When Utah hockey player and student team president Chase McDonald was just a kid, growing up and playing hockey, he always envisioned himself making it to the next level.
“I’ve always wanted to play college hockey,” he said.
While most kids interested in sports in America will make sure they clear their schedules to sit down to watch the Super Bowl or March Madness, McDonald always made sure he scheduled his day so he could watch the Frozen Four — college hockey’s version of basketball’s Final Four.
Growing up watching powerhouse schools such as Denver, Minnesota and North Dakota left McDonald dreaming of one day playing in the Frozen Four and possibly beyond.
“For me, when I was 17, I went to a North Dakota hockey game and I wanted to play there,” McDonald said. “It didn’t quite happen that way, but you grow up watching college, hoping you get there some day.”
After being drafted into the North American Hockey League and living in Minnesota for two years, McDonald, a junior from Salt Lake City, returned home to play for Utah’s hockey team, despite it not being an NCAA-functioned program.
Because Utah hockey is not funded by the university, the team plays in a league called the American Collegiate Hockey Association. In this league, the players have to pay in order to stay on the team.
“The fact that they want to be here every night and they can’t means that we are doing the right thing,” said Utah hockey president, AJ Boldan.
Utah isn’t alone, either. As partners, the ACHA and the Pac-8 conference work together so the Skatin’ Utes are joined by fellow conference members Arizona State, Cal, Oregon, UCLA, USC, Washington and Washington State.
Ever since entering the Pac-8 league, Utah has made it to the league championship all three years, winning it all in 2013. Last season, the Utes were undefeated until they met Arizona State in the championship and lost a nail biter. On top of that, the program has seen success in the ACHA league. The team has made the ACHA regional finals the last three season and will host the ACHA National Championships in 2015.
So why is a team that has seen so much success in the last three years not functioned by the U? The popular belief is that Title IX comes into play, restricting the hockey team because of the amount of female student-athletes at the U. However, according to athletic director Chris Hill, that isn’t the case.
“It doesn’t have anything to do with Title IX, it’s just that we don’t have the funding in the athletics department to fund a team that is supported like an NCAA team,” Hill said.
One problem the hockey team has in getting funded by the university is the fact that scholarships need to be even on both sides, male and female. Because the NCAA allows football teams to have up to 85 scholarships, Utah has to have an extra women’s sport or two in order to balance out the scholarships. For the Skatin’ Utes to compete at the NCAA level, they would need to have another sport on the women’s side to keep the balance.
According to CollegeAthletes.com, ice hockey, men’s or women’s, is allowed up to 18 scholarships. One way the hockey team could potentially balance out the scholarships is by creating a women’s hockey program.
“We’re constantly trying to get a women’s team off the ground as well,” Boldan said. “If we can get both of them to be successful and then make the jump together, then it’s a done deal. It’s more about the athletes, it’s not about the number of teams.”
Despite seeing success, having a venue close to campus and even having its own student section, Chris Hill said there isn’t a certain criteria he is looking for regarding university-functioned teams.
“It’s always a concern that if we add a men’s sport, we would have to add a women’s sport,” Hill said. “There are also other men’s sports, such as lacrosse and soccer, that could be options. Or even, with the new track, maybe a men’s track team, but in the present it’s just not in the financial means.”
Boldan threw out the idea that if Utah hockey was somehow able to be a pioneer for hockey teams out West and find a spot at the NCAA level, then the entire conference would soon follow.
“If we can convince the university that hockey belongs at the NCAA level, then the whole Pac-8 will too,” he said. “I know the Pac-12 commissioner has said publicly that hockey is on his radar. It’s a great sport, and it would find a great home in the West.”
No matter what decision Hill makes in either the near or distant future, the Skatin’ Utes are happy to be playing hockey and having fun while doing it. However, it is Boldan’s hope to one day see the athletic director in the stands at a hockey game, as he invites Hill to drop the puck at a hockey game nearly every year.
Although he hasn’t had the chance to yet, Hill is looking forward to the opportunity.
“If it’s supportive and fits my schedule, I like to support all our athletic teams and clubs,” he said.
Will dropping the puck become an annual event for Hill and Utah hockey? Time will tell.
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