There is no other way to look at it. Hockey East's decision Friday
to ban the University of Maine Black Bears from the league's
championship tournament is wrong.
A few years ago UMass-Lowell was caught by the NCAA for what the
NCAA calls primary rules violations. The Chiefs knowingly violated
NCAA regulations by giving gifts to players, in essence paying
them. The NCAA banned the Chiefs from the national tournament,
yet HE allowed them to play in the conference tournament. The
decision jeopardized HE's chances of being represented in the
national tournament.
This year HE is banning Maine from the tournament, even though the
NCAA has not banned Maine from the national tournament. According
to the NCAA, Maine's rules violations are secondary violations,
minor to the violations of UMass-Lowell a few years ago.
Think about it. UMass-Lowell knowingly broke the rules and was
allowed to play. Maine unknowingly broke the rules, self-reported
it, and is not being allowed to defend its conference and, in
essence, its national title. Something's wrong here.
The NCAA has said it was not the hockey program's fault that
Patrice Tardif played while ineligible. There was absolutely no
intention on Tardif's part, or of the coaching staff's part, to
circumvent the rules. Yet HE believes banning the Black Bears
from post season play is just.
All teams qualify for the tournament, regardless of league or
overall records. Yet Maine is being turned away because it would
look silly if an 8-27-1 team were to qualify for the NCAA
tournament. This reasoning is silly. If HE is afraid this might
happen, then why doesn't it change the playoff structure to
prevent teams with embarrassing records from having a shot at
the league title?
Another reason Maine is being left out in the cold is because it
would make HE look bad to allow a team that has had two violations
to get a chance to play in the national tournament. Never mind
UMass-Lowell was allowed to play a few years ago. Heck, this is
Maine, it might actually win the championship! What HE is telling
its teams is honesty is not the best policy.
Then there's the perception that Maine's athletic program might
be out of control and may be harboring more violations. The
chances of Maine having anymore NCAA rules violations are the
same as any other HE team.
Maine is in compliance with NCAA rules. There is absolutely no
reason for it to be banned from post season play. The team has
already paid a price for the violations - it forfeited more than
20 games. The players have already been hurt once, and rightly so.
But now the players are being slapped again.
This has nothing to with integrity of the conference. It has
everything to do with fear. Every coach, player, and AD in HE
knows Maine has the second best team in the league with the
Ferraros back and possibly Kariya next week. It is for this
reason the league wants Maine out of the picture. The league
is forgetting that every team makes the tournament, regardless
of record. The NCAA has not declared the Black Bears ineligible
for the national tournament, therefore it is inappropriate for
HE to make that decision.
If HE believes to allow Maine into the playoffs would be a
compromise of integrity, it should realize it has already
embarrassed itself by allowing UMass-Lowell to play. It should
also realize changing rules in midstride - banning Maine - is
just as good, if not worse than breaking rules. Change the
rules in the off season, but not now.
Go get 'em, Fred!
Ryan Robbins
Stodder Hall
University of Maine
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