Arizona State hockey is the fastest growing program in the nation

TEMPE, Ariz. — Just a year after opening Arizona State hockey’s new home, Mullet Arena, the program gave us more exciting news. ASU men’s ice hockey would be joining a conference after being an independent since 2014. Let’s look at some of the key moments that have brought the Sun Devils this far, and so quickly.

Arizona State hockey through the years

The Sun Devils join Division One

In November of 2014, Arizona State made the jump up to Division One hockey. This was made possible via the largest donation in Sun Devil Athletic’s history. The donation checks in at a whopping $32 million dollars. The transition allowed ASU to begin play in the Division One ranks in 2015.

In their second-ever game, the Sun Devils made history. Their first NCAA victory was against Alaska Fairbanks on October 10th, 2015. It wasn’t just any ordinary win either. As many ASU fans are familiar, the Sun Devils like to play in close games. Across all sports. This was no different, as the new hockey program won 2-1 with a goal in the final seconds to secure the victory.

The Sun Devils’ first victory over a ranked opponent would take place in year two. On October 16th, 2016, Arizona State beat No. 18 Air Force by a score of 5-2. The game was played at Gila River Arena.

The program would continue to have success as the years passed. In January of 2018, Arizona State won the inaugural Ice Vegas Invitational at T-Mobile Arena. This was the program’s first-holiday tournament championship, and it wouldn’t be the last.

Arizona State’s magical third season

The Sun Devils’ third full season in the Division One ranks was a truly special one.

On November 3rd, 2018, ASU headed up to Happy Valley for a showdown with No. 6 Penn State. It was a two-night affair with the Nittany Lions, and opening night ended in heartbreak.

A high-scoring outing with the Big Ten school left Arizona State just short, as the Sun Devils lost 5-6. However, that game instilled the belief and confidence that the squad needed to get a victory.

The following day Arizona State shocked the hockey world with a one-score overtime win against the Nittany Lions. It was the program’s first top-ten win.

The dream would continue as a little over a week later, ASU was ranked for the first time ever. The new Division One hockey program checked in at No. 18 in the USCHO.com coaches’ poll.

Arizona State continued the season, just stacking on impressive victories. On December 29th they tied with third-ranked Minnesota State. They’d go on to win the shootout. Just a week later the Sun Devils completed a sweep over college hockey blue-blood Boston College.

All of those impressive outings were enough for Arizona State to do the unthinkable. The Sun Devils made history as the fastest startup NCAA program to qualify for the NCAA tournament. They accomplished that feat in just their third full season.

Sun Devil’s success continues

After the dream season in 2018-2019, goaltender Joey Daccord made program history as the first Sun Devil to sign an NHL contract. Daccord inked an agreement with the Ottawa Senators. He made his NHL debut on April 4th, 2019.

The success of the new program gave them the opportunity to go global. In August 2019, ASU hockey won the inaugural Renaissance Cup in Beijing, China.

The 2019-2020 season would bring Arizona State hockey the biggest win in program history. ASU upset traditional blue blood and No. 4 Denver by a handedly score of 4-1.

A month and a half later, ASU went into one of the toughest environments in the sport and secured a victory. ASU beat No. 8 Clarkson in an overtime thriller. The win was the Sun Devils’ fourth over a top-ten opponent on the season.

Arizona State’s ability to beat seemingly anyone, and anywhere, helped them become a consensus top-ten team across all the major hockey rankings in February of 2020. That was the first time in school history.

We all know what happened in March 2020. ASU was in line for back-to-back NCAA tournament berths and back-to-back 20-win seasons when the pandemic crippled college athletics. They joined Arizona State basketball as another Sun Devil team that seemed destined for the NCAA tournament.

ASU’s post-pandemic success

The Sun Devils got right back to it when sports continued after COVID-19. In January of 2022, ASU completed a sweep over the top ten-ranked Cornell. The sweep was part of a program-long five-game winning streak over ranked opponents.

ASU ended the 2022 season with their final game at Oceanside Ice Arena. The Sun Devils won their final game and completed a series sweep over Long Island. While it was a bittersweet farewell to the dated arena, bigger and brighter things were on the horizon for Sun Devil hockey.

Arizona State hockey moves to Mullett Arena

On October 14th, 2022, Arizona State played its first game in the brand-new Mullett Arena. The new arena was state-of-the-art and one of the best hockey facilities in the country. It also boasted one of the best student sections in the nation.

ASU won their first game at Mullett against Colgate, 2-0. Hometown kid Josh Doan scored his first-ever collegiate goal in the victory.

The 2022-2023 season was an injury-riddled up-and-down year. There were some tremendous highs and some devastating lows. One of those highs was a Sun Devil victory against No 6. ranked North Dakota in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game at T-Mobile Arena. It was the program’s best win since 2019.

The Sun Devils followed that up with an even better win exactly a month later. ASU welcomed No 2. ranked Minnesota to Mullett and the sold-out crowd got one of the best games in program history. Arizona State won in a blockbuster thrilling overtime game 6-5. It was, and still is, the biggest win in the young program’s history.

Now just a few days ago it was announced that Arizona State men’s ice hockey will be joining NCHC. The merge will be complete on July 1st, 2024. The future is bright for ASU hockey in Tempe.

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