TEMPE, Ariz. – The Arizona State men's ice hockey team returns home for their opening series against No. 18 Air Force at Gila River Arena in Glendale on Friday, Oct. 14 and Sunday, Oct. 16.
After a hard-fought opener in South Bend with No. 5 Notre Dame, the Devils (0-2-0) welcome the Falcons (1-0-1), who are coming off a big win over then-No. 5 Boston College and a shootout victory over No. 19 Ohio State to win the 2016 Ice Breaker Tournament in Denver.
"Air Force is one of the hardest teams to play in the country," said head coach Greg Powers. "They are fast, disciplined and relentless in every aspect of the game. There is a reason why they are so successful nearly every season, and it's simply because of their commitment and buy in to how they want to play. This will be a huge test for our young program."
Air Force is led by returning point leader Tyler Ledford, who tallied seven goals and 20 assists in 2015-16. Junior forward Ben Kucera returns as the leading scorer after tallying 15 goals last season, and is off to the same start with two goals in the first two games for the Falcons.
For the Devils, freshman Tyler Busch has matched that pace with a goal in each of his first two collegiate games. Redshirt junior Wade Murphy – a seventh round draft pick by Nashville in 2013 – is atop the team leaderboard with Busch after tallying an assist in each of the Notre Dame match-ups.
Returning to the fold is graduate transfer Robbie Baillargeon, who will appear in his first game in the maroon and gold. A delay in the transfer process prevented the 2012 Ottawa Senators' draft pick from playing in the opening series against the Irish.
While Powers' was able to see his penalty kill and power play units quite a few times in South Bend, the biggest takeaway was the freshmen getting their feet wet and the team seeing where they stand against one of the best teams in the country.
"We can take a few really glaring positives from Notre Dame, but the biggest one is that we proved we can play with the top teams in the country," said Powers. "A few bounces go our way and we are likely 1-1 right now. As long as we continue to play how we want to like we did on Saturday, we'll start to get the bounces to go our way."
The two-game series starts Friday night with a 7:05 p.m. puck drop, while Sunday's match-up is a matinee showing at 2:30 p.m. Sunday's game will be televised on the Pac-12 Network, while Friday will be accessible via live stream here.
After a hard-fought opener in South Bend with No. 5 Notre Dame, the Devils (0-2-0) welcome the Falcons (1-0-1), who are coming off a big win over then-No. 5 Boston College and a shootout victory over No. 19 Ohio State to win the 2016 Ice Breaker Tournament in Denver.
"Air Force is one of the hardest teams to play in the country," said head coach Greg Powers. "They are fast, disciplined and relentless in every aspect of the game. There is a reason why they are so successful nearly every season, and it's simply because of their commitment and buy in to how they want to play. This will be a huge test for our young program."
Air Force is led by returning point leader Tyler Ledford, who tallied seven goals and 20 assists in 2015-16. Junior forward Ben Kucera returns as the leading scorer after tallying 15 goals last season, and is off to the same start with two goals in the first two games for the Falcons.
For the Devils, freshman Tyler Busch has matched that pace with a goal in each of his first two collegiate games. Redshirt junior Wade Murphy – a seventh round draft pick by Nashville in 2013 – is atop the team leaderboard with Busch after tallying an assist in each of the Notre Dame match-ups.
Returning to the fold is graduate transfer Robbie Baillargeon, who will appear in his first game in the maroon and gold. A delay in the transfer process prevented the 2012 Ottawa Senators' draft pick from playing in the opening series against the Irish.
While Powers' was able to see his penalty kill and power play units quite a few times in South Bend, the biggest takeaway was the freshmen getting their feet wet and the team seeing where they stand against one of the best teams in the country.
"We can take a few really glaring positives from Notre Dame, but the biggest one is that we proved we can play with the top teams in the country," said Powers. "A few bounces go our way and we are likely 1-1 right now. As long as we continue to play how we want to like we did on Saturday, we'll start to get the bounces to go our way."
The two-game series starts Friday night with a 7:05 p.m. puck drop, while Sunday's match-up is a matinee showing at 2:30 p.m. Sunday's game will be televised on the Pac-12 Network, while Friday will be accessible via live stream here.