Arizona State hockey ends season with a whimper

One year ago today, Arizona State was looking ahead to hosting the first round of their first NCHC tournament.

On Saturday night it was a much different story as the Sun Devils lost their 10th game in the last 12, falling to the Denver Pioneers 4-1 to be eliminated from postseason contention.

A far more in depth post mortem will come this week to close out the season, but for the time being, we will focus on the effort put forth in Saturday's finale.

Arizona State struck first for the 5th game in a row, this time on an incredible effort from Noah Powell after Kyle Smolen forced a turnover in the defensive zone, giving Powell the space in the neutral zone to split the defense as he crossed the blue line before sliding the puck past Johnny Hicks' right pad for the 1-0 lead.

If the game could have ended after 4:06 of play, the Sun Devils would have been in the NCHC tournament, but unfortunately the remaining 55:54 of the game needed to be played. Samu Salminen ripped away the early hope for Sun Devil fans with his goal just 37 seconds later, his third of the weekend. The 1-1 score would remain into the 3rd period, as Denver appeared content to play well enough to keep the Sun Devils at bay. Arizona State outshot the Pioneers 12-8 in the opening frame, but failed to keep pace as Denver won the shot battle 9-7 through the stalemate of a 2nd period.

Third periods have been the opportunity for Arizona State all season long, too many times entering a period tied or within a goal and failing to come away with a win. A three-goal 3rd by the Pioneers (converting on 3 of their 8 shots on goal) not only secured the 4-1 win, but assured that Arizona State of finishing in 9th place in the NCHC, missing the postseason tournament in the final year of the current format.

Coming off the final bye week of the season, Arizona State was 12-11-1 overall, and faced a gauntlet of a schedule with two of their best players in Cullen Potter and Jack Beck out with season-ending injuries. With a conference record of 5-6-1, the window to the postseason was still relatively open but there should have been alarm bells going off within the coaching staff to ensure strong play down the stretch. Instead, Arizona State sits on the wrong end of a 2-10-0 final third of the season, and will watch the entirety of the postseason from Tempe.

While the team looks toward the 2026-27 season on the horizon, there will be lots of introspection and reflection on just how the 2025-26 season derailed, and what can be done to learn from it and move in to a new era when the University of St. Thomas joins the NCHC for the fall. Never fear, we will continue to bring you all of the latest news throughout the offseason as the roster is formed and the 2026-27 season is announced. As always hockey fans, Forks Up and Be The Tradition.