The Sun Devils kicked off their season on the ice in Colorado against Air Force Academy. The teams split both games, with ASU taking game one 8-1 and Air Force coming back to win in overtime 4-3 on Saturday. The Sun Devils had a chance to pull off the difficult road sweep but gave up a goal with under a minute left in regulation and wound up losing in overtime.
Head coach Greg Powers used the missed opportunity to help his team learn from its mistakes. He also knows that, unlike previous years, a loss like this takes less of a hit to the Sun Devils’ postseason hopes. ASU joined the NCHC conference this past offseason, marking the first team in program history not to be an independent school.
“Hopefully, our guys know how hard it is to get a road sweep now,” Powers said. “Right now, we have the luxury we’ve never had before being at a conference. You can use these moments as teaching moments and learning experiences with a lot of new faces, and make sure it doesn’t happen again and be dialed in by the time we get to conference play.”
Michigan graduate defenseman Tom Lovell spent the previous three seasons with ASU and now heads back to Mullett Arena on the opposite bench this upcoming weekend. Powers has nothing but love for the defenseman, as the two shared countless memories on and off the ice. The two are still interlinked with each other through their families and will look to get the best of the other in their first matchup against each other.
“Timmy meant so much to our program and was the most dynamic player we probably had in our program,” Powers remarked. “We won a lot of big games with him and I’m still very close with him and his family; my daughter actually plays for his dad out in Boston. I’m excited for him to have a good season in Michigan, and I’ll be cheering for him all season minus two games.”
Heading into the season, forward Cullen Potter out of Minnesota and the U.S. National Team Development Program highlighted ASU’s impressive freshman class. Originally committed to Michigan State, the 17-year-old decommitted from the Spartans and joined the Sun Devils as the No. 1 ranked ‘07-born North American skater, according to Puck Preps. In his first two games, Potter has a goal and an assist, as well as eight shots.
“He was everything and more,” Powers noted. “He’s a special player, and he more than belongs. There were a lot of people who said it was too soon, but he’s literally a world-class skater, maybe ranked as a top skater in this year’s draft class. He made a couple of minor mistakes, but nothing crazy, and he was good at the faceoff dot. I like his start, and it’s only going to get better.”
With the recent departure of the Arizona Coyotes to Utah, all eyes are now on ASU. No longer sharing Mullett Arena, the Sun Devils are the premier hockey team in the Valley of the Sun, along with the AHL-affiliate Tucson Roadrunners. The Sun Devils made the jump up to the top conference that features six of the last eight national champions to add buzz to their program, and Powers is excited to see the team continue to trend in the right direction now in his 17th year as head coach.
“I think it’s great,” Powers stated. “You can notice it, and you can feel it. I’ve been here a long time, and we love it. We have to embrace it, and it’s what we always wanted. Obviously, the Coyotes leaving the market has raised awareness for us, as we’re the big dog in town. I think we’ve done a great job building the program to where it is, and now chapter one is behind us as an independent.”
With many new players and the team losing key parts of last year’s team to the transfer portal and eligibility, the chemistry of the players on the ice was a concern heading into the weekend against Air Force. The line that performed the best was a line with three new forwards: Potter, senior forward Ryan Kirwan, and junior forward Bennet Schimek.
“It’s only going to get better,” Powers voiced. “We have one line of all brand new kids that were unbelievable. Schimek had six points in his first two games, Kirwan had two, and Potter had two, so those new players to our program all performed at a very high level. I liked what I saw, and there’s a lot to build off of in a positive way.”
Heading into this weekend, the Sun Devils are in unfamiliar territory. A loss like Saturday’s would normally mean that the team would already be in jeopardy of missing the postseason, but being a part of the NCHC allows them to have a larger cushion than as an independent. Although they had just eight losses last year, they were on the outside looking during the 2023 NCAA tournament.
The Michigan series will be the first big test of the year for ASU. The Wolverines are ranked No. 10 in the country by USCHO.com after splitting their opening series with Minnesota State. Historically, the Sun Devils haven’t fared well against Michigan, going 0-6-1 overall. Powers made sure his players knew this, attempting to light a fire underneath his players and give voters a reason to put ASU back in the top 20 rankings.
“We have the luxury of cutting our teeth like most college hockey teams have and polishing our game heading into conference play,” Powers commented. “This is going to be an indicator of where we are because Michigan is the type of team that we’re going to see every night in our league. They’re really the only ‘Blue Blood’ left that we don’t have a win against, and I can assure you our guys know that.”
With the exit of goalie T.J. Semptimphelter, junior Gibson Homer took on the role of starting in the crease after serving as a solid backup for Semptimphelter last year, boasting a 9-3-1 record while being tied for the highest save percentage in the country (.931). In his first game back, he allowed one goal on 28 shots in ASU’s 8-1 win over Air Force.
Powers wants to have a more balanced crease rotation this year, playing senior Luke Pavicich in the second game, where he let in four goals on 33 shots. Both goalies had impressive showings, and Pavicich’s stat sheet doesn’t tell the whole story. Almost all four of his goals were on odd-man rushes, and there were times in the second period when Powers thought Pavicich kept ASU in the game.
“Gibby was what we know he is,” Powers observed. “He was pretty much flawless, which was great. You learn from the past, even as a coach, and I think in the past two years, I rode T.J. a little too hard. I don’t want to see that with Gibby, especially with the hardest schedule we’ve ever had. In the future, I would foresee Gibby seeing the ice more, but I would also expect Luke to get a chance to get a win sooner than later.”
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