For Immediate Release
July 20, 2000
Contact:  Ken Taylor (732-738-5455,  ext 106)

MAAC Recommended for Automatic Bid to NCAA Ice Hockey Tournament

NCAA Ice Hockey Committee forwards recommendation to NCAA Championships
Cabinet

Edison, NJ (March 15) - The NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Committee
recommended the MAAC Hockey League receive an automatic bid to the 2001 NCAA
Division I Men's Ice Hockey Championship, MAAC Commissioner Richard J. Ensor
announced today.  The recommendation is expected to be approved by the NCAA
Championships Cabinet at its September 12-14 meeting in Atlanta, GA.

"It is great to hear that the NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Committee has
approved the MAAC Hockey's League's application for an automatic bid to the
2001 championship," said Ensor.  "The decision represents the culmination of
a lot of hard work by many MAAC administrators, coaches and student-athletes
to form the league and develop it to the point where the league was eligible
for a bid.  The bid should be a big boost for our fans and the level of play
throughout the league and will help coaches' recruiting efforts."

The league will determine its automatic qualifier at the 2001 Easton/MAAC
Hockey League Championship March 10-17, 2000.  The championship game will
take place at the UConn Ice Arena in Storrs, CT at a date and time to be
announced.

"This completes an incredible two year growth period for the league," added
Jack McDonald, Director of Athletics at Quinnipiac University and member of
the Division I Ice Hockey Committee. "The NCAA automatic berth endorses the
MAAC to our student-athletes, coaches, prospects, and our campuses.  On
behalf of the league, the MAAC looks forward to competing in the prestigious
tournament. I know the first MAAC participant in the NCAA tournament will be
an excellent representative of the MAAC to college hockey."

The MAAC Hockey League enters its third season of play in October.  The
league consists of eleven member institutions located across the northeast.
Three schools:  Canisius, Fairfield, and Iona are full members of the MAAC.
The remaining eight:  Army, American International, Bentley, Connecticut,
Holy Cross, Mercyhurst, Quinnipiac, and Sacred Heart, are associate members
of the conference.

The league has experienced unparalleled growth in its two seasons.  Holy
Cross won the inaugural MAAC Hockey Championship in 1999, while Connecticut
captured the 2000 title last March.  Quinnipiac has finished both seasons
with the best regular season record in the MAAC and has finished in the top
ten of the NCAA Division I Pairwise Rankings, one of the main selection
criteria used to select at-large teams for the NCAA Ice Hockey Championship.
The addition of Army for the upcoming 2000-01 season marks the third
consecutive year the MAAC Hockey League will increase in membership.

"This is a great step for the league," noted Bruce Marshall, head coach of
the 2000 MAAC Hockey League Champion University of Connecticut Huskies. "It
gives our student athletes an opportunity to compete in the NCAA tournament;
a chance that exists in every other sport here at UConn."

The 2001 MAAC Champion will compete in the NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey
Regionals.  The East Regional takes place March 23 and 24 at the Centrum
Centre in Worcester, MA.  The West Regional is March 24 and 25 at the Van
Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, MI.  The 2001 Frozen Four is April 5 and 7 at
the Pepsi Arena in Albany, NY.

--MAAC Hockey League--

Ken Taylor
Director of Ice Hockey and Special Events
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
(732) 738-5455, ext 106
www.maacsports.com
[log in to unmask]