Even four years into existence at the NCAA hockey level, the Arizona State Sun Devils are still completing program “firsts.”
One of those came on Monday morning, when the U.S. College Hockey Online rankings revealed that the Sun Devils had received one vote to be one of the top 20 teams in the country.
The anonymous vote made something clear: ASU’s strong start to the season, with series sweeps over Alaska Fairbanks and Alabama-Huntsville sandwiched around narrow losses to then-No. 1 Ohio State, has garnered some national attention in the college hockey community.
“It was pretty cool,” said junior goaltender Joey Daccord. “We’ve been at the bottom of that leaderboard for the most part of me being here.”
Daccord’s not wrong. Records like 5-22-2, 10-19-3 and 8-21-5 — the Sun Devils’ first three DI finishes — aren’t only not getting a team ranked, but don’t even sniff consideration the poll consideration. Even though it’s early, ASU’s 4-2-0 mark is changing that.
“Now we just want to keep moving forward and hopefully get ranked on that leaderboard,” Daccord said. “That’s our next goal.”
Coach Greg Powers was less enthusiastic about the news.
“Honestly, whatever,” Powers said. “It’s cool, I guess.”
Powers saw the ranking as not necessarily a first, but something the program could build on.
“We’re not aiming to get one vote, we’re not aiming to get votes, we’re not aiming to be in a top 20 position,” he said. “We’re building this program to eventually become an elite college hockey program.”
However, Powers did brighten up about the news later on.
“But it’s nice, it’s nice that our guys are getting recognized,” he said.
ASU faces Nebraska-Omaha at home this weekend, a team that’s not only not ranked, but hasn’t received any votes for the rankings. At 0-3-1, the Mavericks have started the season in an opposite way than the Sun Devils. If ASU takes care of business this weekend, they could see themselves rise even higher, and possibly be on a path to make an actual appearance on the poll.
POWERS PRAISES ROAD EFFORT AGAINST ALABAMA-HUNTSVILLE
Last season, ASU won just twice on the road all season. It matched that total by sweeping Alabama-Huntsville last weekend, the first road sweep for the program since 2016.
“We’ve never minded playing on the road,” said Powers. “When you’re bought in and you’re supporting each other like our guys our, you don’t care where it is.”
A key to the pair of away wins: the Sun Devils’ penalty kill, which was perfect on the weekend and has now killed off 22 straight man advantages.
“I think it’s a mixture of (veteran leadership and pressure on the puck),” Powers said. “It’s (Anthony) Croston and (Dylan) Hollman setting the tone, pretty much to open up every kill, two seniors with specialty speed that are hard to play against and execute against because of how fast they are and aggressive they play on the kill. And your best PK guy is always going to be your goalie and Joey has been tremendous right now. It’s working.”
It made for a successful weekend away from home.
“We’ve won at home, we’ve won on the road, so our guys have proved they can do it anywhere,” Powers said. “Now the goal is to keep going.”
