When the Arizona Coyotes made the move from Glendale to Tempe, they were in an intriguing position that seized the attention of every hockey fan. They were now playing at Mullett Arena, a 4,600-capacity arena that was nowhere near the rest of the league or NHL standard. Not only that, but it was also the home of the Arizona State Sun Devils, who now enter the 2024-25 season with all eyes on them as one of the most prominent hockey teams in the state.
“We’re the show in town, right?” Greg Powers said in his opening press conference last week. “We want to win no matter if the NHL is here or they’re not here. None of that really changes our mindset on the ice.”
Related: Arizona State Sun Devils, Powers, Ready for New Challenges in NCHC
While winning as many games as possible is the goal for every sports team, ASU is entering a predicament it’s never seen itself in as it enters the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC). Previously, they were an independent school for nine years, but now they are joining a conference with Denver University, St. Cloud State University, and Minnesota Duluth University.
Of the nine teams, eight fall in the United States College Hockey Organization (USCHO) rankings of the top 20 teams in the country.
That said, it won’t be a smooth sailing season for the Sun Devils. That’s not to say they won’t see success; they will, but with a rigorous schedule, among other notables, it will be a challenging season for the maroon and gold.
ASU’s Schedule Among Hardest in NCAA
It’s an exciting time to be a Sun Devil. Entering a new conference with plenty of recruits and transfers looking to make an impact from the get-go. That said, their schedule isn’t any layup as they take on what seems like a ranked opponent every weekend.
To kick off the season, they hit the road against the Air Force Falcons, which will be no easy feat on the range of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. It should indeed be one of their easier games; taking a peak ahead after the Falcons, their schedule gets dramatically more difficult.
Their schedule then goes as follows: Michigan University, Providence University, Northern Michigan University, Colorado College, Omaha University, and the reigning 2024 NCAA champs, the Denver Pioneers. It’s evident ASU has improved the roster and gained plenty of experience through the transfer portal, but this is a challenging schedule for any team.
Given the rigid schedule, it’ll be intriguing to see how the Sun Devils do, but Powers is confident in the team’s ability to get the job done.
“In this league, there are no nights off,” Powers said. “You have to stay here if you’re going to have success.”
Fresh Faces Meeting Standards
As do many schools, the Sun Devils have plenty of new faces entering the program, some of whom hold high standards because of the last name stitched onto their backs, and others who fans aren’t familiar with yet. ASU hit the transfer portal hard, getting six players with experience and bringing the grit that Powers’ team desperately needed down the stretch of the 2023-24 season.
Those players are junior Cruz Lucius, junior Bennett Schimek, senior Ryan Kirwan, graduate senior Noah Beck, graduate senior Artem Shlaine, and senior Luke Pavicich.
As mentioned, this offseason’s motto was to get older and more experienced, and they did just that. Lucius led Wisconsin University in goals, and Shlaine was second in team points on Northern Michigan’s squad last season.
These players are expected to be day-one contributors and must get off to a hot start to see early success for themselves and, more importantly, the team. It’s also fair to mention freshman Cullen Potter, a projected first-round draft pick in 2025. His success this season will determine if he’s the highest-drafted Sun Devil into the NHL and how ASU’s offense can perform against the best of the best.
Realistically, How High Should Expectations Be?
Given some of these factors, what are realistic expectations for the 2024-25 season? Well, for starters, making the NCAA tournament would be massive for this program, given the current state of hockey in Arizona after the departure of the Coyotes.
Last season was quite a disappointment. Although they were given multiple chances to dig themselves out of their own hole, they couldn’t do so, thus missing the tournament. However, this team, on paper and presumably on the ice, is much better than last season and has much more grit and experience, as mentioned earlier.
Realistically, though, it won’t be easy to get into the tournament due to their schedule and the magnitude of elite teams they play. They played Denver University twice last season, and now this season, they play them four times; it’s quite a significant jump, but they never said it would be easy joining arguably the best conference in the nation.
If the Sun Devils can sneak into the tournament, it would be the first time since the 2018-19 season.
Sun Devils Have Plenty on Their Plate Entering 2024-25
With the elevated expectations among the other notables discussed above, the 2024-25 season has the Sun Devils in an exciting yet intriguing position. They’ll be playing against the best competition every weekend all season long, something ASU has long awaited as an independent school for the previous nine seasons. While they’ll be getting plenty of exposure and recognition, the better the teams, the harder it’ll be to stay in the mix of the pairwise rankings and ultimately make the NCAA tournament. While there are still many answers we don’t have, we’ll have some answered this weekend as they travel north to take on Airforce in their season opener.
