Next to Launch is a new series where we look at the most viable spots for a new D1 hockey team. This edition explores the feasibility of Illinois.
The complete lack of D1 NCAA Hockey in Illinois is somewhat surprising considering the hockey demographics of the state. Illinois has the sixth-most hockey players in the country with more than 26,000, according to USA Hockey’s registration numbers. Youth hockey is widespread in the state; it boasts one of the most prominent USHL teams in the Chicago Steel and has a bevy of youth leagues. Recent Illinois-developed NHL players include 2024-25 Calder winner Lane Hutson of the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers prospect Gabe Perreault.
The University of Illinois system is primed for a hockey team, as well. Both its Urbana-Champaign and its Chicago campuses are already members of NCAA D1 in various sports, and their student populations are large enough that the teams would be well supported.
Illinois isn’t a stranger to D1 hockey, either. The Chicago campus hosted the UIC Flames between 1966 and 1996. The team was a member of the CCHA from 1982 onward. The program never found much success, though, and as it cost the university quite a lot to sponsor, it was ultimately folded. Lane Hutson’s father, Rob Hutson, was actually a Flame from 1992 until the program’s end in 1996, even captaining the team. The Flames returned as the current club team in 2004, but the state has been without a D1 team since their demise.
Illinois looked at bringing hockey back very recently. In 2018, the school released a Collegiate Consulting study commissioned by College Hockey, Inc., the NHL and the NHLPA studying how to bring D1 hockey back to Illinois. The study recommended funding a new facility in Champaign with three ice sheets and space for facilities for other Illini sports like gymnastics and wrestling. Momentum seemed to be growing towards adding another team to the Big 10, which would have rounded out the conference at eight. The fact that the survey was generated by the NHL and NHLPA signaled significant interest from the league in adding a D1 team in this Original Six market.
But the pandemic derailed the university’s exploration of this opportunity. And by 2022, it was dead. Director of Athletics Josh Whitman cited rising costs since the pandemic and an inability to generate the necessary financial support as he officially killed the project.
“We believe the interest in hockey and the opportunity for the sport to succeed here is very real,” Whitman said in a statement. “You never say never in this business, and if the right opportunity were to present itself down the road, we would always be willing to reconsider. That said, due to other programmatic priorities and needs, we can no longer allocate human and financial resources toward the ongoing pursuit of this project. My heart believes that we can support hockey, but my head tells me it is time to direct our attention elsewhere.”
With costs rising even further, the other sports investing in new facilities elsewhere and the rise of NIL and revenue-sharing, it seems the window of opportunity for Illinois hockey has mostly closed. But it shouldn’t be. Illinois is one of the schools best situated to start a hockey program in this new era, particularly with its status in the Big 10. It should be one of the schools actively exploring adding a program, not shutting down that explanation prematurely.