D1 Hockey

ASU Men’s Hockey Weekend Preview: Sun Devils welcome Alaska Fairbanks for season-opening series

(Photo: Kylee Meter/WCSN)

Quick Glance

Opponent: Alaska Fairbanks (11-22-3, 9-17-2 WCHA)

Goals per game: 2.7

Goals against per game: 3.3

Special teams: 13 percent powerplay, 80 percent penalty kill last season

Leading returning scorer: Steven Jandric (four goals, 19 assists, 23 points last season)

Starting goalie: Anton Martinsson (4-10-2-1, 3.17 GAA, .890 save percentage last season)

Previous meeting with ASU: Sun Devils win, 2-1, in October 2015 (ASU’s first Division I win)

Preview

A new Arizona State men’s hockey season gets underway Saturday night as the Sun Devils will play host to the Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks in a two-game series.

Led by a new coach in Erik Langen, the Nanooks, like the Sun Devils, are looking to improve on a disappointing 2017-2018 campaign. Alaska Fairbanks finished 11-22-3 last season, good enough for 8th in their conference, the WCHA. They lost point-leader Zach Fyre to the professional ranks but return their second- and third-leading scorers from last season, sophomore Steven Jandric and junior Colton Leiter.

Their season has started out well. They smothered Simon Fraser University 13-1 in an exhibition game, where they led 4-0 after one period and had nine different Nanooks score.

The Nanooks will be a test for junior goaltender Joel Daccord, who the Sun Devils are glad to have back.

“You need a leader and experienced guy in net,” coach Greg Powers said at Tuesday’s media day. “He’s had the ability and the opportunity to play everybody and play a lot of games. So, I think he’s ready to take a big step.”

Powers mentioned Daccord’s massive impact on the team as a whole, stating that the Sun Devils will go as far as he takes them. That certainly appears to be the case considering the youth of this ASU team, which has only five seniors on the squad.

“We’re getting there,” Powers said of the experience on the roster. “We feel way better about our team obviously today than we did last year on this day, and I think it will continue to get that way every year we play.”

Though their prolific scoring output in the preseason says otherwise, Alaska’s offense wasn’t one to fear last season, which averaged just 2.7 goals per game, well below the national average. The Nanooks’ 96 total goals were still 19 more than the Sun Devils registered a season ago, who suffered from a lack of skill offensively.

ASU scored the fifth-lowest goal total in the country with 77, while its power play efficiency was the sixth-worst (Alaska Fairbanks came in fifth-best).

Powers believes that will improve this season with a new system.

“Our whole philosophy top to bottom is to keep it simple and get pucks to the net,” he said. “And that’s hopefully what we can do this weekend.”

Scoring on the power play could be easier this weekend. The Nanooks were average on the penalty kill last season, and ASU now has multiple new power-play threats, including freshmen Demetrios Koumontzis and PJ Marrocco, talented forwards who possess the type of talented puck skills Powers said the Sun Devils have never had before.

“Bringing in those three up front really sprinkle in skill and ability to put the puck in the net that we haven’t had,” Powers said of the freshmen.

This weekend is only the start for this young Sun Devil team. As Powers said Tuesday, “We take it game by game. Every weekend is a playoff weekend as we grow up.”