Sacred Heart, Webster Bank Arena put on NCAAs in pandemic
When the NCAA two years ago gave Sacred Heart a bid to host a men’s hockey regional at Bridgeport’s Webster Bank Arena this weekend, the school had a few goals in mind.
“We wanted to showcase the upward trend of Sacred Heart University,” said Charlie Dowd, deputy director of athletics for external operations, “the hockey program, the university as a whole.”
A show in front of a packed crowd, with a television audience following at home, would’ve been fantastic.
“Certainly when we put the bid in, we didn’t anticipate a pandemic,” Dowd quipped.
At a time when some college teams are using multiple dressing rooms, at a time when dressing rooms themselves are verboten in smaller rinks, bringing in four schools for a few days is more of an adventure than usual.
“We’ve had meetings weekly with all four regional sites working through protocols,” said Kristin Fasbender, director of championships and alliances for the NCAA, “working through various differences, the cities they’re in.
“There have been lots of challenges trying to put it on in an environment we’re not used to, but we’re fighting through.”
The NCAA and the arena have done all they can to be accommodating, Dowd said. Teams will have to be flexible, he said, but staff — he mentioned hockey equipment manager Matt Carroll in particular — have been working to make sure the logistics work.
The scheduled gap between games is an hour longer than it has been in past regionals, more time to move people in and out while sanitizing.
“A lot of the heavy lift is shared with the building, (arena interim general manager) Jon Petrunak and his group,” said Dowd, who spent eight years at the arena after a long career in baseball. Dowd said at least one former arena staffer is coming back to help make sure the weekend runs smoothly.
“We’re counting on a lot of good people’s experience to get this accomplished,” he said.
Petrunak referred comment on the event to Sacred Heart.
This is Bridgeport’s sixth hockey regional; Yale cohosted the previous five and was to co-host this one, but its athletic department has been shut down for a year with the pandemic.
Both days sold out for the first regional in 2009, while the building was about half full for semifinal Friday in 2018, the last time the tournament came.
There are no public ticket sales in Bridgeport this year: Each member of the travel party received two tickets, good for their game only, so attendance will be quite small.
Wisconsin senior defenseman Tyler Inamoto said that doesn’t necessarily take away from the moment.
“It’s a big moment for all of us. We’ve never been here before, for most of us,” Inamoto said. “We’ve played with no fans throughout the year, had parents come to a few games in the second half.
“Without fans, it kind of (stinks), but we’ll make the most of it.”
Dowd referred questions about finances to the NCAA. Fasbender didn’t want to go into detail, but she said there is usually a revenue split, so there are hits all around.
“Our goal is to do the best we can to have a championship experience,” Fasbender said.
Top-seed Wisconsin plays Bemidji State on Friday at 1 p.m., with UMassLake Superior State to follow at 6:30 p.m. The winners meet Saturday at 5 p.m.
“We’re trying to give four talented hockey teams a chance to fight it out to go to the Frozen Four,” Dowd said. “We’re trying to put on a world-class event, and at center ice it’ll say ‘Bridgeport,’ and it’ll say ‘Webster Bank Arena.’”
JOHNSTONE SIGNS:
Sacred Heart two-year captain Marc Johnstone signed with the South Carolina Stingrays, the ECHL team announced Thursday. Johnstone scored 95 points in his four years with the Pioneers.
NEGATIVE POSITIVES:
The NCAA’s testing protocols required testing on arrival and quarantine until two consecutive negative tests. The day off on Wednesday, UMass coach Greg Carvel said, made it a bit of a strange week.
The Albany regional lost Notre Dame on Thursday to COVID-19 protocols and what coach Jeff Jackson said in a statement were multiple positive tests.
“This decision was made in consultation with the Albany County Public Health Department and the NCAA Medical Advisory Group,” the NCAA announcement said. “Because of privacy issues, we cannot provide further details.”
The Irish’s game is a no-contest, and Boston College, featuring star sophomore goalie Spencer Knight of Darien, moves on to Sunday’s regional final.
In Bridgeport, Wisconsin coach Tony Granato, the former longtime NHLer, was asked how nervewracking it has been to go through testing, knowing the season was on the line.
“We know that the guys have learned how to best take care of themselves, limit the risk by doing everything they can to minimize that,” Granato said.
“At this point, you keep fingers crossed. You hope nothing happens. Like I said, think we’ve done a really good job. Our athletic department, trainers, doctors have put protocols into place.”
Granato had said that was a great question. The next question was whether all the Badgers had made it through negative. “Another great question!” Granato half-shouted, saying yes, they had.