Arkansas Hockey Club Skates On New Ice With New Leaders
As the Arkansas Hockey Club looks to drop the puck on the 2024 season the exciting news continues to be released. We have discussed the move to Division II which was announced earlier this year. We recently learned that the club will now field two teams as they will continue to have a Division III team. We sat down with now Director of Operations, and D2 Head Coach, Keller Sims, to discuss these moves and more. In this piece we will look at each move, the impact of these, and how Sims feels as we near the season.
Moving On Up
As the Razorbacks embark on a new challenge Sims feels confident. He would speak of the success of the club, that began in 2007, by saying, “Players that want to come to school at Arkansas. They want to play hockey here. They want to continue their hockey careers has been really So I’m really looking forward to the opportunity that those guys are going to have, whether it’s on the Division two team or the Division three team to to go out and have that success and play and play meaningful games and represent the program at both levels.” when discussing the opportunity to compete at a new level.
MACHA, the league Arkansas competes in, will continue to provide great competition as Arkanasa will now compete in the ‘Gold’ division against some of the top programs in the division. Long-time rival, Missouri, will also make the move to D2 and will remain on the schedule as a home-and-home series. With this, other programs will also bring exciting hockey to Northwest Arkansas. Sims would let us in on some scheduling nuggets as he would leak that D1 Oklahoma will open the 2024 season, at the Jones Center, on Thursday and Friday in what will be a great opportunity for a massive win. Arkansas will also face hockey powerhouse Iowa in what will be a marquee matchup this season. The Hawkeyes are historically ranked at the top nationally at the season ends.
Speaking of scheduling, Sims would also tell us the team will also be welcoming Bradley and taking a road trip to Florida Gulf Coast. The schedule for the inaugural D2 season will be released soon. Sims would inform us of the above-mentioned Director of Ops for both clubs as well as that he will be the head coach of the D2 team.
Stay tuned to 4 Star Sports for much more on this.
Still A D3 Powerhouse
Do not let the move fool you! Sims and the Club plan to continue their stellar play at the D3 level. With this, fans will see a new face coaching the D3 team. Sims would notify us of who as well in some breaking news. Sims would say “We’ve brought in Greg Bedzold to coach our Division III team. I’m really excited to see what he can do and, what he brings to the table with those guys.” when asked about staffing for both clubs. Since the 2007 season, the club has been a Division III team and this is important for Sims to continue. The D3 team will compete as an independent in their first season before rejoining the MACHA Silver division in the 2025-26 season.
To further the point of the success Arkansas plans to remain in the National Tournament as they have in recent years. A program that has been to the final postseason play nine times in history including six in the last seven years is still the powerhouse. Sims kept it simple by letting us know the expectation had not changed.
“Division three to still be able to compete and the expectation for that team to be at nationals every year. That’s kind of the external expectations. I think we we proved last year that you know it wasn’t just that class that we had before that that came in and really took us those heights. We could do it. with a full team approach and that was important to me, mportant to the players and you know important just to our program in general to stay competitive at the division three level so I’m really looking forward next season I think you know we’re gonna have a good team at two really good teams two teams that are gonna hopefully push for nationals and just continue the run of success that we’ve had.”
More Games At Jones Center
With another team comes another opportunity to watch hockey. We spoke about the Jones Center, home-ice of the Razorbacks, and how special it is to the club. When speaking on how the Jones Center will get extra ice time Sims would say “ You know, there’ll be some opportunities where D2’s not playing and D3’s at home that I’ll be able to experience things from the other side that I haven’t really experienced in a long time. So I’m looking forward to it. I hope our fans in Bentonville, Northwest Arkansas, and the area as we keep this thing going in the right direction. Our fan support has been awesome. It continues to grow every year. And, it’s a big advantage for us to play in front of a packed house in the Jones Center.”
The Jones Center will be packed in 2024 and these tickets will be MUST haves! With the club now fielding two teams, with reportedly more in the works, Sims and the club are seeing their hard work and success coming to fruition with the fandom.
In closing, the Arkansas Hockey Club will be talented again in 2024. Sims, as well as Bedzold, are eager to get this season rolling. With tryouts scheduled for August 17th and 18th, we will soon learn the rosters for the clubs. Additionally, Razorback Hockey fans will get a chance to see the squads prior to the season. Sims would divulge that we will have a Red and White scrimmage on August 24th as this will be a mixture of both D2 and D3 teams in a scrimmage format. Sims would openly speak about getting the rust off and getting to work when camp transpires a week after tryouts.
We will have much more on the Red and White game as we will be there for interviews and more. The 2024 Arkansas Hockey Club season is HERE!
