Q&A: Commish Steve Metcalf takes Hockey East helm in turbulent time

Chair of the NCAA Division 1 Men's Ice Hockey Committee, Steve Metcalf (inset) replaces Joe Bertagna.

On Feb. 17, Steve Metcalf was introduced as the fifth commissioner of the Hockey East Association, replacing 23-year head Joe Bertagna (Arlington, Mass.), who agreed to part ways with the league at the conclusion of this recently concluded and halted season.

After more than two decades as an athletic administrator at the University of New Hampshire, most recently as deputy director of athletics, where he oversaw both of the school’s hockey programs and did extensive work on capital projects, Metcalf was hired by the league’s member institutions from a pool of roughly 60 candidates, 11 of whom were interviewed.

A member of the NCAA Division 1 Men's Ice Hockey Committee since 2015 and currently its chair, Metcalf was hired one month before the league canceled its postseason tournament over concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic.