10 Questions as Arizona State hockey opens its 10th season of Division I play

The 10th season of Division I hockey at Arizona State will, ahem, take flight this weekend when the No. 20 Sun Devils travel to Colorado Springs to face Air Force on Friday and Saturday at Cadet Ice Arena.

The first decade was a slow and steady build for coach Greg Powers, who has poured his blood, sweat and tears into this program, including his seven years of service as its club coach. He played at decrepit Oceanside Ice Arena for the first seven seasons of the program’s DI existence. He played without a conference for the first nine, and he did so without top-end talent for much of that stretch because of those two recruiting hurdles.

But Powers put in the work to change all that. He built the relationships to get Mullett Arena built. He played tough opponents on the road to market his program to the nation — even playing the entire, Covid-plagued 2020-21 season on the road in the Big Ten. And once Mullett was up and running, Arizona State’s recruiting picked up and the school weighed its options before joining the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC).

Powers can’t believe it has already been 10 years.

“I am legitimately old,” he said. 

But the 2024-25 season is young, so here are 10 questions facing the Arizona State hockey team as it embarks on the next chapter in this program’s fascinating history.

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1. What challenges does the NCHC present Arizona State?

The NCHC is the best conference in the nation. Its teams have won six of the past eight national championships and eight of its nine teams were ranked in the top 20 in the USCHO preseason poll.

“I giggle when coaches from other conferences say there’s no weekends off because I’d trade them schedules any day,” said Denver coach David Carle, whose program is celebrating its 75th anniversary fresh off its NCAA-best 10th national championship. “In our league, the proof’s in the pudding. Since realignment, we have six championships which is six more than our main competitor in the Big Ten.”

Carle said the challenge for ASU in its first season in the NCHC is no different from the challenge for every other team.

“It’s a meat grinder. Anybody can beat anybody and you’ve got to bring it night in and night out,” he said. “But the best part about that is it prepares you for the NCAA Tournament and playoff hockey.”

Powers is well aware of the challenge ahead, but when it comes to preparation, he said there is no better teacher than experience.

“Any answer that I give to that question at this juncture is just plain-out rhetoric,” he said. “We have to live it because it’s different from anything we’ve done before.

“Last year is a great example. One weekend you play Stonehill. The next weekend you have Denver. That’s the life of an independent, trying to find consistency in your game when you are all over the map from an opponent standpoint and how teams play and how games are officiated from league to league. Historically, we generally have played up to the level of our competition, whether it’s North Dakota, Minnesota, Denver or Providence. Now we’ll see if we can do it every weekend.”

The Sun Devils staff used the transfer portal to help the team survive its first NCHC season, adding six players with experience in conference play.

“We wanted to build an old team this year, and we did — full of kids that transferred from places that have been through the rigors of a really tough league schedule,” he said. “Hopefully, that pays off.”

2. What benefits Does the NCHC create?

Powers has talked for years about the second chance that conference play affords teams in the form of a postseason conference tournament. Even if a team is outside looking in when the regular-season PairWise rankings are complete, it can always go on a run in the conference tournament and punch its ticket to the NCAA stage.

But there are more benefits for Arizona State. 

“From a recruiting standpoint, our ability to get even some of the players that we have here now — they’re not going to come play for an independent program. We learned that the hard way,” Powers said. “But now, recruiting is definitely at a higher level than it’s ever been because of the league.”

From a scheduling standpoint, the NCHC’s pod system ensures that teams won’t have to endure as much travel. The model consists of three, three-team pods based on geography with teams guaranteed to play home and away series against the other two teams in their pod every season (a total of eight games).

No. 20 Arizona State is in a pod with No. 11 Colorado College and No. 1 Denver. The other pods are No. 18 Minnesota Duluth, No. 5 North Dakota and No. 16 St. Cloud State; and then Miami, No. 15 Omaha and No. 17 Western Michigan.

“I think ASU adds value to our conference, and I think St. Thomas will add a lot of value as well when they come in [in the 2026-2027 season],” Carle said. “Out west, ASU is as close as it gets for us and CC, and then certainly St. Thomas is really close for our schools up in that region so it grows the footprint in regions where we already play, but adds a big market like Phoenix. I think it only enhances the brand of the league and makes it all the more competitive.”

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3. What is the state of the goaltending with TJ SemPtimphelter gone?

