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Austin Plevy has apparently left the Merrimack College hockey program before even suiting up in a game for Mark Dennehy's Warriors. The Langley, British Columbia native was considered a key recruit for Merrimack considering his offensive skill on a team in desperate need of some scoring punch.
As first reported by Mike McMahon of The Mack Report, Plevy left Merrimack sometime last week and played in an exhibition game for the Brooks Bandits in the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) over the weekend. Plevy had enrolled at Merrimack and taken summer courses with several other incoming freshmen.
A '94, Plevy has one final season of junior eligibility. He will likely finish out this season in the AJHL before joining another NCAA team to begin the 2015-16 season. According to National Letter of Intent rules, Plevy would lose a year of eligibility for not playing with the team he signed the NLOI.
McMahon wrote a very scathing commentary on the situation. As he points out, Merrimack needs to hold firm to the NLOI agreement. The word commitment doesn't seem to mean what it once did.
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Jeff Cox covers college, junior and high school hockey, NCAA recruiting and NHL Draft prospects. Follow him on twitter @JeffCoxSports.