Hockey East announced Thursday that it has extended the contract of commissioner Joe Bertagna an extra year through the 2014-15 season.
Bertagna, who is starting his 16th season with the conference, is the longest serving commissioner in conference history and when the extension expires, Bertagna will have served 18 years as Hockey East commissioner, or five years longer than all the previous commissioners combined.
“I appreciate the vote of confidence the directors have bestowed upon me with this extension,” said Bertagna in a news release. “I believe it reflects an appreciation for what the entire staff accomplished this past season.”
Bertagna and his staff led Hockey East through an eventful 2011-12 season, highlighted by announcements
that the conference would expand from 10 member institutions to 12 when Notre Dame joins in 2013 and Connecticut a year later.
A Massachusetts native and Harvard graduate where he was a goalie, Bertagna has spent the last 30 years working at the hockey conference level, starting with a 15-year tenure with the ECAC and then coming to Hockey East in the summer of 1997.
He has also served as the Executive Director of the American Hockey Coaches Association since 1991, the only person to hold that position. Bertagna has also played a leadership role with the Hockey Commissioners Association and College Hockey, Inc.
