This is in response to an earlier posting I had regarding SLU.
I'd posted the rumor circulated by the Watertown Daily Times
that SLU Coach Joe Marsh made his team skate after the first Clarkson-SLU
game. Skating a team after a game is a violation of NC$$ rules.
I made the posting the find out if anyone had heard Marsh's radio
show (where he addressed the issue) or seen anything further in
the Times.
 
It has come to my attention that some interpreted the article as
implicitly passing judgement and suggesting that SLU was actually
guilty of the chrages. In fact, the opposite was true. When I heard
that, I was quite skeptical for several reasons.
 
First off, Marsh is one of the most reputable and respected coaches
in the ECAC. Although I dislike the SLU team with a passion, I
certainly respect Marsh. Secondly, a few years ago, there were
similar allegations made about Clarkson coach Mark Morris (that
he skated a team after a loss). That rumor also received publicity.
It received publicity because it is a violation of the NC$$ rules.
That fact was made clear in the local media. If the SLU coaching
staff had been unaware before, they certainly knew of this rule
now. I profoundly doubted Marsh would do something he had to have
known was contrary to the NC$$ rules.
 
I tried to note my skepticism with a comment, "[Skating a team
after a game] is a clear violation of the nC$$ rules."
 
I was trying to imply that the violation is so obvious that
Marsh wouldn't have considered risking his reputation and SLU's
reputation by breaking it. However, I guess it could also be
infered as me passing judgement on the guilt of the program.
I guess I should have used "would be" rather than "is".
 
Now, onto the news. I spoke with Coach Marsh about this issue,
earlier today. He made several comments about this.
 
He said he was diametrically opposed to skating a team after a
game and did not do so. He said he was aware that it was a
rules violation. He also said he is also opposed to it because
he feels it would have had the opposite of the desired result.
 
He mentioned that, "[Clarkson-SLU] was an emotional game. We lost
to a good team."
 
He felt that if he had skated the team after, it would have been
viewed more as a punishment and have been counterproductive. He
said that better results are achieve when you fire up a team rather
than further demoralize them. Actually, he spoke a (relative) length
about this.
 
Marsh emphasized that he knew it was a rules violation and
made clear that the incident did NOT happen. He told me
that on Sunday, he spoke to the Times reporter and mentioned
most of the same things he mentioned to me. However, I have
yet to see a retraction of the rumor or any further comment
on the situation in the Times (says a lot about the Times, IMHO).
 
Just wanted to clear the air...
{{{{{{{{{{{{Let's go Tech}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}
BRI FARENELL             [log in to unmask]   GO ERIN WHITTEN!
Clarkson University '95        Glens Falls High '91      USA Hockey in '94!
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