ASU Athletic Director Ray Anderson explains how the elevation of ASU Men’s Ice Hockey program to NCAA Division 1 status at a press conference on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014. The ASU Men’s Ice Hockey program is now added as a NCAA sport. (Photo by Ryan Liu)"We are really, really proud to announce that starting in the 2015 academic year, ASU hockey will compete as a Division 1 varsity program."
Those are the words of ASU Athletic Director Ray Anderson who, on Tuesday, made the announcement that thanks to a record-setting donation to the athletics program, the University will be able to transition the hockey team from club to Division 1 while also adding a future women's sport.
It was a monumental decision and one that many fans and media members have been yearning for over the years.
Under the leadership of coach and former ASU goaltender Greg Powers, the Sun Devils have been on a run of remarkable success which culminated in the program's first-ever national title last spring and has continued into 2014 as the team is ranked No. 2 in the nation.
Anderson noted that the decision is not one without risk, and that around the country other schools are cutting varsity sports while ASU continues to add them.
There will be other hurdles to overcome for the transition, including finding a long-term home for the team to play its games, selecting a women's sport to elevate to the varsity level and maintaining on-ice success after the change.
The team plays at Oceanside Arena which is several miles from ASU's Tempe campus. Wells Fargo Arena and U.S. Airways Center have been rumored to be potential destinations for future home games.
In the press conference, Anders said that women's lacrosse is being considered as a primary target for D-1 status with women's rowing also in consideration.
But for now, fans can be excited about this news, because it is worth being excited about.
Hockey is a sport that has fought to find a home in the state of Arizona. The NHL's local franchise, the Arizona Coyotes, have undergone numerous ownership changes in a seemingly constant struggle to cement itself in the Valley.
But as the Coyotes settle in for the long haul in Glendale and ASU's team grows into a Division 1 program, the sport seems to have weathered the storm.
ASU is a university that prides itself on remaining on the cutting edge and relying on innovation rather than complacency.
This decision reflects those values.
The Sun Devils are the first west-coast Division 1 hockey program in the country with the majority of other programs hailing from the East Coast and Midwest.
They will also be the first team from the Power Five conferences to make the leap since Penn State's program did so in 2012.
Powers, who will be retained as coach throughout the transition, captured just how far this program has come in his five-year tenure.
"All I had was a diploma from Arizona State and a ton of passion for this school," Power said.
Now he has a championship ring (which he proudly wore at Tuesday's press conference), a batch of wildly talented players and a soon-to-be Division 1 program.
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