(Photo: Marina Williams/WCSN)
TEMPE — The conclusion of the 2023-24 campaign is rapidly approaching, and No. 20 Arizona State men’s ice hockey’s postseason fate seems all but decided. With only four games left in the regular season, it appears the Sun Devils will miss the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive year.
However, failing to qualify for the big dance isn’t an indictment on a team’s entire season, especially for an independent school like ASU. When the Sun Devils reached their first tournament in 2018-19, they became the first independent program to do so in nearly 27 years, and are still the most recent to achieve that feat. Making the cut for the 16-team is extremely difficult as it is, but not playing intense competition every week, a luxury of playing in a strong conference, simply makes the odds longer.
Fortunately for head coach Greg Powers’ group, that issue will resolve itself next year, as ASU is set to join the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, one of the nation’s premier leagues. But there is still work to be done this season, as the Sun Devils (21-7-6) now have four opportunities to break the program’s single-season win total — set at 22 in the 2019-20 campaign — and end their independent era with a bang. The quest for 23 wins starts this weekend with two games against Long Island (16-18-1) in the final series at Mullett Arena this year.
“We have four more games to come out and have the most program wins in a season, so that’s how we’re looking at it,” senior forward Matthew Kopperud said. “We may not make the tournament, wherever we are in the PairWise, we’re not looking at that, we’re trying to go for our program record now on wins.
“It would be awesome. Someone just told me before this that it would happen on Saturday night, too, if we (do) end up winning (on Friday). So that would be pretty cool on senior night, for all of us to get that win, that would be pretty special.”
While a 16-18-2 record generally doesn’t turn eyes, 16 wins represent Long Island’s most in a season since becoming a Division I program nearly four seasons ago in 2020. With their final two games of the year coming this weekend in Tempe, the Sharks, ranked 48th in the PairWise Rankings, have an opportunity to finish their season at .500, a major achievement for a program that presumably has its best days in the NCAA ahead of it.
Long Island could very well attain that goal given its strong play of late. Since the turn of the new year, it has posted a 10-4 mark, but isn’t necessarily playing their best hockey. During the first half of the season, they developed a track record of playing highly-ranked teams closely, most notably losing to then-No. 5 Boston College and then-No. 5 Quinnipiac by two goals each. So while the results might not have been there, it was easy to see that
Although Long Island’s level of competition took a hit starting in January — it’s schedule entirely features independent opponents with the exception of two games against Colgate, a member of the ECAC — it did show it is capable of picking up big wins, shutting out Alaska Fairbanks 4-0 on the road on Feb. 16.
The Sharks’ pedestrian record is also deceiving because they are a strong team in most statistical categories. For ASU, staying out of the box needs to be a point of emphasis, as Long Island is tied with the 10th-most effective power play in the nation, converting at a 25% clip. The Sun Devils took a combined 14 penalties in two games against rival Alaska last weekend, in part because of the 11 it took in a spirited and physical first contest of the series. But they simply cannot afford to show the same lack of discipline again if they intend to make history on home ice.
In addition to a dangerous man advantage, Long Island also ranks top-35 in shots per game (29.9), goals per game (3.1), shots against per game (24.6) and goals against per game (2.7). Sophomore forward Josh Zary, the Sharks’ leading scorer, has built off of a promising freshman campaign, totalling 32 points in 33 games. Junior forwards Isaiah Fox and Chris Pappas have also been key contributors, as they’ve logged 31 and 29 points respectively. Sophomore defenseman Cade Mason looks to be an integral offensive piece on Long Island’s blue line for the next couple of years, recording 26 points in 32 games this year.
So, with such a statistically-sound team across the board, what has contributed to the Sharks being two games below .500? The answer is simple and similar to the issue ASU experienced last weekend: an inability to avoid penalties. Long Island is the third-most penalized team in the nation with 508 total penalty minutes. It comes as no surprise that with so much time spent a man down, head coach Brett Riley’s team has conceded the fourth post power-play goals (32) this year.
Long Island’s goaltending has also been mediocre, as graduate Brandon Perrone, its No. 1 starter, has a .899 save percentage and 2.62 goals against average in 23 games. Freshman Noah Rupprecht has looked strong in seven starts, posting a .900 save percentage and 2.13 goals against average and has started in more games of late, so the Sun Devils could face an unseasoned but promising netminder in one of their games this weekend.
Barring a miracle, it appears ASU’s 2023-24 season will conclude in four games, but there is still much to play for. While this year’s team won’t have a tournament berth to be remembered by, they have the opportunity to acquire something just as valuable — a spot in the Sun Devils’ record books. Achieving the program record for wins, especially on home ice, would be a fitting way to close ASU’s nine-year independent era.
“It is what it is,” Powers said. “The message is just finish strong in what we started. It’s an unbelievable group of kids in there that want to do that, they want to set the program record and be remembered for a really, really good hockey team in our last season of independent play.”
