Arizona State hits the road for the first time to North Dakota

Fans of Arizona State hockey are not thrilled with the 3-6-1 start to the season after only claiming 2 points in the conference standings against Colorado College last weekend.

Of note, however, the Sun Devils stood at the same mark through 10 games last season. A split at home against Omaha followed by a sweep at then-No. 1 ranked Denver kick-started the season and pushed the Devils to a second-place finish in the NCHC standings. Keen-eyed fans will note that next weekend's opponent is those same Denver Pioneers. But before we speculate at this possible trend, the focus is on this weekend's road trip to take on the No. 6-ranked North Dakota Fighting Hawks.

North Dakota started the season with a new bench boss in Dane Jackson (UND '92), replacing fellow North Dakota alum Brad Berry after 10 seasons and one national championship. The Hawks also lost key players in Sacha Boisvert and Owen McLaughlin in the transfer portal to Boston University, but a strong recruiting class headlined by 2025 first-round draft pick (Calgary) Cole Reschny, 2024 third-round pick (Colorado, currently held by Boston) Will Zellers and 2026 Draft prospect Keaton Verhoeff helped North Dakota to a 3rd place prediction in the 2025 NCHC preseason media poll.

After a slow start, Reschny has been proving the Flames right in taking him in the first round, recording points in three straight games and producing a five point weekend at Omaha on the way to NCHC Forward of the Week honors. Ben Strinden and Mac Swanson provided offensive force as well, putting up each putting up 4 goals and at least 10 points to start the season to add to Reschny's 2 G-8 A-10 P performance.

Defensively, the Hawks are led by alternate captain and Phoenix native Jake Livanavage. Small for his position at 5' 11" and 190 lbs, Jake has established himself as a strong two-way defenseman. After back-to-back 25+ point seasons to start his collegiate career, he's off to another great start with 1 G-7 A-8 P through 10 games. He's joined by captain Bennett Zmolek who brings the physical edge to complement Livanavage's offensive playmaking. North Dakota's remaining defensive pairings are strong top to bottom, Abram Wiebe matching up with Verhoeff on the middle pairing (combined 6 G-8 A-14 P), and a more physical third pairing of EJ Emery and Sam Laurilia. Both draft picks of New Work teams, they bring an NHL-ready level of play to their defense.

For the 5th straight season, North Dakota sent to the transfer portal to find their new goaltender, and for the second year in a row, that goaltender came from Tempe. Gibson Homer has played decently since his transfer, but keep an eye out for the emergence of freshman Jan Špunar. In three games he's given up just three goals, turning aside over 95% of the shots that he's faced. After expecting to be the top line goaltender, Homer could be in for another season splitting the net.

Turning to the special teams, North Dakota ranks 11th in the nation on the power play, going up against the Sun Devils' 30th ranked penalty kill, while the Devils' power play is showing improvement at 21.4%, but still needs that spark of life. That could come this weekend at the hands of North Dakota who has only killed off 79.5% of their penalties.

An embarrassment of options for North Dakota could prove overwhelming for Arizona State, but the stellar play of freshman Samuel Urban last weekend has elevated him as being worthy of at least splitting the net with Connor Hasley, if not holding down the starting job himself. Head coach Greg Powers was non-committal on which goalie would see action this weekend, but look for Hasley to start at least one game after being off all last weekend.

The only player to note on the injury report for the Sun Devils last week was Justin Cloutier, missing both games against Colorado College due to an illness. No further injury information has emerged, leading to the hope that there will be a full roster on deck in Grand Forks this weekend.

Don't miss this weekend's action from a raucous Ralph Engelstad Arena. Friday's puck drop comes at you at 6pm Arizona time, with Saturday an hour earlier at 5pm. Both games will be broadcast locally in the Phoenix market on Fox 10 Xtra, and streaming nationally on NCHC.tv. Tyler Paley and Alex Coil will have the radio call on Fox Sports 910 Phoenix.