Sun Devils complete road sweep to start Dave Hakstol era

(Photo: Sun Devil Athletics)

After his first game as Arizona State’s head coach, Dave Hakstol walked off the ice, shoulder to shoulder with his assistant coaches, Jimmy Mullin and Matt Greene, to shake hands with athletic director Graham Rossini. 

The Sun Devils new bench manager greeted each of his players with a crisp handshake, even pointing at fourth-year captain Kyle Smolen with pride.

This was his team now.

Hakstol looked on as the Sun Devils (4-2-0, 0-0 NCHC) sang their fight song, ending with “it’s onward to victory.” ASU skated the path to victory twice over the weekend, defeating UMass Lowell (1-3-0, 0-0 Hockey East) 5-4 on Friday and 4-2 on Saturday. The series was the Sun Devils’ first road sweep since 2024 and the first road sweep of a Hockey East team since its trip to UMass Amherst in 2016.

“Great compete level,” Hakstol said. “Not a completely clean game. There were some momentum pushes against us. That’s the first thing I look for, is how guys handle situations and the poise when we are put under pressure. The ability to push back when that opportunity is there, and to do it smartly. There are other things that we are going to have to work through over time and build into our game. That’s going to take a little bit.”

ASU had only 24 hours to practice with its new head coach before taking the ice, as Hakstol met the team in Massachusetts on Thursday morning when he was officially unveiled as the Sun Devils new bench leader. The newfound program stability displayed an immediate effect on the Sun Devil players.

Just over two and a half minutes into Friday’s game, second-year forward Daniel Shlaine received the puck on the right wing. As he loaded his stick up, two Sun Devils crashed toward the River Hawks goaltender, leaving him no chance to save the puck after it deflected off a defenseman.

Minutes later, the Sun Devils struck again. As third-year defenseman Rylan Brown whipped around the net, a carnival crowd of ASU attackers drove toward the net that first-year forward Landon Hafele finished off. The Sun Devils continued that momentum to take a 3-0 lead within the first 16 minutes of the game.

“I thought the focus was really good,” Hakstol said. “The level of work [Thursday], both mentally and physically, I believe to be really good. I loved the energy coming into today’s game, and I thought our guys carried it through the 60 minutes as well. I loved the group’s demeanor.”

While the Sun Devils’ early spark was unexpected — given the team’s lack of consistent coaching in the early weeks of the season — they eventually looked like the team that played against Lindenwood and Holy Cross the previous two weeks. 

A team that at times looked lost.

Throughout the pair of games, the Sun Devils struggled to maintain a consistent defensive wall in front of second-year goaltender Samuel Urban. In the second period of Saturday’s game, the River Hawks created at least four odd-man rushes with one ASU defenseman or less, forcing Urban to make point-blank saves.

Since the second game of the year against Lindenwood, in which Urban allowed eight goals, the Slovakian native has shut down opponents in between the posts, making 33 saves on Friday and 42 on Saturday. While the Sun Devils conceded four goals on Friday, they were mostly due to poor defensive effort, rather than goaltending issues

“We saw on full display the battle level that [Urban] has,” Hakstol said. “A lot of it comes down to skill and ability. As a goaltender, I think we look past their competitive level, their willingness to meet things nose-to-nose. I thought he did that this weekend.

Despite having long stretches on the back foot, ASU consistently found ways to overcome them and score opportune goals. After Saturday’s second-period hiccups, the Sun Devils capitalized on UMass Lowell’s mistakes, scoring a 5-on-3 power-play goal after having virtually no attacking chances in the previous five minutes. 

“We got through the first 10-12 minutes of the period,” Hakstol said. “Then, we were able to take advantage of the power play. You have to do those things. It takes presence to go out and take advantage of a power play when you’ve been defending for the better part of the last 10 minutes.”

The flashes of positivity will serve the Sun Devils well, as Hakstol will have a bye week to start establishing not only a style of play, but a culture for the team to rally behind. A culture that Hakstol believes has pillars already in place.

“I don’t think it’s about what I expect from them,” Hakstol said. “This group has expectations of themselves. That’s the best place to start. What we have to do with the group is to work hard together to fill in the blanks of where we want to get to. There is going to be a process. I loved the start. I’m very happy we were able to get a win.”

Starting Monday, the former North Dakota coach will begin his first “normal” week back as a college hockey coach after an 11-year stint in the NHL. Not only does Hakstol have to help build a competitive hockey team, but also pick up the pieces of a program left in recent turmoil.

“Walking into the room with the guys yesterday really solidified in my mind what a great opportunity this is,” Hakstol said. “This is a tremendous group of guys. Typically you find that throughout college hockey. There’s nothing typical about the timing of it. But, walking into the room yesterday, I felt really good about it. I’m going to enjoy this process.”

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