TEMPE, Ariz. – The second, full NCAA Division I season for the men's ice hockey team has come to a close with the Sun Devils finishing 8-21-5 against the nation's 24th-toughest schedule.
The season was highlighted by the program's first-ever tournament championship, forward Johnny Walker finishing second nationally among freshman goal scorers, and sophomore Brinson Pasichnuk finishing in the top-15 among national defensemen in goals scored and points.
"Overall, I am very proud of our guys," said head coach Greg Powers. "While none of us are content with the wins/losses in any way, we know we made positive competitive strides this season. I believe all we are missing is real experience and we now have that in many situations. Next season, we are adding more talent and will have the experience and a room full of guys that are truly proud to be Sun Devils. Myself and our entire staff is already anxious to get to work with this group and take a tremendous step forward as a program."
The eight victories by Powers-led Sun Devils matches their Division I win total from 2016-17, despite losing five veteran players with a combined 346 games of NCAA experience. ASU also had nine losses either occurring in overtime, by one goal or featured an empty-net goal against in the final minutes, and four two-goal losses. Not to mention a program-high five ties.
The Sun Devils continue to demonstrate they aren't afraid to play the best, as their schedule in 2017-18 proved to be tougher than year one according to CHN's KRACH rating. This year's schedule featured six teams that are currently in the USCHO top-20 and CHN Pairwise, including No. 7 Michigan, No. 11 Penn State, No. 12 Providence, No. 14 Nebraska-Omaha, No. 18 Northern Michigan and No. 19 Boston University. There are an additional four opponents within the top-30, making up for over half of their schedule.
In those 19 games versus top-30 opponents, the Devils finished 4-12-3 including a shootout victory that counts as a tie against No. 14 UNO and an Ice Vegas victory over No. 18 Northern Michigan.
That victory over the Wildcats in the first round of the Ice Vegas Invitational set up the Sun Devils for a historic victory in the championship round, as they upset Michigan Tech – who was receiving votes in the USCHO Top-20 – for the program's first tournament championship.
The x-factor for ASU in that tournament was Pasichnuk, who earned the tournament's MVP award after totaling three goals – two in the championship – and two assists over the two match-ups. Pasichnuk finished his sophomore campaign as the team leader in points with 26 behind eight goals and 18 assists, nearly doubling his point production of 14 his freshman year.
He finished the season on a five-game point streak with eight multi-point games and 17 points in his last 14 games.
Walker also finished the season on a streak with eight goals and nine points in his last five games. Through his first 16 games played in the season, he had four goals. Over the last 16 games, he totaled 13 goals with four multi-goal performances. His 17 goals on the season not only set a program record for goals by a Sun Devil freshman, but also was just two shy of the national freshmen lead. This all despite missing two games and the leader having played two more games than Walker.
Under the radar was sophomore Brett Gruber, who finished the season with the team lead in assists (20) and just a point behind Brinson on the team leaderboard. He tied Walker for the most points in the final five games with a breakdown just the opposite of one goal and seven assists for a five-game point streak. He averaged a point-per-game over the final seven games.
Between the pipes, sophomore Joey Daccord took over as the go-to-guy in the crease this season, starting all but two games this season. The Ottawa Senators' draft nearly tripled his starts and more than doubled his games played between the pipes, and therefore nearly tripled his victories from three to eight. His goals against average fell from 4.03 to 3.51 while his save percentage went up from .892 to .909.
The Sun Devils return all but two players for the 2018-19 season, including nine of their top-10 scorers. They'll restock with at least four incoming players, including forwards Demetrios Koumontzis, Derek Brown, Jordan Sandhu and defenseman Josh Maniscalco. Powers and his staff expect to sign several more this spring at each position.
Koumontzis has totaled 20 goals and 21 assists in 24 games for Edina High School, and is currently ranked No. 140 by NHL Central Scouting among North American skaters entering the 2018 NHL Draft.
Sandhu is ranked No. 13 among North American skaters in the 1999 class according to Neutralzone.net, while Maniscalco is at No. 20 among all skaters. Sandhu netted 10 goals and 21 assists in 51 games this season for the Vernon Vipers (BCHL), and has a goal and three assists in two playoff games thus far. Maniscalco ranks 6th in scoring among USHL defenseman as a member of the Dubuque Fighting Saints with seven goals and 19 assists in 45 games.
Brown, who committed to ASU back in 2015, played with both Pasichnuk brothers in Bonnyville and just recently joined the Vernon Vipers with Sandhu at the start of 2018. Since his arrival in January, he's netted 11 goals in 16 games and ranks 2nd among all players in playoff scoring with four goals and four assists in three games. In the 30 games he started the season with Bonnyville in the AJHL, he totaled 20 goals and 18 assists in 30 games.
Spring signing day for Sun Devil hockey is April 11, 2018.
