BU defeated Priocxx  Providence tonight 6-1 ast the Terriers scored four first-period
golas and the Friars mailed it in from there. Threr was nothing on the line in this one
and the last 40 minutes were garbage time.
 
        Which was quite surprising to most everyone (and woke the rest up in this snooze-a-thon)
when inxx an innocouous looking Shawn Bates penalty in the PC zone late in hthe third period
turned into a glove-droppin' anfd fist flyin' brawl. When PC golaie Dan Dennis was drawn
into the fray that was occuring in the corner to his right, BU netminder J.P. McKersie went
skating the whole length of the ice and dove onti the pile and began punching away.
 
        The following players were assesed fighting game disqualifications at 14:24 of the
third period and are suspended for theuir team's next game:
 
For Boston U.--  J.P. McKersie, goalie
                 Jay Pandolfo, forward (38 points)
                  Chris O'Sullivan (17 points) defenseman
                 Doug Wood, defenseman (3 points)
 
        Because of the bye earned wheen Maine ws tossed from HE, the four will miss y the HE
semi-final game two weeks from now against the winner of the Northeastern-BC series.
 
        How ironic is it that BU's bye will come back and haunt them since theiy will lose these
players against a much tougher team in a much more importsnat game , than if they were to play
Merrimack or some such team next week.
 
        McKersie wasn't slated to play in the chamzxxx semifinal game anyway, it would be
Derek Herlofsky's turn. But losing a 38-point man and two defensemen in a fight in a meaningless
blowout is quite big. It amazes me that this late in the year these guys would do something
so stupid. There's no flip side to it, they should have just skated away. They didn't need to
assert them selves or stand up for themselves-- just skate away, the rest of the season is
to improtant to waste on needless extra-curricular activities.
 
For Providence-- Ian Paskowski, Brian Ridolfi, Scott Balboni, and goalie Dan Dennis.
 
        "It was absolutely ridiculous for our players to get involved," BU coach Jack
Parker said. "They wanted to fight. It was dumb, but they wanted to fight."
 
        "It was definitely a mental lapse for us to get in a fight like that," McKersie added.
 
        For a team that I think came a long way in the last month or so, it was
dissapointing for me to see these guys fail to recognize the big picture ahead in exchange
for a few lefts to the head.
 
        PC coach Mike McShane, who has masterfully guided his team to a seven game losing streak,
said he would forward a tape of the incident to the league ebecause he felt more players on
BU (Shawn Bates, Mike Grier_ should have been thrown out. Parker said no recourse exists for
him to do that.
 
        "We've had this happen before this year where a fight could've broken out, but we've had
the sense to stay out of it," BU captain Doug Friedman said. "This shouldn't have happened."
 
        I had a chance to talk with BU AD gary Strickler before the game on a number of topics.
Heres what he had to saty:
 
        On Maine's situation:
        "What concerned me was the whole image of Hockey east that grew out of several different infractions in the University of Maine hockey program, combined with other NCAA problems that
Maine was having that just gave the impression of a lack of institutional control. I was
concerned that they were damaging the image of our conference to have them further involved."
 
        "My feeling was that the actions in their cumulitive form were such that we just
had to respond to them. We just couldn't look away from them. What particularly concerned
me in terms of Boston University-- the people at Maine, I'm not sure who knew, but the
athletic director has said that ehe knew on the Thursday before they played BU, that one of
 their players, Patrif Tardif, was ineligible, and he still allowed him to comedown and play
in the Boston University series. I'm personally offended by that on behalf of our
institution."
 
        Strickelr also confirmed the following items:
        BU does not lose any revenue by not holding a quarterfinal series. All revenue earned by
the hosts in the quarterfinal round goes to the league, since the member institutions do not
recieve (scratch recieve, :()  member institutions do not pay dues.
 
        Hockey East expects to name a full-time permanent comissioner sometime within the
next year, at which time the league office will almost certainly ebe moved out of Orono and into
Boston.
 
        Just another night on the Hockey East beat. Later y'all.
neil Goldberg, Daily Free Press    [log in to unmask]