Senior Cruz Lucius transferred to ASU in 2024 after playing for the University of Wisconsin-Madison during his freshman and sophomore seasons.
Lucius was drafted 124th by the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2022 NHL draft before a strong freshman year in the NCAA, where he tallied 34 points in 34 games. In his freshman year at UW-Madison, Lucius was also nominated for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award, an annual honor given to the best players in college hockey.
Following a strong start, he continued his dominance his sophomore year, recording 34 points for his second season in a row — this time in 36 games.
Leading the Badgers in points for his second year in a row, Lucius signed as a Sun Devil and transferred to Tempe.
Then, tragedy struck as the rising junior tore his labrum, a shoulder injury that required surgery and would ultimately keep Lucius out to start the first half of the 2024-25 season. His brother, Chaz Lucius, underwent a similar struggle in 2023.
Chaz Lucius, picked 18th overall by the Winnipeg Jets in the 2021 NHL draft, retired from hockey earlier this year after being diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a condition affecting the connective tissue in his joints. In retrospect, his condition was likely the underlying reason for a shoulder injury in 2023 that, like his brother's, required surgery.
Cruz Lucius made a full recovery from his surgery and still played 19 games in the 2024-25 season. In those 19 games, he tallied only 10 points.
"It took a while for me to kind of find my game," Cruz Lucius said. "I feel like I found it over the summer. Last year, all I wanted to do was get back and play, whether I thought I was ready or not."
He did not let his injury history diminish his performance for another season, starting his senior year strong with 10 points in eight games.
Cruz Lucius also led the Sun Devils to victory in the Ice Breaker Tournament with a hat trick against Alaska-Fairbanks in the final game. His performance placed him on the all-tournament team, the second time Cruz Lucius has been bestowed that honor — his first time being with the Badgers.
"It happened really fast," he said, regarding his hat trick during the Ice Breaker Tournament. "The way my line was playing, that kind of thing was coming for us. Obviously, it's good to see them go in, but, having those chances, that's what matters most."
READ MORE: Cruz Lucius hat trick secures Ice Breaker Tournament win
Head coach Greg Powers said that Cruz Lucius creates these chances for himself, when discussing the Sun Devils' weekend series against Penn State to start the season.
"Saturday, he was one of our best players," Powers said in an interview with Sun Devil Source. "He just played a really good game. He managed the puck well; he was moving his feet more; he was getting to the net. He's a special player, and he's only going to get better and better.
The Sun Devil forward scored one goal in the Oct. 4 game against Penn State in a 4-2 loss. Senior co-captain Bennett Schimek said that the top power-play unit, in which Schimek and Cruz Lucius frequently play, needs to take advantage of these chances.
"We had some good looks," Schimek said. "We've just got to bear down on our chances. (We're) forcing too many pucks. (We've) got to get more traffic to the net."
Edited by Alan Deutschendorf, George Headley and Pippa Fung.
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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.
