Article and Photos by Ana Ramirez Video by Erin Patrick O'Connor
The Team
The objective during every ASU men’s hockey game is to work together to “light the lamp,” or score those foolproof goals.
It’s about securing a win for the brotherhood.
This mentality is behind the sweat, spit, fights and pucks flying into Plexiglas that led the team further than ever before.
The 29-men squad was ranked second in the nation and secured a spot in the final four in the American Collegiate Hockey Association Division I Tournament, which was held from March 1 to March 6.
“It’s a roller coaster game, but that’s why it’s such a great game, because anything can happen on any given period,” coach Greg Powers said.
For the players and coaches, Sun Devil Hockey is a way of life.
Coach Greg Powers watches the ASU Division I team during practice before the night’s game against their rivals, the Wildcats. (Photo by Ana Ramirez)The Beginning
The ASU men’s hockey team was founded in the late '70s.
In 1992, the team joined the American Collegiate Hockey Association. The ACHA was created in 1991 to give another option to players who did not join a NCAA team.
The team has since qualified for eight ACHA Division I Tournaments.
The ACHA was created to legitimize the level of playing for non-varsity ice hockey. The association has five divisions consisting of a Division I, II and III for men’s hockey and women’s Division I and II.
Unlike NCAA teams, ACHA teams are unable to receive athletic scholarships from universities.
The ASU men’s hockey team is registered as an independent club sport, but the team will connect with schools from Colorado and Oklahoma next season, becoming the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.
In the early '80s, the team became a club sport, called the Ice Devils. The name changed to Sun Devils during the 1998-99 season.
ASU alumnus Mike Hoffarth began managing the team during his time at night school.
For his last four years of school, he played forward and managed the team. In 1988, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in management and became the general manager for 12 years before retiring.
He designed the logo featuring Sparky with a hockey stick, organized the schedule, finances, travel and equipment, and recruited.
Hoffarth, who was born and raised in Phoenix, said he wanted to be a part of a legacy.
“Because back then it was nothing, you know, and now it’s progressed to something really good,” he said. “I’m proud of the guys who I actually was playing when I was managing the team.”
He said the ACHA required a new kind of legitimacy for the team. Background checks ensured the players’ full-time enrollment at ASU.
When Hoffarth managed the team, it competed in two ACHA Division I championships.
Despite the team’s success on the club sport level, it is not a member of Sun Devil Athletics.
The team is associated with the Student Recreation Center on the Tempe campus, which does not have the money to fund individual teams.
As a club sport, team members must support their own play. The $3,200 fee includes uniforms, gear, ice time, coaches’ salaries and travel.
During practice Corey Frank blocks a puck during practice. (Photo by Ana Ramirez)Hoffarth said when he was managing, he asked the Sun Devil Athletics to help fund the team, but the department could not provide it.
“I never got a whole lot of support,” he said. “They don’t want any of their sponsor’s contacted to donate the money to the hockey team.”
Instead, Sun Devil Sports and the President’s clubs donated, he said.
The assistant athletic director of media relations Doug Tammaro said the Athletic Department recognizes the hockey team’s accomplishments.
“We appreciate and applaud all the great things the hockey squad is accomplishing, especially its record against Arizona,” he said. “Because of reasons such as the lack of opponents in this part of the country, the lack of an on-campus facility, etc., we cannot properly support a team at the NCAA and Pac-12 level, but we recognize all the great things they are doing and their hard work.”
ASU Athletics is attempting to work with Nike to get more affordable uniforms and equipment for University teams, including club sports.
This year the University provided $10,000 to the team.
Ken Lind is the general manager of ASU hockey and the president of Sparky’s Kids, an organization that helps fund the hockey team.
Lind said the team’s expenses almost doubled to more than $400,000 per season in the last few years.
Since the ASU hockey team is a club sport and is not given athletic scholarship, the players have to pay more than $3,000 to play per year. The cost helps pay for uniforms, equipment and ice time. (Photo by Ana Ramirez)“It’s important to the kids,” he said. “You wouldn’t think that it is, but they look when they come and look on a recruiting trip, what kind of equipment, what kind of swag, if you will, that the players have.”
