At 2:18 PM 12/23/95, Ryan Robbins wrote [on INFO-HOCKEY-L]:
>...
>     HE Commissioner Bob DeGregorio told the NEWS the conference
>won't make a decision about Maine's status in the playoffs until
>the NCAA rules on Maine's report, which was delivered to the NCAA
>Monday. Maine officials said Thursday they expect the NCAA to make
>a ruling soon, possibly in January.
>     DeGregorio said he thinks Maine will play in the HE tournament
>because the league allowed UMass-Lowell to compete in the
>tournament in 1992 even though the NCAA barred UML from its
>tournament that year for violations.
>     In 1994, the league sought to ban Maine from the tournament,
>but a Maine Superior Court judge granted Maine an injunction
>against the league. The court ruled that the league's bylaws did
>not prohibit teams from the playoffs for misconduct.
 
This is of particular interest to those of us who have been wondering what
HE's response might be to the situation.
 
First, it is important to note that although he is commissioner, Bob
DeGregorio does not speak for the league athletic directors here.  Any
decision on Maine's status for the 1996 HE tournament would be made by the
league's nine ADs.  DeGregorio would have one vote in such a decision since
he is AD at Merrimack.  It was the ADs who voted in 1994 to ban Maine from
the 1994 HE tournament.  DeGregorio can only offer what he believes to be
the way the ADs would vote - of course, he probably has a pretty decent
handle on it, but that doesn't mean things won't change.
 
It is still interesting to read that he believes the league would allow
Maine to play this time.  Why?  Because of the league's action in 1994, and
because unlike 1994, there is no hope of Maine going to the NCAAs.  Even if
Maine were to win the tournament, the automatic bid for HE's tournament
champion would then be rendered null.
 
Some may wonder if the opinion DeGregorio expresses indicates that the
league feels differently about the action it took in 1994 and the legal
battle that ensued, and that it wishes to avoid another such battle with
all of the negative publicity it could once again bring.  I don't know.
 
I think it is more likely that he considers the climate to be different now
than two years ago, when the ADs explained their vote by saying that they
believed that Maine's program still had some work to do to get under
control.  Maine still has some work to do, but they have made great strides
since then.
 
An interesting situation could arise if Maine were to win both the regular
season and tournament titles.  Then any HE team that made it to the NCAAs
would have to qualify as an at-large team.  I do not know if the two team
per conference rule would apply here since both of HE's two bids would be
null.  I also wonder if the rule would apply if even one bid is nullified
by Maine winning one of the titles.  My guess is neither case would affect
the rule and thus HE would still be guaranteed two bids, because this is
still the case in any conference where the same team wins both titles.
 
Either way, it looks like the NCAA selection committee is going to have a
lot to talk about.  The rest of DivI play will be even more interesting as
many teams fight it out to obtain the bid that Maine would probably have
received.  And in the East, there will be the added interest in which team
will obtain the first round bye as one of the top two seeds along with BU,
since Maine seemed to have the inside track on that too.
 
---                                                                   ---
Mike Machnik                   [log in to unmask]            *HMM* 11/13/93
>> Co-owner of the College Hockey Lists at University of Maine System  <<
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