Construction on a new Arizona State University multi-purpose arena is expected to be completed in the fall of 2020, when it could begin hosting hockey.
ASU officials are planning the 5,000-seat venue as part of a broader project that will include renovations to basketball’s Wells Fargo Arena. The new multi-purpose venue will be located adjacent to Wells Fargo Arena and is intended to host several sports, including hockey, gymnastics, and wrestling.
At this point, ASU expects to begin construction on both venues in the first quarter of 2019. While renovations to Wells Fargo Arena are currently anticipated for a 2021 completion, work on the new multi-purpose venue is expected to finish by November 2020. That would allow it host ASU hockey beginning with the 2020-21 season, and represent a major milestone for what has been a growing program. More from the Arizona Republic:
ASU hockey, meanwhile, could begin playing in its on-campus arena, to be built adjacent to Wells Fargo Arena, in 2020-21. The Sun Devils will be going into their fourth varsity season in 2018-19 and third playing a full NCAA schedule. They remain independent, a status that Anderson believes is advantageous going into the new arena after two more seasons playing primarily at Oceanside Ice Arena.
The National Collegiate Hockey Conference and the Western Collegiate Hockey Association are potential landing spots for ASU, more so than the Big Ten.
“We are keeping it completely open because as the stature of our program and the commitment we’ve made becomes very clear to folks in the hockey world, we’ve got a lot of folks advocating for us, even coveting us to be members of their conference,” [ASU Vice President of Athletics Ray] Anderson said. “Right now, we’re a free agent and we like it that way because we’re building up pretty good leverage.”
Prior to the approval of the new ASU multi-purpose arena, there had been some discussions about the facility options the university could pursue for its hockey program. At one point, ASU was pitched on the idea of obtaining a new hockey arena through a partnership with the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes, but university officials opted early last year to not pursue that partnership.
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