Arizona State opens 2026 with the annual Desert Hockey Classic

The second half of the season is upon us, and with it comes another trophy opportunity.

Arizona State (9-10-1, 4-5-1 NCHC) will play host to the 7th edition of the Desert Hockey Classic this weekend, a tournament that began in the Sun Devils' first season at the Division 1 level in 2015-16.

This season's edition brings two familiar participants; Michigan Tech in their third appearance and looking for their third title, and Air Force competing for their second time. The field will be rounded out by Arizona State's opponent for Friday night, the Seawolves of Alaska-Anchorage.

Alaska-Anchorage

The Seawolves are a familiar foe for the Sun Devils from the independent years. Arizona State holds an 8-3-0 overall record, playing to a 6-2-0 record in the first two seasons of the Mullett Arena era before joining the NCHC. The 2025-26 season has not been kind to the Seawolves as they enter with a 3-11-0 overall record. Their signature win of the season came at the hands of then-No. 6 ranked Denver, a 4-3 overtime win at Magness Arena in Denver. Outside of that, the Seawolves have heavily struggled with an unfavorable schedule, only playing two games at home in the first half.

Despite the struggles, there are a few bright spots on offense. Karter McNarland (0 goals, 8 assists) and Ryan Johnson (1 G-7 A) lead the scoring with 8 points apiece. Tye Spencer is the standard bearer for goal scoring with 4 goals, with Joey Potter (3 G-4 A-7 P) and Conor Cole (3 G-3 A-6 P) rounding out the offensive threat. Seawolves fans will be hoping for the best as the offense ranks among the worst in NCAA hockey, averaging 1.86 goals per game.

In goal, Alaska-Anchorage will most likely turn to Tyler Krivitsov. The team leader in games played in net, he is the only goaltender to record a win for the Seawolves with a 3-6-0 record. Look for the Sun Devils to pepper a ton of shots on net against a team that allows 4.07 goals against per game.

Michigan Tech

The Huskies are led by new head coach Bill Muckalt who arrived in Houghton over the summer after a one season stint with Lindenwood. A respectable start in the first half with an 11-7-2 record, Michigan Tech sits in 4th place in the CCHA standings at 7-3-2. Coming off a second place finish in the Great Lakes Invitational, the Huskies will be playing in their second in-season tournament in as many weekends.

The new eligibility rules for players from the Canadian Hockey League benefitted the Huskies as they produced a top-20 ranked recruiting class, including Teydon Trembecky (6 G-8 A-14 P) and Noah Reinhart (4 G-5 A-9 P). Returning leaders Stiven Sardarian (9 G-20 A-29 P), Max Koskipirtti (7 G-7 A-14 P), and Isaac Gordon (2 G-12 A-14 P), pace the offense with double-digit scoring totals. Defensively, Joe Prouty and Jack Anderson (both transfers from Lindenwood) lead a unit that has allowed 2.55 goals against per game, good for top-20 in the nation. Size is a key for the Huskies, as Anderson (6' 6", 222 lbs.) and Luca Fasciano (6' 4", 225 lbs.) bring a physical aspect to the game. Freshman Reid Andresen has stood out as an offensive threat from the blue line, stepping up to provide 3 G-6 A-9 P in 20 games.

Owen Bartoszkiewicz (transfer from Lindenwood) has been the primary goaltender, playing in 19 of the 20 games with an 11-6-2 record, 2.26 goals against average and .919 save percentage. Rebound control has been one criticism of Owen's game, a weakness that his Friday opponent in Air Force will look to exploit.

Air Force

Speaking of Air Force (9-7-2), Frank Serratore has led the Falcons to a 4th place spot at the midway point in Atlantic Hockey America with a 6-5-1 overall record. In his 29th season, he is the third-longest tenured active coach in NCAA hockey with a career record of 530-556-113, one of two active coaches (Quinnipiac's Rand Pecknold the other) with over 500 career wins.

As you would expect from any service academy team, leadership is paramount, and the Falcons are led by three captains in Mason McCormick, Holt Oliphant, and Chris Hedden. Hedden ranks as one of the leading scorers for Air Force (9 G-7 A-16 P), joined by Sam Stitz (6 G-10 A-16 P) and Nick Sajevic (3 G-18 A-21 P). Seven players in total have recorded at least 10 points for the Falcons, who rank 25th nationally with 3.11 goals per game.

Dominik Wasik has been an incredible story in net for the Falcons. After playing in just one game in his first two seasons in Colorado Springs, he was told at the end of the 2024-25 season that there was no guarantee of a locker for him this season. After Carter Clafton's struggles to start the season, Coach Serratore turned to Wasik for his first start on October 31st and he's rewarded the coach's faith in him with an 8-4-1 record in 13 starts, a 2.41 GAA and .916 SV%. He was named Goaltender of the Month in the month of November for Atlantic Hockey, leading the conference with 241 saves. His story of overcoming adversity and the potential end of his career is inspiring and will be a storyline to watch for the rest of the season.

Arizona State Quick Hits

The Sun Devils will be looking for their third straight Desert Hockey Classic title this weekend, and their fifth straight in-season tournament title dating back to the 2023 Adirondack Hockey Invitational. This weekend starts a six game homestand for Arizona State, and a win on Friday would give the Devils their first four game home winning streak since December 7, 2024-January 10, 2025, and be the 50th win since the opening of Mullett Arena (49-25-6 all-time).

Defensive scoring has been the story lately, as Justin Kipkie, Joel Kjellberg, and Tucker Ness have accounted for four goals in the last five games after going the first 15 games of the season without a defenseman scoring. Ness' goal last Saturday at Dartmouth was the first goal of his career.

Cullen Potter enters this weekend on a three game goal scoring streak, his second of the season, recording a goal in six of his last seven games. He joins Ryan Kirwan and Matthew Kopperud as the only Sun Devils to have multiple goal scoring streaks of 3+ games in their career.

Bennett Schimek and Cruz Lucius both rank in the top-10 in scoring nationally, Schimek tied for 2nd with a 9 G-20 A-29 P line, while Lucius is tied for 7th with 11 G-15 A-26 P.

Tournament Format

As is the norm for these in-season tournaments, two games will be played each day. Michigan Tech and Air Force will open the tournament at 3:00pm Arizona time, with Arizona State and Alaska-Anchorage playing at 7:00pm. The two losers will play in Saturday's consolation game, with the winners playing for the championship. Regardless of Friday's outcome, Arizona State will play in the 7:00pm matchup on Saturday night.

As mentioned above, Arizona State is 8-3-0 all-time against tonight's opponent in Alaska-Anchorage, and holds at least a .500 record against Air Force (5-4-0) and Michigan Tech (3-3-0).

How To Watch

Both of Arizona State's games will be streaming on NCHC.tv (subsctiption required). Tyler Paley and Alex Coil will have the call on the radio for Fox Sports 910 Phoenix.