Current and former University of Maine hockey players have
told NCAA investigators they received extra benefits from hockey
fans and boosters, the Bangor Daily News reported Saturday.
     According to the NEWS, players received free meals,
transportation and lodging from fans.
     "We would occasionally go over to somebody's house for
dinner," Brad Purdie said. "It all seems very minor. But I guess it
all adds up in the end."
     Purdie will be a tri-captain for the 1995-96 season.
     NCAA rules don't prohibit players from receiving meals for
special occasions, like holidays or birthdays. Former UMaine
goaltender Mike Dunham said most of the violations occurred during
breaks.
     "I went to dinner with fans, usually during school breaks," he
said. "But it was a friendly thing. I think people felt sorry for
us because we were stuck on campus."
     One couple that belonged to the booster club lost its season
tickets for providing an unspecified extra benefit. Butch Furrough
of Hampden, Maine, is prohibited for life from buying season
tickets and associating with the team in any way because he failed
to cooperate with NCAA investigators.
     Furrough's wife, Nancy, is prohibited from buying season
tickets for three years. At first she refused to cooperate with
investigators, but then she relented.
     "I got what I deserved," Butch Furrough told the NEWS.
"However, my wife didn't deserve to be penalized."
     Nancy Furrough told the NEWS that the violation involved
"rental property" and utilities owed to her and her husband.