One-time goaltending stalwart TJ Semptimphelter has transferred to North Dakota, but the loss was neither surprising nor worrisome in Powers’ mind. Gibson Homer had already won the net with his play last season. What’s more, the Sun Devils have added depth at the position with UMass-Lowell transfer Luke Pavicich (the backup), and sophomore Chase Hamm and freshman Zak Brice, who will battle for the third spot on the depth chart

“Gibby looks sharper than he’s ever looked,” Powers said. “Pavicich looks really good so I’m certain we can win with him, and to be very honest, Chase and Zak are very athletic, really good goalies so I really like our depth.”

Homer enters his junior season at Arizona State, hoping to catch scouts’ eyes as a 6-feet-5, 20-year-old product of the USNTDP and the USHL’s Chicago Steel.

“He looks like an NHL goalie right now,” Powers said. “He’s big, he’s athletic and he competes. He’s playing nice and calm which is what you want out of a big guy. He’s just out on top with his hands out and there’s just not much to shoot at. When he moves as well as he does on top of that, it makes for a really good, dangerous combo. We just have a ton of confidence in the kid.”

In 14 games last season, Homer posted an 8-3-2 record, a 2.04 goals against average and a .931 save percentage. His save percentage was tied for first in NCAA Division I and his goals against average was tied for seventh. After a 2022-23 season in which he did not play a single game, Homer expected to be a backup last season. But injuries and struggles in Semptimphelter’s game offered Homer an opportunity.

“Obviously, it didn’t happen overnight, but I’ve always had the mindset from that first year that when it’s my moment, I’m gonna make the most out of it, ” Homer said. “Last year, I got that moment for whatever reasons and I made the most out of it.

“I think confidence was a really big factor for me. As the stats go up the way they did last year, it helps a little bit. But then on the technical side, I think I just became more patient. When you have that confidence you have more trust in your game and when there’s trust you’re not scrambling around as much. You’re making the game look a little easier.”

Homer has never been a starter for an entire NCAA season so look for Pavicich to get some games early. That said, the Sun Devils expect Homer to man the net over the lion’s share of games as the season progresses.

4. How much impact can the freshmen D-men make?

Arizona State defensemen Sam Court, Joel Kjellberg and Brasen Boser will all play. Court is expected to run the power with the transfer of Tim Lovell to Michigan. Boser is a strong skating, puck moving, steady presence, and Kjellberg’s size and skating have him eyeing a pro contract.

“Court is special at running a power play, the way he opens up his hips and the way he can shoot a puck,” Powers said. “He has elite vision and his ability to move a puck and find a seam is unbelievable. I think it’s better than anybody we’ve ever had.”

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5. What are reasonable expectations for freshman Cullen Potter?

Powers knows he will have to shelter the highest-rated prospect in Arizona State hockey history. There are more than a few analysts who thought Potter needed another season with the NTDP to physically mature, but he wanted a challenge and he wanted the opportunity to play right away in college — something that Michigan State would not offer him this season.

He’ll get that opportunity at ASU, but Powers knows he will have to manage Potter’s expectations of himself.

“I think the biggest thing is just don’t be fixated on points,” Powers said. “Be fixated on habits and doing things the right way and managing the puck. All those things are going to be what gets him the results that he wants.

“Young kids tend to try and cheat for results and cheat for offense, but I think with his pedigree and the way he was raised in a hockey house, he understands the importance of the details and habits and having substance to his game. At the same time, he’s so talented, especially when he has the puck, and so cerebral that with that part of the game we’re just gonna let him play. You have to just take the reins off and let him do his thing.”

Potter can’t wait to get started.

“I hope to bring some flash and some speed,” he said, grinning. “I’m a pretty offensive player, but I’m a two-way player as well because I play center so I’ve got to be. I think I’ll be fun to watch, and the team this year should be really fun to watch, too.

“Coach Powers told me I have to earn my spots so nothing’s given to me. I don’t know a certain role that I’m going to be playing. I can hope and wish for things but what I really have to do is work and make myself ready for those opportunities.”

6. What impact will the transfers make?

Arizona State welcomed six players through the transfer portal: junior forward Cruz Lucius from Wisconsin; junior forward Bennett Schimek from Providence; senior forward Ryan Kirwan from Penn State; graduate defenseman Noah Beck from Clarkson; graduate center Artem Shlaine from Northern Michigan; and Pavicich in goal.

Shlaine and Lucius are both out with injuries and will miss the start of the season.

