BU 4, at PC 0
at UNH 3, Maine 1
'Cats take the last game ever played at Lively Snively in front of
national Prime audience and wrap up 3rd. The Ferraros did play for
Maine, as did Tardif.
Mass Lowell 5, at Merrimack 2
Chiefs score 5 unanswered in 3rd to beat their Valley rivals.
BC 1, at NU 1 (ot)
With Merrimack's loss, BC clinches at least 6th and has a shot at 5th.
BC went 1-0-1 at NU's Matthews Arena this season and could draw the
Huskies in the first round. Look out.
Here are the standings. Games left to be played are Maine at BC and
PC at BU. Point totals reflect latest forfeits.
1 BU 40 pts
2 UML 32
3 UNH 28
4 NU 25
5 PC 20
6 BC 19
7 MC 18
8 Maine 5
All positions are determined except for 5th and 6th. PC finishes 5th if:
* PC beats BU
* PC ties BU and BC does not beat Maine
* PC loses to BU and BC loses to Maine
BC finishes 5th if:
* BC beats Maine and PC does not beat BU
* BC ties Maine and PC loses to BU
BC wins the tiebreaker with PC, head-to-head (3-1-0).
Quarterfinal matchups will be as follows:
#1 BU bye into semifinals
#2 Mass Lowell hosts #7 Merrimack
#3 UNH hosts #6 (BC or PC)
#4 NU hosts #5 (BC or PC)
The Merrimack at Lowell series is scheduled for Thur 3/10, Fri 3/11,
and Sat 3/12 if necessary. I don't have dates yet on the other two
series. All quarterfinal round (best of 3) games must be played to a
conclusion (no ties).
As some have posted, the HE ADs voted to accept the forfeits as handed
down by the NC$$ and also accepted the reinstatement of Pat Tardif's
eligibility. In addition, they voted to suspend Maine from
participation in the 1994 HE tournament. BU receives a quarterfinal
round bye and will play the lowest remaining seed in the semifinals
March 18th in the Boston Garden. The other six teams will play in the
quarterfinals.
It would still appear somehow possible that Maine could earn a bid
to the NC$$s based on its regular season performance sans forfeits. I
don't have any idea how this might play out, but it is possible though
unlikely.
The league has not made any official statement on the reasons behind
the decision to bar Maine from the HE playoffs.
My personal opinion is that I wish it did not have to happen. My
primary thought is of the innocent players and coaches at Maine who
were deprived of the chance to defend their HE title, and probably,
their national title. The only incident that I believe can be blamed
on the hockey program, the Tory case, was not enough at the time to
cause HE to take such an action. It is unfair in many ways that the
failings of the athletic administration at Maine were what brought
this about.
However, I can understand at least two possible reasons why it was
done:
* The league decided it was necessary to take such a stand to maintain
the integrity of the conference and its other members. I don't see
the decision so much as a punishment of the hockey program as I see it
being an indictment of the Maine athletic program as a whole. Whether
it is right to do this by punishing the hockey program is a question
left unanswered.
* Following from #1, whether this was a factor or not, the decision
does serve as a sign to RPI - a sign that the league considers it
important that the programs in the league follow regulations.
I am concerned about a few things, however. First, I am concerned
about this resulting in a rift between the people at Maine and the
other HE schools. I think it is very likely that Maine will see it as
an unfair action taken by the rest of the league in ganging up on
them. I do not believe that was the case, but the ADs seem to have
left themselves open to this charge. It already sounds from the AP
story as if Maine is considering legal action against Hockey East.
More importantly, I am concerned about the perception that will result
of the Maine hockey program. Dave Hendrickson and I were discussing
this at tonight's Lowell-Merrimack game, as we both heard guests and
callers on a local talk show tonight railing against the Maine program
for cheating, doing "anything it takes to win", etc. It is clear to
me anyone who knows the actual details of what happened cannot blame
the hockey program for 2 of the 3 incidents of ineligibility that were
revealed over the last six months. Yet, it was very disturbing to
hear a well-known Boston writer talk about a need to "suspend the
coach", etc. and he also intimated that the playing of Tardif in the
two games against BU, after the AD knew of Tardif's ineligibility but
BEFORE the hockey program knew, was a sign that there is something
rotten going on with Maine hockey. Journalists like him have built up
a certain credibility over the years and I feel strongly that it is
their duty to know the facts and communicate them. When Dave told me
how he wished he'd had a car phone so he could have called up and
taken these guys to task, I knew I wasn't the only one who thought the
tone of the show was extremely unfair.
Here, I should credit WLLH (Lowell) broadcaster Bob Ellis for
presenting a very thorough and fair analysis of the events prior to
tonight's game. Bob was careful to point out what actually happened
and took a strong stand in favor of the Maine hockey program. He also
came out and made it clear that the events of this season should not
diminish the accomplishments of last year's great team, and he said if
it had to happen, he only wished there had been a couple of years
between the championship and this so that people would not cast
aspersions on last year's team - against which there have been no
claims of impropriety. I saw Bob's comments as symbolic of the way
any true college hockey fan feels, and although I already had a lot of
respect for the way he promotes and feels about the game, I have even
more now.
Finally, although I know Maine coach Shawn Walsh has had a lot of
hurdles to jump since coming to Maine and has cleared them all, I have
to believe that this is the biggest. I also have to believe that he
is capable of it, and I wish him and the team the best of luck.
--- ---
Mike Machnik [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc. *HMM* 11/13/93
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