OK, with the announcement of the forfeits, here's a look at what the
HE standings would look like before and after the forfeits, if the ADs
decide to award the points to the teams:
 
BEFORE
3/4/94                 Hockey East                Overall
                       GP  W-L-T   Pts  GF-GA  || GP   W-L-T    GF-GA
                       ===============================================
 1  Boston University  22 17-4-1   35  110-62  || 32  24-7-1   156-89
 2  Mass Lowell        23 11-6-6   28   86-75  || 33  18-8-7   143-108
 3  Northeastern       23  9-9-5   23   93-94  || 33  17-11-5  144-139
 4  New Hampshire      23 10-11-2  22   87-90  || 33  19-12-2  137-115
 5  Providence         22  9-11-2  20   73-101 || 32  14-15-3  115-133
    Maine              22  8-10-4  20   87-74  || 32  13-15-4  129-112
 7  Boston College     22  7-11-4  18   81-91  || 32  15-13-4  135-118
 8  Merrimack          23  6-15-2  14   75-105 || 34  14-18-2  123-137
Maine forfeited three Hockey East wins to Providence because of
Maine's use of an ineligible player.
 
AFTER
3/4/94                 Hockey East                Overall
                       GP  W-L-T   Pts  GF-GA  || GP   W-L-T    GF-GA
                       ===============================================
 1  Boston University  22 19-3-0   38  110-62  || 32  26-6-0   156-89
 2  Mass Lowell        23 13-6-4   30   86-75  || 33  20-8-5   143-108
 3  New Hampshire      23 12-9-2   26   87-90  || 33  21-10-2  137-115
 4  Northeastern       23 10-8-5   25   93-94  || 33  18-10-5  144-139
 5  Providence         22  9-11-2  20   73-101 || 32  14-15-3  115-133
 6  Merrimack          23  8-13-2  18   75-105 || 34  16-16-2  123-137
    Boston College     22  7-11-4  18   81-91  || 32  15-13-4  135-118
 8  Maine              22  2-19-1   5   87-74  || 32   5-26-1  129-112
Maine forfeited the following games due to use of an ineligible player:
* 3 wins to Providence (6 pts)
* 2 wins to Merrimack (4 pts)
* 1 win, 1 tie to Boston University (3 pts)
* 1 win to Northeastern (2 pts)
* 2 wins to New Hampshire (4 pts)
* 2 ties to Mass Lowell (2 pts)
* 1 win to Illinois-Chicago (nonconference)
* 1 win to Ferris State (nonconference)
 
PLAYOFF PICTURE
Nothing would change for two teams: BU and Lowell.
 
Suddenly, all home ice spots would be decided.  By virtue of receiving
points by forfeit, NU and UNH would clinch home ice.  Which team would
finish ahead of the other would be yet to be determined.
 
Other than that, Merrimack would come out the big winner.  Before,
Merrimack had clinched last and was headed to BU for the first round,
where they have never won.  If points are awarded, they would pick up
4 pts to BC's 0 and move into a tie for 6th with the Eagles, and
Merrimack wins the tiebreaker (2-1-0 head-to-head).
 
In effect, BU would possibly host one of three teams instead of two:
Maine, BC, or Merrimack, depending on the HE ADs' decision (and the
weekend results).
 
Now we wait to see what happens.
---                                                                 ---
Mike Machnik                                          [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc.                                  *HMM* 11/13/93
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