Arizona State Moving To D1

[Shirtless Guy]

Re: Arizona State Moving To D1

oh, of course. because phoenix and pittsburgh are closer to duluth than houghton.

If everything centered around what was closest to Duluth, the conferences would be aligned very differently

[Critical Thinker]

Re: Arizona State Moving To D1

But that's the thing that is lost in some of the arguments on here - This isn't a program considering going D1; this is a program that has announced that the decision is final, and they are going D1. Now you're telling me that a school with over 60,000 undergrads and over 12,000 grad students, with over 3 billion in assets, is going to say, "Hey, never mind. We had to buy a piece of land. We're out"?

There are a lot of reasons a school might not want to go D1, and an arena is certainly a big one of those things. And I'm not saying getting more big boys in the sport is good for college hockey; personally, I don't think it is. But I'm saying when the big boys say they're definitely getting in the game, things that would sink a smaller school won't even slow ASU down.

No, the decision to build a rink isn't going to end the program, but a cheap arena is what, $40 million? And ASU is certainly going to what a "nicer" arena than that, so I think they'll end up spending around $60 million. No university has that kind of money lying around, nor can they fundraise to that amount. They've already got $30 million to start the program, so how much more is left from the alumni base for hockey? They'll have to end up borrowing from somewhere, unless they can get Pegula dollars.

[4four4]

Re: Arizona State Moving To D1

The Western Collegiate Hockey Association appears to be leading for entrance into the league by Arizona State, which will decide this year. Meanwhile, WCHA.tv has instituted a 99-game subscription package for $69.99.

.

[gfmorris]

Re: Arizona State Moving To D1

They are doing well in the AHA. RMU might be what the NCHC might need a taste of east coast flavor.

I think that everyone at RMU, from Schools on down, would love to have a full 18 scholarships.

GFM

[Red Cows]

Re: Arizona State Moving To D1

If they end up needing to build an ice arena, adequate commitment might be a problem.

There is no "if" there. No credible program at a school of this size or stature can or will exist in an arena that seats 500 people.

And, as I related earlier in this thread:

Oceanside Ice Center, where ASU's ACHA team currently plays, seats 500 people for hockey. It is obviously completely and totally unsuited for a D-1 team at a school this size, both logistically and financially. The arena is owned by the Desert Youth Hockey Association (a 501c non-profit) and is a couple miles from the ASU campus. It was built in 1974 and, to give you an idea, there are two community rinks in Omaha, alone, for example, that are more opulent, newer, and larger than this place is.

[Red Cows]

Re: Arizona State Moving To D1

But I'm saying when the big boys say they're definitely getting in the game, things that would sink a smaller school won't even slow ASU down.

This should be true in this case. Perhaps it is. But, they sure announced this with what sounded like very little planning or forethought. When you announce something like this, and then admit you have no idea where you are playing, next season, at the press conference where ASU announced this, one has to wonder just how many of the ducks are in a row here.

As I said earlier in the thread, the land, even if it is currently available on campus, is not a slam dunk. This is public, state institution spending taxpayer's tax dollars and universities have things like master plans for their campuses. I bet there is nothing in ASU's master plan about land use for a hockey arena. It is going to take some sort of discussion to use land they may already own suitable for the purpose, even. I'm not familiar with Arizona law, obviously, but there is no way this happens without some fairly serious discourse about it on a number of levels by a variety of entities with in that state.

Once that hurdle is cleared, then there is the little matter of funding the actual design and construction of a hockey facility. As I said earlier in the thread, the going rate for that, for a dual rink facility (which is almost certainly what they will need), both at Penn State and currently at UNO was and is about 90 million dollars, at least. Unless a donor comes forth, that is big expenditure of state money for a hockey facility. A school the size of Penn State needed the single biggest donation in the history of the school, let alone to the Athletic Department, to pull this off and about half of the cost of UNO's building has been donated.

When it comes down to brass tacks for public funding of this facility (which as things stand right this second, would be a necessity) we'll see just how interested in hockey the state legislature in Arizona really is in this as well as the school's governing body. I have to think that some donor or donor arm of the university is going to have to be involved, and, in a big way.

No matter what, all of this is going to take some time. As I also said earlier in the thread, I can't see any way this is done in anything less than 4-6 years and that is if all of these processes start today.

