Greg Gdowski writes: >But the Boston Globe had an interesting story on the game. They interviewed >Kariya since it was one of his last games before leaving for the >Canadian olympic team. They asked him if he would return to Maine or >to the NHL (following his 4th round draft pick) following the Olympics. >His comment was simply, "I dont know." A couple of weeks ago, I had heard (rumor!) that the Ducks were offering him $10 million for three years. I don't know how credible this is...but I would expect them to try to lock Kariya up for a lot longer than 3 years, unless they are not sure how he'll turn out. IF this is true, I would think it would be difficult for him to turn down the money. >What does the Hockey-L think of a Soph... taking off for the NHL >and not completing their degree. Considering the current situation of >other players and their eligibility what does this say about Maine... First, let's remember that Kariya isn't just a hockey player. If that were true, he could have gone someplace else to improve his chances hockey-wise (or signed right away and taken the bucks). He's got one of the higher GPAs among Hockey East players, so the things he says about education being important to him are clearly true. But with the situation he's in, I don't think he should be criticized if he leaves early to sign. You can ALWAYS go back to school. But ten million bucks (or whatever) doesn't come along every day, and what if he were to get seriously hurt after returning to Maine and the Ducks withdrew their offer? I'd take the money. I don't know anyone who wouldn't. And ever since I saw John Carter almost suffer a career-ending injury in 1985, I never have been able to second-guess anyone who signs when they do. Carter passed up what was reportedly a million-dollar offer with Boston to return for his senior year in 1985-86. He was to be the first in his family to graduate from college. 2/3 through the year, at Yale, he tried to make a move 1-on-1 against a Yale D and the guy hit him low with his shoulder right on the knee. Carter ended up in the hospital, where he was initially told by a doctor that he'd never skate again. He had to be restrained by a cop. Another doctor did more work and told him that he WOULD play, and after a few weeks of rehabilitation, he returned to the team and finished out the year, then signed with Boston. But things were quite scary for a while, and he also did not sign for as much as had been rumored. COLLEGE == MINORS? Also, it has been my opinion for a while that major college hockey is certainly a form of minor league, no matter what we say about it. But I don't have a problem with it because it's used that way by all sides involved. Players use it to increase their marketability and chances at getting the big bucks. NHL teams use it to get a player experience and find out how good he is before having to commit any money to him. And let's not forget the schools. Many college coaches are also using it as a training ground for bigger & better things (maybe not intentionally, but they sure hope the pro offers will come along), and the schools themselves (again, some - not all) gain prestige and profits off the money that their teams bring in. As long as everybody realizes this is the way it is, then it's okay by me. MAINE & ELIGIBILITY As to the eligibility problems at Maine: I cannot believe that Walsh or any of the people involved with the hockey program at Maine would have intentionally tried to put players they knew were ineligible on the ice. But having said that, it also does not look good that the program has had two of these situations to deal with in the last few months. So it's good to see that the school president takes it seriously and has called for an investigation, whether or not there was any actual wrongdoing. This shows the integrity of the administration. Just like the Ingraham situation, this one is complicated and we keep finding out new information. But from what I have read so far, I do not think that Walsh or Maine attempted anything underhanded here. It seems to me that at first, they thought there *could* be a problem with Tory's transcript. (thus the story that "Walsh knew there was a problem.") But Walsh also said his impression was that they had information no one else had; perhaps that referred to information that then led him to consider Tory eligible (after UAF/NMU believed him ineligible and backed off). After all, Maine claims that the NC$$ told them that the marks would be interpreted in such a way as to make Tory eligible. If true, they certainly seem to have a case. Note that Maine's story is backed up by Hockey East here. (Wish I had the commish on the air to talk about this...hopefully I can get something Wednesday night when Merrimack hosts Providence, but I wouldn't be surprised if he opts to not talk about it since it's still going on. Still, tune in to see what happens. :-)) Another thing I am not clear on right now is, since Maine allowed him to play the first three games this season, they clearly believed he had to be eligible. (Or else why play him at all - or why not play him the whole season and just keep quiet?) I wonder what it was after the third game that led them to change their minds. Was this when they were told by the NC$$ that the grades were to be interpreted differently than before? Did Maine itself discover some new information it didn't have before? --- --- Mike Machnik [log in to unmask] Cabletron Systems, Inc. *HMM* 11/13/93 <<<<<< Color Voice of the (6-7-1) Merrimack Warriors WCCM 800 AM >>>>>>