Mullett Arena roared as the Sun Devil hockey season started in Tempe with No. 14 ASU facing No. 5 Penn State on Oct. 3 and 4.
The first game was special beyond the home opener as Seattle Kraken goalie and former Sun Devil Joey Daccord had the honor of attending his jersey retirement in Tempe. This solidifies him as the first Sun Devil hockey player to be bestowed the honor of a jersey retirement.
"To be here tonight and have this moment and share (it) with my family and friends," Daccord said. "It's just so special, so cool, I'm incredibly grateful. I just feel so blessed tonight, and I feel really loved and appreciated, and it means the world because this university means so much to me."
Friday night also saw the college hockey debut of star Penn State forward Gavin McKenna.
McKenna is widely regarded as the top overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft and is considered one of the best prospects in hockey. The hype around McKenna's first taste of college hockey was so monumental that the NHL live-streamed the weekend series for hockey fans to watch free of charge.
The Nittany Lions started the weekend strong with two goals in the first period, one being on the power play. However, this lead was short-lived as the Sun Devils would score three unanswered in the second.
Although ASU was up going into the third, Penn State scored four goals to seal the win on the Sun Devils' home opener.
McKenna would take two assists from his first game in college hockey.
The Sun Devils looked to change the narrative in the second matchup. Sun Devil fans did their part and booed McKenna every time he touched the puck and chanted "overrated" all weekend.
After a slow first period, ASU broke the seal with goals from senior forward and captain Bennett Schimek and senior forward Cruz Lucius in the second.
Just like the night before, Penn State would go on to score four unanswered goals in the third period, including an empty net goal to seal the deal.
McKenna scored the game-winner and his first collegiate goal on the power play after junior defenseman Anthony Dowd took an elbowing penalty.
After being booed all night, he turned to the Sun Devil student section, took his glove off, and signaled forks down to spiral Sun Devil fans into an uproar.
After the series, ASU head coach Greg Powers praised the Nittany Lions for their play during the weekend series.
"On paper, they're arguably the most talented team in the country," Powers said. "We had a lead on them going on third both nights. Tonight, it felt like this was going to be our game, and this is our night ... our guys got to dig out, dig deep, and figure it out, but we've got a long season in front of us."
The Sun Devils' third-period lag was the narrative to take away from the weekend. Schimek said ASU needs to kick up the intensity and bring it in their next series.
"We just weren't hard enough," Schimek said. "We got away from our game a little bit. We didn't execute on our chances; we weren't getting enough pucks behind; we were turning over too many pucks. All of the above."
Edited by Alan Deutschendorf, Henry Smardo and Sophia Braccio.
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Giovanni Barberio is a sports reporter for The State Press. He is studying history and in his 4th semester with The State Press.
