BOSTON – It was announced today by Hockey East that the inaugural head coach of the Harvard women's hockey program, Joe Bertagna, was selected as one of four inductees into the Beanpot Hall of Fame in 2020. 

"Joe Bertagna, a goaltender for coaches Cooney Weiland and Bill Cleary at Harvard, launched Harvard's women's ice hockey program in 1977-78, serving as head coach at his alma mater for two seasons. He was one of four coaches who created the Women's Beanpot Tournament. Beginning with this experience, Bertagna has dedicated his professional years to advancing the interests of women's ice hockey. He even purchased the original Beanpot from an Essex, MA, antique shop in 1977 and had it mounted to create the first Women's Beanpot Trophy. 

A native of Arlington, MA, Bertagna has served the game as coach, administrator and journalist, both at the amateur and professional levels. He is in his 38th year as a college hockey administrator (15 years with ECAC and 23 with Hockey East) and has served as Tournament Director of the Women's Beanpot since its inception in 1979. Bertagna was instrumental in bringing about the formation of the Women's Hockey East Association, just as he initiated league play for both Division I and Division III women's programs while with the ECAC. Nationally, Bertagna has been the Executive Director of the American Hockey Coaches Association since 1991, the only person to serve in that capacity." 

Bertagna joins Casey Pickett Bates (Northeastern), Reagan Rust (Boston University) and Kelli Stack (Boston College) in the Class of 2020 Hall of Fame honorees. Hockey East's full release with information about all four inductees can be found here.