Powers Out, Hakstol in at Arizona State

The Greg Powers era has ended at Arizona State University. Former North Dakota and NHL head coach Dave Hakstol is now in charge of Sun Devils hockey.

ASU welcomed Hakstol to the bench with a pair of NCAA non-conference wins at UMass Lowell this weekend, 5-4 on Friday and 4-2 on Saturday, both at Tsongas Center. Samuel Urban stopped 75 of 81 shots in goal for ASU in picking up both victories against the host River Hawks.

Following a bye, the Sun Devils (4-2-0 overall) will open NCHC play at St. Cloud State over Halloween weekend.

ASU Players Request Coaches Go on Leave

Several Arizona State hockey players recently sent a letter to their university president, requesting that the Sun Devils' coaching staff put on administrative leave following the August incident with sophomore defenseman Matthew Mayich that has left him in a coma.

Mayich, 21, a Toronto native and a 2023 St. Louis Blues draft choice who played last year for Clarkson University, collapsed following an outdoor workout in Tempe, Ariz. on Aug. 20 that was led by a former military officer, with members of the ASU coaching staff supposedly present. A former four-year major junior player with Ottawa (OHL), he remains in a neurological unit in a coma, with his attorney having noted that Mayich is not expected to recover in any meaningful fashion. ASU police have been conducting their own investigation into the matter, but no findings have yet been released.

ASU head coach Greg Powers, who has led the program since its ACHA club days and its elevation to the NCAA Division I level in 2015, declined to answer questions regarding the incident or the training session at last week's National Collegiate Hockey Conference media day. The Sun Devils, who joined the NCHC in 2024, are slated to open their 2025-26 season this weekend with two games at NCAA Division I independent Lindenwood.

ADDENDUM: Powers has been placed on administrative leave for at least this weekend.

Arizona State Hockey to Join NCHC in 2024

The Arizona State University men's hockey program finally has a conference to call home. 

The Sun Devils, who began NCAA Division I play as an independent in 2015-16 after decades as an ACHA club powerhouse, will join the National Collegiate Hockey Conference as its ninth member beginning with the 2024-25 season. It is the first time the NCHC has expanded since its inaugural campaign of 2012-13. ASU will become an official NCHC member on July 1, 2024.

The "new" NCHC will be divided into three-team pods, in coordination with the NCHC's annual 24-game conference schedule. According to TheSunDevils.com, "the new schedule model and rotation consists of three, three-team pods based on geography with teams guaranteed to play home and away series against the other two teams in their pod every season (eight games). The three-team pods are: Arizona State, Colorado College and Denver; Minnesota Duluth, North Dakota and St. Cloud State; and Miami (Ohio), Omaha and Western Michigan."

ASU qualified for the NCAA tournament in 2019 after going 21-13-1 overall, the first hockey independent to do so since Alaska Anchorage in 1992, and the fastest school to ever do so at the NCAA Division I level. The Sun Devils were also on pace to qualify for the 2020 NCAAs after going 22-11-3, had the tournament not been canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic. They then played all their games on the road in 2020-21, due to COVID, all against Big Ten conference schools while finishing 7-16-3 overall.

The Sun Devils, who are coached by alumnus and former club team coach Greg Powers, went 18-21-0 this past season, their first in their new on-campus home, the 5,000-seat Mullet Arena that ASU currently shares with the NHL's Arizona Coyotes. Since joining the NCAA Division I ranks, ASU has amassed an overall record of 106-140-16, all under Indianapolis native Powers, a former Sun Devils club team goaltender who had previously guided ASU's ACHA Division I team to a national club title in 2014. ASU also recently hired former Boston University player and assistant/head coach Albie O'Connell as its new associate coach/recruiting coordinator.

ASU will play its final season as an NCAA independent in 2023-24, with two-game series against three of its future NCHC brethren: at Miami on Oct. 27-28, at home versus Denver on Nov. 10-11, and at Colorado College on Dec. 1-2. The Sun Devils will also play on the road at Robert Morris, Alaska Fairbanks, and Alaska Anchorage, and at home against Merrimack, Northern Michigan, Stonehill, UAA, Providence, Dartmouth, Cornell, Augustana, Lindenwood, UAF and Long Island. ASU will also skate in the Adirondack Winter Invitational in Lake Placid, N.Y. on Dec. 28-29, before hosting its annual Desert Hockey Classic on Jan. 5-6 featuring UMass Lowell, Harvard and Omaha.