The NCAA rules Monday that freshman forward Nic Kerdiles is ineligible for one year.
Kerdiles, who was a second round pick of the Anaheim Ducks in the 2012 NHL Draft, sat out last Saturday's exhibition game against the U.S. U-18 squad due to the eligibility issue.
Chris Peters from the blog The United State of Hockey, reported that the investigation stems from pictures that appeared on Kerdiles' twitter account. Peters reports that, in a particular photo, Kerdiles is pictured at dinner with representatives from Pulver Sports, an agency firm whose niche is hockey.
Truthfully, there was much that head coach Mike Eaves could say.
"The NCAA is an amateur status issue. We're appealing this decision immediately," Eaves said. "We've been asked not to go into any more detail."
Kerdiles' future with the Badgers like rides upon the outcome of the appeal. The Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League currently own his rights, while the Muskegon Lumberjacks scooped up his USHL rights on Sunday.
As has been reported by Peters as well as Andy Johnson of Bucky's 5th Quarter, given Kerdiles professional prospects its is likely that additional turmoil would simply result in him choosing his options outside of the NCAA. Though, it is also likely that he will opt for the WHL.
In fct, according to Andrew Weiss of Future Considerations, if the situation has not reached a positive resolution by Thursday, Kerdiles will be leaving the team.
Since he has yet to see the ice in Madison, Kerdiles exact impact for the Badgers is mere speculation. But, there is no escaping that the ruling is significant.
"Hard to say because he hasn't been in the lineup, for one thing," Eaves said. "But you would project because, for example, where he was drafted, that he'd be an impact player. You can kind of deduce that where he would fit in and what we're going to miss from that."
Eaves stated that the matter has not yet changed how his team handles the issue of players using social media.
"I think we, as an athletic department, have talked about it, and we don't – we're not dictating right now that we do anything different," said Eaves. "We're relying on our own team to take care of that issue. Should it get to the point where it gets really bad, I think we might look at it again as an athletic department. But right now, team by team, we're monitoring that to make sure that doesn't get out of hand."
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