TEMPE – Sun Devil Hockey will begin the 2026 portion of the schedule at 7 p.m. MST Friday, Jan. 2, when Arizona State faces off against Alaska Anchorage as part of the annual Desert Hockey Classic at Mullett Arena.
Desert Hockey Classic schedule
Friday, Jan. 2, 2026
Michigan Tech vs. Air Force: 3 p.m. MST
Arizona State vs. Alaska Anchorage: 7 p.m. MST
Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026
Alaska Anchorage vs. Michigan Tech/Air Force: 3 p.m. MST
Arizona State vs. Michigan Tech/Air Force: 7 p.m. MST
Where to watch
Fans can tune into the action on NCHC.TV with a subscription. Tyler Paley and Alex Coil will be calling the game on the broadcast and on the airwaves at Fox Sports 910AM.
Previous meetings against Desert Hockey Classic teams
The Sun Devils are 8-3 all-time against the Seawolves. The two programs last met on March 9, 2024, when forward Lukas Sillinger recorded a first-period hat trick en route to a 5-2 win for ASU in Anchorage. ASU holds a 6-0 advantage against Alaska Anchorage in home games.
ASU last faced Air Force to open the 2024-25 season, when the teams split the two-game series on Oct. 4-5. ASU senior forward Bennett Schimek recorded a hat trick in an 8-1 Sun Devil win on Oct. 4, 2024. The Falcons responded with a 4-3 overtime win on Oct. 5, 2024. ASU holds a 5-4 advantage in the all-time series record.
The Huskies last faced the Sun Devils in the 2023 Desert Hockey Classic on January 6, 2023, defeating the Sun Devils 4-2. They went on to defeat then-No. 6 Boston University, 3-2, to win the 2023 Desert Hockey Classic Championship. Michigan Tech has a 2-1 record in Tempe despite the all-time series being tied 3-3.
Scouting the Desert Hockey Classic field
Alaska Anchorage
The Seawolves have three wins on the season, most notably defeating then-No. 6 Denver, 4-3, in overtime on Oct. 31, 2025. Junior defenseman Joey Potter has seven points (3G, 4A), including one goal and three assists over the last three games.
Air Force
Air Force comes in at 8-3-1 in the last 12 games and is coming off a series split against Robert Morris on Dec 5-6, 2025. The Falcons are 0-2 in Mullett Arena and make their second appearance in the Desert Hockey Classic. The Falcons’ defensemen have scored 15 of the last 33 goals over the last nine games.
Michigan Tech
The Huskies are coming off a runner-up finish at the Great Lakes Invitational, falling to then-No. 3 Michigan State, 4-1, on Dec. 29, 2025. Senior forward Stiven Sarfarian is tied with Schimek for the most assists in the nation with 20, while both skaters have 29 points, which is tied for second in the country.
Desert Hockey Classic history
Arizona State defeated then-No. 16 Cornell, 4-0, in the championship game on January 4, 2025, to win the Desert Hockey Classic for the second straight year. The day before, the Sun Devils defeated RMU, 7-3.
In 2024, ASU won its first Desert Hockey Classic by defeating Omaha, 2-1, on January 6, 2024, inside Mullett Arena. The Sun Devils bested Harvard, 5-2, the day prior.
The tournament returned after a five-year break in 2023 in Mullett Arena’s first season. ASU hosted then-No. 6 Boston University, then-No. 16 Michigan Tech and Air Force. The Huskies upset Boston, 3-2, in the championship game, as the Sun Devils defeated the Falcons, 2-0, on January 7, 2023.
Michigan Tech defeated Yale in a shootout to win the first Desert Hockey Classic at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Ariz. The Sun Devils fell to Yale and UConn in their first season playing at the Division I level.
A complete history of the tournament can be found here.
Quick hits
- The Sun Devils have won the last two Desert Hockey Classics. Despite a 6-5-1 all-time record in the tournament, the Sun Devils are 5-1 in the last three.
- Arizona State aims to win four straight home games for the first time since Dec. 7, 2024 - Jan. 10, 2025, when ASU defeated Minnesota Duluth (3-2 OT), Robert Morris (7-3), No. 16 Cornell (4-0) and No. 14 North Dakota (4-1).
- A victory by the Sun Devils on Friday would be the team’s 50th win at Mullett Arena since it opened in 2022. ASU has a 49-25-6 all-time record at Mullett.
- Senior defenseman Tucker Ness scored his first career NCAA goal in his four-year, 67-game career as a Sun Devil on Dec. 27 against then-No. 8 Dartmouth (W, 5-1)
- After going 15 games without a defenseman scoring, the Sun Devil defense has now scored four goals - Kipkie (2x), Kjellberg, Ness - in the last five games.
- Sophomore forward Cullen Potter has scored a goal in three consecutive games, while scoring in six of his last seven outings.
- Potter has scored a goal in three straight games on two separate occasions this season, from Nov. 22 - Nov. 29 and Dec. 12 - Dec. 28, becoming the third Sun Devil (Ryan Kirwan and Matthew Kopperud) to have multiple goal streaks of three-plus games in their career.
- ASU is 7-1 this season when Potter records a goal.
- Potter is one of two players (Matthew Kopperud) in program history to record 20+ goals and 20+ assists in their first 55 games as a Sun Devil.
- Schimek has recorded 29 points - nine goals and 20 assists - which is the most by a Sun Devil in a 20-game span to begin the season.
- Since the start of the 2024 season, Schimek has recorded the fourth most assists (42) among active Division I players. The team captain has recorded 66 points (24G, 42A), which is tied for second most in the nation.
- Schimek is tied for 10th all-time in program history with 66 points. He needs two points to pass Demetrios Koumontzis (2018-23) to move to ninth on the program’s all-time points list.
- The Sun Devils are 5-1-1 this season when Schimek records two-plus assists in a game.
- Since November 8, 2025, ASU senior forward Cruz Lucius - along with Schimek - is tied for the most assists (11) in the country.
- ASU has not allowed a power play goal in three straight games. Since Dec. 12, 2025, the Sun Devils are 5-for-5 on the penalty kill. The team ranks third in the NCHC, killing 81.8 percent of power plays this season.
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