Q and A with Hockey East commissioner Steve Metcalf
Jan. 30—PUCK STOPS HERE
Hockey East boss talks success, the future —B3
The men's side of Hockey East has member teams topping the polls, surprising the country and boasting top-caliber NHL prospects. The women's side of the league made history last week ahead of the Women's Frozen Four to be held in March on the campus of a member school, the University of New Hampshire.
Hockey East has generated plenty of conversation in college hockey so we figured who better to talk to about than fourth-year commissioner Steve Metcalf?
Metcalf, who previously spent two decades in UNH's athletic administration before taking his current position, recently discussed some hot topics with the Union Leader.
UL: Two of the top three men's teams in the country and six of the top 18 this week in the USCHO.com poll play in Hockey East. What does that say about the level of competition in the league this season?
SM: I think, at the beginning of the year, there were a lot of coaches that thought we were going to have a really good year. I think the common thing was, probably, every team is better than they were last year. I think (for) the vast majority, that is the case. We've gotten stronger as a group and then obviously our top has gotten stronger as well but the same (with) the teams picked at the bottom in the preseason. They're much better than, perhaps, people thought they were going to be but it wasn't any secret for the coaches that we were going to look a lot stronger this year as a group.
One of the secrets, obviously, is our nonconference success. We've had more success in nonconference games than probably we have in, I would say, five years off the top of my head. And not just a little bit more success than the previous year but quite a bit more. I think within those games we've had success against top teams from other leagues and we've managed to minimize the bad losses. That's all part of the math to see how you rank out. You get wins early in the year against top teams early in the year, that math stays with you through the rest of the year. It will help anyone through the whole season so it's nice to be so strong, especially this deep into season.
UL: People talk every season about Hockey East being one of, if not, the most competitive league in the country but is that the case this season even more so than usual, do you feel like?
SM: I do because I know how deep we are, I know how strong we are from top to bottom and then I also know our top teams are the top teams in the country. I don't think there's any disputing that Hockey East is the strongest men's conference this year in the country. We have the results.
UL: Is that good for you as the commissioner to see more parity in the league this year after last season, when it was sort of Boston University and then everybody else?
SM: When you've got parity, you're always going to have competitive games and that's, generally, I think good for business but when you're all stronger and you still have that, I think that's even better. Even our bottom team in the PairWise (rankings) was 34 so when you've got all 11 in the top half, even games against the lower teams in the PairWise, they're not bad games. I would suspect the other strong conferences all have teams that are more diverse in their standings in the PairWise and, certainly, with teams below us. Then you've got some games on your schedule that just bring down the average and we just don't have that this year.
UL: Boston College swept BU last weekend when they were the No. 2 and No. 1 ranked teams in the country, respectively, by USCHO. What has stood out to you about BU and BC from what you've seen of them this season?
SM: I would say two things about both of them: Obviously, there's a lot of talent on their rosters. A lot has been made of Boston College's freshman class, which is super talented and now they've got quite a bit of experience. And then with Boston University, it's the same thing. Keep in mind they were a Frozen Four team last year. Certainly, they've got some experience and then they've added in some star freshmen and needless to say (Macklin) Celebrini is probably the biggest star of all the freshmen in the country. The second thing I'd say about them (both teams) is both (have) fantastic coaching staffs and relatively new, back at their institutions. Right away they've made a big impact. It's great for college hockey when you have these big-time matchups, especially in a huge rivalry game, which is always going to be a big deal.
UL: Which team do you feel like has been the surprise team in the league so far?
SM: Coaches thought everyone was going to be better but Maine and New Hampshire were teams that, for a long time, were at the top of the conference standings. Coming off a couple down years, both (have) had great seasons and put themselves both into the position to get into the NCAA tournament. I think that's been a great story and I think those were teams in the preseason poll that were near the bottom (Maine was picked to finish ninth, New Hampshire 10th). Maine, I think they may have been as high as No. 1 in the PairWise already this year ... They've also got some really talented freshman kids on their team. The two brothers up there (Bradly and Josh Nadeau) are just so fun to watch and they've been super productive as well.
UL: What have you noticed about Maine and UNH when you've watched them?
SM: I just think the teams, the roster is just more talented — the players on both those teams than they've had the last couple years. I think both of them have better goaltending, which is also a key, than perhaps they had in the last couple years. BU and BC, and Maine and New Hampshire, I would say, those two college hockey rivalries — both of them are top-five rivalries in college hockey and, I would say, top three for both of them.
UL: On the women's side, last week the women's Beanpot was held at TD Garden for the first time. How did that opportunity come about to finally hold the women's final and consolation games there like the men's tournament?
SM: I think that the credit is all to the four schools and the (TD) Garden. There's been an interest by the coaches of those four schools to make this happen. But I've got to give a lot of credit to the athletic directors, who are the ones that ultimately made the commitment with the Garden. The former president of the Garden, Amy Latimer, was also, I think, a very important player because she is the one who said to her staff, 'Hey, we've got to find a date.' Just keep in mind how busy that building is ... Finding dates there are very, very difficult so I give Amy a lot of credit for saying to her staff, 'Hey, we've got to find a date. We've got to make this happen,' and finding a date that made sense. The date was a little earlier than the women's Beanpot had traditionally been but I think this new, earlier date is better. It was too close to the end of the season, in my opinion, before. Now I think it's better when you move it up and, quite frankly, maybe having kind of a lead-in to the men's Beanpot, maybe it's a good idea.
