Vancouver Canucks Prospect Patrick McNally Reinstated at Harvard

Vancouver Canucks prospect Patrick McNally has been reinstated at Harvard University following his involvement in the 2012 Harvard cheating scandal.

His name is now back on the Harvard Crimson roster and is listed as a junior.

The defenceman was removed from the roster in December after he was found to have been a part of a group of students who “plagiarized answers or inappropriately collaborated on the class’s final take-home exam.”

Canucks general manager Mike Gillis called his involvement a mere misunderstanding and the team expects him to be a better person after this ordeal.

“It was more of a misunderstanding. He’ll be reinstated this season,” Gillis said at July’s Canucks Summer Summit. “We still have a very high opinion of him. He went through an unfortunate incident with a number of other students, but he’s going to come through it and be better for it.”

The Canucks tried to convince him to turn pro after his suspension, but McNally wished to return to Harvard in the fall and did not want to lose his college eligibility.

“We talked to Patrick about coming out. We think he has great potential. He’s a good young player,” explained Gillis. “But he felt he had a commitment to the Harvard coaches and he wanted to see that through.”

His Harvard teammates Max Everson, Mark Luzar and Stephen Michalek were able to play junior hockey during their suspensions. However, McNally had to sit out the rest of the 2012-13 season because he no longer had junior eligibily at 21 years of age.

McNally ended up playing in only seven games of hockey in 2012-13 putting up a goal and two assists.