When Lind and Powers first took over they only managed and coached the Division I team. Soon after, the University asked the men to take over for the Division II team because of financial issues.
Lind and Powers have since created a Division III team to help compensate for the number of players who have been recruited but didn’t make the Division I team.
All but one of the players on the Division I team played Juniors Ice Hockey, an amateur hockey league for players 16 to 20 years old.
Lind said Juniors Ice Hockey helps the player mature as a student and a hockey player.
This mentality is carried onto the Division I team. Players are expected to treat school as their first priority and hockey as their second. This year’s team average GPA was 3.4.
He said many of the players waited to receive a scholarship to a four-year university and when no offer came, ASU presented similar experience — just no NCAA backing.
Junior forward and captain Colin Hekle said the team is a brotherhood.
Hekle moved from Winnipeg, Manitoba to play for the Sun Devils after two years of Junior A hockey for the Charleswood Hawks.
He said he feels at home competing with his team.
“It’s a mentality that you will do anything for these guys on the team, so I don’t know what else to say (other) than it’s a family,” Hekle said.
Sophomore forward Connor Buchanan, who moved from Calgary, Alberta, said the team provides a feeling of family despite the distance from his home.
Powers brought together a diverse group of Americans and Canadians, he said.
“I definitely felt that this team is different from previous teams I’ve played for,” Buchanan said. “I feel that everybody here plays for the guy next to him (and) goes to battle for everybody.”
Senior forward Dan Styrna, from Vancouver, British Columbia, said there are small rituals that keep the team together and relaxed in the locker room.
“We have a hard hat we hand out,” he said. “One guy get’s it at the end of the game, so whoever had a good game, worked the hardest, had blocked shots, killed a couple penalties, that kind of thing, he usually gets the hard hat.”
The team’s success is in part because of Powers, who began as head coach three years ago.
“Winning’s important,” Powers stated. “It’s very important. It’s what we want. It’s a big reason why I’m here, because I really want to win this program’s first national championship.”
He said this season’s team is extremely talented and skilled.
“In this sport, you cannot single handedly win a game as an individual, you have to play as a cohesive unit,” Powers said. "If chemistry is not right and camaraderie is not there, then you’re not going to win a championship.”
Powers played for ASU as a goalie in 1995-99 and worked as an assistant coach from 2000-01 and 2008-09.
A seven-year stint in the corporate world reminded him how much he needed hockey.
“It’s something that I need to have in my life, because it was part of my life growing up and it literally shaped me into who I am,” he said.
The players, like Powers, identify who they are as a person with this sport. Once a hockey player, always a hockey player.
Powers said hockey is a lot harder than other sports played on foot so players need time to develop the skills to anticipate such a fast game.
“Think about it: It’s a sport where you are literally going up to 30 to 35 mph on a blade of steel that is about .11 of an inch,” said Powers. “Couple that with the puck moving at speeds of over 90 mph.”
Before each game, the equipment manager John Peters sharpens the team’s skates. (Photo by Ana Ramirez)Senior forward Dan Styrna said hockey is in his blood.
“It keeps you honest … knowing that you don’t want to let your teammates down,” he said.
Styrna said during the summer he plays drop-in hockey and sees 70- and 80-year-old men playing.
“It’s a real inspiration because all the other guys out there are cheering on the old guy and it’s something I hope I can do the rest of my life,” he said.
Junior defense Brian Parson from Ahwatukee, Ariz., said hockey is a more passionate sport than others.
“The looks of guys' faces in the middle of a play, if you get the slap shot, the intensity on their faces is just amazing,” Parson said. “You can just tell they are just so passionate about the game, and that’s why I love it so much.”
Powers said in order for a player to be coachable, they have to play as a member of the system.
“If (the team) is a cohesive unit off the ice, then they’ll play like one on the ice,” he said. “That’s why, first thing is always chemistry, chemistry, chemistry off the ice.”
Continue to: "Chapter 2: The Game"
Reach the reporters at amrami13@asu.edu, epoconno@asu.edu or follow them @anamaria_0182, @mr.erino
