What a major dissapointment this season has had to
be for the former Maine player. The hopes were
high for Amherst, but clearly they fell well short
of expectations. I'm sure Lovell wishes he hadn't
jumped ship and although he could be faulted for
this ... I'm sure no one, including the Maine
faithful could have wished this disastrous outcome
and ending to an otherwise stellar HockeyEast
career.
 
Here is a recent USA Today snippet on Lovell. I'm
not sure how much of this is true, it actually
states Lovell was suspended for taking a penalty
and I find that hard to believe. I thought it was
for some off-ice behavior. Well, anyhow ... here
it is.
 
TORMENTED TIM: In 1996, Tim Lovell transferred
from Maine to UMass-Amherst. Two years later, the
Minuteman senior center has endured an up-and-down
season, his first after sitting out 1996-97 to
focus on academics. Lovell began the season as the
co-captain and top center on a UMass squad
projected to contend for home-ice in the Hockey
East quarterfinals. And after scoring six points
in the first two games, Lovell was doing his
share. But he was held scoreless in 13 of the next
16 games, as UMass mustered only one tie against
11 league losses until a Jan. 30 win over
Providence. After UMass coach Joe Mallen benched
co-captain Brad Norton, the 6-6 blue-line behemoth
bolted for the IHL, leaving Lovell as the lone
captain. And when Lovell took a major penalty
against UMass-Lowell on Feb. 8, Mallen stripped
Lovell of his "C" and suspended him indefinitely.
After the Minutemen upset UNH on Feb. 22, Mallen
reinstated Lovell - sans the "C" - but the senior
still feels alienated. "I wish there had been an
alternate punishment," said Lovell, who has been
demoted to the third line since his return. "But
it's his team. It's his ship. He makes the
decisions."
 
HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey;  send information to
[log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.