Arizona State: Full Steam Ahead

Division I's Newest Program Anxious to Get Started

by Adam Wodon/Managing Editor

It's now less than three months until Arizona State plays its first NCAA hockey game, something that a year ago was practically inconceivable to most people.

In that time, ASU and coach Greg Powers have quickly proven that it was the right move for all involved. From putting together a solid schedule, to showing some deft recruiting prowess, to building a staff, to moving forward with plans for an arena and conference, Arizona State is prepared for what lies ahead.

It may not seem entirely real until Powers starts seeing all of the players come back to campus, but the excitement is building.

"It's feel good," Powers said. "There's just been so much action in every realm of the program, trying to piece this together in nine months.

"And we're there. We have our team, we have our schedule, and we have our staff. It's time to start planning for hockey."

The Sun Devils have a schedule with 25 Division I games, more than enough to be eligible for the postseason. That might be a crazy proposition, but at least it's possible.

The roster has come together, with 13 holdovers from the club team, and four D-I transfers, though they will not be eligible until next year. Wade Murphy, formerly of North Dakota and an NHL Draft pick, is the latest to make the switch. He joins Dylan Hollman, who was injured during his time with Massachusetts-Lowell and never got much time there; Jake Montgomery, who decided to leave Nebraska-Omaha; and David Norris, a former point-per-game player at American International.

"They'll train together, practice together, help us build our program," Powers said.

Other recruits will fill in this year's roster, but a number of solid commits have already been made to next year's team. It's taken a lot of hard work, like it does for any program, but Arizona State has proven to already be a pretty good sell to young players.

The weather is an obvious draw, but Powers said it goes way beyond that.

"The weather, the climate, the campus is great about Arizona State," Powers said. "It can be a reason to come here, but if we sense in the recruiting process that it's the reason, then it's not a fit; because they won't stay focused. We use it as a selling point, but we want kids that want to come here and graduate and win."

Powers said, in the time frame before the announcement it was joining D-I and when he already knew it would happen, he spent a lot of time planning a recruiting strategy, and that is paying off now.

"We wanted to get older, experienced kids that played heavy and would be ready to compete and not be intimidated and wanted to build a culture at the largest school in North America," Powers said.

And don't discount the holdovers. Powers knows his club team hasn't been necessarily D-I level, but as a premiere club team, he has a leg up on other schools that may be looking to start hockey from scratch or from a lesser club program.

"These are kids that understand me, they take a tremendous amount of pride in the jersey, won a national championship at the club level," Powers said. "So we had a culture. It needs to be enhanced, everything has to be done better and more efficiently. But starting out with that core of kids ... they are old and hungry, and they will have a chip on their shoulder. They are out to prove that they should've been D-I all along."

There have been no recent developments about the team's arena. The plan is still to play most home games this season at its old facility, Oceanside Ice Arena, which holds 900 people; with some games to be played in Glendale, home of the NHL's Arizona Coyotes. Included there is the Desert Classic, which consists of ASU, Yale, Michigan Tech and Connecticut.

Next season, 2016-17, expect more games in Glendale as ASU beefs up its D-I schedule even further. Details aren't available yet, but Powers said it's very strong.

(By the way, Powers expects the Arizona Coyotes to stay in Glendale, so there shouldn't be an issue there. "We have a good relationship with them. I don't think they're going anywhere," Powers said. "Even if they did, the building would still be there. It doesn't really affect us. But we want them to stay. It's a market the NHL and NCAA can be successful in and share.")

In 2017-18, Powers said he expects a new arena to be in place, though the details of that are still up in the air. He said the school's athletic administration is looking at about 10 different options, the most exciting of which would be a new on-campus facility. But, given the high-cost and complex nature of such things, the administration is taking care of that issue while Powers focuses on other matters.

"We're going to get a building, we just want to make sure we do it right," Powers said. "What people forget is that this is Arizona, you can build year round. So we're well on track. In the interim is a $300,000 renovation to the current facility. It will end up being a practice facility. And there's a $250,000 locker room already there that we're upgrading.

"The administration has asked what my wishlist is for a facility. Otherwise, it's all (in their hands). Arizona State doesn't do anything halfway. (Athletic director) Ray Anderson and all the administrators are all-in on hockey. They understand the importance of a first-class faciltiy."

Though they expect to be in their own building by 2017-18, the schedule for that season has some holes — intentionally. Powers needs to leave space open for league games.

Yes, which conference Arizona State winds up in remains the interesting question. College hockey people in general are perhaps more interested in the result of this decision than Arizona State itself. No matter what, ASU will be fine. But the impact it will have on Arizona State itself is minimal compared to the impact it could have on college hockey as a whole.

Powers, again, is not yet willing to provide much detail on the discussions, but it's safe to say the choices come down to three of the six current conferences: NCHC, WCHA and Big Ten.

The latter is the most intriguing, because on the surface, it would seem impossible. But the Big Ten has allowed teams in for other sports, so it's not unprecedented. And the Big Ten is unquestionably the most "like-minded" conference to Arizona State's Pac-12, given their long history as Rose Bowl partners and that both are among the so-called "Power 5" NCAA conferences.

No matter which conference it is, it would create an uneven number of teams, which could open the door to other movement, which is why there is so much intrigue. Despite many rumors, there is no real inkling that another Pac-12 team, or any other school, is looking to make the jump.

But it's a two-way decision with a lot to discuss on both sides. Powers says that there have been preliminary discussions, but no formal offers. He expects a final decision to be made some time during this season.

"You can weigh pros and cons with every option that's out there," Powers said. "You can make a case for any of them. We like the spot we're in and we believe we provide a tremendous anmount of value no matter where we go. We bring a brand to the table."