Here is a story that caught my eye yesterday. College hockey newcomer Arizona State University is going to be hosting a college hockey tourney this season. So, I suppose hockey fans will be asking, how do I get my favorite team invited to this? Three of the teams involved in the inaugural tourney are named after K-9’s.
TEMPE, Ariz. – Sun Devil hockey will host the Desert Hockey Classic, an NCAA Division I hockey tournament, the weekend of Jan. 8, 2016, the school announced today. Yale, Michigan Tech, and Connecticut will travel to Arizona to compete in the four-team tournament.
The tournament will feature the first NCAA DI hockey games in the state of Arizona since 1985, when NAU sponsored NCAA hockey.
“We couldn’t be more pleased to expand ASU’s first home NCAA Division I weekend into the Desert Hockey Classic with three prestigious Division I hockey schools,” head coach Greg Powers said. “To expose Arizona hockey fans to the highest level of college hockey in one weekend is incredibly exciting.”
All three teams are highly competitive in the NCAA. Yale is a historic program that won the national championship in 2013, Michigan Tech was ranked as high as No. 1 last season and UConn plays in the prominent Hockey East conference under second-year coach Mike Cavanaugh.
With ASU’s conference-independent season next year, all other NCAA games are scheduled to be on the road. The Desert Hockey Classic replaces the two-game home series against Yale, originally scheduled for Jan. 8-9.
The Desert Hockey Classic will be the only chance to see NCAA hockey in Arizona until 2016-17.
“This will be a precursor to what Arizona hockey fans can see every home weekend at ASU leading into the future as we have some incredible, big-name opponents committed to traveling to Arizona State in both the 2016-17, and 2017-18 seasons,” Powers said. “We are looking to make this the first of many very successful Desert Hockey Classics.”
Tournament match-ups and game times, as well as ticket and venue information will be released in the coming weeks.
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