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

[Sean Pickett]

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

https://www.uscho.com/2020/01/30/as-...t-be-in-peril/

From the article: "According to multiple sources with knowledge of the process, a faction of athletic directors is trying to move the current 11-team conference away from a standalone league and into an all-sport conference."

So, how much of a faction? Four of 12? Do we know if any of the founding 5 members are for this? Do we know if the founding members gave themselves permanent veto rights?

Boston College is mentioned as possibility going to the B1G if the league broke up, but why? The B1G doesn't have a women's league so BC would then have to find a home for their women's team. Why split them up?

And why discount Holy Cross' membership in the women's league? If you do that then don't you need to do the same to UMass and UMass Lowell?

If I recall correctly one of the reasons Atlantic Hockey split from the MAAC was because the hockey only schools had no votes, or limited votes, on hockey matters, while the non-hockey playing MAAC schools had full votes. However, I'm not certain and would appreciate hearing from anyone who does know.

Sean

[Groot]

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

That article seems like a lot of rumor-mongering. BU's split with America East was a little sloppy right? A BU fan might be able to correct me. BC will never play under an "America East" banner. I don't think any of the bigger schools would ever do that. Anyone in a bigger conference for other sports like BC, UMass, Providence, UConn would never want to affiliate with America East. My fear would be a giant split if that happens.

America East:
UMass Lowell
New Hampshire
Maine
Vermont
Merrimack
???? would need a 6th team for an autobid. Let's have fun and say Sacred Heart or Holy Cross because they are D1 schools closer to America East level or maybe Canisius, Niagara.

This America East nonsense would breakup the league.
New Hockey East:
UMass
UConn
BC
BU
Providence
Northeastern

[Agganis]

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

That article seems like a lot of rumor-mongering. BU's split with America East was a little sloppy right? A BU fan might be able to correct me. BC will never play under an "America East" banner. I don't think any of the bigger schools would ever do that. Anyone in a bigger conference for other sports like BC, UMass, Providence, UConn would never want to affiliate with America East. My fear would be a giant split if that happens.

America East:
UMass Lowell
New Hampshire
Maine
Vermont
Merrimack
???? would need a 6th team for an autobid. Let's have fun and say Sacred Heart or Holy Cross because they are D1 schools closer to America East level or maybe Canisius, Niagara.

This America East nonsense would breakup the league.
New Hockey East:
UMass
UConn
BC
BU
Providence
Northeastern

Congratulations to the "fraction of athletic directors" trying to make the AEHC for moving their schools to a much worse situation for hockey, while leaving the non AE schools in a potentially stronger situation. This scenario would be a hilarious self own.

And yes there was a ton of animosity between BU and AE when BU left in 2013.

[J.D.]

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

Ya I can't see the push to be under America East coming from BC who is in the ACC in other sports. Is the UVM guy leading this campaign? What is the endgame? This isn't meant to be UVM based but is it a woe is me we can't compete let's split the league up? Not getting the full picture here.

[J.D.]

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

Jeff Schulman. Probably got the idea from Sneddon!

[kdiff77]

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

I hope they just leaked this information to gauge public reaction, and will take the resounding negative response as a clear sign that this is truly an unbelievably stupid idea.

I hope.

[Snively65]

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

FWIIW, faction, or fraction? Agreed, really stupid idea. Who would ever pursue such a stupid idea...... oh, wait......

[Nick Papagiorgio]

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

Wow... a lot to unravel here with this latest development.

Honestly, Bertagna or no Bertagna, this league is clearly losing its way going back to when we started expanding with a gd team from Indiana. I think we can all agree on that. There doesn't seem to be a great sense of alignment (even under the pretense that these are just rumors) between all institutions in this league, whether that be presidents, ADs, and the league offices itself.

One thing we constantly are hearing a lot of whining about is how we want to be more like the NCHC in regards to the "online/television platforms"... that seems to be a consistent theme of discontent. I'm no expert there so IDK what the deal is. Is it possible? Is the NCHC different than HE in that regard and they have an advantage?

College hockey used to be great. I don't know why we keep letting people ruin it. This fairly recent thing of hiring these MBA-types to run athletic departments and conferences is not a good turn of events on the whole.

