Acting Hockey East commissioner Bob DeGregorio said Monday the
league's athletic directors, sans Maine, will meet today to
decide whether to push forward in the University of Maine's
lawsuit against the league.
 
The league was taken to court by UMaine March 7 after the league's
athletic directors voted 5-2-1 to ban UMaine from the league playoffs.
A Bangor Superior Court justice granted UMaine a temporary restraining
order against the league, allowing the defending league and national
champion Black Bears to play Boston University on the quarterfinal
round. BU eliminated UMaine two games to none in the best of three
series.
 
A preliminary injunction hearing is scheduled for March 24 in
Bangor Superior Court. Last week Hockey East attorney Philip
Burling said a UMaine loss in the quarterfinal would render the
lawsuit moot.
 
However, DeGregorio told the Bangor Daily News Monday it is his
"gut feeling" the league wants to go through with the lawsuit
to prove it has the right to ban its teams from theleague
playoffs for breaching the league's code of ethics.
 
"Believe me, we love Maine, but we were trying to take a step to
help them," DeGregorio said.
 
UMaine spokesman John Diamond declined to comment until he meets
with Bangor attorney Paul Chaiken, who is representing the school.
Chaiken was out of town Monday.
 
In granting UMaine a temporary restraining order last week,
Superior Court Justice RobertL. Brown questioned whether HE
had authority to discipline UMaine as it did under its bylaws.
 
DeGregorio said there has been talk among the league's ADs about
expelling UMaine from the league, but that is not what a majority
of the league's members want.
 
Ryan Robbins
Stodder Hall
University of Maine
 
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