I. MAINE CASE IN NCAA REGISTER The hardcopy of the September 2, 1996 NCAA News arrived in my mailbox today. It includes the NCAA Register, which includes among other things, the Committee on Infractions' report on the infractions case concerning Maine. The NCAA's web site, http://www.ncaa.org/, does contain an online edition of the news, but as of this time, they have not added the Register yet. The Register that is online is still the August edition; presumably they will add the September Register sometime soon. The report is about two pages long, small type, and I will not reproduce it here. However, section III.C (additional penalties imposed by the CoI) answers the question we have been asking about whether Maine is eligible for the HE tournament and whose decision it is (NCAA or HE): "3. The institution's men's ice hockey team shall end its 1996-97 season with the playing of its last regularly scheduled, in-season contest and shall not be eligible to participate in any postseason competition. During the 1996-97 academic year, the men's ice hockey team may not take advantage of any of the exemptions provided in Bylaw 17.10.5.3." 17.10.5.3 is the bylaw that allows exemptions for hosting a foreign team, going to Alaska, playing in conference postseason tourneys, etc. This explanation makes it clear that unless Maine wins its appeal, the team cannot play in the HE tourney as a result of NCAA sanctions (and not any decision by HE). Also, as I believe some have suggested, Maine's schedule as I last saw it needs at least one change to account for an exemption that was to be taken. Maine was scheduled for 35 games before the report was issued, one a home game against Dalhousie in the JC Penney Classic. This was to be an exemption for hosting a foreign team. To comply with the sanctions, Maine will need to reduce its schedule by one game. Maine can continue to play Dalhousie in the tourney, but then they will need to cancel another game with someone else. Maine's NC schedule for 1996-97: @ Michigan, @ LSSU, Colgate, Alabama-Huntsville (2), Governor's Cup vs Lowell and UNH/Vermont (2), JC Penney Classic vs Dalhousie and Union/Princeton (2), Denver Cup vs Air Force and Denver/Yale (2). Total: 11 games. If the HE games and tournaments aren't touched, then the NC games against Michigan, LSSU, Colgate, and UAH seem likely candidates for cancellation. This isn't bound to make the team that has its game cancelled very happy, but something will need to be done (unless the appeal is successful). However, recall the case in DivIII a couple of years ago where Williams canceled games with RIT and Wesleyan, and RIT and Wesleyan both received forfeit wins *and* were able to schedule an additional game between themselves to make up for the game cancelled. Technically, I believe that if Maine cannot get any school to agree to cancellation, they could simply choose a game to forfeit and not play (could be a HE game), and they would be within the rules; the team would only play 34 games, and what counts is the games you actually play, not the ones you schedule. Still, I would expect that there will be one game cancelled and hopefully this will go smoothly. When the schedule was drawn up, there was no reason to suspect that exemptions would be affected. II. MORE FROM REGISTER The Register also contains details on secondary infractions and administrative reviews concerning various sports, some involving ice hockey. No names or schools are mentioned, but it appears that four reviews involved the Travis Roy situation and fundraising on his behalf; all were granted. Another review involved a SA who was ranked as a top 10 draft prospect by NHL scouting and as such, the NHL wished to fly him to the Stanley Cup finals to meet with the media. The SA had eligibility remaining and this was the first time such a SA had been ranked in the top 10. It was argued that this would benefit college hockey by exposing the professional community to the positive aspects of the college game. This request was denied. Again, no names are mentioned; could it have been Erik Rasmussen? Finally, an unusual case involved DivIII. In 1993-94, a SA played in a scrimmage (no officials, scoresheets, etc.) while enrolled at SchoolA, but he played for SchoolB's team (against SchoolA) because SchoolB did not have enough players due to illness. He did not play at all for SchoolA that year, and then he transferred to SchoolB in the fall of 1994. The petition was for an additional year of eligibility at SchoolB. It was granted because the scrimmage occurred before final cuts were made and the SA did not participate in any other contest for SchoolA. --- --- Mike Machnik [log in to unmask] *HMM* 11/13/93 ***** Unofficial Merrimack Hockey home page located at: ***** ***** http://www.tiac.net/users/machnik/MChockey/MChockey.html *****