Apparently, one way to stop Dartmouth's surging men's hockey team is to keep it off the ice. A week after crafting a perfect, four-point weekend at home against Rensselaer and Union, the Big Green had an unexpected weekend off after the opponent at hand, the University of Vermont, cancelled the remainder of its season.

UVM's decision is the culmination of several months of investigation stemming from an alleged hazing incident last September. In criminal charges filed by Corey Latulippe, a goalie who was subsequently cut from the Catamounts squad, the team's recruits were forced to perform a slew of improper and "degrading" acts, including drinking large amounts of alcohol and parading around naked while holding each other's genitalia.

Initially, the school conducted an in-house investigation, which resulted on Jan. 4 in rather lenient consequences, including a one-game suspension for each player. Those suspensions were to be staggered throughout the remainder of the regular season, thus not causing the team much harm.

But last Friday, the University's Board of Trustees conducted an emergency conference call after learning that players lied during the investigation. With 17 games already played and 15 games remaining, the Catamounts' season was terminated.

"My initial reaction is that it's a horrible thing," said Dartmouth head coach Bob Gaudet '81. "I think it's unfortunate for our league and for everyone involved. It's just unfortunate for everyone that's affected.

"I think it's really easy to sit back on this side of things and say that the punishment did or didn't fit the crime. But people who say that don't know the politics of the situation. This is something that's been going on for months, and it's going to have a significant impact on what should be a very fine hockey program."

How does this affect the Big Green (4-7-4, 3-2-3 ECAC)? Actually, Dartmouth is the ECAC team most affected by this decision -- except for the Catamounts, of course.

UVM is Dartmouth's traveling partner, meaning that every time the Big Green faces Cornell on a Friday night (as will happen this coming weekend), the Catamounts should be down the road battling Colgate. The next night, Dartmouth and UVM switch opponents, taking on the team that the other partner met the previous night.

Got it? That's why this decision impacts Dartmouth so much.

As it stands now, the Big Green will face a Cornell team Friday night that knows it won't have to play the next night, and thus can go "all-out" in that one game. On Saturday, a well-traveled and somewhat tired Dartmouth squad will take on a Colgate team that hasn't played in a week.

It's a tough situation to resolve, but something will be done. ECAC Commisioner Phil Buttafucco has scheduled a conference call with the league's 12 Athletic Directors for Monday morning. In it, the group will address a host of issues, including Dartmouth's dilemma.

"The issue that impacts us the most is how we can make this an equitable situation in terms of playing what amounts to more than half of our schedule," Gaudet said. "All I ask from a coach's standpoint is that we get treated as fairly as we can.

"As far as overall preparation, it's unfortunate that we didn't get to play this weekend. But it's your reaction that dictates what happens a lot of times. We had a real good practice on Saturday instead of playing. It would have been nice to play this weekend because that allows you to stay in game readiness, but we'll be prepared no matter what."

Several problems surround UVM's decision, not the least of which is the handling of the Catamounts' schedule. Some teams -- like the Big Green -- have already faced UVM once (Dartmouth tied the Catamounts, 1-1, on Nov. 20) and have one game left against them, while others haven't met them at all and consequently have two games remaining.

Thus, the most fair decision most likely will involve the Catamounts' entire schedule, though the exact details will have to be hammered out.

Other issues: can teams with holes in their schedules (i.e. everybody by Dartmouth) schedule nonconference games? Will the NCAA or ECAC get involved and deal out further punishments? Will the Catamounts' players be allowed to transfer and play for other schools? Will UVM head coach Mike Gilligan and AD Rick Farnham retain their jobs? Will the teams that have not yet hosted the Catamounts be compensated for their financial losses?

Clearly, what was supposed to be a mild, one-game weekend for the Big Green turned out to be the strangest weekend of the year.

Dartmouth, all alone in seventh place in the conference but just four points from the top spot, is currently scheduled to battle Cornell and Colgate this coming weekend in upstate New York. As of now, play will begin this Friday night at 7 p.m. in Ithaca.

Big Green notes: Only one week after being honored as the ECAC's Rookie of the Week, goaltender Nick Boucher '03 was dealt an even bigger honor last Monday: ECAC Player of the Week. Boucher, who has started eight of Dartmouth's last nine games, allowed just one goal in 120 minutes last weekend in wins over Rensselaer and Union, tallying 48 total saves in the process. Against the Engineers, he stopped all 20 shots he faced as the Big Green notched a 2-0 victory, the first shutout of Boucher's young career . . . . Next weekend, Dartmouth will take the ice against a pair of strong offensive teams when it travels to upstate New York. Cornell, the first stop on the journey, boasts the league's second-best scoring offense with 3.47 goals per game, while Colgate is not far behind at 3.39. If it's any consolation, the Big Green recently faced the ECAC's most explosive offense in the form of Rensselaer (3.80), and promptly shut down the Engineers in a convincing 2-0 win . . . . Curtis Wilgosh, a forward for the Big Green from 1995-99, will represent the Wheeling Nailers in the 2000 ECHL All-Star Game. The game can be seen this Saturday at 2 p.m. on ESPN2.