While many players made their ASU debut on the ice last weekend, one notable recruit did not.
Coach Greg Powers spoke very highly of freshman defenseman Alex Temby during the offseason, and Powers said the Sun Devils will get to see Temby at full speed for the first time this weekend.
“He’s just a smooth operator from top to bottom,” Powers said. “He’s big, he’s strong, he can be physical. I’m very excited about him being back and 100 percent and ready to go.”
Powers said Temby will join sophomore assistant captain Jordan Young on the blue-line pairing.
Young, who has been battling a shoulder surgery but still played last Friday night and scored a goal, is also fully healthy, Powers said.
The youthful pair will finally see ice time together, something Temby said he is excited about.
“(Young) is a really good defenseman, and it will be an honor to pair up with him,” Temby said. “We really want to be strong defensively and contribute on the offensive side of the puck as well.”
Temby said playing with Young has been a long time coming and that he is fully healthy and ready to begin his Sun Devil career.
“It’s been a long road back from injury, but I’m excited to get back at it and get my feet wet,” Temby said.
Hard-hitting practice
Practice on Tuesday included a drill that set up the nets on either side of one of the face-off circles and had a two-on-two game in between them. The Sun Devils were going full speed and checking each other into the boards with game-like intensity.Powers said that is something he likes to do to determine who will be in the lineup.
“If the guys aren’t going hard in practice, they’re not going to play. It’s as simple as that,” Powers said. “Because the fact of the matter is ... I can put anyone on our roster in, and we expect to win.”
Other notes
– Powers said he hopes to see freshman forward Eric Rivard back on the ice in mid-October. He said Rivard is recovering from offseason shoulder surgery and that, though he probably could play, there is no need to rush him back because of his youth and the team’s depth.– Powers said the ongoing goalie saga has not been solved and that he is naming starters on a day-to-day basis.
“Whoever starts on Friday is probably who’s looking the best in practice,” Powers said. “So far, they’ve all looked really good, but there hasn’t been one that’s consistently better than the rest.”
Without giving a name, Powers said one of them looked better than the rest in practice Tuesday, and it remains to be seen if he will start Friday.
– Freshman forward Zach Holstrom registered five assists, which is the second-highest in the ACHA, this weekend. The four players with six assists have played in more games than Holstrom.
– ASU's next game is Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Oceanside Ice Arena in Tempe against Weber State.
Reach the reporter at justin.emerson@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @J15Emerson
