The ASU hockey team celebrates after winning its first national title at Fred Rust Ice Arena in Newark, Del. Coach Greg Powers hopes to repeat the first-place finish this year. (Photo by Justin Emerson)History has a tendency of repeating itself, and in the case of the defending ACHA national champion ASU hockey team, coach Greg Powers is hoping history does just that in 2014.
The Sun Devils open the 2014 season ranked No. 1 in the nation following a 34-2-0 campaign in 2013 that also featured the first ACHA national championship in school history, with ASU defeating Robert Morris 3-1 in the title game.
Powers, the 2013-14 ACHA Coach of the Year, who is entering his fifth season as coach of the Sun Devils, has already accomplished what he said he set out to do when he first took the job: win the national title.
Now that he has done that, Powers is ready to take on the next challenge: repeating as champions.
"As the head coach it is my responsibility to make sure our guys embrace the target on our back as national champions," he said. "Our approach is simple in that regard; right now, we're on top, and we don't plan on that changing."
Last year's team featured Powers's first senior recruiting class, the first group of players that Powers brought to the program. Three-year captain Colin Hekle led a group of talented Sun Devils who graduated on top, leaving behind a program that was much better than the one they first came to. With Hekle gone, Powers said it is up to a couple of key returning stars to take the team's leadership reins in 2014.
"Colin Hekle is an irreplaceable piece all the way around, but I have the utmost confidence in (defenseman) Brett Blomgren as our new captain to pick up right where (Hekle) left off as a great leader," he said. "All of our captains learned how to do things from those eight seniors we lost and we're set up in a great way from a leadership standpoint because of that."
ASU might also be losing one of the most decorated players in school history in Kale Dolinski, who won the 2013-14 ACHA Player of the Year award after tallying an ACHA-leading 81 points in his senior season.
There still is a load of talent on this Sun Devils roster, including a couple of high-profile transfers coming to the desert from NCAA programs.
Forward Ryan Belonger of Northeastern became a late addition to a recruiting class that already featured former NCAA defenseman Connor Schmidt of Ferris State, making this the first Sun Devil recruiting class with two former NCAA players.
Powers said this isn't a rebuilding process, but a reloading one.
"Losing players is just a part of the college game," he said. "All eight kids that we lost are big losses, but once a program is built, there should be no such thing as 're-building.' We don't believe in that philosophy. We 're-load' at ASU."
Powers said he doesn't believe that losing players to graduation is a reason to brace for a letdown this season.
"Our culture is built, and I believe top to bottom, we have more talent than we have ever had so the loss of any player to graduation is just not a valid excuse and shouldn't be in my opinion for any college coach if you plan and recruit properly," he said.
ASU will have some security in the net behind goalie Robert Levin, who took home the 2013-14 ACHA Rookie of the Year award after a spectacular freshman season in which he led the nation in goals against average (1.12) and save percentage (.956) and posted six shutouts.
The defense overall was a strength for the Sun Devils in 2013, a trend Powers would like to see continue.
"We focused on our net and defensive zone on out last season and this season's approach will be no different at all," he said. "Adding the pieces we did on the back end like Schmidt, McGovern and Mangone should make us even stronger defensively."
With the program growing into a national power in recent years, attention has shifted toward the ASU athletic department to see if hockey can become a varsity sport, and hence be affiliated with the NCAA as opposed to ACHA.
"All I can control is what is in front of our team right now, and that is focusing on winning another ACHA National Championship," Powers said. "It's nice to know that people like (Athletic Director Ray) Anderson have taken notice of men's ice hockey at ASU. Our players deserve all of the recognition they can get."
ASU features no Division II opponents on its non-conference schedule for the first time in school history, just adding to the challenge on its plate. One such opponent is Stony Brook, which Powers said is a contender to "win it all." ASU narrowly beat the team in the national conference quarterfinals in March.
"We won't overlook anyone and know that we'll likely get each opponents best effort every night we take the ice," he said. "We'll be ready for it, too."
ASU's men's hockey team opens its season at home against Niagara University on Friday, Sept. 19, at the Oceanside Ice Arena in Tempe, kicking off a two-game weekend set between the two teams.
Reach the reporter at faradaya@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @fardaya15
Like State Press Sports on Facebook and follow @statepresssport on Twitter.
Correction: Because of a source error, an earlier version of this article misstated ASU hockey's record. The updated record does not include four postseason victories.
