ASU Men’s Hockey: By The Numbers – Joey Daccord off to strong start

(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)

Arizona State is on fire and off to the hottest start in program history.

ASU dawns a 4-2-0 record, which marks the best start in their fourth Division I season with sweeps over Alaska Fairbanks and Alabama-Huntsville and grind-it-out losses against then-No.1 Ohio State.

A big reason to the Sun Devils’ early success has been the man between the pipes: junior goalie Joey Daccord.

Coach Greg Powers wants tremendous goaltending as a foundation of the program. Powers appreciates the big boost Daccord gives his teammates every night in goal, knowing he can bail them out in the net.

“Our guys can play the way they want to play when they know their goalie is going come up with the saves that he needs to. He exudes confidence in every way,” Powers said. “We have a tremendous amount of faith in Joey and the guys are playing with confidence in front of him.”

Half a dozen games into his junior campaign, Daccord feels more comfortable in goal this year, helping his team already get halfway to its win total all of last season.

“I think our team is a lot better. We’ve put in some really good efforts,” Daccord said. “It’s really cool that we’re already halfway to our win total from last year. That’s something we definitely want to surpass this year and we’re on a good path to do so.”

Last year, the Sun Devils went 8-21-5, earning their fourth victory on December 9th against Princeton. Fast forward to this year, ASU has accomplished that plateau entering their fourth series of the season.

As the team’s record extends past the .500 mark, the Ottawa Senators 2015 seventh-round draft pick has improved drastically right along with the Sun Devils, ranking among the top-10 in nearly every goaltending category.

Daccord boasts an 1.18 goals against average (9th-best in the NCAA) and a .956 save percentage (tied for 8th best). The 22-year-old netminder credits his hard work and extra effort during the off-season to the Sun Devils’ strong play in the defensive zone.

“For myself personally, I put a lot of effort over the summer in the gym and on the ice and at training,” Daccord said. “If you look at the shot totals from the games and the types of chances that teams are getting, the team is making my life easy. A lot of effort and preparation goes in as a team, especially one of the nice things as well is our penalty kill. We have one of the highest PKs in the league.”

Despite taking a large number of penalties, the Sun Devils have been rock solid on the penalty kill early into this season thanks to their stalwart goaltender and defense. ASU holds a 93.8% penalty kill efficiency rating, which sits at No.3 in the country behind Bemidji State and St. Cloud State.

Furthermore, the Sun Devils have fended off 20 consecutive opponents’ power plays. Their last goal given up on the penalty kill was in the first game against Ohio State, which has one of the most potent power play units in all of college hockey. As one of the biggest penalty killers on the ice, Daccord attests their success on the penalty kill to an ultimate team effort.

“Our penalty kill has been awesome. Most of the time, we do a great job at not letting the other team set up,” Daccord said. “It’s an ultimate team effort. That’s what the PK is. It’s heart, effort, and hard work. We got a group of guys that are dedicated to doing that.”

During his sophomore season, Daccord faced the most shots in the country and made the second-most saves in the nation with 1,084 stops. He has set a similar pace and rhythm through the first 6 games this year, leading all NCAA goaltenders with 151 saves and 357 minutes played. Daccord is not afraid to take on a high volume of shots on a nightly basis, keeping him focused for the full 60 minutes of games.

“I like getting a lot of work. It keeps me more engaged in a game,” Daccord said. “I let the game come to me. I try to make as many saves as I can and give my team a chance to win every night.”

Daccord is looking to stay hot as the Sun Devils return home for the first of two series against Nebraska-Omaha this weekend. After last year’s thrilling shootout victory in Omaha, Daccord is excited to play against the Mavericks four times this season, treating UNO like a conference opponent.

“It’s pretty cool that we get that conference-type of series playing them here and then there,” Daccord said. “I think we’re prepared, and I think that if we play our game, we are going to have a successful weekend.”

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