College Hockey:
Northeastern suspends Cronin, assistant amid investigation

USCHO Staff Report • Feb. 18, 2011

Northeastern has suspended coach Greg Cronin and assistant coach Albie O’Connell indefinitely amid an investigation into potential NCAA violations.

The school is looking into the possibility that Huskies coaches violated telephone and text message rules in recruiting, issues that were discovered during routine internal compliance monitoring, the school announced Friday.

Assistant coach Sebastien Laplante will lead the team, the school said. The Huskies play a home-and-home series against No. 1 Boston College this weekend.

“We are taking this action now to reinforce a culture of integrity within our department,” Northeastern athletic director Peter Roby said. “We are committed to operating an athletics program that is reflective of the values of the university we represent. It is imperative that we conduct our activities in full accordance with NCAA and conference rules. We are dedicated to that effort, and we are taking all appropriate steps to ensure that is the case.”

The university said it is working with its all-sport conference, the Colonial Athletic Association, in the investigation.

UPDATE, Feb. 19: Northeastern is on probation with the NCAA through April 23 stemming from recruiting violations by the school’s men’s basketball team. That punishment was handed down in 2009, although it is unclear how or if it will impact the hockey investigation.

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Joe
Cronin was around violations at maine and CC also when he was an assistant So it shouldn’t be a surprise to Northeasterns AD.
- db
  But that doesn’t mean he was a part of those violations at Maine and CC. He clearly saw what happened there as a consequence
  - Hebruce
    Your joking right? Not saying he was acting alone at Maine, but clearly he was part of the violations. The problem is really the NCAA. Come on, texting recruits??? These “rules” are a bit antiquated don’t you think? Also, i am sure many other coaches are doing the same thing. So you have to believe that someone ratted on them.
    - mninnyksma
      all D1 colleges/universities require that all coaches submit call logs to make sure that NCAA rules are being followed. routine compliance checks would find any potential violations and would not require someone to “rat” on coaches.
  - 18SecondsBeforeSunrise
    FACT: The violations at UMaine occurred BEFORE Cronin arrived. I’m not in any way defending Shawn Walsh’s actions during this time, but you should get your facts straight before you condemn Cronin. He clearly had nothing to do with Maine’s violations.
    You also should wait to find out what he is guilty of in the current situation at Northeastern. If he is guilty of committing NCAA violations, you can have your fun ranting and have actual facts to rattle on about.
Keith
A former Maine coach cheating? No way! Some things will never change.
- Larry Joe Bird
  Yes, because Maine is the hotbed for cheating…really Keith?! Maine messed up once and paid for it…let it go man. So sad that you have to live in the past forever…
LDM34
Maine did have a bad run but has since worked very hard to turn that image around. Coach Walsh learned the hard way, learned being the operative word, and Coach Whitehead seems squeeky clean, maybe too much so for some of the fans. On the other hand those of us with children who have been DI athletes most often want the coach to be the leader, on and off the field.
BUSucks
I’m guessing everyone who is so quick to jump on the Maine connection routes for teams that lost to Shawn Walsh….
Wtkelly_97
Where was this outrage when Umile/UNH got caught for recruiting violations?
- Bob
  Umile/UNH weren’t “caught”. They realized the violation and brought it to the attention of Compliance.
Why wait til Beanpot loss?
The hockey coach suspended is just a diversion away from the hoops team that is at the core of the investigation based on the article. Also, the AD would have taken the credit and been on the winning podium if NU scored the Beanpot OT goal. The AD is not managing the ship and should be in the hot lights.
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