Introduced in 1996, the Arizona Coyotes made the state an oasis of hockey on the otherwise barren west side of the country. After years of instability, the Coyotes have now relocated to Utah, leaving the Sun Devils as the flag-bearer for hockey in the state.
ASU is in the midst of its first season as a member of a conference rather than being independent. Students and community members alike have been "rocking the Mullett" all season long, leading to a 10-game sellout streak to cap off the season.
"This is probably, (of) the sports I've been to at ASU, the best atmosphere," said Carson Hughes, a senior studying mechanical engineering.
In the arena, the sea of Sun Devil gear is occasionally interrupted by a Coyotes jersey. The Coyotes played in ASU's Mullett Arena for two seasons, while searching for a new home in the Valley.
The Arizona Coyotes never found one. The organization's move to Utah was preceded by multiple ownership changes, rebrands and relocations. Despite the instability, an ecosystem of rinks, youth programs and eventually a NCAA D1 team grew from the Coyotes introduction in 1996.
The death of the Coyotes
Former chief marketing officer John Pierce was with the team from 2014-16, during their extended stay at Glendale's Gila River Arena, now known as the Desert Diamond Arena. The Coyotes spent the majority of their existence at this location, far from the more central hubs of metro Phoenix.
Over their time on the west side of the Valley, the Coyotes underperformed. They posted a losing record over their time in Glendale, with 635 losses and 597 wins from the 2003-04 to 2021-22 season.
"You can have an arena in downtown, central Phoenix, southeast or Scottsdale and your team doesn't need to be as good because it's a more central type of location, but having a team that didn't perform on the west side is a recipe for not having success," Pierce said.
The Coyotes notched nine playoff appearances over nearly 30 seasons and declared bankruptcy in 2009. The NHL took over operations of the franchise from 2009 to 2013, and oversaw three of the nine playoff appearances.
Youth impact on the ice
In the decades since the arrival of the NHL, youth hockey has exploded. A full league allows teams across the state to compete at multiple age groups without traveling across the country. Member organizations of the Arizona Youth Hockey League include teams from Tucson to Flagstaff.
"The number of kids playing youth hockey can be almost solely attributed to the presence of the NHL franchise," Pierce said.
Beginning play in 1999, the Arizona High School Hockey Association has produced multiple NHL prospects. AHSHA President Kenny McGinley was introduced to the sport through the Coyotes and attended games throughout his childhood.
McGinley said the organization fears a decrease in interest in hockey from young children without the presence of a NHL franchise.
"10 years from now, when they're of high school age, are those players going to be there?" McGinley said.
The league has grown from averaging 500 players a season in the late 2010s to 765 players representing 41 teams in 2025, according to McGinley. AHSHA now plays its state championship at Mullett Arena, giving high school students a taste of the college hockey experience.
"We had the NHL, but we didn't have the other levels of hockey. So now having NCAA D1 hockey come here, and really good NCAA D1 hockey, not just at ASU, but the teams that come to play them, is a teachable and exposure moment for our players that growing up I didn't have," McGinley said.
A growing game in the desert
Access to hockey has been expanding on the women's side of the puck as well. Jayden Ealy, a senior studying medical microbiology, grew up playing competitive hockey in Arizona. Her family held season tickets to the Arizona Coyotes and she moved out of state at the age of 13 to pursue the game at a higher level.
"The girls program was still developing and there was not a lot of opportunities for girls to be very competitive playing hockey in Arizona," Ealy said in a written statement. "Flash forward to now, the girls organization the Kachinas, has flourished and now have teams that compete both at the Tier 1 and Tier 2 level."
The Arizona Kachinas are a girls hockey development program based in Scottsdale. The organization is one of the many youth hockey teams across the state still using Coyotes branding.
"I do think that the sport will be less known due to the coyotes leaving the state, but I do think that ASU gaining a NCAA D1 team, that may help keep the spirit of the game alive and give the kids someone to look to," Ealy said in a written statement.
Beyond the D1 team, ASU women's hockey is hoping to follow in the footsteps of men's hockey and eventually become a full fledged NCAA team. Club president Quinn Eatinger, a junior studying engineering management, chose ASU partially because of its strong women's hockey program.
"We invite girls to the locker room after our game just to talk with us. A lot of girls youth teams that are traveling to play the Kachinas have also attended our games because they want to see women's college hockey," Eatinger said. "They want to see where they can end up one day."
Like the men's team, ASU women's hockey played off campus before the construction of Mullett Arena. When the arena opened, they moved in alongside the men's team and Coyotes.
"It's honestly been beneficial for us because we all shared the same space," Eatinger said. "Now that it's only Arizona State teams that play in Mullett and not having a permanent NHL team at the same rink, we're able to have more ice time and less security restrictions on when we have practice and games."
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The men's D1 team will play in their first conference championship tournament this weekend. The Sun Devils are looking to not only bring home the title, but also clinch a berth in the final NCAA tournament. In the 2018-19 season, ASU received an at-large bid to the tournament as an independent. This year would mark the first time they would enter under a conference banner.
"There's been an increased level of excitement this year and I think it's because fans have gravitated to the fact that this is now our hockey team, whether you are an avid supporter or not," McGinley said. "This is our state's hockey team and the true hockey fans of Arizona are now going to pour their adoration into that program."
Edited by Senna James, Sophia Ramirez, and Katrina Michalak.
Reach the reporter at allipper@asu.edu and follow @lippert_audrey on X.
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Audrey is a sophomore studying journalism and mass communication with a minor in Spanish. This is her first semester with The State Press. She has also worked at Blaze Radio.
