TEMPE, Ariz. -- Greg Powers can see the progress in the Sun Devil hockey team, even if those improvements aren't readily apparent to the naked eye.
After 10 games last season, ASU's first season playing a full Division I schedule, the Sun Devils were 2-8 with a goal differential of minus-28. This season, the Devils are 2-6-2 in a schedule that has featured four games against teams currently ranked in the nation's top 25 and two more against a team that was. The Sun Devils' goal differential has improved to minus-10, they own the nation's 23rd-ranked penalty killing unit (81.4 percent) and goaltender Joey Daccord has the nation's 18th-best save percentage at .919 (min. 5 games played).
"We've had a tough slate to start and that's by design again, but we have been really competitive," Powers said. "A couple bounces or a power play goal here or there and our record could easily be flipped. The improvements are there. Now they have to start translating into wins and we believe they will."
The program the Sun Devils would love to model in that regard comes to town this weekend when ASU faces Penn State in a Friday-Saturday series at Gila River Arena in Glendale, home of the National Hockey League's Arizona Coyotes.
Penn State enters its sixth season of Division I existence fresh off a Big Ten Tournament title and a run to the NCAA elite eight, where it lost to eventual national champion Denver University.
"From a competitive standpoint, if we could trend in their shoes we'd be very happy," Powers said. "We have definitely followed some of the things they did and it's easy to compare the two programs because we're both new and we're both big schools, but how they jumped into Division I and how we jumped into it really is a matter of apples and oranges. From Day 1, they had this Taj Mahal of a facility to play out of and recruit to and they had a conference to play out of and recruit to. We still don't have either.
"Their model is clearly the ideal one, but what I tell people is ours is the realistic one. We want to prove that this is going to work and will work. Patience is the virtue I have learned more than any, but once the dust settles and we are in our facility and playing in a conference -- and those days are coming soon -- other schools out west are going to say 'hey, we don't need $100 million like Penn State got. We can do it the way ASU did it.'"
While Gila River Arena can't match the intimate intensity of ASU's current home, Oceanside Ice Arena, Powers is grateful for the opportunity to play a marquee opponent on a big stage.
"We're focusing on what we do have and not on what we don't have so when we do play out there, it's good," he said of a series whose Friday game will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Networks and TSN in Canada. "It's a nice professional setting and a nicer place to watch us, so we're hoping to get a few thousand fans out there."
Powers was disappointed that the Devils let opportunities for home sweeps against UMass-Amherst and Alabama-Huntsville slip away on the back end, but a 5-4 shootout win at No. 23 Nebraska-Omaha (technically a tie) and a 1-1 tie at No. 19 Colgate has ASU's coach feeling confident. Colgate has not lost since that tie (3-0-1), and owns a win over No. 13 Harvard in that stretch.
"We have a young team, not necessarily in age, but a team of freshmen and sophomores that has to carry us and they're still learning how to finish, but it's a really good vibe with our team right now," he said. "Last year, it took us half the season to figure out we can compete at this level. Right now, our guys go into every game, and up and down the roster, they expect to win and they're competing like it. It's a mindset, it's a culture and you can see it coming."
After 10 games last season, ASU's first season playing a full Division I schedule, the Sun Devils were 2-8 with a goal differential of minus-28. This season, the Devils are 2-6-2 in a schedule that has featured four games against teams currently ranked in the nation's top 25 and two more against a team that was. The Sun Devils' goal differential has improved to minus-10, they own the nation's 23rd-ranked penalty killing unit (81.4 percent) and goaltender Joey Daccord has the nation's 18th-best save percentage at .919 (min. 5 games played).
"We've had a tough slate to start and that's by design again, but we have been really competitive," Powers said. "A couple bounces or a power play goal here or there and our record could easily be flipped. The improvements are there. Now they have to start translating into wins and we believe they will."
The program the Sun Devils would love to model in that regard comes to town this weekend when ASU faces Penn State in a Friday-Saturday series at Gila River Arena in Glendale, home of the National Hockey League's Arizona Coyotes.
Penn State enters its sixth season of Division I existence fresh off a Big Ten Tournament title and a run to the NCAA elite eight, where it lost to eventual national champion Denver University.
"From a competitive standpoint, if we could trend in their shoes we'd be very happy," Powers said. "We have definitely followed some of the things they did and it's easy to compare the two programs because we're both new and we're both big schools, but how they jumped into Division I and how we jumped into it really is a matter of apples and oranges. From Day 1, they had this Taj Mahal of a facility to play out of and recruit to and they had a conference to play out of and recruit to. We still don't have either.
"Their model is clearly the ideal one, but what I tell people is ours is the realistic one. We want to prove that this is going to work and will work. Patience is the virtue I have learned more than any, but once the dust settles and we are in our facility and playing in a conference -- and those days are coming soon -- other schools out west are going to say 'hey, we don't need $100 million like Penn State got. We can do it the way ASU did it.'"
While Gila River Arena can't match the intimate intensity of ASU's current home, Oceanside Ice Arena, Powers is grateful for the opportunity to play a marquee opponent on a big stage.
"We're focusing on what we do have and not on what we don't have so when we do play out there, it's good," he said of a series whose Friday game will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Networks and TSN in Canada. "It's a nice professional setting and a nicer place to watch us, so we're hoping to get a few thousand fans out there."
Powers was disappointed that the Devils let opportunities for home sweeps against UMass-Amherst and Alabama-Huntsville slip away on the back end, but a 5-4 shootout win at No. 23 Nebraska-Omaha (technically a tie) and a 1-1 tie at No. 19 Colgate has ASU's coach feeling confident. Colgate has not lost since that tie (3-0-1), and owns a win over No. 13 Harvard in that stretch.
"We have a young team, not necessarily in age, but a team of freshmen and sophomores that has to carry us and they're still learning how to finish, but it's a really good vibe with our team right now," he said. "Last year, it took us half the season to figure out we can compete at this level. Right now, our guys go into every game, and up and down the roster, they expect to win and they're competing like it. It's a mindset, it's a culture and you can see it coming."