TEMPE -- After a trip to the Arctic Circle, the Arizona State hockey team (13-18-0) returned home to sunny and 75 degrees for an off-weekend perfectly timed as the Phoenix Valley hosted both the Super Bowl and the Waste Management Phoenix Open. The Sun Devils are back in business this week as hosts to the Lindenwood Lions (7-17-0) on February 17-18 at Mullett Arena.
Both showdowns begin at 7 p.m. MST and are available to stream for free on the ASU live stream and to listen live on Fox Sports 910, home of Sun Devil Hockey.
The Lions land in Tempe for the first time in program history after fully transitioning into an NCAA Division I program this season. Lindenwood, similar to ASU, is an independent team in NCAA play.
ASU's 2022-23 RECORD AGAINST INDEPENDENT TEAMS (2-2-0)
W, 5-2 - vs. Alaska Anchorage
W, 3-0 - vs. Alaska Anchorage
L, 1-2 - at Alaska Fairbanks
L, 2-5 - at Alaska Fairbanks
As an independent, Lindenwood has competed against some of the same teams on ASU's schedule such as Minnesota, Air Force, Denver, North Dakota, Long Island, Alaska Anchorage, and Alaska Fairbanks. ASU is 5-4 against those opponents, while Lindenwood so far is 1-7.
The ASU penalty kill squad is currently ranked 5th in the country, killing 86.2 percent of their penalty kills. The Sun Devils also boast five SHG throughout the season. The team is on a hot streak of 13 straight penalty kills and has yet to give up a power play goal since Jan. 20 against RIT.
GIVE US SOME LOVE(LL)
Junior defenseman Tim Lovell is projected to return to the ice after spending a month on the sidelines due to an injury sustained on Jan. 7 against Air Force. Throughout the season, Lovell has been a big part of the Sun Devil team. In the 23 games played, he has racked in 12 points which include nine assists and three goals.
Media Availability:
Arizona State Head Coach Greg Powers:
On Keeping the team motivated with the season concluding soon:
"We have to play for the jersey, we have to play for your teammates, your seniors and most importantly their time is winding down. All of the guys that I can really focus on. We have a young team, we have the fifth youngest team in college hockey so the majority of our roster is back. All of those things to me are plenty to play for."
On being an independent hurt the team:
"I've said it publicly we're ready to get into a league. We've paid our dues and done the things that we've needed to do and it'd be nice right now to have a second life and be preparing for a playoff. I think the guys would appreciate that too. We've proven we can get into the NCAA Tournament as an independent and we know we can. It's not going to happen this year but a league would be great."
On the expectations and where they are right now:
"We have expectations every year to make the tournament. So we didn't hit those expectations and it is what it is. I think there's a lot of reasons for that. This is by far the most injured team I've ever had. We've had more man games missed with twelve games left in the season this year when we've had more this year than in the last three years combined. When you're missing five-to-six and sometimes seven regular line-up guys a game and it's tough. You look back at when we were playing our best hockey and beat North Dakota, and beat Colorado College, the lineup we had back then is drastically different than it is today. We missed those guys and we're looking forward to getting a healthy roster over the offseason and getting back after it. In our eight games we want to go out and have some fun and get some wins and feel good about ourselves.
On the point of attack against Lindenwood:
"Lindenwood is an up and coming program. They've done a really good job. I got a long standing relationship with their coach and their program. I think they've done an unbelievable job in their first year. They're going to come in, They have nothing to lose and they're a first year program and they're going to play hard. They're big, and have threatened some really good programs this year. They played Michigan tight, They've played Minnesota tight, they've played North Dakota tight, they've beaten teams like Vermont, Bentley and Air Force, Swept Army and Army is good, they're a good hockey team so our guys can't take them lightly. We can't take them lightly because if we do they're going to pay."
On stopping Lindenwood playing fast:
"We just have to skate, you know they're going to go high flying and I think they play a fun style. He's doing a great job with them. We've got to skate and check them and slow them down and just play our game. Our guys are ready, they're loose but understand they have to finish strong."
On the transfers transitioning into the program:
"We do a lot of team building stuff at the start of the year. We take them up to Flagstaff and up into the mountains and do other things locally. I don't think it affects them at all. I think we brought in 13 new bodies this year on the fifth youngest team in the country. So you're going to go through some growing pains and unfortunately we've gone through too many of them. I think the biggest problem is staying healthy. It's as simple as that. You can say a lot of things but when you don't have the horses then you can't have consistently in your lineup because of so many guys being banged up for so long, it's just one thing after another. We get Tim (Lovell) back this weekend but then we lose Benji (Eckerle). So when we've gotten guys back we've lost guys. We just can't seem to get ahead of the curve and establish what we've built this team to look like, which is what you saw in the first dozen games. Since then, we've had to patch work together. Where as many as seven-to-eight guys have been out at one time. It is what it is and we're fighting through it and the guys are doing the best that they can which is all that we can do."
On Josh Doan's season:
"I think he's starting to pick it back up. I think he kind of had a little mid-season sophomore slump you could call it. But in fairness, what we've deemed our top-6 guys when you have so many sandpaper guys out, it really allows other teams to match and other teams to focus on two lines. That's what we had going at the start of the year and we had four lines that were dangerous in the third and fourth line, playing heavy and chewing really valuable minutes and putting other teams down. When you use that it allows the other team to key in on your top six which is what's happened. I think Doaner has done a great job, he's been a great leader and he's a young captain and he's learned a lot this year and he'll be better for what he's been through."
