An article in today's Bangor Daily News, by Larry Mahoney ... "The University of Maine hockey program, needing to replace 8 seniors including 7 forwards, has received verbal commitments or national letters of intent from 5 forwards and the coaches are awaiting word from the highly sought Ferraro twins, Peter and Chris. "In addition, redshirts Michel Latendresse, a forward, and Jack Rodrique, a defenseman, should be eligible next season. "Forwards Paul Kariya, Brad Purdie, Barry Clukey, and Mike Santonelli had previously announced their intentions to attend Maine and a recent addition has been Brad Mahoney, a 6-foot-4, 200-pounder who played at Tabor Academy in Marion, Mass. "Kariya and Purdie have signed letters of intent while the other 3 have verbally committed. "Kariya heads the list of newcomers after being selected the British Columbia Junior Hockey League Player of the Year. He is a finalist for Canadian Tier II Player of the year honors. "The 5-foot-11, 165-pound Kariya, a native of North Vancouver, BC, played in 41 games for Penticton and notched 45 goals and 87 assists. His plus-38 was highest on the team. He had 11 power-play goals, 4 short-handed goals, and 7 game-winners. "He was the only Tier II player on the Canadian Junior National Team in the World Junior Championships - the others were Major Junior A or college players - and was one of the youngest at age 17. "Kariya had 44 goals and 71 assists as a 16-year-old for Penticton 2 seasons ago en route to being named the MVP of the Interior Division of the British Columbia Junior Hockey League He was 1 of 3 finalists for Tier II Player of the Year 2 years ago. "Purdie finished with 27 goals and 36 assists in 47 games for Weyburn in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League despite suffering a broken jaw. He missed some games and played several others with a football-type mask. "Clukey was Waterville High School's (Me) scoring phenom (70 goals, 46 assists this season) and the all-time national schoolboy scoring leader (356 points), Santonelli had 28 goals and 38 assists in 30 games for Tabor. "Maine will graduate players who accounted for 35% of its goals and 31% of its assists this past season." Wayne Smith The College Hockey Discussion List administrator BITNET/CREN: wts@maine internet: [log in to unmask]