I don't think it's related to Joe at all. The list of teams who haven't gone in the last four years (and thus are eligible to go again), excluding BC who wouldn't set foot there for obvious reasons, is Merrimack (already in a Thanksgiving tourney with UML), Lowell (See previous), UVM (Already hosts a Christmas tournament, may have a new head coach), and UMass. If either of UMass or UVM didn't want to go, Hockey East had no chance of sending two teams. Keep in mind the ECAC is only sending QU, so this isn't a Hockey East only problem.