Natural props are owed to Hockey East commissioner Joe Bertagna for granting the women's sector of his league half of the allotted ice time in the forthcoming "Hockey East at Fenway" event, formally announced yesterday and lined up for Friday, January 8, of the upcoming season.
Granted, it is mildly disappointing for women's hockey advocates to know that, at least for the moment, the New England Sports Network has plans to broadcast the men's nightcap between Boston College and Boston University while omitting the afternoon New Hampshire-Northeastern tilt.
But technically, there are still gobs of time to fix all that. And at any rate, on the whole, this is hardly any time to be ungrateful. Rather, it is a time to bask a little in this impressively executed goal, line up for the next face-off, and start digging for more points.
Northeastern senior forward Annie Hogan probably made the best point in a league-issued video feature when she noted the timeliness of the event, "especially with the Olympics coming up" just one month after the Fenway Ice Fest will be conducted.
To that point, Boss Bertagna -who has fathered this league for the length of its young existence with gratifying loyalty- ought not to decelerate now. This is an above-satisfactory follow-through on the innovations he brought forth last season -namely, his meticulously-timed decision to exand the league's playoff pool and the decision to exercise the shootout table as soon as it was placed on the table.
And for the coming year, there are yet more promotional ideas he ought to pursue, maybe along with his CHA, ECAC, and WCHA counterparts, in order to a) capitalize further on the Olympic season, b) integrate participants from more member schools, and c) prop up the PR momentum for as long as there is ice to be used.
Suggestion #1: The US Olympic team is primed to confront a conglomeration of Hockey East All-Stars in the league's most recognized building -UNH's Whittemore Center- as part of its tune-up tour. That November 22 get-together will be sandwiched by a WCHA All-Star tilt in September and a like game with the ECAC in January.
That's great and all, but why let this be just a one-shot deal for these All-Star squads? Why shouldn't Bertagna link up with colleague Stephen Hagwell of the ECAC and pit their respective teams together on a neutral pond? And that could either be any one of the eight AHL venues in New England or, though it may be a long shot, the TD Garden.
Incidentally, both leagues will be free from game action between December 13 and December 29, meaning all players desired should be available for action. Nudge, nudge.
And heck, with merely eight tenants, league membership is small enough to adopt an old school NHL format that pits the reigning champion against the All-Stars from its seven conference cohabitants. With either that and/or the interleague suggestion, you will not have to restrict the assemblage of All-Stars to Olympic years. You could make it an annual ritual, which in turn would only grant more auspicious exposure to the game's quintessential performers.
Keep in mind, too, that the Hockey East and NCAA spectrum are each becoming more permeated with the presence of international talent. Therefore, in additonal to the US Qwest Tour card, perhaps Bertagna could take steps towards a scrimmage with a Team Canada, Finland, Sweden, etc.?
If one really knows Bertagna, there is little reason to think he will not furiously fork after any of these ideas or something of potentially equal effect. After all, he did openly declare yesterday on the Hockey East website that he had been pushing for a Fenway game "for maybe five years."
That confirms the commissioner's combination of broad-mindedness, progressiveness, and persistence. May he continue to keep those qualities in play and keep turning up the neon in the WHEA.
No comments:
Post a Comment