Meet The Commish!
Written by Tia Lendo
The original Commish.
No, not that one! This one:
Our BTSH Commissioner, Danielle Haselton.
Of course I’m talking about Danielle Haselton, the Commissioner of BTSH. We’re just over halfway through the season, and I realized that many of you may not yet know the new commissioner. I had the chance to get to know Danielle in December when she and I were both part of the Slayher ladies’ team that traveled to Feasterville for a tournament. Given that Danielle is a bit introverted I decided to write this article to help you get to know our fearless leader.
She really is quite introverted!
Danielle’s passion for hockey, organizational skills, and desire to bring people together for good-old-fashioned fun have made her a great commissioner. Since taking the helm of BTSH she’s increased communication with a regular email newsletter, gathered increased input on big decisions via captains and their teams, ensured the games start on time (thank you!), and created more opportunities for socializing- from throwing a cereal party at Hi-Fi to recruiting a great team that resurrected the All Star game. If you’ve seen her on the sidelines you may know that she is the proud owner of a pug named Doughnut.
Danielle’s beloved pug, Doughnut.
Those are some of my observations about Danielle, but I wanted to make sure I gave her the chance to speak for herself too. So I posed some burning questions to her.
What is the first sporting event you remember attending?
My first sporting event was a Dartmouth hockey game. I grew up near the campus.
When Danielle was growing up in New Hampshire (pic at top), her first sporting experience was watching hockey. She played in high school (pic in middle) and still plays ice hockey regularly in New York (pic at bottom).
What is your pet peeve?
People who get on the subway and don’t move to the center of the car. Don’t they know there are 20 people behind them trying to get on?!
What do people learn about you that they find surprising?
I’m half Asian. My mom’s side of the family is Chinese.
One of the first things you did as commissioner was oversee the voting on some rule changes. Where can people see the new, updated rules? Which rule had the biggest debate when you discussed them with the captains?
Here are the rules so that people can check them out. When I met with the captains before the season began the biggest debate was about the shootout rules.
You don’t do this all alone. Who are the other folks that work in the league and what are their roles?
Outgoing commissioner Tim has still been a huge help. Ashley has been an outstanding ref manager while Zach and Diane are the ref schedulers. Eli and Derek made the schedule. I’ve had lots of help from all of the captains, refs, and writers and it would be impossible to mention everyone. We are still seeking more guest writers, game coordinators, and a head of the disciplinary committee. Come join us!
You mentioned ex-commissioner Brown. You know, he has a side job working the penalty box at MSG. If you could have a side job working in sports, what would it be?
I’d hang medals around the Olympic winners’ necks. (Don’t worry, Karma. She won’t be going to Brasil this year so she’ll be here for your games.)
A rare photo of a meeting of the BTSH Illuminati. Three commissioners in one place!
Speaking of sports who’s going to win the Stanley Cup in 2017?
Go, Bruins!
More importantly, who’s going to win the Fairy Tale Cup?
Unicorns are dead. Elves are dead. The fairy tale is over folks. (Note from Tia: I was so disappointed that Danielle didn’t say “Rainbows” that I am now no longer talking to her.)
What question did I not ask you that you wish I had?
What’s my favorite ice cream flavor?
She REALLY loves ice cream.
But did she answer the question? No! So you’ll have to find her and ask her in person. Or just find her to say hello and thank you. Being the Commissioner is a huge job and I think you’d all agree that we don’t thank Danielle, and the other folks who help with BTSH, enough.