UL: The Professional Women's Hockey League just started play recently as well. Have you noticed a rise in interest in women's hockey at the collegiate level in recent years?
SM: We've seen an uptick in attendance, especially in the Hockey East playoffs. We went to a high-seed hosts model. We had a situation last year where the two semifinalists and the championship, the attendance of those games were the best we've had in a couple years. It was certainly in part because the strongest teams in the league (Vermont and Northeastern University), which probably have the best attendance anyway, were hosting those games but that makes for a fun environment. I was up at Vermont and they hosted one of the women's semifinal games. The attendance (was 1,251) for a game, which is great any day of week and that was on a Wednesday. ... Then we've been able to put our women's championship game on ESPN — one of their linear networks (ESPNU). We're the only conference that's been able to do that with ESPN. It's just a great platform for getting exposure and ease of use for people to watch the product and I think it's been really well-received. This is the second year (with ESPN) and we've got four more years on our deal.
UL: UNH is in its second season playing on the shrunken sheet at the Whittemore Center. What were your thoughts on that decision?
SM: I think it was a good one. It was something that had been talked about for a long time. When the whole ice plant needed to be replaced, it was the perfect time to replace the whole ice-making operation. ... I think going to the 90 feet was the perfect size. Quite frankly, there was always a little bit of skepticism on how it was going to come out but I think it came out great not only size-wise, but how they blended it into the rest of the seats.
UL: Do you think it's beneficial to have all the schools in the league playing on similarly sized sheets at this point?
SM: I don't have a strong feeling about everyone needing to be the same or not. I think it adds some character to the rinks and I'm sure we have rinks that are 80 feet wide and 90 feet or 92 and 95. We just don't have any 100s anymore. I think it makes them unique or it gives them some character and I think that's good. I think that's one of the fun things about college hockey is not everything is exactly the same everywhere you go, which is the case in the NHL.
UL: The men's league has had 11 member teams since Notre Dame left in 2017. Do you see that number getting to 12 or another even number in the near future?
SM: I think we're pretty content as a group where we are. We've got some continuity with our members. We're obviously having a good year with our group. Even though obviously the schedule is unbalanced, we're unbalanced but we're at 24 conference games, which we think is a good number because it gives us 10 nonconference games. And we think 10 is a great opportunity because we think, quite frankly, we're going to win the majority of those. That gives us more opportunities to go and have some success, hopefully, against other teams and other conferences, which we're doing this year, so I think that's a real plus. We wouldn't want to expand unless someone was bringing value to our league and I think the ADs (athletic directors) and coaches are quite content with where we are right now.
UL: The transfer portal has obviously had a huge impact on college sports. How do you feel it has changed things in hockey?
SM: The transfer portal, certainly it's been a big change for college sports and there's been lots of movement with players. I guess it gives teams in some cases an opportunity to improve or make over their roster a little quicker than would be the case previously. I think there's enough good players to go around so I think that's good. As someone mentioned to me (last week) if you're a good goalie but you're the backup goalie and you can maybe find an opportunity to play somewhere else and be the No. 1 and you can transfer and take advantage of that, that's good for the student-athlete. There's always going to be a little bit of tension when you've got kids moving around, especially if they're moving within the conference, but I think most of our coaches will do the right thing, call each other and say, 'Hey, this could happen.' I think as a group we generally do the right thing and get along, which doesn't happen in every case.
UL: What are some other near-future goals you have right now for the league on either the men's or women's side?
SM: We've tried to grow all the things we do brand-wise — exposure for our teams, our players — and I think we've had some success doing that so we want to keep doing that. And I think those things have an impact on recruiting and the visibility we're able to give our programs. That's always something we're going to keep working as hard as we can on. We're trying to have successful championships and I mean successful crowds, attendance, revenue, those kinds of things. We saw last year at the Garden, that was one of our best championships and attendance and revenues in a number of years. We're hoping to grow that. We had great attendance for last year's women's championship games, especially in the semis and the finals, and we'd like to grow that as well. Those are some of the things that we're just constantly thinking about.
UL: Going back to this season, there hasn't been a Hockey East school in the men's Division I final since UMass won in 2021. Is it important to see that trend snapped this season considering how well several schools have done to this point?
SM: At the end of the day, we're in the business of trying to be as successful at hockey as we possibly can, including winning the games, so yes. I already think to myself, alright, we want to get as many teams in the NCAA tournament as possible and then when we get in there, let's get as many in the Frozen Four as possible and then let's go win ourselves a national championship. And I think we've got national-championship caliber teams — a number of them. I think that's our realistic goal as we look ahead and look at where we are right now. There are good teams from other conferences, for sure, and when you get into the NCAA tournament, you're going to play good teams every single game but I like our group a lot and I think we've got some teams that have the makeup to go win a national championship, for sure.
