From Monday night's Elmira (NY) Star-Gazette:
 
     "Elmira College hockey player Mike McNamara, who suffered a
serious head injury in Saturday's NCAA tournament game at
Plattsburgh, was upgraded to serious but stable condition Sunday.
 
     McNamara, an Elmira College sophomore was hit head on at
center ice by Plattsburgh State defenseman Steve Ashe 5:28 into
the second period.  He landed on his back and momentarily went
into convulsions.  Team trainers and medical personnel on hand
rushed to the fallen player who became motionless.
 
     A crowd of 3,500 which had initially cheered the hard check,
became silent as McNamara needed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on
the ice.  He was carried off on a stretcher and taken directly to
the hospital.
 
     A Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital spokeswoman said late
Saturday that McNamara was being looked at by Plattsburgh
neurosurgeon Soham Patel, who was not available for comment on
Sunday.  The results of a CAT scan performed Saturday were
negative.
 
     Elmira College trainer John Oliphant said head injuries are
rare in hockey.
 
     "Merritt Spear, the Plattsburgh team physician said he had
never seen an injury like this and he has been involved with
hockey for more than 20 years," Oliphant said.
 
     "The blow that did the damage was not the player hitting
Mike, but Mike's head hitting the ice," Oliphant said.  "Mike did
not see the other player coming so he was not tensed up and when
he got hit, his feet went up and his head came down on the ice
very hard."
 
     Mike McNamara is a sophomore from Potsdam, New York,
majoring in education.
 
     ----Excerpted from articles by Mark Houck and George Hawke
of the Star-Gazette.
 
                                    Mark M.
                                    Cornell U.