Quote:Arizona State athletic director Ray Anderson would love for his program to add Division I ice hockey, he said in an interview with the House of Sparky blog on SB Nation.

When reached for further comment by CHN, Anderson said through a spokesperson that he wants to wait a few months to comment further, so he can get more clarity on the issue.

There are no imminent plans, but this is the first time an Arizona State official has talked so openly about the idea.

Arizona State has a very successful team at the club level, having just won the ACHA national championship. And their games do well attendance-wise.

The state of Arizona once had a Division I team, at Northern Arizona, from 1980-86. Otherwise, the closest current college teams are in Colorado, and none of the other schools in Arizona State's conference — the Pac-12 — has an NCAA hockey team.

Anderson acknowledged that Arizona State would likely have to go the route of schools like Penn State, which used a large donation to start a men's and women's program together, build a rink, and endow the programs going forward.

http://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/20...nts_to.php

will hockey work there? Didnt (doesnt) the Coyotes have problems?

I think the consensus has always been that the Coyote's biggest problem has been the location of their rink. Apparently they built it in Glendale, which is on the far extreme of their market. At least, that is what my Phoenix-based hockey fan friend constantly tells me.

BTW, for my money AZ has one of the best non-original six team sweaters in the NHL. That is a very sharp look.

I believe the college hockey can be successful there. I know that Arizona has long had a very strong following at the club level. The Wildcats, who were long coached by a true character named Leo Golembiewski, were very successful and very popular in Tucson.

Would Arizona State start in the NCHC, or would the NCHC take someone else first? The NCHC has 2 of the 3 programs in the Mountain Time Zone, although Atlantic Hockey could pair them with Air Force.

I suspect there probably won't be any growth out west until 6 Pac 12 schools can commit to fielding men's and women's squads. I could possibly see Texas stepping up since Longhorn Network would have plenty of capacity for programming during December, January, and February.

Quote:Anderson acknowledged that Arizona State would likely have to go the route of schools like Penn State, which used a large donation to start a men's and women's program together, build a rink, and endow the programs going forward.

That "large donation" to fund Penn State hockey from the ground up was $102 million. http://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/blog/...ockey.html

So, Sun Devils hockey fans, no problem! As soon as the $102 million donation arrives, we will be ready to roll!

I believe the college hockey can be successful there. I know that Arizona has long had a very strong following at the club level. The Wildcats, who were long coached by a true character named Leo Golembiewski, were very successful and very popular in Tucson.

I'd like to see how this plays out as I love going to ECU Club Hockey games. Our major issues in moving up would be a regulation ice rink in Greenville. Especially considering Arizona State and ECU would be "out of market" like teams for D1 hockey.

man i would love to have a Hockey team at UH

(08-08-2014 09:16 PM)chargeradio Wrote:  Would Arizona State start in the NCHC, or would the NCHC take someone else first? The NCHC has 2 of the 3 programs in the Mountain Time Zone, although Atlantic Hockey could pair them with Air Force.

I suspect there probably won't be any growth out west until 6 Pac 12 schools can commit to fielding men's and women's squads. I could possibly see Texas stepping up since Longhorn Network would have plenty of capacity for programming during December, January, and February.

The NCHC would definitely take Arizona State. They probably have their eyes on a number of Big 12 and Pac 12 schools: like Arizona, Utah, Washington, Stanford, Oregon, Texas, Oklahoma, and Iowa State.

California is churning out enough DI caliber players to fill at least one team. The Dallas area is getting there. Arizona is getting stronger in youth hockey, as it has several traveling teams.

(08-08-2014 10:47 PM)PirateTreasureNC Wrote:  I'd like to see how this plays out as I love going to ECU Club Hockey games. Our major issues in moving up would be a regulation ice rink in Greenville. Especially considering Arizona State and ECU would be "out of market" like teams for D1 hockey.

ECU would probably need to partner with Liberty or Navy or Delaware and get an invite to Atlantic Hockey. Liberty and Navy have DI rinks right now.

(08-08-2014 09:33 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

Quote:Anderson acknowledged that Arizona State would likely have to go the route of schools like Penn State, which used a large donation to start a men's and women's program together, build a rink, and endow the programs going forward.

That "large donation" to fund Penn State hockey from the ground up was $102 million. http://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/blog/...ockey.html

So, Sun Devils hockey fans, no problem! As soon as the $102 million donation arrives, we will be ready to roll!

To be fair, Penn State went all out with their ice arena and that $102 million includes part of a budget endowment for a number of years. If they were a little more modest with their facility and budget (I imagine they would be), it would lower the cost of starting up the program a bit. Also, I don't know what the cost of living is in Tempe versus State College, but that alone might push the cost down slightly.

Just a side note about the hockey interest in Arizona, but I believe Northern Arizona had a decent program for a few years until they were discontinued.

Man this makes me wish Kent State brought back their hockey team to the NCAA level. We have a high level club team but it just isn't the same.

(08-08-2014 10:57 PM)NoDak Wrote:  

(08-08-2014 10:47 PM)PirateTreasureNC Wrote:  I'd like to see how this plays out as I love going to ECU Club Hockey games. Our major issues in moving up would be a regulation ice rink in Greenville. Especially considering Arizona State and ECU would be "out of market" like teams for D1 hockey.

