It was the NCAA who pushed the exemptions back, not Maine. The NCAA's rationale is that because the appeal is pushing so late into the season, and since Maine had their schedule set already. Maine scheduled 35 games before they were banned, and the appeal was originally supposed to be over in Novemember/December. That begs the question, would the NCAA do that if that meant Maine would have to schedule nine less games the following season to comply? Perhaps they would, why should they (NCAA) care? Another possible option is to simply sit out the Hockey East tournament, and save five games on your schedule. That seems drastic and forfeiting a game would be easier to me. As Mike points out, forfeiting a game opens a new can of worms, but should the appeal fail, and should Maine clarify that they must schedule for the nine games next year, then forfeiting a contest this season is the best solution IMHO. For those who may not understand exactly what we are talking about here. The NCAA allows member institutions in Division I hockey to schedule 34 games, with several "exemptions". Those exemptions are too numerous to list, but include games against Canadian teams, trips to Alaska, and most importantly the conference (Hockey East and NCAA playoffs). Also at issue is the fact that Maine is locked into 24 games already with the Hockey East schedule. If Maine had to take nine games off their schedule (to make sure they can play in both the Hockey East (5 games max) and the NCAA (4 games max) that would only allow them a schedule of 25 games next season. In other words, only ONE non-conference game outside of the Hockey East games. That would mean no holiday tournaments, including the Governor's Cup and J.C. Penney Classic, unless Hockey East sanctioned any of those games to be league contests, which I'd imagine is unlikely. I find it hard to believe that after all that has gone on, that Maine would be so casual as to not take the time to fully go over the rules and options prior to allowing this team to play 35 games and handcuff their team next year. --- Deron Treadwell ([log in to unmask])