Hockey East: 2019/20 season is Joe Bertagna's last as commish

[J.D.]

Re: Hockey East: 2019/20 season is Joe Bertagna's last as commish

Doesn't sound like Quinnipiac is interested.

Holy Cross is already in women's league so I would have thought they might have the inside track but them playing at the DCU Center would be a disaster. So really I think Sacred Heart could be the best choice if they continue the success they are having this year.

[DLG]

Re: Hockey East: 2019/20 season is Joe Bertagna's last as commish

agree with those choices
Quinnipiac has a beautiful arena and brings the NY market into play having had games televised on SNY cable
Sacred Heart is committed to a new arena but is averaging about 500 at Webster Bank
Holy Cross would be a fit but DCU center is awful

[sigx15]

Re: Hockey East: 2019/20 season is Joe Bertagna's last as commish

In York's postgame press conference after Merrimack, he discussed the playoff format and said how it's too hard to do a format with all 11 teams with Notre Dame leaving. I like the 8 team playoff but I'm sure some don't. If they were to add a 12th team, who would people choose here?

The 3 best fits in terms of money, location and feasibility are Sacred Heart (building 4,000 person capacity arena, qualification for hockey east), Quinnipiac (would need hockey east to waive their rule, arena is ~3,400) and Holy Cross (would probably need to utilize the DCU Center for a certain number of games to be allowed in or build a new arena). Holy Cross's women's team is already in the hockey east but the qualifications are much less stringent there.

Harvard would be the ideal candidate but they'll never leave the other Ivy's in the ECAC. Bentley's new arena is too small. AIC would need to build a new arena and commit the money for scholarships. Outside the box candidates are URI which would need a donor to fund a program and Babson or Middlebury, who probably has the donor base but not the student base.

My choices: #1 Quinnipiac #2 Sacred Heart #3 Holy Cross

[NU_Husky]

Re: Hockey East: 2019/20 season is Joe Bertagna's last as commish

Wouldn't this be fun?

Northeastern at the top aside, I'm here for absolute chaos

[BlackI]

HR would be so down for that!

I think a lot of fans would love that.

[HockeyRef]

Could you imagine all eight teams at the garden for playoffs in a one and done format. Now, that, would be a party.

HR would be so down for that!

[BlackI]

UNH fans can only imagine..🙄

Could you imagine all eight teams at the garden for playoffs in a one and done format. Now, that, would be a party.

[HockeyRef]

Can only imagine the Lowell Sun headline the following morning.

UNH fans can only imagine..🙄

[brassbonanza]

Re: Hockey East: 2019/20 season is Joe Bertagna's last as commish

Wouldn't this be fun?

Can only imagine the Lowell Sun headline the following morning.

[ticapnews]

Re: Hockey East: 2019/20 season is Joe Bertagna's last as commish

Talk about everybody gets a trophy! Are teams listed in order of tiebreaker?

No, it is random. I am not going to try to figure out the tiebreakers.

[jjmc85]

Wouldn't this be fun?

Talk about everybody gets a trophy! Are teams listed in order of tiebreaker?

[Sean Pickett]

Re: Hockey East: 2019/20 season is Joe Bertagna's last as commish

Finally, probably not feasible but give me more afternoon games. Tough to come back after a night game but use Sunday afternoons as a time slot. Really wish they would explore that.

Agree, would also appreciate more afternoon games.

75% of the Sundays during the season directly conflict with the NFL - not a chance it happens then. Late afternoon Saturday games are a much better option.

True, I guess try and utilize the Sundays post SB then. And incorporate Saturday afternoons when you can. Is it really too difficult to see more Friday night, late Saturday afternoon series' like BC and Merrimack just had? Start at 5:30 if you want. Just a thought.

Back in 2015-16, after getting numerous requests for more afternoon games, BU scheduled 5 Saturday games for 4:00 PM starts, while 5 other Saturday games were scheduled for 7:00 PM starts. Maybe an issue was they scheduled most of the afternoon games in the fall and not the winter, but between attendance and feedback they received BU stopped scheduling Saturday afternoon games. Here are the reported attendance numbers:
Saturday at 4 PM
5 games, 21,559 total, 4,312 average, 4,199 median
Saturday at 7 PM
5 games, 27,094 total, 5,419 avereage, 5,515 median

As can be seen the 7 PM games averaged almost 1,100 higher than the 4 PM games and the median difference was even wider; over 1,300 higher. There was discussion about the 4 PM games on the Boston University Terriers 2015-2016 Season Thread Part the 1st as differing views were given.

Sean

[ticapnews]

Re: Hockey East: 2019/20 season is Joe Bertagna's last as commish

Wouldn't this be fun?

[J.D.]

Re: Hockey East: 2019/20 season is Joe Bertagna's last as commish

True, I guess try and utilize the Sundays post SB then. And incorporate Saturday afternoons when you can. Is it really too difficult to see more Friday night, late Saturday afternoon series' like BC and Merrimack just had? Start at 5:30 if you want. Just a thought.

[brassbonanza]

Re: Hockey East: 2019/20 season is Joe Bertagna's last as commish

Nobody, not even UVM fans, needs to see the Catamounts in the playoffs.

On top of that, the battle for the #8 spot should come right down to the wire. Granted there will actually be a decent team that finishes 9th this year but I couldn't care less. The coach won't be happy but I think it's great. Adds more value to the regular season.

Finally, probably not feasible but give me more afternoon games. Tough to come back after a night game but use Sunday afternoons as a time slot. Really wish they would explore that.

75% of the Sundays during the season directly conflict with the NFL - not a chance it happens then. Late afternoon Saturday games are a much better option.