Hockey East’s 21st season will be one of growth, especially on the television airwaves and satellite dishes as the presence of one of the country’s premier collegiate hockey leagues increases by 40 percent.

The Hockey East TV schedule has ballooned from 50 games to 70 as the College Sports Television network, New England Sports Network, Cox Sports Television, and local TV stations have all expanded their Hockey East TV schedules.

“It’s a significant bump in the number of games on TV,” said Noah Smith, Hockey East’s director of media relations. “The biggest jump over last year was Cox Sports Television [based in Lincoln, R.I.] which went from one or two last year to 13 or 14 this year. NESN had a slight increase as well.”

So did CSTV, which has entered the second year of a five-year deal with Hockey East and will follow up a nine-game telecast schedule in 2003-04 with 11 broadcasts in 2004-05.

After Fox Sports Net New England opted not to extend its six-year relationship with Hockey East last fall, NESN filled the gap by picking up more games. FSNNE featured a 10-game package involving Boston University games in 2002-03. Last season, NESN’s game package went to nine regular season and five playoff games. This season, the package has gone to 10 regular season and six playoff contests.

The ongoing NHL lockout figures to be a potential boon for collegiate hockey leagues such as Hockey East as longtime NHL fans will be looking to get their hockey fixes from alternate sources.

“I think we have a great opportunity here, but at the same time, we’re not without competition with organizations like the AHL and ECHL still operating,” Smith said. “I think we’ll see a bump in interest and ratings, but I don’t know that it will be significant.

“We have seen a significant increase in interest from sponsors, however. Already you’re seeing more banners around local arenas.”

As one of Hockey East’s “big four,” the University of Maine should also benefit from the increased attention.

“Maine is one of the headliner programs that gets more attention nationally along with teams like BU, BC, and UNH,” Smith said.

Combined with the national exposure CSTV offers, the lockout could elevate the standing of college hockey among other collegiate front-page sports like football and basketball.

“The big games are covered well nationally in college football and basketball, but you don’t always see them in hockey, and hockey is probably the most popular sport after those two, so it fills a niche,” Smith said. “And I think at the same time it has helped them [CSTV] increase their TV presence and penetration across the country.”

The importance Hockey East places on CSTV is evident, but NESN – now in its 15th season of Hockey East telecasts – remains high on the priority list, as the league’s “pecking order” for determining which games are aired by which network shows.

“NESN is first, CSTV second, and then the local stations,” Smith explained. “That’s designed to put the league perspective forward for our entire league, not just certain teams. It’s kind of a balance between local and national marketing.

“NESN is our primary carrier regionally and CSTV is basically our only carrier nationally.”

Start Roughing It in November

Roughing It, New England Sports Network’s new reality series, will debut Nov. 2 at 9 p.m. The first of six, one-hour episodes will feature former Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins enforcer Chris Nilan, New England running star Bill Rodgers, actor Frank Santorelli, and comic “Boston” Mike McDonald. These celebs will be pitted against each other and show host Charlie Moore in various outdoor challenges.

Andrew Neff can be reached at 990-8205, 1-800-310-8600 or at aneff@bangordailynews.net