Arizona State Men’s Hockey and the Big Ten have agreed to a one-year scheduling arrangement for the 2020-21 season, according to a press release by ASU on Tuesday.
While the exact schedule will be released at a later time, ASU, which has played as an independent program since joining the Division I ranks in 2015, will play all seven Big Ten schools four times throughout the season for a total of 28 regular season games, all of which will be played on the road. ASU will not be eligible to qualify for the league’s tournament at the end of the regular season.
“With the national trend of athletic conferences transitioning their schedules to conference only, several of our programs are directly affected and maybe none more than our hockey program as an independent,” ASU vice president for university athletics Ray Anderson said in the release. “We want to thank the Big Ten, commissioner Kevin Warren, and the university presidents and athletic directors for lending a hand and coordinating a scheduling arrangement for this season.”
The Big Ten is expected to play a conference-only schedule beginning as soon as Nov. 13.
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced hockey conferences across the country to make adjustments to their seasons and schedules. Just weeks ago, the NCAA announced a delay to the start of the hockey season and left it up to the individual conferences with regard to whether or not they would play.
“We talked to everybody to try and come up with an amicable solution under the circumstances that we could find,” head coach Greg Powers said. “We believe this was the best option presented to us to give our players a meaningful season.”
The Sun Devils have been independent for each of their five Division I seasons.
“It’s going to be unique for me to be handed the schedule,” Powers said.
When asked if the agreement for the 2020-21 season was indicative of a potential future for ASU within the conference, Powers said he didn’t believe so.
Trips to the Big Ten schools will come in “arrangements”, and Powers added that games against Minnesota and Wisconsin, two of ASU’s expected opponents, could be played over the same road trip.
With the conference-only schedule, ASU gives up home dates at Oceanside Ice Arena in Tempe, but the Sun Devils will spend less time on the road this year compared to others thanks to the pairing of opponents.
“The number of road trips is less, as crazy as that sounds,” Powers said.
ASU believes their addition benefits the Big Ten and not just themselves, as the conference had an odd-numbered amount of teams.
“We diversified their schedule a bit,” Powers said. “Now they don’t have just six opponents.”
Challenges still exist for the Sun Devils though. The Big Ten features storied programs such as Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, and recruits the rich hockey states well.
“You can make the case that it’s the premier conference in college hockey,” Powers said. “Every team is really good. There’s no layups. It’s going to be a challenge for us.”
The Sun Devils fate after the 28 regular season games are completed remains unclear. With no entry into the Big Ten Tournament at the end of the year, ASU is faced with its usual circumstances: no automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Its usual fallback – the Pairwise Ranking – may not be a factor this year, according to Powers.
“There’s not going to be enough data for us to count on the Pairwise,” he said. “It’s not going to matter this year.
“We need to impress the right people to get in.”
If ASU turns in a good record against the mighty conference, it could be enough. If it isn’t, Powers said they’ll have their own ways to make up for it.
“We’re going to have a competition with ourselves to finish as high up in those faux Big Ten standings as possible,” Powers said. “We think we’re going to have a Tournament-caliber team and now we got to go win a bunch of games against really good teams.”
ASU and the Big Ten will follow the same COVID-19 protocols and testing regime that are currently installed for the conference’s football teams, which includes daily testing and cardiac screenings.
While testing was seen as the key for the Pac-12 and Big Ten to reverse their decision on the postponement of fall sports, positive COVID-19 tests have resulted in 24 college football games being postponed so far this season nationwide, and the NFL has had two games moved four weeks into its season even with the presence of daily testing.
“We have a social responsibility right now,” Powers said. “We’re all depending on each other to do the right things.”
Powers said his players know what the consequences are of not being smart during a time like the pandemic, and believes they will abide.
“One selfish or careless mistake affects the whole, Powers said. “That’s the thing about our game. It’s a team sport. I don’t have a doubt in my mind that our guys are going to walk the line.
“The term student-athlete applies now more than ever. It’s school and it is hockey. That is it.”
The 2020-21 season looms large for the Sun Devils after having a record of 22-11-3 during the 2019-20 season and likely being in position for an NCAA Tournament berth before the NCAA’s cancellation of all sports in March.
“They couldn’t have been more excited,” Powers said of his players. “They’re excited for the opportunity and the challenge.”
