(Photo: Joey Plishka/WCSN)
After week one of the 2023-24 season, things could not be better for Arizona State Men’s
Hockey. The Sun Devils are coming off a two-game sweep of then-No. 15 Merrimack that was made possible by a pair of late game-winning goals from senior forward Matthew Kopperud.
The sweep earned them the No. 18 spot in the latest U.S. College Hockey Online (USCHO) poll, marking the first time they’ve been deemed a top-20 team since the 2020-21 campaign.
But as is often the case in College Hockey, ASU (2-0) has little time to celebrate its early-
season accolade, as it hosts Northern Michigan (0-1-1) this weekend for what looks to be another hard-fought series in Tempe.
“[Our confidence] is definitely high,” graduate forward Alex Young said. “We had some mistakes that we need to clean up from the weekend against Merrimack, and for our team, we expect to beat every team we go out against every night. So confidence is high. Doesn’t matter if it’s ranked or unranked, we’re gonna go out there the same way, play the same way and expect to win every night.”
NMU didn’t start the season how it wanted last weekend, tying then-No. 17 Minnesota-Duluth 5-5 in game one before dropping game two 8-5.
As a result, NMU isn’t ranked in this week’s poll, the Sun Devils are still dealing with a talented squad faced with lofty expectations for this season, largely a result of what it accomplished a year ago.
The Wildcats finished the 2022-23 regular season with a 21-17 record, good for the No. 4 seed in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA)’s end-of-season Mason Cup Conference Playoffs. An ensuing run saw NMU defeat fifth-seeded Bemidji State and upset second-seeded Michigan Tech but end in the single-elimination championship game, as favorite Minnesota State narrowly escaped with a 3-2 overtime victory.
This late-season success, coupled with the fact that head coach Grant Potulny’s team returns nearly two-thirds of last year’s roster, has generated a palpable sense of optimism that it can win its first conference championship since 1992. NMU was picked to finish second in the conference in the CCHA Preseason Poll and has a great chance to do so based on the balance of talent and experience on its roster.
Despite suffering some losses in the offseason — headlined by freshman forward Joey Larson’s transfer to in-state foe Michigan State and senior forwards AJ Vanderbeck and David Keefer moving on — the Wildcats remain with a crop of key players from last year’s squad and some new faces already making an impact.
The position group most similar to last year’s is the NMU blue line, as nearly all of the Wildcats’ top defensemen are back on the team for another campaign. This defense was nothing spectacular last season — NMU ranked 43rd in the nation for goals allowed per game in 2022-23 — but will benefit from another year of experience and sophomores Josh Zinger and Connor Eddy looking to take a step forward after promising freshman seasons
In addition to a solid defensive corps, NMU has a bonafide starting goaltender in sophomore Beni Halasz. The Hungarian international posted an impressive freshman season in 2022-23, finishing with a top-15 save percentage (.919), top-20 in saves (855) top-25 goals against average (2.32) in the nation.
NMU’s most prolific scorer is junior forward Andre Ghantous, who totaled 13 goals and 27
points last season and already has six points in two games this year. The Wildcats possess
several other goal scorers throughout their lineup, such as senior forward Artem Shlaine (11G, 21A) and junior forward Kristof Papp (11G, 15A) which can cause headaches for opposing defenses.
While the departure of Larson — and his team-leading six power play goals — left a hole in the
Wildcats’ man advantage that ranked top-15 in the nation last year, it seems this void has
already been filled by redshirt freshman forward Tanner Latsch.
During the season-opening series against Minnesota Duluth, Latsch potted four of NMU’s six power play goals over the weekend. Despite entering this weekend a perfect 8-for-8 on the penalty kill, ASU will need to stay disciplined to keep a lethal Wildcats’ power play off the ice.
With great success on the man advantage against UMD came uncharacteristic struggles when shorthanded. Last season, NMU posted the sixth-highest penalty kill percentage in the nation (86%), but conceded a goal on seven of UMD’s 15 power plays throughout the weekend.
This apparent regression can likely be attributed to early-season hiccups, but the Wildcats will need to make adjustments quickly with ASU’s power play seemingly finding its footing against Merrimack despite early challenges.
“We had a lot of special teams this past weekend, PK and power play,” senior defenseman and power play quarterback Tim Lovell said.
“Honestly, both special teams are really good. So I think we’ll have no issue with anybody… I think we can play with anybody.”
In game one against a strong Warriors penalty kill, ASU created several good looks on the man advantage but simply couldn’t cash in, going 0-for-7. However, these fortunes changed in game two, as the Sun Devils notched two power play goals in seven attempts.
Joining Lovell and senior forward Matthew Kopperud on the Sun Devils’ No. 1 power play unit added another key piece in Young. The Colgate transfer possesses a hard shot and can score from almost anywhere on the ice, giving Lovell another strong option to look to when Kopperud is covered.
“[The powerplay]’s been great, just having guys out there that can make those plays and being able to read against them and know what they’re gonna do,” Young said. “We definitely had some times where we could have been better, but I think we’re going to be really good for now.”
After a low-scoring game one against Merrimack — the contest’s first and only goal came courtesy of Kopperud nearly halfway through overtime — ASU’s offense also got into a groove in game two. Kopperud, senior forward Lukas Sillinger and graduate forward Brian Chambers all recorded multi-point nights.
With a shiny new ranking in the top-20 and a talented opponent on deck, ASU is faced with a large amount of pressure to perform just two weeks into the season. However, the Sun Devils are approaching this weekend just like they would any other — looking to take care of business in a series it believes it can win.
“For right now, we don’t really think about [our ranking] and just keep playing,” Young said. “If
we do the things we know we can do, then we’ll be staying ranked up there… That number, it means something but at the same time, it doesn’t because in our mind, we know that we’re supposed to be up there and we deserve to have that number next to our name.”
