In the ceremonies before the Arizona Icecats' last game of the season, fans no doubt noticed that senior captain Keith Mitchell was not introduced with the other two seniors.
It was not a mistake.
Mitchell, a 6-foot, 225-pound defenseman out of Anchorage, Alaska, may return next year. Right now, he is trying to figure out if he will be eligible to return ÷ and whether he can afford it.
"I've just got to figure out how I can do it," Mitchell said.
Mitchell didn't play his first two years at the UA, but during his junior year, he climbed the hockey ranks and was considered one of the top defensemen in the American Collegiate Hockey Association.
For Division I, the ACHA uses most of the NCAA's rules, including the rule that a student-athlete has five years to finish four years of eligibility ÷ meaning Mitchell could play another year. In D-I, a player needs at least a 2.0 GPA, must be a full-time undergraduate student and must pass at least nine credits each semester.
Mitchell, a geological engineering major set to graduate in May, said he doesn't need to get into grad school; he just needs to add another major. He isn't sure how likely his return is.
"I don't know right now. I'm still trying to figure it out," Mitchell said.
Mitchell said the team will be solid next season, regardless of his status.
"With or without me, I think they're going to be good," Mitchell said.
Icecats head coach Leo Golembiewski attributed the UA's poor start to losing Mitchell (back injury) and sophomore defender Mike Pelletier (academically ineligible) early in the season.
Golembiewski said he is also excited about the Icecats' recruiting class, but can't talk about it yet.
Icecats look forward to possible new arena
A new arena could be on the horizon for the Icecats.
Last month, Tucson's mayor and City Council decided to ask potential developers to submit proposals to build a new arena on the southeast corner of West Congress Street and Interstate 10. Tucson is the most populated American city without a modern arena.
There is talk that the city will want to build an 8,000- to 10,000-seat arena to lure a professional franchise like an Arena Football League or WNBA team. The 33-year-old Tucson Convention Center arena seats about 7,000.
Right now, only outdoor pro teams ÷ the Triple-A Tucson Sidewinders and major league softball Arizona Heat ÷ play in Tucson.
Golembiewski said councilman Fred Ronstadt, chairman of the council's committee on downtown and Rio Nuevo, the city's effort to revitalize the downtown area, wants a pro sports team.
"They want to build a new arena," Golembiewski said. "I don't think you're looking until five years down the road, if that. Of course, they'd have to have a sports team as part of Rio Nuevo, as told to me by Councilman Fred Ronstadt, so we factor in as tenants, too, of the new convention center."
Icecats seek to assemble conference of West teams
Golembiewski said the idea of the Icecats joining their first conference since the late 1980s has been pushed back to fall 2005. No. 8 Weber State, No. 13 ASU, Oklahoma and other schools Golembiewski said he can't yet discuss would be in the conference, though other Pac-10 schools wouldn't be part of it.
Golembiewski said the reason that no other Pac-10 schools except for Arizona and Arizona State have Division I teams is because they are "afraid of the competition." While playing in the Pacific Intercollegiate Hockey Conference during the '80s, the UA routinely beat up on Southern California and Stanford. The last time they played, in 2001, the Icecats beat the Trojans 7-1 and 11-3.
The seven Pac-10 schools that play in the ACHA's Division II ÷ Southern California, UCLA, California, Stanford, Oregon, Washington and Washington State ÷ play together in a conference called the Pac 8.
"They don't have the desire," Golembiewski said. "USC's a pretty consistent program, but they don't want to play us or ASU. I heard Washington and Oregon are slowly but surely getting stronger, though."
USC usually dominates the 9-year-old Pac 8. The Trojans had a string of four straight championships broken up this year after winning the regular season title.
But the emergence of the Icecats, Sun Devils and Sooners has brought back the idea of putting a conference together.
"But along hockey lines, there are no conferences that parallel the ACC, the Pac-10, the Big 8, the Big XII, whatever it is," Golembiewski said. "We've been an independent since the late Î80s because there are not enough good teams in the region, and now, with the advent of Weber State, Arizona State and ourselves, we still have to get teams in this region. (We have to get) the Western United States to jump in and be part of a conference."