Everyone loves preseason polls, especially Arizona State Athletics. For those football fans, you’ll remember that head coach Kenny Dillingham and company were projected to finish last in the Big 12 conference. Ultimately, they finished first, winning the conference outright and winning it in their first season in the conference, adding to their Cinderella season.
Related: Arizona State Takes 4 of 6 Points in Series Split Against North Dakota
In similar circumstances, head coach Greg Powers and the Sun Devils joined the NCHC after being an independent school; they were projected to finish in eighth place out of nine teams. The NCHC, or, as some call it, the SEC of college hockey, is one of the best conferences in the NCAA, and everyone figured that ASU would be outnumbered. It’s safe to say to start the season, they were.
They started the season 3-7-1, and after falling to Nebraska-Omaha 4-2 on home ice, they reached an all-time low. It was safe to say they seemed out of place. Fast-forward to today, they’ve won ten out of their last 11 and are firing on all cylinders. A sweep over St. Cloud State has the team feeling confident heading into a rematch against Colorado College at Mullett Arena this weekend.
Goal Production Skyrocketing Since New Year
After scoring eight goals in the season opener against Air Force, they hit a skid, averaging just two goals a game. Of course, lots of this has to do with the injuries they had sustained earlier in the season with Artem Shlaine, Cruz Lucius, and many more banged up and out of the lineup. Since the second game of the Nebraska-Omaha series, they have averaged 4.2 goals per game, doubling what they saw earlier in the season.
Lots of this, as mentioned, is due to injury; guys are funneling back into the lineup, and clearly, that has played dividends for the Sun Devils. In fact, at Tuesday’s practice, Powers expects to have everyone healthy, the first time this season that the team has been at full strength across the board.
“People haven’t seen us play yet when we’re fully healthy, and I think we’ve been on this kind of run, streak, of getting points,” Shlaine said. “I know we lost to North Dakota in overtime but still got points out of that, which is nice. Now everyone’s healthy, so be aware.”
It seems that, all season long, Powers has had significant parts of the team going in and out, but that’ll change for the first time this weekend.
Gibson Homer and Luke Pavicich Fueling the Devils
Powers rode the hot hand this past weekend in St. Cloud State by starting Gibson Homer in both games. Homer’s hot streak started in the Desert Hockey Classic when he shut out #16 Cornell Univeristy, earning him more starting nods, and he got just that.
“He’s just hot right now, and it was just a gut feeling,” Powers said. “I think I probably went up there with the intention to split because that’s been working well for us, and Pav [Pavicich] played really well against North Dakota, but Gibby [Gibson Homer], it was just a gut feeling.”
That gut feeling paid dividends for the Sun Devils as Homer took the win in both games even after a close scare to end the second game, where St. Cloud marched back after pulling the goaltender, but ASU sealed them off with an empty netter. I would expect a split this weekend since both goalies have been doing well, but with the move up in St. Cloud, you never know what Powers’ next move will be.
Rematch vs. Colorado College This Weekend At the Mullett
With the spring semester rocking and rolling already, the student section will be packed this weekend along with the typical sold-out crowd. These two combinations will make for an exciting rematch against the Colorado College Tigers, who swept the Sun Devils earlier in the season. In those two games, ASU lost the first game 3-2 in overtime, followed by a 3-1 loss.
“Really good, big, deep, play hard, they forecheck you, just a really good team,” said Powers. “They swept us up there, and so we know how good they are.”
This time around, as mentioned above, ASU will be fully healthy, which will be interesting to see how that plays out, considering there will be more lineup changes. Regardless, the two teams have seen each other once before and will now face off again in the desert in what should be a highly competitive series.
The Tigers are in seventh place in the NCHC with 16 points, as ASU will look to hold first place in the conference with 25 points.
ASU in Prime Position for NCAA Tournament Appearance
With the sweep over St. Cloud State, the Sun Devils now move into 12th place in the PairWise rankings, which helps their odds of making the NCAA tournament this spring. They missed it last season and are now hungry for a taste of action beyond the regular season. With the current roster and granting no more injuries, they have a solid shot at making some noise come March.