The way this got announced (if you didn't see the actual press conference, watch it) it looked for all the world like this was a knee jerk reaction to this sudden donor gift of money to move the program up (kids at Christmas was sort of the vibe) and little more than that sounded very well thought out. They didn't give real substantive answers at the announcement press conference about much of anything of import. They very much talked in hypotheticals. I didn't get warm fuzzies about it, anyway.

And, FWIW, I just did a quick Google News search using the term "Arizona State Hockey" and I could not find any news stories since this announcement was made that talks about or addresses any these "logistics concerns" or that they are somehow even starting to be addressed. We are less than 10 months away from the beginning of next season, now.

I'm very skeptical about this on a number of fronts unless that are much larger machinations going at the conference level within in the Pac-12 that we don't know about.

[Red Cows]

Re: Arizona State Moving To D1

Interesting Tweet from Brad Schlossman:

https://twitter.com/SchlossmanGF/sta...45989095407616

[JF_Gophers]

Re: Arizona State Moving To D1

ASU has only been news since what, Nov 18th. It's not like it's been that long. I don't think no new news after 2 months is a big deal.

[LtPowers]

Re: Arizona State Moving To D1

So with the rink that ASU has will only qualify them to play in the AHA.
Lots of small public owned rinks in the AHA.

Two, really. The Milford Ice Pavilion (Sacred Heart) and the John A. Ryan Arena (Bentley). Maybe three if you count the Olympia Ice Center (AIC), but it's not all that small. Tate Rink (Army) and Cadet Ice Arena (Air Force) are publicly owned but only in the sense that they're owned by the federal government (and neither is really 'small'). HARBORCenter (Canisius) is neither small nor public. All of the rest (Dwyer, Hart, 84 Lumber, Mercyhurst, Polisseni) are privately owned by their universities.


Powers &8^]

[gfmorris]

Re: Arizona State Moving To D1

Two, really. The Milford Ice Pavilion (Sacred Heart) and the John A. Ryan Arena (Bentley). Maybe three if you count the Olympia Ice Center (AIC), but it's not all that small. Tate Rink (Army) and Cadet Ice Arena (Air Force) are publicly owned but only in the sense that they're owned by the federal government (and neither is really 'small'). HARBORCenter (Canisius) is neither small nor public. All of the rest (Dwyer, Hart, 84 Lumber, Mercyhurst, Polisseni) are privately owned by their universities.

Have they upgraded the Milford? That place was a real dump when I was there a dozen years ago.

GFM

[lmg6841]

Re: Arizona State Moving To D1

So with the rink that ASU has will only qualify them to play in the AHA.
Lots of small public owned rinks in the AHA.

Oceanside would be a stretch to qualify even for the AHA.

[joecct]

Have they upgraded the Milford? That place was a real dump when I was there a dozen years ago.

GFM

Clarkson played there a few years ago. It looked like a muni rink then.

[Critical Thinker]

Re: Arizona State Moving To D1

There is no "if" there. No credible program at a school of this size or stature can or will exist in an arena that seats 500 people.

Not necessarily. They could go off campus or renovate the bouncyball arena. Both unlikely, but possible.

[SJHovey]

Re: Arizona State Moving To D1

Not necessarily. They could go off campus or renovate the bouncyball arena. Both unlikely, but possible.

As I recall from a couple of years ago when I happened to be on the ASU campus, there is a lot of space available, even though the campus itself is essentially landlocked within a major metropolitan area.

But I wouldn't be shocked if they look at renovating the basketball arena. It seats somewhere in the neighborhood of 10,000+, which would be perfect for hockey. It's already a multi-use facility. They take out the court for things like graduation ceremonies, concerts, etc...

[gfmorris]

Re: Arizona State Moving To D1

Clarkson played there a few years ago. It looked like a muni rink then.

When we played there in 2002-03, the only heated rooms in the building were 1) the SHU locker room 2) the SHU coaches' room 3) the main office 4) this random room behind the visitors' goal. Our team came to that room to stretch. They were pushed by senior league players to get out of the locker room so they could play an hour after the game. It was ridiculous.

Can't ASU consider playing some games in Glendale?

GFM