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

[The Zlax45]

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

One thing I have always kinda liked in the ECAC is the whole travel partner thing. If Sacred Heart is currently the most logical choice to be 12th team, you could have:

Maine-UNH
UVM-UMass
UML-MC
UConn-SH
PC-BC
BU-NU

Longest trip would be roughly 3h 10m for both the Maine/UNH and UVM/UMass combos. Longest trip between travel partners in ECAC is 2h 25m between Quinnipiac and Princeton.

Would probably never happen when you factor in arena availability but if 2:25 is doable in ECAC, 3:10 wouldn't seem impossible.

In theory, you could put UMass, UML, MC, UConn, SH, PC, BC, BU and NU all into a blender and they would all be good enough travel partners with each other.

[J.D.]

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

I just think it's a cool format in an even numbered league where it seems like all their games are Friday/Saturday night. The Hockey East schedule is a little more wonky with arena conflicts etc. You're right though that it's more of a necessity in the ECAC.

[J.D.]

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

Although it's funny that Quinnipiac and Yale are not travel partners considering they are 15 minutes apart and Quinnipiac to Princeton is the longest trip.

[J.D.]

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

I would imagine the Big Ten is pushing its members about an 8th team. So odd when on the final night of regular season you have one team not playing. Same for Hockey East. Only two games on the final day of RS.

[TheRevengeance]

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

The Hockey East schedule is messed up because they messed up the transition plan when they removed the first round and presumably never fixed it because the coaches want to add said round back.

The travel partner thing probably hurts more than it helps, nobody wants to go somewhere else then Maine the same weekend, that's why they're already on a different schedule than everyone else as it is. Everyone else is a day trip and I prefer having my home games over the course of the whole year rather than 2 at a time on exactly 5 weekends. (For the initial travel partner schedule before accounting for playing against your partner or the Hockey East unbalanced schedule)

[J.D.]

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

That's fair. I wonder how ECAC fans feel about the format. Maybe it's the only format that makes sense for them. Anyway, really hoping that Metcalf can lead the way in adding a 12th team. I know York has mentioned it a few times. Would be nice to get back to a balanced schedule and then it seems like they would go back to all teams qualifying for tournament (not that I really care about that).

[J.D.]

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

I meant the RS schedule being more wonky than other leagues. Unbalanced because ND left but just in terms of playing random Tuesday/Thursday night games etc. UConn and BC arena situations play into that.

[J.D.]

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

I didn't realize the coaches want to add back that first round of playoffs though. Whoever finishes 9th this year will be calling for it.

[Chuck Murray]

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

I didn't realize the coaches want to add back that first round of playoffs though. Whoever finishes 9th this year will be calling for it.

No coach wants to be tagged with "missed the playoffs". Not conducive for job security, so no surprise.

The system as it is works well, and I'd be disappointed in the new commish if he rolled things back to the gone-for-good-reason MBPBEGAM "playoffs" round.

The fact these end-of-RS games really mean something this year, makes the case for staying status quo.

Even if it's UNH that gets "unlucky" this year, with a decent record, being on the outside looking in.

[Split-N]

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

… has anyone at URI, Stony Brook or Albany ever actually done anything to fuel the rumors? Do their club teams draw more than 1000/game? Is there even a realistic arena in play for any of them?

The URI situation is comparable to where Penn State was until Terry Pegula opened his wallet: Perennial power ACHA club program that has the look and feel of a varsity; a loyal fanbase, and a 2,500-seat on-campus rink that, while too small to meet HEA specs, could at least be a practice rink for a full-blown varsity program.

URI alums I've known over the years say prospective donors have always been there but there would be a Title IX issue to deal with and the long-entrenched hoops program supposedly isn't thrilled at the prospect of in-season revenue-producing competition. Much the same situation at Syracuse, from what I understand.

Sacred Heart potentially is a nice story but I'd be concerned about its ability to keep up in HEA resource-wise. (Yes, I know SHU plans to build an on-campus rink and is located in one of the most affluent counties in America.)

[Thiessen'sBetter]

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

No coach wants to be tagged with "missed the playoffs". Not conducive for job security, so no surprise.

The system as it is works well, and I'd be disappointed in the new commish if he rolled things back to the gone-for-good-reason MBPBEGAM "playoffs" round.

The fact these end-of-RS games really mean something this year, makes the case for staying status quo.

Even if it's UNH that gets "unlucky" this year, with a decent record, being on the outside looking in.

Agree with this. Even if they go to twelve I'd stay with the top 8 making the playoffs. It's a waste of time for everyone to have a team like UVM this year travel somewhere and get soundly beaten twice. Also, like Chuck said, the race to get into the top 8 has been great. I've scoreboard watched more in the last couple weeks than I have in a few years.

[Sean Pickett]

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

Sacred Heart potentially is a nice story but I'd be concerned about its ability to keep up in HEA resource-wise. (Yes, I know SHU plans to build an on-campus rink and is located in one of the most affluent counties in America.)

I looked at Sacred Heart's EADA numbers and overall they reported spending more on athletics than UMass Lowell, Maine, Vermont and Merrimack (in transition to DI) for 2017-18, but less than all of them on men's hockey. So it seems they have enough money to spend on men's hockey if they want to and building an on campus arena does appear to show a commitment to hockey. Furtermore, the article I read also quoted Bobby Valentine, executive director of SHU athletics, stating "Not only does it provide a fitting venue for what will soon be a national hockey powerhouse, but it creates a halo effect...". I think that can be taken as an indication of strong support for the men's program going forward.

Sean

[The Zlax45]

I meant the RS schedule being more wonky than other leagues. Unbalanced because ND left but just in terms of playing random Tuesday/Thursday night games etc. UConn and BC arena situations play into that.

The thing is UMass shares their building with Men’s and Women’s hoops and don’t have anywhere near the amount of midweek games that BC has

[Sean Pickett]

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

I meant the RS schedule being more wonky than other leagues. Unbalanced because ND left but just in terms of playing random Tuesday/Thursday night games etc. UConn and BC arena situations play into that.

The thing is UMass shares their building with Men’s and Women’s hoops and don’t have anywhere near the amount of midweek games that BC has

This season BC scheduled 2 mid-week games, one non-league game vs Yale and the upcoming game vs Merrimack. UConn had one at the XL vs Merrimack and a second vs Maine at Bridgeport. UMass had only one, the upcoming game vs UVM to end their home schedule. Last season BC had 3 mid-week games, UConn had 6 at the XL and UMass had 3. In 2017-18 BC had 2, UConn had 5 at the XL and UMass had 3.

Sean

[Nick Papagiorgio]

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

This season BC schedule 2 mid-week games, one non-league game vs Yale and the upcoming game vs Merrimack. UConn had one at the XL vs Merrimack and a second vs Maine at Bridgeport. UMass had on one, the upcoming game vs UVM to end their home schedule. Last season BC had 3 mid-week games, UConn had 6 at the XL and UMass had 3. In 2017-18 BC had 2, UConn had 5 at the XL and UMass had 3.

Sean

Facts!