For the first time since play began in 2013, the NCHC is expanding by adding Arizona State as a ninth member in the conference beginning with the 2024-25 season.
Arizona State will join Colorado College, Denver, Miami, Minnesota-Duluth, Omaha, North Dakota, St. Cloud State and Western Michigan in forming NCHC membership.
“On behalf of the entire NCHC Board of Directors, I am pleased to welcome ASU to the elite conference in college hockey,” NCHC Board Chairman and North Dakota President Andy Armacost said in a statement. “ASU’s commitment to excellence on the ice, in the classroom, and in the lives of student-athletes reflects the ideals of the NCHC, and we couldn’t be happier to have them as our newest member.”
Arizona elevated its hockey program to varsity status for the 2015-16 season and quickly became a nationally competitive program under 15-year head coach Greg Powers. In 2018-19, the Sun Devils achieved their first ever top-10 win while earning a No. 1 national ranking shortly after. In just its third full season, ASU earned an at-large berth to the 2019 NCAA Tournament, becoming the fastest junior program ever to qualify for the tournament.
In February 2020, the Sun Devils cracked the top 10 in the national rankings for the first time in the program’s history. ASU was on course to make its second straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament before it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Sun Devils still finished with a 20-game winning streak in 2019-20. ASU graduated from an 18-21-0 record last season 2022-23, which included wins over top 10 teams in North Dakota and Minnesota, as well as a 3-4-0 record against NCHC teams.
“Since the inception of NCAA Division I ice hockey at ASU, we have searched for a conference that embodies our commitment to the student-athlete experience, academics, tournament performance, and elite competition. After a successful first season at Mullett Arena, it is time to secure membership in an outstanding conference and we are excited to join the NCHC,” he said. ASU Vice President for University Athletics Ray Anderson. “This membership enriches and enables our commitment to providing the best experience for our students, fans, alumni, and community stakeholders. In return, we look forward to hosting fellow NCHC member institutions and contributing to the level of excellence set by the conference and its historic programs.”
In the fall of 2022, Arizona State opens Mullett Arena on campus, which serves as the new home for the Sun Devil hockey, as well as the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes. Mullett Arena seats 5,000 people for hockey games (942 seats for students), with the NHL adding a $19.7 million addition to Mullett Arena, which includes state-of-the-art locker rooms, a training room, a strength and conditioning room and more. .
ASU averaged over 4,600 fans per game during its first season at Mullett Arena, ranking 12th nationally in average attendance. Colorado College was the first NCHC team to visit Mullett Arena on October 21-22, 2022. Mullett Arena can also host concerts and other family events throughout the year.
Arizona boasts four alumni who have signed NHL contracts in the past four years, including two (Joey Daccord with Ottawa and Brinson Pasichnuk with San Jose) making their NHL debuts. In the classroom, ASU has also seen success with graduation success rates of 100 percent in two of the past three seasons. The Seven Sun Devils earned Pac-12 Winter Academic Honors last season.
“NCHC is pleased to welcome ASU as a member beginning in the 2024-25 season. Since its inception, NCHC has been defined by member institutions with a commitment to nationally competitive hockey programs while providing a first-class student athletic experience. ASU has demonstrated this commitment throughout program, including the opening of Mullett Arena last fall,” said NCHC Commissioner Heather Weems. “As the NCAA Division I landscape continues to change, ASU is working to enhance the financial and competitive stability of the NCHC while providing a destination trip for alumni of NCHC member institutions and fans.
“We are also excited to introduce ASU fans and the US West market to the strong traditions of our member institutions and to create new rivalries within the NCHC.”
Although the NCHC is adding a ninth team, the conference will continue to use the NCHC’s 24-game-per-team schedule in 2024-25, as it has for each of its first 10 seasons. However, a new three-year rotation and scheduling model will be implemented beginning with the 2024-25 season.
The new schedule and rotation model consists of three groups of three teams based on geography with teams guaranteed to play a home and away series against the other two teams in their pod each season (eight games). The three-team pods are Arizona State, Colorado College, and Denver. Minnesota-Duluth, North Dakota, and St. Cloud State; Miami, Omaha and Western Michigan.
The remaining 16 conference games will be played against the six “non-pod” teams, with only four opponents being played in one series (eight games), home or away, and two “non-pod” opponents being played in both the home and away series away (eight games). “non-pod” teams that are played once or twice in a series will rotate over three seasons. The full 2024-25 schedule will be released next spring.
The NCHC postseason format with nine teams for the 2024-25 season and beyond is still being evaluated and will be finalized and announced in the coming months.
Arizona State is a comprehensive public research university located in Tempe, Arizona that has an enrollment of 57,588 students at its Tempe campus and is the largest public institution in the country. In all, ASU has 112,171 undergraduate students and 30,445 graduate students, including 62,551 online students. Arizona State is ranked as the number one university in the United States for innovation US News & World Report for eight consecutive years. ASU is also the No. 1 public university in the United States of choice for international students.
“This will become one of the most influential days in Sun Devil hockey history. Being accepted as a member of such a formidable conference as the NCHC with such historic college hockey programs is an honor we will not take for granted,” Powers said. “Being able to develop rivalries In a conference where hockey is paramount to all of its members, chasing the Penrose Cup and competing in postseason tournaments would be a welcome challenge for our student-athletes and fans. We can’t wait to get started and do our part in contributing to the NCHC, the greatest single athletic conference in college athletics.”
Arizona will become an official member of the NCHC on July 1, 2024.