Thanksgiving is around the corner, and while most people will be sitting around the table with family, Arizona State head coach Greg Powers will be at the rink, sharpening his team’s focus for a pivotal weekend series against the Ohio State Buckeyes.
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It’s the rhythm — and grind — of the season. College hockey doesn’t pause for the holidays, and this weekend offers a measuring stick for a Sun Devils team trying to steady itself heading into December.
I caught up, briefly with Powers after practice on Tuesday to talk through where his group stands, how they’re handling the holiday stretch and why this matchup with the Buckeyes could be a turning point for ASU.
Greg Powers Q&A:
THW: Coach, now that you can kind of step back around this weekend, what did you make of it as a whole?
Powers: “It’s all you can do with a group like this right now is try to draw and build some positives. And the positives are, we got a win against No. 6 (team) on the road and No. 3 (team) in the last two weeks. We have to find a way to string those efforts together back-to-back.
So that’s the challenge this weekend. It’s a really good team that comes in, I think, unranked for the first time all year, but they’re really good. They’re a Big Ten team. It’s an opportunity to up the non-conference record and get back on track as far as that goes. We think if we can play like we did Saturday, the best 60-minute effort, we’re gonna win a lot of games.”
THW: Last year, you went into Denver, swept them as they were No. 1 in the country, do you see any similarities this weekend as a potential turning point?
Powers: “This is still a Big Ten team and any wins against Big Ten teams are going to be gifts that have been given and will help in the rankings when it’s all said and done. It’s an opportunity to continue to,earn back our fans trust after shaky start, and win it at home.”
THW: This has been a gauntlet of a stretch in November, we kind of talked about at the start of November, how do you think the leadership group has been through it?
Powers: “It’s probably been the toughest season in challenges for captains that I’ve ever had. Expectations are high, but it’s a brand new team with a lot of new faces, and guys need molding, and these guys have done a really good job with it.
Anyone that watches us play knows this team is continuing to get better every weekend. Now again, we have to string together consistency. We’ve shown enough flashes where we know we can do it. Now we have to be consistent with it.”
THW: On Friday, women’s basketball is at 10, hockey’s at three, footballs at seven. What’s the message to get fans out?
Powers: “Great triple header. Everybody should come out here for a full day and enjoy the area, enjoy Novus Place, enjoy all the nice restaurants and stuff to do in between games.
Go support Molly (Miller) and her team, goes off to a great start, and come to a hockey game and then go, cap it off with the territorial cup. It’s an unbelievable place to go.”
THW: I don’t know if there’s a strategy as a head coach, but Thanksgiving is the middle of game week. How do you establish an actual plan for them to be prepared for this weekend despite Thanksgiving being on Thursday before games on Friday and Saturday?
Powers: “We’re gonna celebrate Thanksgiving with the guys at the rink on Thursday, and it’ll be controlled, as far as not making sure they wake up the next day in a coma. So it’s for us, we just said it today. It’s a work week. We’re practicing Thursday. It’s gonna be a normal work day for us.
My wife’s not very happy about that, but it is what it is, and I won’t be complaining about having to get out of my house for six or seven hours away from my in-laws. Quote me on that, I hope they see it.”