UNLV hockey needs help to take the next step

LAS VEGAS — The timing couldn’t be better. Nor could it be worse.

In the wake of UNLV’s men’s ice hockey club capturing the American Collegiate Hockey Association Division I national title Tuesday, the long-term goal of the program going NCAA Division I has never been closer.

Unfortunately, the school’s athletic department, which is drowning in fiscal debt, is not in a position to add a sport right now.

The Skatin’ Rebels, as they like to refer to themselves, have been around since 2005. The quest to win it all is 20-plus years in the making. So when UNLV defeated Adrian College of Michigan 7-3 in St. Louis, it marked the zenith for the program which began from the humblest of beginnings, scrounging for ice time at either the Las Vegas Ice Center or the rink at the Fiesta Hotel and Casino on Rancho Drive. Both facilities were a 25-30 minute drive from campus.

Since 2017, the team has called City National Arena, the Vegas Golden Knights’ practice facility home. They have developed a cult following comprised of students, faculty and local hockey fans. The games routinely sell out even though capacity is under 1,000.

Erick Harper, UNLV’;s athletic director, has been out to watch the team play. He has spoken to the club’s coaching staff and management about the possibility of making hockey a varsity sport. Like his predecessors, Tina Kunzer-Murphy and Desiree Reed-Francois, he is supportive of the team’s efforts to take the next step.

But the harsh reality is it’s going to take money, lots of it, for that dream to become reality. And right now, money is in short supply in UNLV’s athletic department.

You read here the other day that athletics at the school has been operating at a deficit, nearly $31 million. In addition, Harper is in the process of hiring a new men’s basketball coach after he fired Kevin Kruger late last week. Right now, the money’s not there for adding a sport. If anything, he may have to look at cutting sports for the budget to become balanced and nobody wants to see that.

It has been estimated that it would cost anywhere between $20 million and $30 million to add varsity hockey.

Then there’s the Title IX component., For men’s hockey to be part of UNLV’s program, the school would have to add a women’s sport with comparable participation numbers. Think something like lacrosse though a women’s ice hockey program would certainly satisfy Title IX requirements. The rub there is there are so few NCAA D-I women’s hockey programs in the West. The costs for UNLV to play would be higher than if it were located in the East or Midwest.

A women’s lacrosse team could play on campus, perhaps at Peter Johann Field, UNLV’s men’s and women’s soccer facility.

And speaking of places to play, a UNLV varsity hockey team would have to find a larger facility to play its home games. Building a rink would really make the move cost-prohibitive. Fortunately, there are several options available.

It would start on campus. The Thomas & Mack Center was once the home to professional hockey with the Thunder of the IHL. Yes, it would have to purchase ice-making equipment, boards and glass and perhaps upgrade the dressing room area. But it’s a far cheaper alternative to building a rink from scratch.

They could curtain off the balcony and use the lower bowl’s 8,000 seats as capacity. If there’s a need to expand, you simply remove the curtains. Yes, the sightlines wouldn’t be ideal but you’d be on campus.

Two other alternatives — Lee’s Family Forum in Henderson and the Orleans Arena — both more fan-friendly for hockey, would fit the bill. Both seat 6,000 or so. Both have the ability to make ice (the AHL Silver Knights currently play at Lee’s Family Forum). Either would be a good fit for college hockey.

The drawbacks are both require travel from campus and either would require the school to pay rent in order to use the facility. However, fans currently travel to City National Arena to watch the team so that wouldn’t be a real deal-breaker.

The Orleans is a couple of miles from UNLV’s campus. Parking is free. It might be seeking an anchor tenant. Lee’s Family Forum is home to several sports teams, including indoor pro football, indoor pro lacrosse and women’s pro volleyball along with the Silver Knights. Scheduling might be a little trickier there.

However, given the Golden Knights’ relationship with UNLV hockey, perhaps team president Kerry Bubolz could cut the Skatin’ Rebels a deal to play in Henderson.

But there’s still the issue of funding. We’re talking scholarships. NIL deals. Support staff from the athletic department (i.e sports medicine, media relations, equipment, strength and conditioning). It would also mean being NCAA compliant academically, something athletics would be required to oversee.

The school doesn’t have the money right now. So the alternative is to have the community bankroll the program. You can endow scholarships as is the case with men’s golf. The school’s NIL collective overseen by local businessman Bill Paulos could assist in that regard.

The hockey club currently has an operating budget of $700,000. Players pay $3,000 to play. There’s a bevy of sponsors who help underwrite the costs of doing business. To go varsity, it’s going to take someone or more than one to write a check, a really big check.

Would Bill Foley, the Golden Knights owner, be willing to write that check? He has been supportive of UNLV from the start of the NHL team’s tenure in Las Vegas. He certainly has the wherewithal to write an eight-figure check. Or would the Engelstad Family Foundation, which has also supported the hockey club over the years, be willing to take the next big step? The foundation withdrew its support for the university while Keith Whitfield was president after there was a clash of philosophies. But Whitfield is out of the picture and maybe that relationship through hockey could be patched up.

At Penn State, another NHL owner, Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula, underwrote the cost for the Nittany Lions to go varsity in hockey back in 2010 after the school had a club program. The cost, which included construction of a home rink was $88 million.

At Arizona State, a $32 million donation from Don Mullett and an anonymous donor, elevated the Sun Devils to Division I varsity status and also led to the construction of Mullett Arena as the team’s home rink. It also served as the Arizona Coyotes home the final two years of the franchise before the team moved to Salt Lake City.

Both Penn State and ASU, along with Lindenwood, which also plays NCAA D-I, all won ACHA titles before jumping from club to varsity. So there is a blueprint available for UNLV to follow. And given the university’s current financial situation, that may be the logical and perhaps only way to proceed in order to have the hockey club program achieve varsity status.

The Mountain West, which UNLV is a member of, currently doesn’t sponsor men’s hockey. Only Air Force is Division I varsity and the Falcons play in Atlantic Hockey America and they’re the Western-most team in that conference. But whatever league UNLV were to play in would require extensive travel.

But those are issues for another day. In the meantime, we should celebrate the success of the program head coach Anthony Vignieri-Greener and assistant Nick Robone have built which culminated with Tuesday’s national title. This has been a long, hard road traveled and we almost lost Robone after he was shot and injured the evening of Oct. 1, 2017 while attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival. But he survived that horrific night and was on the bench when the clock ticked down and UNLV reached the top of the club hockey mountain. Their hard work and that of the players who have worn the scarlet and gray sweater over the years deserves to be rewarded.