With the season still underway, the Kentucky hockey club has announced that next season the team will become a member of the ACHA Division-I.
The move will take the team into the highest level of non-NCAA hockey and promises to shake things up during an exciting time in the club’s history.
“We are excited to elevate our hockey program and keep growing hockey in the south,” Associate Head Coach Clay Pergram said. “Joining the ACCHL allows us to face both new and familiar programs we have competed with over the last half decade; this transition presents an exciting challenge.”
This ascension has been a long work in progress for a team that was founded in 1984 and has been in the second division since the inception of the ACHA in 1991.
While the club briefly found success in the early 2010s, it entered a dark period of struggles until the current administration took over, leading the club not only to a berth in the national tournament, but to never having a losing season with multiple 20+ win seasons.
The change in division for the club comes during a period of sweeping changes in the realm of the NCAA and junior hockey, as well as, on Nov. 7, the NCAA Division-I council voted to make Canadian Hockey League players eligible for NCAA hockey in 2025.
Previously, CHL players were considered professionals, in large part due to the NHL contracts that some players sign, but, now, high end prospects will have more control over where they choose to develop before entering the big leagues.
This change will reshape the landscape and rearrange the distribution of talent throughout collegiate hockey.
Players who are currently in the top division of the NCAA could get pushed down to Division-III and players currently in the lowest division of NCAA hockey could get moved down into lower tiers with the new influx of Canadian and international talent. As such, Kentucky will have the potential to secure a high level of talent and continue its meteoric rise.
With the possibility of more talented prospects becoming available, the club believes the rise is the best move for the program in terms of longevity and being able to compete at the highest level of non-varsity hockey.
As a program, Kentucky has accumulated 28 winning seasons and is eyeing a return to the national tournament this season. The team currently sits with a record of 9-3-2 and is firmly in the hunt for a regional tournament berth with strong wins on the resume.
The Wildcats return to action against the Cincinnati Bearcats on Nov. 15 at The Lexington Ice Center with a midnight puck drop.