Watch for season ticket renewals for the 2018-19 season this summer.
The season was highlighted by the program's first-ever tournament championship, forward Johnny Walker finishing second nationally among freshman goal scorers, and sophomore Brinson Pasichnuk finishing in the top-15 among national defensemen in goals scored and points.
"Overall, I am very proud of our guys," said head coach Greg Powers. "While none of us are content with the wins/losses in any way, we know we made positive competitive strides this season. I believe all we are missing is real experience and we now have that in many situations. Next season, we are adding more talent and will have the experience and a room full of guys that are truly proud to be Sun Devils. Myself and our entire staff is already anxious to get to work with this group and take a tremendous step forward as a program."
The eight victories by Powers-led Sun Devils matches their Division I win total from 2016-17, despite losing five veteran players with a combined 346 games of NCAA experience. ASU also had nine losses either occurring in overtime, by one goal or featured an empty-net goal against in the final minutes, and four two-goal losses. Not to mention a program-high five ties.
The Sun Devils continue to demonstrate they aren't afraid to play the best, as their schedule in 2017-18 proved to be tougher than year one according to CHN's KRACH rating. This year's schedule featured six teams that are currently in the USCHO top-20 and CHN Pairwise, including No. 7 Michigan, No. 11 Penn State, No. 12 Providence, No. 14 Nebraska-Omaha, No. 18 Northern Michigan and No. 19 Boston University. There are an additional four opponents within the top-30, making up for over half of their schedule.
In those 19 games versus top-30 opponents, the Devils finished 4-12-3 including a shootout victory that counts as a tie against No. 14 UNO and an Ice Vegas victory over No. 18 Northern Michigan.
That victory over the Wildcats in the first round of the Ice Vegas Invitational set up the Sun Devils for a historic victory in the championship round, as they upset Michigan Tech – who was receiving votes in the USCHO Top-20 – for the program's first tournament championship.
The x-factor for ASU in that tournament was Pasichnuk, who earned the tournament's MVP award after totaling three goals – two in the championship – and two assists over the two match-ups. Pasichnuk finished his sophomore campaign as the team leader in points with 26 behind eight goals and 18 assists, nearly doubling his point production of 14 his freshman year.
He finished the season on a five-game point streak with eight multi-point games and 17 points in his last 14 games.
Walker also finished the season on a streak with eight goals and nine points in his last five games. Through his first 16 games played in the season, he had four goals. Over the last 16 games, he totaled 13 goals with four multi-goal performances. His 17 goals on the season not only set a program record for goals by a Sun Devil freshman, but also was just two shy of the national freshmen lead. This all despite missing two games and the leader having played two more games than Walker.
Under the radar was sophomore Brett Gruber, who finished the season with the team lead in assists (20) and just a point behind Brinson on the team leaderboard. He tied Walker for the most points in the final five games with a breakdown just the opposite of one goal and seven assists for a five-game point streak. He averaged a point-per-game over the final seven games.
Between the pipes, sophomore Joey Daccord took over as the go-to-guy in the crease this season, starting all but two games this season. The Ottawa Senators' draft nearly tripled his starts and more than doubled his games played between the pipes, and therefore nearly tripled his victories from three to eight. His goals against average fell from 4.03 to 3.51 while his save percentage went up from .892 to .909.
The Sun Devils return all but two players for the 2018-19 season, including nine of their top-10 scorers. They'll restock with at least four incoming players, including forwards Demetrios Koumontzis, Derek Brown, Jordan Sandhu and defenseman Josh Maniscalco. Powers and his staff expect to sign several more this spring at each position.
Koumontzis has totaled 20 goals and 21 assists in 24 games for Edina High School, and is currently ranked No. 140 by NHL Central Scouting among North American skaters entering the 2018 NHL Draft.
Sandhu is ranked No. 13 among North American skaters in the 1999 class according to Neutralzone.net, while Maniscalco is at No. 20 among all skaters. Sandhu netted 10 goals and 21 assists in 51 games this season for the Vernon Vipers (BCHL), and has a goal and three assists in two playoff games thus far. Maniscalco ranks 6th in scoring among USHL defenseman as a member of the Dubuque Fighting Saints with seven goals and 19 assists in 45 games.
Brown, who committed to ASU back in 2015, played with both Pasichnuk brothers in Bonnyville and just recently joined the Vernon Vipers with Sandhu at the start of 2018. Since his arrival in January, he's netted 11 goals in 16 games and ranks 2nd among all players in playoff scoring with four goals and four assists in three games. In the 30 games he started the season with Bonnyville in the AJHL, he totaled 20 goals and 18 assists in 30 games.
Spring signing day for Sun Devil hockey is April 11, 2018.
Watch for season ticket renewals for the 2018-19 season this summer.