CANISIUS - RIT ALTERCATION - SUPPLEMENTAL DISCIPLINE

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HAVERHILL, MA - Robert M. DeGregorio, Jr., Commissioner for Atlantic Hockey and Gene Binda, Supervisorof Officials have reviewed the tapes from the altercation between Canisius and R.I.T. on Saturday, February 9. The two teams combined for a total of 251 minutes in penalties, which included misconduct penalties, fighting majors and disqualifications.  Commissioner DeGregorio has assessed additional penalties and suspensions under the Atlantic Hockey policy on Supplemental Discipline.

"Atlantic Hockey, the NCAA and the culture of collegiate hockey will not allow or condone fighting," states DeGregorio. "This was not representative of the student-athlete experience that Atlantic Hockey and its members are striving to achieve."

Additional games have been issued to the following players:

Canisius - Phil Rauch
Canisius - Taylor Anderson
Canisius - Jason Weeks
Canisius - Carl Hudson

R.I.T. - Tyler Mazzei
R.I.T. - Louis Menard
R.I.T. - Stephen Burns
R.I.T. - Ricky Walton

The supplemental discipline penalties will be served beginning with the next scheduled contest.

"We fully support the decisions made by the commissioner and his staff," says Bill Maher, Director of Atheltics at Canisius.  We have high expectations and standards for our student-athletes and in this case we failed to meet those standards.  We regret that this incident occurred, however, now that the punishments have been distributed, we are ready to move forward with the remainder of our season."

"It is with great regret that RIT and our proud hockey program played a role in this incident," comments Lou Spiotti, Director of Intercollegiate Athletic and Recreation at R.I.T. "It does not reflect well upon our student-athletes and staff, the Atlantic Hockey Association, and the game of college ice hockey. We are in support of the measures taken by the league office and will do everything in our power to prevent this from ever happening again. It is our intent to use this as a learning experience and move on with the remainder of the season as a strong partner in Atlantic Hockey."

The Atlantic Hockey Association arose when nine institutions joined together on June 30, 2003, to found a new Division-I men's ice hockey conference. The league currently consists of ten members: Air Force Academy, American International College, Army, Bentley College, Canisius College, the University of Connecticut, the College of the Holy Cross, Mercyhurst College, Rochester Institute of Technology and Sacred Heart University.