ECU would probably need to partner with Liberty or Navy or Delaware and get an invite to Atlantic Hockey. Liberty and Navy have DI rinks right now.

ECU plays in the ACHA.
--our site http://www.ecuicehockey.com/

The thing is, to even remotely do this at the D1 level, it would require ECU and/or the city of Greenville to invest in a regulation ice rink. The company that has a ice rink, Bladez on Ice, does not have a regulation size rink for ice hockey. In some cases this hurts the team's scheduling of games here in Greenville and in some cases forces them to play in Raleigh which is 70m away.

Not sure how Title IX would effect us or Arizona State.... but I wouldn't be opposed to Beach Volleyball for the ladies!

(08-08-2014 11:14 PM)PirateTreasureNC Wrote:  

(08-08-2014 10:57 PM)NoDak Wrote:  

(08-08-2014 10:47 PM)PirateTreasureNC Wrote:  I'd like to see how this plays out as I love going to ECU Club Hockey games. Our major issues in moving up would be a regulation ice rink in Greenville. Especially considering Arizona State and ECU would be "out of market" like teams for D1 hockey.

ECU would probably need to partner with Liberty or Navy or Delaware and get an invite to Atlantic Hockey. Liberty and Navy have DI rinks right now.

ECU plays in the ACHA.
--our site http://www.ecuicehockey.com/

The thing is, to even remotely do this at the D1 level, it would require ECU and/or the city of Greenville to invest in a regulation ice rink. The company that has a ice rink, Bladez on Ice, does not have a regulation size rink for ice hockey. In some cases this hurts the team's scheduling of games here in Greenville and in some cases forces them to play in Raleigh which is 70m away.

Not sure how Title IX would effect us or Arizona State.... but I wouldn't be opposed to Beach Volleyball for the ladies!

The only schools that are in the position to add hockey are P5 schools or low DI schools that have no intention of starting football. Most AD's see hockey rinks as a drain on fundraising for football.

(08-08-2014 11:04 PM)Love and Honor Wrote:  

(08-08-2014 09:33 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

Quote:Anderson acknowledged that Arizona State would likely have to go the route of schools like Penn State, which used a large donation to start a men's and women's program together, build a rink, and endow the programs going forward.

That "large donation" to fund Penn State hockey from the ground up was $102 million. http://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/blog/...ockey.html

So, Sun Devils hockey fans, no problem! As soon as the $102 million donation arrives, we will be ready to roll!

To be fair, Penn State went all out with their ice arena and that $102 million includes part of a budget endowment for a number of years. If they were a little more modest with their facility and budget (I imagine they would be), it would lower the cost of starting up the program a bit. Also, I don't know what the cost of living is in Tempe versus State College, but that alone might push the cost down slightly.

Just a side note about the hockey interest in Arizona, but I believe Northern Arizona had a decent program for a few years until they were discontinued.

They might be able to spend less, then, but just as a guesstimate, at least $50 million for a small-ish hockey arena plus practice facilities. There are two new spring-training baseball parks in the Phoenix area (including all training facilities, so not just the stadium) that were each about $100 million. USC's relatively new basketball arena (plus practice facilities) cost almost $150 million. UCLA spent $130 million on a major renovation of Pauley Pavilion.

ASU is already spending over $200 million renovating its football stadium and wondering where they're going to find the money to overhaul their basketball arena -- which is old, but is a nice old arena with good sightlines. http://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/co.../10823117/

I'd be more optimistic about ASU or any western school finding the money for D-I hockey if they could use an existing arena for games.

Hockey team at NAU drew well - averaged several thousand a game. Attracted some good talent - including two future Nhl players

(08-08-2014 11:06 PM)Sultan of Euphonistan Wrote:  Man this makes me wish Kent State brought back their hockey team to the NCAA level. We have a high level club team but it just isn't the same.

Wait until Akron Basketball and the City of Akron builds that new facility downtown and then have Kent State install ice equipment and move in your Hockey team and move to NCAA level. Then kick Akron bball out.

(08-09-2014 12:17 AM)Wedge Wrote:  I'd be more optimistic about ASU or any western school finding the money for D-I hockey if they could use an existing arena for games.

Yeah, not sure why they couldn't use an existing facility. There has to be plenty in Phoenix area. Not even sure why they couldn't use their own basketball arena. Staples Center is the home of the LA Kings, LA Lakers, and LA Clippers and they seem to have no problem making it work. They even squeeze a few concerts in during the same time. If Sparky is renovating their basketball arena, this would be the perfect opportunity to integrate the facility for hockey and let basketball donors foot most of the bill or share it. Might be why he is bringing this up now.

(08-09-2014 08:03 AM)Miami (Oh) Yeah ! Wrote:  

(08-08-2014 11:06 PM)Sultan of Euphonistan Wrote:  Man this makes me wish Kent State brought back their hockey team to the NCAA level. We have a high level club team but it just isn't the same.

Wait until Akron Basketball and the City of Akron builds that new facility downtown and then have Kent State install ice equipment and move in your Hockey team and move to NCAA level. Then kick Akron bball out.

Lol the ice rink isn't the number one problem as we still have our ice rink (and it is very popular too as it is used for a bunch of events) though it is too small to make a profit (though it was the rink when we had an official hockey team and it was remodeled since then so chances are it is officially big enough to have an official hockey team).