DURHAM - After holding out hope his co-captain could return for the second semester of his senior season, University of New Hampshire hockey Coach Dick Umile said yesterday that will not happen.

And, instead, defenseman Joe Charlebois has played his last game as a Wildcat.

"He is ineligible based on NCAA standards," Umile said. "He is in school at this time, and he's practicing with us, but he's ineligible to play. It's unfortunate, he's a great kid, and we'll move forward."

Umile indefinitely suspended Charlebois two weeks ago for what were termed "academic considerations," and Hockey East's reigning Best Defensive Defenseman has since missed three games while the team waited to see where Charlebois stood academically when classes restarted at the University on Tuesday.

The coach said throughout the wait he believed there was a slim possibility the 22-year-old blue liner could be reinstated in time for this weekend's home-and-home set with Boston University, but those hopes were dashed on Tuesday night. Before practice yesterday Umile still hadn't informed his team of the decision, so when word first reached sophomore forward James van Riemsdyk via a reporter's question, his stunned look and momentary speechlessness may have said something about how much Charlebois will be missed.

"That's a tough blow," van Riemsdyk said. "He's been a huge part of our team, especially this last year and a half since I played with him. He was starting to come into his own really this year and be a huge leader for us on the ice, so that's obviously going to be a huge loss.

"You can't really have one guy to replace him. It's going to take a lot of guys just stepping up and taking bigger roles on the team."

In Charlebois's absence, freshman Damon Kipp has become a defensive mainstay - having played in each part of UNH's seven-game unbeaten streak - while Mike Beck (one game) and Matt Campanale (two) have split the duties as the sixth defenseman since Charlebois was first suspended.

The Wildcats still have a solid foundation on the blue line, where Kevin Kapstad, Jamie Fritsch and Nick Krates have all been regular contributors for more than a full season, and freshman Blake Kessel has stepped in effectively this year. But it will nonetheless hurt to lose the physical presence of the 6-foot-1, 219-pound Charlebois, who was a sixth-round draft choice of the Chicago Blackhawks in 2005, and a plus-41 throughout 127 collegiate contests.

"He's a veteran guy. It hurts in a lot of ways," Umile said. "He's a great kid, he's well-respected in the locker room, he's got an awful lot of experience."

There are no plans to replace Charlebois with another captain, so those duties will officially fall solely on senior Greg Collins - who has worn the "C" all season - though neither Umile nor his players said they were concerned about a leadership void. Charlebois will continue to be a presence at practice (which he rejoined Monday), and the club still has five seniors in addition to Collins, so the 'Cats are confident there'll be enough voices and examples to guide them where they want to go. Charlebois's just won't be one of them, at least on the ice during game day.

"It's just going to take one other guy to step up, and we have confidence in those other guys on defense," Kapstad said. "I'm sure it will be fine."