was a
problem.")  But Walsh also said his impression was that they had
information no one else had; perhaps that referred to information that
then led him to consider Tory eligible (after UAF/NMU believed him
ineligible and backed off).  After all, Maine claims that the NC$$
told them that the marks would be interpreted in such a way as to make
Tory eligible.  If true, they certainly seem to have a case.  Note
that Maine's story is backed up by Hockey East here.  (Wish I had the
commish on the air to talk about this...hopefully I can get something
Wednesday night when Merrimack hosts Providence, but I wouldn't be
surprised if he opts to not talk about it since it's still going on.
Still, tune in to see what happens. :-))
 
Another thing I am not clear on right now is, since Maine allowed him
to play the first three games this season, they clearly believed he
had to be eligible.  (Or else why play him at all - or why not play
him the whole season and just keep quiet?)  I wonder what it was
after the third game that led them to change their minds.  Was this
when they were told by the NC$$ that the grades were to be interpreted
differently than before?  Did Maine itself discover some new
information it didn't have before?
---                                                                 ---
Mike Machnik                                          [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc.                                  *HMM* 11/13/93
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