[NCAA watcher]

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

Chasing dollars, envious of others making more, all the while pricing themselves out of their core fans and the new ones.

Then write an article about how attendance is down. Well, if its significantly cheaper to watch on internet, and it costs students too much to go to games, then your fan base stagnates.

People watching their product shrink, and thinking the solution is to price it higher seems.... shortsighted.

Here's the root of the problem, as described in the College Hockey News https://www.collegehockeynews.com/ne...d-Interest.php

After years of increased attendance and interest, college hockey has slipped the other way. It's a problem because the infrastructure was set up under the assumption the gravy train would keep running. Sellouts at the Frozen Four became a foregone conclusion. New arenas were built on campus, bigger and more beautiful than ever before, under the assumption the good times would keep rolling. Salaries went up.

This fairly recent thing of hiring these MBA-types to run athletic departments and conferences is not a good turn of events on the whole.

Not sure an MBA is the problem. MBAs understand supply and demand and falling demand.

This summer, when it was announced that Bertagna’s contract would not be extended at the conclusion of the 2019-20 season, Vermont athletic director Jeff Schulman, then the chair of the Hockey East executive committee, acknowledged the media platform and revenue growth for the league are important.

moving the NCAA tourney away from sites further raised the costs to real fans. Step one to generating intensity is to return to the campuses.

Schulman, a 1989 Vermont graduate, was a four-year letter-winning defenseman on the men’s hockey team. He assisted on one of the most famous Vermont hockey goals ever when the Catamounts defeated eventual national champion Harvard in the ECAC Semifinals at the Boston Garden in 1989. Following the season, Schulman was chosen by the Boston Bruins in the 1989 NHL supplemental draft.

After graduation, Schulman was selected for the prestigious Asa Bushnell Internship with the ECAC office in Centerville, Mass. During his one-year internship with the ECAC he assisted in event management and publicity for the conference.

Following the ECAC, Schulman was an assistant athletic director at Bates College from 1990-1993 prior to being hired at Vermont.

[Sean Pickett]

FWIIW, faction, or fraction? Agreed, really stupid idea. Who would ever pursue such a stupid idea...... oh, wait......

Sorry, I mistyped it in my post. Still, it sounded to me like a minority of ADs.

Sean

[Sean Pickett]

And yes there was a ton of animosity between BU and AE when BU left in 2013.

Yes, the other AE schools were upset when BU announced it was leaving the league and refused to let any BU teams participate in postseason play. BU asked for the league to allow them to, but the league refused and BU accepted it (unlike Maine back in 1994 when HE banned them from the postseason).

Sean

[amkirby10]

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

It seems to me like it has to be one of the AE schools that is driving this, because otherwise it wouldn't really make sense. I also don't see Maine as being the leader of it, since there's basically no other realistic conference for them to play in besides HE, and they were a founding member, though I might be biased. UConn is leaving AE, and Lowell and UNH are both also founding members of HE. So that probably leaves Vermont as the ones most likely leading this charge, though there's obviously no way to know at this stage. Schulman was also the one quoted in the article most prominently, FWIW. I just don't understand what's to be gained by ditching a prestigious brand name in the hockey world like Hockey East. If they want a better media infrastructure a la NCHC, they could easily invest in it and create it without ditching the label, I'd imagine. I just don't see what's to gain.

[Sean Pickett]

I also don't see Maine as being the leader of it...and they were a founding member...and Lowell and UNH are both also founding members of HE.

While I don’t think it changes your argument, only UNH was a founding member of Hockey East. Maine and UML were the first 2 schools to accept invitations to join the league.

Sean

[Split-N]

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

Last time I looked, the NCHC was a hockey-only league. So, certain parties want to be more like the NCHC but also want to take down an equally prestigious hockey-only league? Given what we think we know, something about this doesn't compute.

[amkirby10]

While I don’t think it changes your argument, only UNH was a founding member of Hockey East. Maine and UML were the first 2 schools to accept invitations to join the league.

Sean

Thanks Sean, my mistake. Perhaps I should have said "have been in the conference since its formation".