The first 24 years of the Hockey East Association saw some great games, players, events, champions, and basically everything. This year however will be the most anticipated season in their existence; The Silver Anniversary, aka the 25th season.

Hockey East Commissioner Joe Bertagna took over in 1997. “The Boss” has been around for the 15th and 20th anniversaries and those were special. The plans this year however, are bigger and better than previous years.

“The 15th and 20th anniversaries were great, but the 25th is a special project,” said Bertagna in an exclusive interview with Inside Hockey. “We have many plans that have been approved and we are still working on a few other ideas before the hockey season starts.”

So far in the works, Hockey East will provide a top 25 list forwards, and defensemen. People might ask how can you leave out the great goaltenders of Hockey East? Well let’s just say they are a part of it.

“We are going to have a top 25 all time list,” Bertagna confirmed. “We will have the top 25 forwards and defensemen with the goaltenders in the defensemen category. Each Hockey East team will induct their all time team. Major honorees will be invited to the 25th Hockey East tournament. We will also provide fans with poll questions for different categories such as an unsung hero topic.”

That’s not all Hockey East is coming up with. For the first time in the conference's history, a DVD will be provided for crazed Hockey East fans. The tentative release date is scheduled for November.

“The DVD will provide history from Hockey East…” Bertagna pointed out. “…It’s also about telling a story about the conference. We have interviewed 70 different people for the DVD from players, to coaches, to anyone else involved in the conference in years past. Every school will be represented in the DVD and it will be proportioned so that we get every school involved.”

All the schools in the conference will have a big event planned at some point during the season. The details have not yet been finalized, but look for the 10 schools to bring back greats on their respective campuses.

“Each school will have an event on campus to help celebrate the 25th,” Bertagna mentioned. “Look for the range of that to start in November, when conference season kicks in and end right before the Hockey East tournament starts in March.”

Also being pitched from the Hockey East conference includes something different from other years. This year the conference will be looking to give the Regular Season champion a trophy for claiming the most points in league play. In years past, the Regular Season champ was given a bowl for capturing the regular season.

“We plan on giving a Regular Season trophy for the champion this year,” Bertagna said. “We are not going to go with the bowl in years past.”

So the trophy is now in place, now do you give a name? According to the commissioner, “We don’t have a name right now. We do have some candidates and some are even still alive today.”

To go along with the Regular Season Trophy, Hockey East has even more to offer. Announcing for the first time to the public, The Hockey East Founders Award.

Back in 1983 Athletic Directors Lou Lamoriello (Providence), Bill Flynn (Boston College), Andy Mooradian (New Hampshire), John Simpson (Boston University) and Joe Zabilski (Northeastern) founded Hockey East.

The first season took place in 1984-85 and what a year it was, when Chris Terreri of Providence College delivered a brilliant performance in the Hockey East tournament against Boston College and helped the Friars become the leagues first tournament champion.

So what is the plan for The Founders Award?

“The Founders Award can go to anyone who has been involved in Hockey East,” Bertagna stated. “We plan on giving out medallions to the recipient, and they can be given to anyone who has had a significant impact in the 25 year history of the conference. The Award can be given out to an official, a journalist, a player, or anyone who has made significant contributions to the sport.”

With all the plans, there are still goals to be achieved to make this silver anniversary a success.

“Our goal is to bring a sense of pride,” Bertagna said. “A sense of pride of what to think, and what you’ve been. It is great to look back, however, these current players will be put in the spotlight. Hopefully we can connect to fans old and new.”

And with that the Silver Anniversary is in the works for what is promising to be an exciting 2008-09 campaign.

Contact The Author: trosenthal@insidehockey.com