Hockey East announced this week that commissioner Joe Bertagna was retiring at the end of the 2019-2020 season. “I’ve had a good run,” Bertagna said in the press release.

Bertagna grew up in Arlington and was a two-year starter between the pipes at Harvard. He was personable, answered the phone and established a solid legacy, but it’s time for a change. 

Hockey East isn’t the beast it used to be. Teams from the Midwest and West have dominated the polls, and this year the ECAC had four teams in USCHO’s Top 15, Hockey East had just three.

What’s more disturbing are the empty seats at Hockey East venues throughout New England, particularly in Boston. According to collegexpress.com, UMass-Amherst and UMass-Lowell were the top draws but ranked 11th and 12th nationally. The Minutemen were the only Hockey East team to average over 5,000 fans a game.

In North Dakota, 11,348 fans watched the Fighting Hawks play at Engelstad Arena; in Madison, 9,222 fans watched the Wisconsin Badgers play at the Kohl Center. Teams in the Twin Cities, Denver and Duluth all supported their teams better than teams from Hockey East. Indeed, something’s wrong when more fans are showing up to watch college hockey in Omaha than they are in Boston.

Another weakness is Hockey East’s provincialism. Three teams and the league office are all located in Greater Boston, and the conference championship is always at TD Garden. Their beloved Beanpot Tournament gives BC, BU and Northeastern the opportunity to play on TD Garden ice before anyone else.

Hockey East’s biggest sin, however, has been its failure to secure a decent TV deal. Fans can watch Big Ten hockey, but Hockey East games are hit-and-miss, and the conference quarterfinals cost $12.50 to watch on a little known pay channel called FloSports.

Hockey East is in trouble, and the view from outside the I-495 corridor is darn near gratifying.

Quarterback Deondre Francois was kicked off the Florida State football team last winter for character issues. He allegedly hit his girlfriend, who posted the video online. She subsequently apologized and said, “The video was made to look like something it wasn’t.”

During his time in Tallahasee, Francois passed for 6,291 yards, 36 TDs and 21 interceptions. He has two years of remaining eligibility. 

The Seminoles’ offensive coordinator in 2018 was current UMass coach Walt Bell, but Francois doesn’t have his GPS plugged to Amherst. In May, the Florida Sun Sentinel reported he was transferring to Florida Atlantic University, but a month later coach Lane Kiffin reinstated suspended quarterback Chris Robison. Now, according to a Florida State football blog, Francois is headed to either Hampton (Va.) University or Alabama State.

Maximum Security held off Bob Baffert’s Mucho Gusto to win the $1 Million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park on Sunday. “Hats off to the winner, he was a warrior,” said Mucho Gusto’s jockey Joe Talamo.

The two horses raced nearly in tandem up the stretch, and Maximum Security ($3.60) prevailed by a length-and-a-quarter.

It was the three-year-old’s first race since he was DQ’d from winning the Kentucky Derby, and he was again the subject of an inquiry. The replay showed that jockey Luis Saez had shut off King for a Day on the far turn, but the stewards weren’t about to recreate another Kentucky Derby fiasco and quickly dropped the inquiry sign and put him up as the winner.

Asked if winning the Haskell helped make up for what happened at Churchill Downs, co-owner Gary West told the TVG Network: “No. Nothing will ever make up for that.”

Hot temperatures delayed the race for nearly three hours until after 8 p.m., but handicapper Paul Matteis said it was worth the wait:  “It was really neat. The sun was going down and everybody was cheering at the finish line… And the Jersey horse won.”

Less than a week after Marylou Whitney’s passing, her former trainer Nick Zito saddled a 32-1 winner named Frammento. Zito was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame in 2005, but Wednesday’s win was only his eighth in 197 starts since 2015, according to the Saratoga Players Guide.

Troubador Steve Earle revealed his rooting interests on Sirius-XM. “I’m planning on going to the ballgame on Sunday. Have you ever been to Yankee Stadium when it’s 97 degrees? Everybody says I’m crazy but this is my last chance to see a regular season game and I’m (bleeping) going.”

BASEBALL NOTES:  No wonder the Red Sox are struggling. Since their opening series in Seattle, Andrew Benintendi has been dropped from leadoff to sixth, Mitch Moreland has spent most of the season on the IL, Eduardo Nunez has been cut from the team and Steve Pearce (.180) has pulled a disappearing act. … Carlos Pena filled in for Eck and the Rem Dawg on NESN this week and spoke of “high probability pitches and moving the ball forward.” Meanwhile the Globe’s Alex Speier said the Red Sox were in a “strange floating zone.” Pity play-by-play voice Dave O’Brien, who can’t hit the mute button. … NMH grad Oliver Drake struck out Chicago’s Leury Garcia with a wicked bender on Tuesday. “Drake threw a lefty slider with his right hand,” marveled USA Today’s Andrew Joseph. “That right there was straight-up sorcery.” … On Friday, Manny Machado’s first career home run at Wrigley Field came off Jon Lester. The following night he hit one off Jose Quintana that was the 200th of his career. … The Mets’ Pete Alonso made like the Karate Kid and snapped the bat over his knee after he fanned against the Giants on Sunday. … Gio Urshela’s minor league hitting coach was Phil Plantier, the Red Sox player with the “toilet bowl” batting stance, said his manager Joe Morgan. … When O’Brien asked Dennis Eckersley what happened during lunch with Sandy Koufax, the Eck replied, “He had a lot of opinions, and I agreed a lot.” … The MLB Network’s John Smoltz saw Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer warm up by twirling a four-foot long pole with his fingers and said, “Those UCLA guys do things just a little different.” … The final inductee to speak at Cooperstown on Sunday was Mariano Rivera, who got up and said, “Why do I always have to be last?” … When Yogi was inducted he said, “I guess the first thing I should do is to thank everybody for making this day necessary.”