Arizona State is loaded with new and young talent, no questions asked. But veteran linemates Anthony Croston and Dylan Hollman are still blazing the trail in their senior season.

The two of five ASU seniors have taken very different paths to become an integral part of the groundbreaking years for the Sun Devils.

Croston, born and raised in the Phoenix area, is a local product who has been with the program since ASU first made the jump to Division I in 2015.

"The fact that I’m even here right now is pretty amazing," Croston said. "To play Division I hockey in my home state is pretty awesome."

Referred to as ‘Mr. 100’, he’s played in what will be 120 games by the end of this regular season for the Sun Devils. Croston has donned the patch for assistant captain on his sweater for three straight years and only missed a total of two total games.

Hollman joined Croston at ASU a year later for the first full D-I season in the team's history. The Alberta, Canada native began his collegiate career with UMass-Lowell but transferred to ASU after getting injured in the first game he played during his freshman season.

“I was on a pretty good team there at Lowell as well and got to see what their culture was like,” Hollman said. “And now, to come here and feel that winning culture is really cool because it’s not something that just happens, and it’s taken a lot of work.”

Hollman was fortunate enough to receive another year of eligibility even though he had to sit out in 2015 due to NCAA transfer rules. And when he came to ASU, head coach Greg Powers named him the captain of the new beginnings.

But after leading the Sun Devils for two seasons, Hollman had the ‘C’ removed from his jersey for his final collegiate year so he could be more efficient individually and go out and play with no pressure.

“The biggest thing with him that was hard was taking away his captaincy,” Powers said. “It wasn’t because he didn’t deserve to keep it. It was hard because he’s such a good kid, he’s such a big part of our program. But I wanted Dylan to experience success.”

Despite the pair’s journey, they have been paired up as linemates since ASU’s first crack at a full Division I season. The two seniors have been competing at a high level in their final season - maybe more than ever now with a possible NCAA Tournament bid on the line.

“The biggest thing for us is we bring a different element than the other three lines," Hollman said. "We like to use our speed and skating. We’re both pretty decent skaters, so we like to use that to our advantage.”

With the way the two fly around the ice together, their chemistry is undeniable. The seasoned veterans are contributing on both ends.

"We’ve always played well together ever since we’ve been paired," Croston added. "We work hard. We know our role; third line guys that are just gonna play to our game. We’re gonna try to score when we can, but for the most part, we’re just shutting down their top lines.”

The pairing's goal: To gain momentum by wearing down the opposing team with hustle.

"We work them down low and tire their guys out," Hollman said. "Then, when there are those games where we get a couple of goals, it’s a bonus."

The offense hasn't necessarily been Croston and Hollman's priority this season. Instead, the scoring has been spread out more than ever amongst ASU.

Nonetheless, the two are producing better than they ever have before.

Croston has 23 points with one regular-season series remaining this season, which is good for third-best on the team. Hollman has already surpassed his goal total from his first two years at ASU, doubling his six goals in his previous two seasons to 12 in his last ride as a collegiate hockey player.

“It always feels good when you’re able to step up and put some big goals in that’ll help us win,” Croston said. “So, it means a lot when you’re able to do something like that, especially as an older guy. The team is relying on you to do stuff like that.”

Both are getting it done when short a man as well. Interestingly enough, Hollman has accounted for three of ASU’s four short-handed goals this season when on the penalty kill.

“I think we have a lot of confidence in our kill this year, and we take a huge amount of pride in it,” Hollman said. “So, we don’t just solely have a defensive mindset on the kill. We want to get pucks down the ice when we can, but when we get those opportunities to go on the offense, we’re going to try and take ‘em. We’ve been able to get a couple of big ones for us this year.”

The Sun Devil Hockey program administers itself behind the mantra of “Be the tradition”. The freshmen that were welcomed to Tempe before the program’s third full division I season have been provided with the instructions to add on to the framework of what’s being constructed in the desert.

But Croston and Hollman didn’t have any blueprints to guide them in knowing what it takes to create a successful hockey team. It’s taken a few painful seasons to get to the position this year’s team is in, but that has made it all the more worthwhile for them with accelerated maturity at the forefront.

“The whole reason we came here was because it was a new program,” Croston said. “We wanted to build that tradition, so to think that we can make the tournament in our last year as seniors would be incredible. We gotta take it a game at a time and try to focus on each shift and not look too far ahead.”

Now, starving for more hockey to play beyond the regular season, the two seniors’ dreams are turning into a reality. ASU has a 99.9 percent probability to make college hockey’s big dance according to College Hockey News.

“When we came here, we knew it was going to be a struggle for a couple of years,” Hollman said. “But that was our ultimate goal, by the end of our time here, to be an NCAA Tournament-caliber team. And here we are, putting ourselves in a good position.”