TEMPE, Ariz. -- After playing a hybrid schedule for the inaugural season, the Arizona State hockey program has announced their first-full NCAA Division I schedule for the 2016-17 season. The Sun Devils will open up the season with a two-game series at Notre Dame on Oct. 7-8 in South Bend, Ind.
The schedule features eight of the 16 teams that participated in the 2016 NCAA Tournament and three of the Frozen Four finalists. Nine teams were ranked in the end-of-season top-25 national rankings, including No. 2 through 5.
“We couldn’t be more excited to be playing one of the top schedules in the country in our first full NCAA Division I season," said Sun Devil hockey head coach Greg Powers. "We will always strive to provide our players what we deem as the very best competition possible. We are building a first rate college hockey program at Arizona State and to be the best, you have to play the best and gain valuable experience in that regard. Our young team will be exposed to three out of the four 2016 Frozen Four participants and many other top programs, and I believe by the time many of our players are upperclassmen, we will look back on these early years and be better off playing this stiff competition. We’re excited, prepared and ready to get rolling.”
The Sun Devil hockey program will play four home games at Gila River Arena in Glendale -- home of the Arizona Coyotes of the NHL -- and the other nine at Oceanside Ice Arena in Tempe. Three of the four games at Gila River Arena will be televised on Pac-12 Networks, including Air Force on Oct. 16, Harvard on Oct. 28 and Michigan on Nov. 4.
They will also hit the road for 21 games, giving Sun Devil fans and alumni across all parts of the country a chance to see the newest athletic program. Four of those games -- two against Canada's Simon Fraser and the U.S. National Under-18 Team -- will not be against NCAA opponents, however, will count towards their overall record.
The second annual Desert Hockey Classic will feature Brown University, UCONN and St. Cloud State. The Devils will take on Brown in the second game of the tournament at 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 30 with the location to be determined. UCONN will play St. Cloud State in the opening game at 4 p.m.
Of the 11 NCAA teams the Devils will play on the road, seven of them had winning records in the 2015-16 season with five of those making an appearance in the final 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
You can put a season ticket deposit down to cheer on the Devils during the 2016-17 season here.
2016-17 Schedule
*Televised on Pac-12 Networks
| DATE | OPPONENT | LOCATION |
| 10/1/16 | Maroon vs. Gold | Oceanside Ice Arena - 7:05 p.m. |
| 10/7/16 | Notre Dame | South Bend, Ind. - TBD |
| 10/8/16 | Notre Dame | South Bend, Ind. - TBD |
| 10/14/16 | Air Force | Gila River Arena - 7:05 p.m. |
| 10/16/16 | Air Force* | Gila River Arena - 2:30 p.m. |
| 10/21/16 | Northeastern | Cambridge, Mass. - TBD |
| 10/22/16 | Northeastern | Cambridge, Mass. - TBD |
| 10/28/16 | Harvard* | Gila River Arena - 7:05 p.m. |
| 10/29/16 | Harvard | Oceanside Ice Arena - 7:05 p.m. |
| 11/4/16 | Michigan* | Gila River Arena - 7:05 p.m. |
| 11/12/16 | New Hampshire | Durham, N.H. - TBD |
| 11/13/16 | Boston College | Chestnut Hill, Mass. - TBD |
| 11/18/16 | Penn State | State College, Penn. - TBD |
| 11/19/16 | Penn State | State College, Penn. - TBD |
| 11/25/16 | RPI | Oceanside Ice Arena - 7:05 p.m. |
| 11/26/16 | RPI | Oceanside Ice Arena - 5:00 p.m. |
| 12/2/16 | Colgate | Oceanside Ice Arena - 7:05 p.m. |
| 12/3/16 | Colgate | Oceanside Ice Arena - 7:05 p.m. |
| 12/13/16 | American International | Springfield, Mass. - TBD |
| 12/16/16 | UMASS | Amherst, Mass. - TBD |
| 12/17/16 | UMASS | Amherst, Mass. - TBD |
| 12/30-31 |
Desert Hockey Classic |
TBD |
| 1/6/17 | Denver | Denver, Colo. - TBD |
| 1/7/17 | Denver | Denver, Colo. - TBD |
| 1/13/17 | Ohio State | Columbus, Ohio - TBD |
| 1/14/17 | Ohio State | Columbus, Ohio - TBD |
| 1/20/17 | Southern New Hampshire | Oceanside Ice Arena - 7:05 p.m. |
| 1/21/17 | Southern New Hampshire | Oceanside Ice Arena - 7:05 p.m. |
| 1/27/17 | Quinnipiac | Hamden, Conn. - TBD |
| 1/28/17 | Quinnipiac | Hamden, Conn. - TBD |
| 2/3/17 | Western Michigan | Kalamazoo, Mich. - 7:00 p.m. (ET) |
| 2/4/17 | Western Michigan | Kalamazoo, Mich. - 7:00 p.m. (ET) |
| 2/10/17 | Simon Fraser | Oceanside Ice Arena - 7:05 p.m. |
| 2/11/17 | Simon Fraser | Oceanside Ice Arena - 7:05 p.m. |
| 2/24/17 | USA U-18 | Plymouth, Mich. - TBD |
| 2/25/17 | USA U-18 | Plymouth, Mich. - TBD |