University of Maine hockey coach Tim Whitehead served a one-game suspension for a secondary NCAA violation during Friday’s Florida College Classic opener against Western Michigan in Estero, Fla.

Maine hockey associate head coach Guy Perron filled in for Whitehead behind the Black Bear bench.

Maine won 8-4.

Whitehead’s suspension was doled out by the NCAA last summer for a violation that was self-reported by the university.

Whitehead said he and Maine athletic director Blake James were able to choose a game in which to serve his suspension and they decided on the Western Michigan game in the Florida College Classic.

“I didn’t want to miss the season-opener so we arbitrarily chose this one,” said Whitehead.

Whitehead explained that sophomore center/defenseman Jeff Marshall actually began taking courses toward his college degree in Saskatchewan in the January-May semester of 2005.

“He needed to take 24 credit hours from January of 2005 through the first semester at Maine last season to be eligible. He needed three credits to reach the 24 so he took a [concentrated, three-credit] course at another local college [Husson College in Bangor] in January,” explained Whitehead.

“He got a ‘B’ in the course but they didn’t enter his grade into the [University of Maine] computer [to validate his eligibility] before he had played in a game,” added Whitehead.

James said Marshall “needed to be certified” before the game.

“He was certified a few days later,” added James. “We realized what had happened that evening and we reported it to the NCAA right away.”

Whitehead called it an “unintentional violation” and said he had complete confidence in his coaching staff.

“Guy has a lot of experience. Dan [Kerluke] will be on the bench with him and Grant [Standbrook] will be upstairs for the first period before coming down for the second and third periods,” said Whitehead.

Under the terms of his suspension, Whitehead couldn’t have any contact with his team or coaching staff from the time they reached the arena to the conclusion of the game.

He did attend the game.

Perron was the head coach of the Maine women’s hockey team the previous two seasons, compiling a 31-24-9 record. The Black Bear women set a record for wins in a season last year as they went 17-9-6.