Both showdowns begin at 7 p.m. MST and are available to stream for free on the ASU live stream and to listen live on Fox Sports 910, home of Sun Devil Hockey.
The Lions land in Tempe for the first time in program history after fully transitioning into an NCAA Division I program this season. Lindenwood, similar to ASU, is an independent team in NCAA play.
ASU's 2022-23 RECORD AGAINST INDEPENDENT TEAMS (2-2-0)
W, 5-2 - vs. Alaska Anchorage
W, 3-0 - vs. Alaska Anchorage
L, 1-2 - at Alaska Fairbanks
L, 2-5 - at Alaska Fairbanks
As an independent, Lindenwood has competed against some of the same teams on ASU's schedule such as Minnesota, Air Force, Denver, North Dakota, Long Island, Alaska Anchorage, and Alaska Fairbanks. ASU is 5-4 against those opponents, while Lindenwood so far is 1-7.
The ASU penalty kill squad is currently ranked 5th in the country, killing 86.2 percent of their penalty kills. The Sun Devils also boast five SHG throughout the season. The team is on a hot streak of 13 straight penalty kills and has yet to give up a power play goal since Jan. 20 against RIT.
GIVE US SOME LOVE(LL)
Junior defenseman Tim Lovell is projected to return to the ice after spending a month on the sidelines due to an injury sustained on Jan. 7 against Air Force. Throughout the season, Lovell has been a big part of the Sun Devil team. In the 23 games played, he has racked in 12 points which include nine assists and three goals.
Media Availability:
Arizona State Head Coach Greg Powers:
On Keeping the team motivated with the season concluding soon:
"We have to play for the jersey, we have to play for your teammates, your seniors and most importantly their time is winding down. All of the guys that I can really focus on. We have a young team, we have the fifth youngest team in college hockey so the majority of our roster is back. All of those things to me are plenty to play for."
On being an independent hurt the team:
"I've said it publicly we're ready to get into a league. We've paid our dues and done the things that we've needed to do and it'd be nice right now to have a second life and be preparing for a playoff. I think the guys would appreciate that too. We've proven we can get into the NCAA Tournament as an independent and we know we can. It's not going to happen this year but a league would be great."
On the expectations and where they are right now:
"We have expectations every year to make the tournament. So we didn't hit those expectations and it is what it is. I think there's a lot of reasons for that. This is by far the most injured team I've ever had. We've had more man games missed with twelve games left in the season this year when we've had more this year than in the last three years combined. When you're missing five-to-six and sometimes seven regular line-up guys a game and it's tough. You look back at when we were playing our best hockey and beat North Dakota, and beat Colorado College, the lineup we had back then is drastically different than it is today. We missed those guys and we're looking forward to getting a healthy roster over the offseason and getting back after it. In our eight games we want to go out and have some fun and get some wins and feel good about ourselves.
On the point of attack against Lindenwood:
"Lindenwood is an up and coming program. They've done a really good job. I got a long standing relationship with their coach and their program. I think they've done an unbelievable job in their first year. They're going to come in, They have nothing to lose and they're a first year program and they're going to play hard. They're big, and have threatened some really good programs this year. They played Michigan tight, They've played Minnesota tight, they've played North Dakota tight, they've beaten teams like Vermont, Bentley and Air Force, Swept Army and Army is good, they're a good hockey team so our guys can't take them lightly. We can't take them lightly because if we do they're going to pay."
On stopping Lindenwood playing fast:
"We just have to skate, you know they're going to go high flying and I think they play a fun style. He's doing a great job with them. We've got to skate and check them and slow them down and just play our game. Our guys are ready, they're loose but understand they have to finish strong."
On the transfers transitioning into the program:
"We do a lot of team building stuff at the start of the year. We take them up to Flagstaff and up into the mountains and do other things locally. I don't think it affects them at all. I think we brought in 13 new bodies this year on the fifth youngest team in the country. So you're going to go through some growing pains and unfortunately we've gone through too many of them. I think the biggest problem is staying healthy. It's as simple as that. You can say a lot of things but when you don't have the horses then you can't have consistently in your lineup because of so many guys being banged up for so long, it's just one thing after another. We get Tim (Lovell) back this weekend but then we lose Benji (Eckerle). So when we've gotten guys back we've lost guys. We just can't seem to get ahead of the curve and establish what we've built this team to look like, which is what you saw in the first dozen games. Since then, we've had to patch work together. Where as many as seven-to-eight guys have been out at one time. It is what it is and we're fighting through it and the guys are doing the best that they can which is all that we can do."
On Josh Doan's season:
"I think he's starting to pick it back up. I think he kind of had a little mid-season sophomore slump you could call it. But in fairness, what we've deemed our top-6 guys when you have so many sandpaper guys out, it really allows other teams to match and other teams to focus on two lines. That's what we had going at the start of the year and we had four lines that were dangerous in the third and fourth line, playing heavy and chewing really valuable minutes and putting other teams down. When you use that it allows the other team to key in on your top six which is what's happened. I think Doaner has done a great job, he's been a great leader and he's a young captain and he's learned a lot this year and he'll be better for what he's been through."