Mass. Hall calls Bertagna
It was mere minutes before a national semifinal hockey game in 1985 and Joe Bertagna was standing in a corridor at the Joe Louis Arena corridor just outside the respective locker rooms of RPI and Minnesota-Duluth.
RPI, which went on to capture the NCAA title that year and featured a talent-laden lineup including Adam Oates and John Carter, was inside its locker room listening to coach Mike Adessa.
Across the hall, UMD coach Mike Sertich sat on a folding chair outside his locker room and innocently asked Bertagna: “Do you think we have a chance?”
While Sertich’s Bulldogs clearly had a chance with winger Brett Hull on the roster, RPI did manage to eke out a thrilling 6-5 victory in triple overtime, that was only half the story. While all the pregame activity was taking place, a sales rep from a hockey equipment company approached Bertagna and Sertich and showed them a new contraption for skating off ice. He called it a roller blade.
The ever-inquisitive Bertagna, decked out in suit and tie due to his role then as ECAC hockey commissioner, immediately doffed his shoes and put on the inline skates and began hurtling up and down the hallway as passersby wondered what was happening.
It was typical Bertagna, considering his long-standing interest in the game of hockey, what makes it tick, and how it can be improved.
Tonight, those efforts land the Arlington native who has served as Hockey East commissioner for the past 20 years, among a starry collection of inductees going into the Massachusetts Hockey Hall of Fame. The ceremony will take place at Hotel 1620 in Plymouth as part of the annual meeting of Mass. Hockey.
The other inductees: Shawn McEachern, a former player for Boston University and the U.S. Olympic team who played more than 900 NHL games including two separate stints with the Bruins; Melrose’s Paul “The Shot” Hurley, who starred at Boston College and the 1968 U.S. Olympic team before helping the New England Whalers win the World Hockey Association’s AVCO Cup; longtime hockey coach and administrator Bernie Michals; and skating instructor and coach Paul Vincent.
There are four posthumous inductees: two-time U.S. Olympian and Harvard hockey star John Garrison; former U.S. Olympian and Dartmouth standout Bruce Mather; ex-Noble & Greenough star and Harvard AllAmerican Fred Moseley; and ex-Harvard player and a longtime coach Alfred “Ralph” Winsor, who pioneered the art of back-checking and defense pairings.
Bertagna, a goaltender at both Arlington High School and Harvard, has retained a high profile since the end of his playing days, partly due to his role as executive director of the American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA). Prior to getting into hockey administration, Bertagna served as head coach for the inaugural edition of the Harvard women’s hockey team.
It has been quite a month for the 65-year-old Bertagna, who was named winner of USA Hockey’s 2017 Distinguished Achievement Award, which recognizes an individual who has made ice hockey his or her profession and made outstanding contributions, on or off the ice, to the sport in America.
Bertagna, who resides in Gloucester with his wife Kathy, a former two-sport athlete at Bates, and their children — Bobby, Joey and Grace — runs the popular series of Bertagna Goaltending Schools throughout the year.