Ice, zambonis and large men in sweaters body checking each other are uncommon sights in the desert of Arizona, but there is a very cold place in Tempe where a hockey team is heating up.
In small, freezing Oceanside Arena, the ASU club hockey team begins practice. The No. 9 Sun Devils are preparing for the upcoming 2010-2011 Division I American Collegiate Hockey Association season.
First year coach and former three time ACHA All-American goalie Greg Powers has already had to make some tough decisions. Final cuts were difficult due to the depth of talent this year. For Powers, who played for ASU from 1995-1999, the immense amount of talent is a blessing and a curse.
“Our biggest challenge is we’re so deep, we have so much talent,” Powers said. “[The challenge] is really figuring out what combinations we want to use.”
The Sun Devils have a ton of new talent, but also return eight senior veteran players that are looking to lead the team to a successful season. The team finished last season with a loss in the quarterfinals of the D-I National Tournament.
On defense it all starts with the Sun Devils’ man in the net, senior goalie Mark Schacker. Schacker looks to shut down opposing offenses and having a reliable goalie will do wonders for the ASU defense.
Rounding out the team’s veteran leadership is first team All-American senior forward Joe Schweiger. Schweiger, who led the Sun Devils with 32 goals and 37 assists last season, should help ASU become one of the most high-powered offenses in the league.
With the return of Schacker and Schweiger the coaching staff feels optimistic.
“Between those two guys, I think we have arguably the best player and the best goalie in the ACHA,” Powers said.
Last year the Sun Devils finished ranked No. 8 in the country. This year their sights are set on one goal.
When asked about his team aspirations, Powers did not hesitate for a second. The team wants a national championship.
“You’ll see a lot of teams around the league say that [they want to win a championship],” Powers said. “[But] it’s all jargon.”
Powers truly believes that this could be the Sun Devils’ year and anything less than a national championship is unacceptable.
The only other team goal is to sweep UA. ASU’s first game is Thursday against their biggest rival. Hockey is about as intense as a sport gets with checking, tripping and full on fights on the ice. When the Wildcats and Sun Devils meet, the intensity is incomparable.
“Anybody that knows this rivalry [knows] that there are two seasons at ASU,” Powers said. “There’s everything else, then there are the games against U of A.”
The Devils did not lose to UA once last season and they don’t plan on losing to them again.
“I don’t like those guys,” Powers said, letting his long-standing ASU bias show. “And I am not going to keep it a secret that I don’t like them.”
ASU opens the season Thursday at 8 p.m. at Oceanside Ice Arena in Tempe and plays again Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Reach the reporter at Edmund.Hubbard@asu.edu
