From Ted Ryan on the Free Press website :
Touted freshman defenseman Trey Phillips will miss the first 15 games of the University of Vermont men's hockey regular season due to an NCAA eligibility issue, coach Kevin Sneddon confirmed Tuesday.
Referring to a statement from the UVM compliance office, Sneddon said, "Per NCAA rules, Trey Phillips is sitting a year in residency due to delayed intercollegiate enrollment and is not able to participate in competition until the completion of fall semester."
According to Sneddon, Phillips will be eligible once final exams for the first semester are completed. The Catamounts play a home-and-home series with St. Lawrence on Dec. 12-13 the weekend following finals, the first games Phillips can play.
Phillips will be allowed to practice with the Catamounts but he cannot travel with the team or compete.
"It has nothing to do with poor grades or anything like that. It has to do with a delay in his enrollment," Sneddon said.
Phillips, who attended several high schools during his junior hockey days, was delayed in taking all courses necessary to become an NCAA qualifier. A student-athlete must be an NCAA qualifier to receive financial aid through an athletic scholarship.
Phillips' arrival is expected to enhance Vermont's offensive production from the defenseman corps and he is projected as a key component to injecting potency into UVM's lackluster power play.
The resident of Okotoks, Alberta, has a sensational season in the Alberta Junior Hockey League a year ago playing for the Canmore Eagles. He scored 25 goals and 65 points in 58 games. He was named the AJHL's most valuable player, a rarity for a defenseman, and he was named the Canadian Junior Hockey League's top defenseman nationally.
Phillips was one of two UVM players not to dress for Sunday's exhibition game against Royal Military College. Forward Tom Forgione missed the game with a back injury and is currently listed week-to-week.
Sneddon also confirmed Tuesday that forward Kyle Reynolds is in his final year of eligibility. Reynolds missed the entire season a year ago with a severe injury but because he entered Vermont as a 21-year-old who had played junior hockey after his 21st birthday, the "NCAA clock" of eligibility had started the year before he joined the Catamounts.
Once the clock starts, a player has five years in which to play his four years of eligibility. Often when a player misses at least 80 percent of a season, the player can receive a medical waiver — a medical 'red-shirt' — and regain a year of eligibility. UVM forward Chris McCarthy, who graduated last year, received such a waiver and played a fifth year.
Sneddon said it was unlikely that Reynolds would file an appeal, making this his final season.
