By Ryan Stieg
ST. PAUL, Minn. — There have already been several firsts for the St. Thomas men’s and women’s hockey programs during their massive move from Division III to Division I over the past four seasons.
The Tommies have already achieved their first victories and first sweeps as programs, while the men have earned two CCHA Playoff series victories and came just short of winning their first Mason Cup last season. However, now they’ll have to accomplish all of those things again, but this time in a new facility.
After spending the past four seasons sharing the St. Thomas Ice Arena with St. Thomas Academy in Mendota Heights, the Tommies will open the sparkling new Lee & Penny Anderson Arena on October 24 with a game against Providence. The LPAA will also be the home court for both of the Tommies men’s and women’s basketball programs.
On Wednesday, local media members were allowed to tour the facility as well as take photos and video. When completed, the arena capacity will be 4,000 for hockey and 5,300 for basketball. Even though there’s still a lot of work to be done before the home opener, it’s already impressed the coaching staff.
“It’s really come together in the last month,” UST men’s hockey coach Rico Blasi said after the media tour. “Before that, it was a lot of dust and a lot of people working diligently. Now when the logos start going up and the seats, especially the seats and the score clock, that really made a big difference. When you walk into our locker room, it makes a big difference, and it puts us right there with everybody now. We’re trying to eliminate all the excuses. There’s no more excuses about not wanting to play at St. Thomas. We have a great facility, and our program is getting better each and every year. We feel like we have really good student athletes. Obviously, our academic reputation here at St. Thomas is second to none. So, we feel like we’re in a good spot.”
Other than a short private tour after last season ended, neither the men’s or women’s team have been inside the LPAA to see the progress being made and that it’s going to be a grand reveal in early October.
“We’re set to move in October 5,” UST women’s head coach Bethany Brausen said. “The team will go into the locker room and be able to do the first reveal kind of thing for everyone. But the players are just itching to see it. I think the last time they were in was in March, which we had a private tour for them. But we’ve been really encouraging them to make sure they’re not trying to use any connections that they have to get in here. So, they’ve been really good about respecting the space as they go through the process and then being able to celebrate that Oct. 5.”
The hockey programs will have a practice rink with the same dimensions as the competition rink (200×85, NHL size), while the basketball teams will have a practice court. There will also be a 4,500 square foot weight room and a 3,400 square foot sports medicine room.
Not many Division I schools have a practice rink, so that’s something that the Tommies take a lot of pride in.
“The practice facility is beautiful too,” Brausen said. “I think what it offers that is really exceptional is opportunity. Let’s say the men have practice going in the morning. Now, we actually can provide the opportunity for our women’s players. If they have blocks in between classes, they can come over and do skills work and individual sessions. So, having that dual opportunity with both a game facility and a practice rink just offers, from a resource perspective, exactly what you’re looking for.”
The anticipation is building to start practicing in the new facility, but as eager as the players are to suit up on campus, Blasi said his squad is taking one day at a time.
“I think they’re just focused on our team right now,” he said. “That’s really kind of what our culture is all about. (Tommies captain) Lucas Wahlin has done a great job of keeping our guys grounded and focused on getting better every day and making sure that we’re ready for practice on Wednesday. We’ve had a great summer. Most of them have been here, I’d say 95 percent of them, have stayed on campus and worked out with our strength coach. Now, it’s go time. This will be an event of itself, but they know that they have to get ready for the season. For them, it’s still business.”
While the men’s season doesn’t start until Oct. 4 at St. Cloud State, the women’s gets underway much sooner on Sept. 20 with a series at Post University. Things are heating up quickly for the Tommies women and Brausen said this year could be a big one for her squad.
“Dare I say it, I actually feel that this is the most excited I’ve ever been in my entire career for a season,” she said. “In some ways different, but equal to even being a player in my career as well. I think we’re in such a pivotal year for us as a women’s hockey program because for the first time truly, we have a full group of Division I recruited athletes from our staff. We anticipate and we’re hopeful for what are projecting could be a really big jump here for us in the WCHA where we have that fully allotted roster of players and be able to show up in this brand new facility at the same time and have this experience is pretty incredible.”
This also has the potential to be a big season for the men’s team. This is the Tommies’ last year in the CCHA before joining the NCHC in the 2026-27 season and they’d like to leave the conference on a high note.
“Not one year is the same obviously, we’ve got a different group, but I like where we’re at as a program,” Blasi said. “We continue to evolve and strengthen our identity. Someone asked me the other day ‘Is it was momentum?’ and I’m like ‘I don’t know if it’s momentum.’ ‘More like we’re just continuing to gain some confidence as we go through the process each and every day.’ And that’s the goal really. Just focus on today. Be where your feet are, be present in the moment because if you’re not present in the moment, you’re not getting better because you’re worried about yesterday or you’re worried about what’s gonna happen tomorrow, and we can’t control those things. So just stay present and just focus on loving each other and making sure that we’re here for each other and working together and we’ll see where it takes us. “