James (Jak) Knelman has sued Middlebury College and coach Bill Beaney as a result of Knelman's dismissal from the team in January 2011.
Knelman played his high school hockey at Holy Angels and was a junior forward at Middlebury.
The suit, which seeks damages in excess of $75,000, alleges that Knelman was wrongly dismissed from the team after the night of January 15, 2011, when Knelman left an alumni hockey banquet shortly before it ended to spend time with his father, visiting for the weekend.
The suit alleges thatBeaney subsequently berated Knelman in front of the hockey team then suspended and later dismissed him from the team.
Knelman's suit, filed in the U.S. District Court in Burlington, Vt., says Middlebury "breached its contract with Knelman by failing to ensure that Coach Beaney treated Knelman fairly, ethically, with integrity and in good faith; by permitting Coach Beaney to arbitrarily and capriciously dismiss him from the Middlebury hockey team; and failing to adhere to NCAA Division III's requirement that Middlebury assure that the actions of its coaches and administrators exhibit fairness and honesty in their relationships with student athletes."
Knelman, who played two seasons with the Chicago Steel in the USHL, said he chose to attend Middlebury to further his ambitions of becoming a pro hockey player and to take advantage of the school's strong Environmental Studies program. He was an honors student.
In 12 games this past season, Knelman had three goals and five assists for eight points. The Panthers finished 11-8-6.
