The Secret

What Tuesday night's "major announcement" could mean for Hockey East and college hockey
by Chris Aliano

Last night, men's hockey beat reporter and broadcaster Tristan Hobbes reported during BU's 4-2 loss at UNH that a major announcement will be made prior to Tuesday night's game at Harvard. 

From the article, Tristan reported the following:

"The announcement will take place in the Murr Center conference room.  Joe Bertagna, Hockey East commissioner, Bob DeGregorio, Atlantic Hockey and Steve Hagwell, ECAC will be present at the announcement."

While I consider myself partially up-to-speed on the goings on in college hockey, this announcement has thrown me for a loop.  There are several possible reasons for why Bertagna and company are planning this announcement, and they range from altering the college hockey landscape to being not noteworthy at all.  Here's my breakdown:

The conferences could be planning a major realignment, sending a team like Harvard to Hockey East while Atlantic Hockey could send another team to the ECAC to take Harvard's place.
This is the most dramatic of outcomes, but there is a small possibility that it could come fruition.  Consider how close Harvard is to most of the Hockey East schools considering their distance to other ECAC schools.  Yale and Dartmouth are likely the two closest schools for Harvard to travel to, while most other ECAC schools are in upstate New York or further (Princeton in New Jersey).  With Harvard in Hockey East, the Crimson would face far less travel times to road games, something that would cut down on expenses for a program that has struggled recently.  Meanwhile, an Atlantic Hockey school like Bentley could fill in for Harvard in the ECAC to restore the geographic balance.  And of course, there is some appeal when you consider that every school that competes in the Beanpot could potentially be in the same conference.

All three conferences could be announcing a new every-year series, much like the Tuesday-before-Thanksgiving Harvard/BU game.
While not as dramatic as the first option, all three conferences could be merely announcing that a schedule has been established between all three conferences about a new yearly tradition type of game between the schools of the conference.  Atlantic Hockey boasts teams such as Air Force, Bentley and UConn--programs that are trying to get on the map and the only means of doing that is by scheduling more marquee matchups against teams from more prestigious conferences.

A program could be folding from one conference, and a team from another conference must fill its place.
As sad as it is to say, college hockey has been struggling in recent years (i.e., Bowling Green of the CCHA).  It's entirely possible that an Atlantic Hockey program could be folding under the pressure of recent economic turmoil, and in the aftermath a Hockey East or ECAC team could absorb the blow by filling that void in place of the departed.

The possibilities are infinite and wide-ranging.  WTBU Sports will be sure to break the story Tuesday night before the game as soon as it is announced.  Stay tuned!