(Photo: Kylee Meter/WCSN)
With just two days to go before the start of the 2018-19 hockey season, Arizona State men’s hockey coach Greg Powers has exuded nothing but confidence in his players ahead of their Saturday home opener against Alaska Fairbanks.
“They’re ready to play,” Powers said. “They’re ready to play another team. They’re ready to hit another team and they’re ready to put that jersey on.”
The Sun Devils went 8-21-5 last year, including notable wins against the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Michigan Tech and Holy Cross. Despite the losing 2017-18 record, Powers took a lot of positivity out of the season and has used to help motivate his players.
“…[We] lost eight games by a goal or an empty-net goal,” Powers said. “We were close. We weren’t there yet, but we were close.”
This year, ASU looks poised to improve on some of last season’s struggles, The Sun Devils not only have a virtually unchanged veteran core but also welcome the arrival of critical youth talent. This season also marks forward Austin Lemieux’s first year of eligibility after being an academic redshirt last year. Although it has been a year since Lemieux has been able to play on a team, Powers has credited Lemieux’s ability to “slow the game down,” calling his ability “a lost art.”
Similarly, Powers has also been very pleased with Lemieux’s hockey IQ, noting that on top of being a composed skater, Lemieux has the ability to think while skating, processing the scene around him and reacting accordingly.
“We think before it’s all said and done, he’s going to be a special player,” Powers said of Lemieux.
Powers also hinted that freshman forward Demetrios Koumontzis could become a key player for the team right away. The 2018 Calgary Flames draft pick committed to Arizona State when he was just 15-years-old and lead the UMHSEHL in points with 49 last season.
“He is a special talent, and he’s shown it out here in every way,” Powers said. “I don’t want to jinx the kid, but I think he’s ready to make an impact right away.”
One major difference that fans will notice that has changed from last year to this year, is that ASU will have two players donning the coveted “C” for captain (Tyler Busch and Brinson Pasichnuk), as well as the standard setup of two alternate captains (Dominic Garcia and Anthony Croston).
“[Busch and Pasichnuk] both bring a different leadership style to the table,” Powers said. “Busch will tell guys what they don’t want to hear, and you need that out of your leaders. Brinson is the ultimate teammate.”
Overall, Powers held a positive outlook ahead of the first game of the year and the upcoming season ahead. Besides heading into the season with a “game-by-game” mentality, Powers expects the team to gel together and have a fast start.
“We’re big, we play hard, we’re physical, and now we have some really high-end skill with kids like Demetrios Koumontzis, Jordan Sandhu and P.J. Marrocco,” Powers said. “They’ve had a great month and a half of teamwork and we’re ready to go.”