“We expect to have Schlaine back sooner than later; Lucius will probably be out at least a good month,” Powers said. “Ryan Kerwin can score. He has a great release and shoots a puck probably better than anybody we’ve ever had — and that’s saying a lot when you’ve had players like Johnny Walker and Matthew Kopperud.”

The guy who is flying under the radar right now for Arizona State is Schimek.

“He just has a great stick, he’s got a great mind, and he works — he loves going to the net,” Powers said. ” And the best thing about him and Cruz Lucius is we get them for two years. They’re guys we can grow into the NCHC with and they’re going to be really good for us.”

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7. Which players form Arizona State’s leadership group?

Five returners from the 2023-24 season comprise the letter-wearers. They include two, four-year Sun Devils and the only current player to spend all five collegiate years in maroon and gold. The four alternate captains are graduate forwards Ty Jackson, Lukas Sillinger and Benji Eckerle, along with senior defenseman Ty Murchison. 

Defenseman Ethan Szmagaj will serve as the ninth captain in Arizona State history.

8. How will the power play absorb the losses of Matthew Kopperud and Tim Lovell?

As noted above, freshman Sam Court will run the first power play in Lovell’s place. As for replacing Kopperud, who signed an AHL deal with the Bridgeport Islanders, that’s another beast entirely.

“I don’t want to put it on anybody to replace Kopp,” Powers said. “Kopp’s a legend. He’s one of the all-time best players that’s played in our program, and his specialty was scoring on the power play. He’s fourth all-time in NCAA history for power play goals. That’s how good he was.

“How do you replace that? I don’t think you do. I think it’d be a slap in Kopp’s face to say we’re just going to replace it. But I think anybody would tell you that the best playmaker on our power play is Lukas Sillinger. When Silly comes downhill on that flank, he has the ability to make a quick decision and find the best option. That’s where he got the lion’s share of his points last year so the power play still looks really good.”

Arizona State had the nation’s sixth-best power play unit last season at 26.5 percent.

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9. Is there another level for Lukas Sillinger?

Arizona State graduate forward Lukas Sillinger finished tied for 14th in the nation last season with 48 points. The Sun Devils coaching staff wants more from him.

“The biggest challenge that we’ve laid out in front of him is his play without the puck,” Powers said. “We want him embracing being an F1 and being pissed off when he doesn’t have the puck and working that much harder to get it back.

“I’m not saying he was lazy or anything like that, but he’s just a special player when we have the puck. He’s smart enough and he can skate well enough to be a great player off the puck.”

PHNX Sports’ Steve Peters caught up with Sillinger for an edition of Walkin’ and Talkin’.

10. How can Arizona State make the NCAA Tournament? 

Powers had an answer ready for this question.

“Twenty wins,” he said. “It’s that simple. With the strength of schedule that we have, 20 wins will get us in. Anybody in the league will tell you: If you can host a playoff series in this league, you’re in good shape. If you can host a playoff series, you’re going to have an above .500 record and you’re in the top half of the league and with how good it is. That’s enough to get in.

“Obviously, we want to win the league and there’s not a kid in the room that doesn’t think that we can, but I think a realistic goal is 20 wins and hosting a playoff series. Getting playoff hockey in Mullett and letting our fans experience playoff hockey would be special in our first year. It would be amazing.”

Lines, pairs, special teams

Here’s a look at how Arizona State will line up for its season-opening series at Air Force.

Forwards

Left wing	Center	Right wing
Lukas Sillinger	Ty Jackson	Dylan Jackson
Ryan Kirwan	Cullen Potter	Bennett Schimek
Benji Eckerle	Kyle Smolen	Ryan Alexander
Tony Achille or David Hymovitch	Cole Gordon	Cole Helm

Defensemen

Left defense	Right defense
Ty Murchison	Joel Kjellberg
Noah Beck	Anthony Dowd
Brasen Boser	Ethan Szmagaj
Tucker Ness	Sam Court

Goalies

Gibson Homer

Luke Pavicich

Chase Hamm

Zak Brice

Power play 1
Point: Court
Flanks: Sillinger, Potter
Bumper: Kirwan
Net front: Schimek

Power play 2
Point: Beck
Flanks: D. Jackson, Dowd
Bumper: Smolen
Net front: T. Jackson

Penalty kill
Forwards: Smolen, Eckerle
Alexander, Schimek
T. Jackson, Smolen
Gordon, Helm
Defense: A rotation

Top photo via Getty Images

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