Keith Carney was entering his Senior season at UMaine,but chose to tryout for the Olympic team instead. He signed a contract with the Sabres agreeing to join them after the Olympics. However,when Team USA decided to go with more veteran players in January,Carney was cut. It was a great surprise,since Keith was the leading scorer for the defense,and had played in the most games of any Olympic hopeful. I believe that he has spent time with both Buffalo (I saw him playing last week vs. the Bruins)and their AHL affiliate. A side note on Keith is that one of the most emotional moments of the season for UMaine this season was playng vs. Team USA,with Keith as THEIR captain. The game was played in Portland,ME and Keith received a Standing "O" for over a minute! He then faced off against long-time friend Scott Pellerin in the ceremonial Face-Off(conducted by UMaine benefactor Harold Alfond) at cen ter ice. Early in the First Period both Scott and Keith were already into the flow of the game,when a the puck came loose along the boards,and Pellerin went in and gave the USA player one of his usual devastating checks. Only after he had returned to the bench did he realize that he had leveled Carney!Scott "apologized",and Keith returned the favor by leveling Scott in the third! To sort of sum up;the loss of both Carney and Brian Straub(graduation)was supposed to devastate the Bears this season,but the play of UMaine's "No-Name" defense has been spectacular! The team misses Keith,but UMaine is so filled with talent that we don't "miss" him. Does that last statement make sense? Anyway,Go Bears! The seeds are coming out soon. Speculation around Alfond has been that we'll be playing Wisconsin/UNH winner. JSH FORSYTH NYA '91 UMO '95 UMAINE #1 (Go Blue Devils) Hobbes: Why do we play War,not Peace ? Calvin: Too few role models!! Hobbes: Kind of a stupid game,isn't it ?