- Slug: Sports–ASU Hockey Sweep. 798 words.
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By Fletcher Anderson
Cronkite News
PHOENIX – Arizona State is fresh off one of the hottest weekends a school can have.
The football team continued its miraculous run in their opening year in the Big 12, beating No. 14 BYU 28-23 before a packed house at Mountain America Stadium, making good on coach Kenny Dillingham’s promise to “activate the Valley.”
He might have activated the rest of the athletic program in the process.
Arizona State’s nationally ranked women’s volleyball team beat Colorado to win its 16th straight match and improve to 28-2, punching a ticket to the NCAA tournament.
And not to be outdone, ASU’s hockey team went on the road and recorded a stunning sweep of the Denver Pioneers, the No. 1-ranked team in the nation and defending NCAA champ.
“It’s incredible, everyone who’s been here a long time always has said this place could be special … and now we have that,” said ASU hockey coach Greg Powers. “We have a football coach who’s not a mercenary, and when you have that, everything trickles downhill.”
With that comes the new culture around the athletic program, and the excitement around the Valley for the trajectory of the school’s teams this season.
“In the past, this was a stepping-stone job. I think this is his (Athletic Director Graham Rossini’s) dream job,” Powers said. “Kenny Dillingham does not view this as a stepping stone job, this is his dream job, just like this is my dream job.
“You couldn’t give me all the money in the world to coach anywhere else. This is where I want to be.”
The sweep over No. 1 Denver on the road represents ASU’s first conference sweep in its inaugural NCHC season, and came against a program that has won two NCAA championships in three seasons and three since 2017. The Sun Devils won 3-2 Friday, then backed it up with an emphatic 5-2 victory Saturday.
The Pioneers, who entered the series a perfect 12-0 and on a 21-game win streak dating back to last season, had not been swept at home in more than four years.
“We finally got the results right,” Powers said Monday. “Since that second game at Providence, we’ve never played better structural hockey, more connected hockey … and it really clicked this weekend.”
The Sun Devils had struggled on the scoreboard so far this season, coming into the weekend 4-7-1 and in the bottom half of the country in the PairWise rankings. After a few players returned from injury to help complete the sweep, ASU (6-7-1) is ranked 18th, and No. 19 in the USCHO poll.
Forward Artem Schlaine tallied four goals over the weekend in Denver, including game-winning goals in both games. The Russian transfer from Northern Michigan had missed the first few series of the year, and after getting a few games under his belt, made a massive impact on the weekend.
“Schlainer was out the first six games, and then really the first two to four (games) back he hadn’t practiced yet, so he wasn’t fully back. Now he is and you see how dangerous that kid is,” Powers said.
Schlaine was chomping at the bit to return to the ice, against his former school.
“I really wanted to come back against Northern(Michigan) a month ago, so that was my goal, but I don’t think I was fully healthy,” Shlaine said. “I think last weekend at Denver, even with the altitude and stuff, I finally felt 100%.”
The Sun Devils have the next week off before hosting Minnesota-Duluth Dec. 6 and Dec. 7.
“I think in a perfect world, we’d like to be playing this weekend,” said Powers, who wants to keep his team’s momentum going. “You have our next two games against Duluth, and then they (the players) get to go home for 10 to 12 days, which as an independent (program in the past) we’ve never done.”
After saying the goal was to host an NCHC playoff series this season, Powers has his team suddenly in second place in the conference, and in great shape to accomplish that goal.
“If you can host a playoff series in the NCHC, you’ll probably get in the (NCAA) tournament, so it takes care of itself,” Powers said. “We want to give our fans at Mullett Arena playoff hockey.”
Powers also stressed the importance of not letting this series define the Sun Devils, noting that there is still more work to be done the rest of the way.
“This can be a benchmark sweep, but it’s all going to depend on what we do with it,” Powers said. “Do we want to be the team that looks at this weekend, and at the end of this year talks about our sweep over No. 1 Denver?
“Or do we want to be the team that actually uses it.”
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