Sun Devil Hockey announced Wednesday that its Desert Hockey Classic tournament, played for the first time last season, will be relocated to Prescott.
After an inaugural season in Glendale, the matchups can now be seen at the Prescott Valley Event Center, a 5100-seat venue and former home of the now-defunct Central Hockey League's Arizona Sun Dogs. This year, ASU, Brown University, St. Cloud State and University of Connecticut will all play in the tournament on Dec. 30 and 31.
"It gives a lot of advantages to doing it in Prescott," said ASU hockey head coach Greg Powers. "They're a starved hockey community, they lost a pro team, they have a great facility that seats 5,000 people, so we have an opportunity to play in front of a packed house and create a good atmosphere and great experience for our players."
ASU first hosted the four-team tournament in January at Gila River Arena, home of the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes. They lost both games; once to Yale in the opener, and again to UConn in the consolation game. Michigan Tech also played in that tournament.
"We played it last year out at Gila River, and it was successful and we enjoyed it," Powers said. "But the biggest reason we moved it was to get our brand out to different markets in the state while we don't have a permanent home on campus and now's the time to do that.
Gila River Arena is located adjacent to University of Phoenix Stadium, home of the Arizona Cardinals. Powers said that partially drove the decision to move the Classic.
"It was a good idea to [move] the Desert Classic because it coincides the same day as the Fiesta Bowl does out in Glendale," Powers said. "We don't really want to compete with that going head-to-head across the parking lot."
The arena is an approximate hour and 40-minute drive from ASU's Tempe campus.
Reach the reporter at matt.layman@asu.edu or follow @Mattjlayman on Twitter.
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