One score from Wednesday ....
TOURNAMENT
ECAC Div. III North-Central-South
Championship
   Fitchburg St. 6, Assumption 4
 
And more on Maine ...
 
   BANGOR, Maine (AP) -- Maine's national champion hockey team
will be able to defend its Hockey East title because of a judge's
ruling Wednesday that forced the league to let the Black Bears
into its tournament.
   Within hours of a ruling from Superior Court Justice Robert
Browne, Hockey East scheduled tournament games between Maine and
Boston University for Friday and Saturday nights, university
officials said.
   Hockey East athletic directors had voted last week to bar
Maine from the tournament. The vote came after a team member,
Patrice Tardif, was found to have been academically ineligible
for much of the 1993-1994 season.
   Maine sought a temporary restraining order allowing it to
play, claiming that being suspended from tournament play would
injure the university and its hockey team players, both
financially and by limiting exposure to professional hockey
scouts and potential recruits.
   Browne noted that the championship tournament begins on
Thursday.
   "If this court denies the motion and it is later determined
that Hockey East acted improperly, there will be no remedy for
the harm done for the simple reason that the competition will
be over," Browne wrote.
   Hockey East had no immediate comment on the order.
   Frederick E. Hutchinson, president of the University of
Maine, said he regretted having to take court action against
the other schools in the Division I hockey league.
   "It was the only option available to the university ot protect
the rights and reputations of the students on the hockey team,"
Hutchinson said in a statement.
   "I believe that allowing the University of Maine hockey team
to play is the fair and sportsmanlike thing to do," he said.
   Maine's spring break began this week, but the hockey team
stayed to practice in the event that the Black Bears were allowed
into the tournament.
   Browne's ruling quoted Hockey East's memorandum to the court
as saying, "If Maine plays in the tournament, other Hockey East
teams who have competed fairly all season will be penalized."
   "This statement clearly is meant to imply that Maine has
not competed fairly," Browne said. "However, all violations
were reported and addressed by the NCAA's decision to require
Maine to forfeit games."
   "Although there may be some perceived unfairness in allowing
Maine to play in the tournament beginning March 10, Maine could
be appropriately sanctioned at a later date if the Hockey East
decision is subsequently determined to be valid,"
Browne said.
   The judge also said Hockey East's sanction of Maine was extreme
when compared to past cases. In the 1991-1992 season, a team found
not eligible to play in the NCAA because of recruiting violations
was still permitted to play in the Hockey East tournament, he said.
   Tardif was one of five graduate student-athletes who were
misinformed about the number of credits they needed in order to
play. That led to the suspension of the school's athletic director
and compliance officer.
   The NCAA ruled last week that Maine would have to forfeit
the games in which Tardif played while he carried fewer than
eight credits. But it reinstated Tardif for the remainder of
the season.
 
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|                   Lynn Burke    Newport News, Va.                     |
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