(Photo: Allyson Cummings/WCSN)
Through sixteen games this season, the Sun Devil hockey team has proved again and again why they are among the best in the nation. Led by team captain Colin Hekle, Arizona State has torn through the first sixteen games of their schedule winning every game they’ve played.
It’s hard to tell what the strongest unit of the team is this season. The offense is scoring at alarming rates and the defense and goaltending have kept the best scorers they’ve gone up against frustrated.
The goaltending combination of senior Joe D’Elia and freshman phenom Robert Levin has combined to have a great early part of the season between the pipes for the Sun Devils. Levin leads the ACHA in goals against average with 0.92 goals per game in 8 games played this season, while D’Elia ranks third among qualified players with an average of 1.29. Levin has recorded three shutouts this year and D’Elia has one of his own, contributing to the team’s dominance this season.
On offense, the usual suspects have been leading the way for the Devils. Kale Dolinski is the ACHA leader in points and assists so far this season, totaling 35 and 24 respectively in 15 games played. Dolinski’s linemate Brian McGinty is also high on the leaderboards, ranking 5th, with 26 points. Twenty-two players have scored a goal for the Sun Devils this year, with Hekle pacing the roster with 14. The depth in the offense has been a great asset this year, making Coach Powers’ life a lot easier by knowing that any skater he puts on the ice can rip twine.
The ASU special teams have been exceptional as well. Led by McGinty’s five, the Sun Devils have scored 22 power play goals. Even when ASU is down men on the ice, they can still score goals. Four times this year, twice by Dolinski, the team has scored while killing off a penalty, showing just how dangerous the offense can be.
The Sun Devils have a team equipped to make a deep run in the tournament and maybe take home a national championship. The team is deep and balanced along every line and the goalkeeping has been great. Most importantly, Arizona State has been in, and won, many kinds of games. They’ve won blowouts and close games. They’ve won on the home and on the road.
They’ve been able to take their opponents’ best shots, recover, and win no matter the odds. Against Oklahoma, Levin gave up a goal within the first five minutes of the game, but the Sun Devils never gave up, eventually recorded the equalizer with less than a minute left in regulation and took the win in overtime thanks to Hekle coming in clutch.
They can win even when the odds are stacked against them. On October 24th, Arizona State went into its matchup with then sixth ranked Delaware missing nine players who were suspended for missing a mandatory workout. That night, the Sun Devils rolled through the Blue Hens 7-2, led, unsurprisingly, by Dolinski and Hekle. By winning a game with just fifteen skaters dressed for a game against a top-ten team, ASU showed its depth and that the entire roster is so talented that any player can step up and be a leader on any given night.
Arizona State, so far, looks like the best team in the ACHA in all facets. If the stellar play of all of the forward lines, defensive pairings, and both goaltenders can continue throughout the rest of the season, this team can beat any opponent. But, if they have off games like they did against Northern Arizona and their first matchup against the Colorado Buffalos, then any team that is close to the quality of ASU could knock off the Sun Devils. This Thursday night’s matchup against No. 2 Minot State will tell a lot as to how successful this season will be. If ASU can come away with a convincing victory, then they have the inside track to be holding up the hardware in Delaware at the end of the season.
