- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,135,048
- Reaction score
- 59
Jan. 23—TEMPE, Ariz. — UND players walked onto the tarmac Thursday afternoon at Grand Forks International Airport with winds howling across the runways and a windchill at -40.
Three hours later, they walked off the plane to 70-degree temperatures.
Yes, the Fighting Hawks are happy to be in Tempe.
UND and Arizona State are set to play a two-game series at 8 p.m. Central on Friday and 6 p.m. Central on Saturday at Mullett Arena.
"It's a beautiful spot," UND coach Dane Jackson said. "Family and friends are (here). But we split the last two weekends and we're talking about trying to be better back-to-back and proving our machine-like approach both with our mentality and our 60-minute game. Those are going to be things we really focus on and I hope to see out of our group this weekend."
This is the second meeting between the teams this season. They played in Grand Forks in November, when Arizona State's season was at risk of going off the rails.
After a 5-2 loss in the series opener, Arizona State fell to 3-7-1. The Sun Devils looked at the schedule and saw: series finale vs. North Dakota, then series against Denver, Ohio State and Minnesota Duluth.
But Arizona State beat UND 4-2 in the series finale. Since that night, the Sun Devils are 9-4.
"That North Dakota win changed the trajectory of our season," Arizona State coach Greg Powers said. "It gave our guys belief and hope. Since that win, we've played pretty damn good hockey."
That doesn't mean the Sun Devils are overly excited to play the No. 4-ranked Fighting Hawks.
"You probably don't prefer to see them four times, because they're so balanced and so deep," Powers said. "I think they have the deepest and best D corps in the country. They have no real holes. Anything you want to see on a D corps, they have it back there. They're stout, not easy to generate on.
"They have four lines that can hurt you up front. It's a really well-built, well-balanced team that's well coached with the job Dane (Jackson), Matt (Smaby) and Dillon (Simpson) are doing."
It's a massive series for the Sun Devils, who are hoping to get back into NCAA tournament contention.
Arizona State is No. 23 in the NPI rankings, which are used to select and seed the NCAA tournament. But the teams above the Sun Devils are so tightly packed together that they could move as high as No. 15 with a sweep of UND this weekend.
"Our guys know what's at stake for us this weekend with success against a team as high and good as NoDak," Powers said.
Arizona State's top line of Cruz Lucius, Cullen Potter and Bennett Schimek has been one of the hottest in the country. But Potter suffered a season-ending injury two weeks ago, so the Sun Devils will have to move someone into his spot.
Former Fargo Force captain Kyle Smolen is a candidate to get a bigger role this weekend.
Jackson said slowing down Arizona State's top players will be key.
"When we do a good job holding lines on entry — when we track well in the neutral zone and our 'D' stay up — that kind of limits the creativity of some of those top guys to skate laterally on entry and delay," Jackson said. "It makes it hard for them. I think it's really important to check as a five-man unit and it's important that when you're out against those guys, you play extra hard against them and make sure we have great sticks and a commitment to defend as a group."
Bentley transfer Connor Hasley has been Arizona State's primary goaltender. He has played 17 games and has a .920 save percentage. Freshman Samuel Urban has played nine games and has a .917. Urban posted a 37-save shutout of Miami in his last outing.
Powers said he expects a good atmosphere in Mullett Arena, which is
sold out except for resale tickets.
"It's exciting," Powers said. "We're in our second year in this league and to have teams and programs like North Dakota come in. . . there will be a good amount of North Dakota fans. It's going to be an incredible atmosphere. The students are back in the building. It's going to be a lot of fun. We're down a couple of high-end guys, but it's a great opportunity for others to step up."
UND ASU
18-6 Rec 12-11-1
3 NPI 22
3.8 (6th) Off 3.0 (28th)
2.1 (5th) Def 3.1 (40th)
28.7 (3rd) PP 22.2 (17th)
83.1 (23rd) PK 83.5 (22nd)
52.7 (16th) FO 52.8 (14th)
.909 (17th) SP .910 (18th)
Note: National rank in parentheses. Categories are record, NPI ranking, offense (goals per game), defense (goals against per game), power play percentage, penalty kill percentage, faceoff percentage and team save percentage.
UND — F Josh Zakreski out (lower), F David Klee questionable (undisclosed), F Cody Croal probable (ill)
ASU — F Jack Beck out (lower), F Cullen Potter out (upper), F Bennett Schimek probable (undisclosed), F Johnny Waldron probable (undisclosed), D Lincoln Kuehne questionable (undisclosed)
Lucius missed half of last season due to injury. When he returned, he wasn't quite his old self. But this year, he looks better than ever. The Grant, Minn., product has 12 goals and 32 points in 24 games, ranking fifth nationally in points. Lucius scored a goal and tallied three points against UND during the November series in Grand Forks.
The 6-foot-2, 185-pound winger loves to shoot the puck — he's fourth nationally with 95 shots on goal — but he's also a sneaky good passer. His production has been key to Arizona State's success. The Sun Devils are 2-6 when he doesn't tally a point this season, 10-5-1 when he does.
"He's a kid who has taken complete ownership of being a driver and leader," Powers said. "That's why he's taken a big step this year. It's the youngest team we've ever had from an age standpoint. Lucius realized real quick he has to be a driver for us. He and Schim (Bennett Schimek) are our heartbeats. They've really, really embraced it."
The UND freshman forward had a magical first half of the season, scoring 10 goals in his first 15 college hockey games. His torrid pace continued at the World Juniors, where he led Team USA in goals, points, power-play goals and game-winning goals.
But for the first time in his college career, Zellers is working through a little bit of a goal drought (for his standards). Zellers hasn't scored in eight games. Zellers is still doing a lot of things well and getting chances. With his goal-scoring ability, it's only a matter of time before he breaks through again.
The Fighting Hawks have played well the last four games, but are only 2-2 in that span. They were unable to parlay a 39-26 shots advantage and a 4.42-2.35 expected goals advantage into a win in the series opener against Colorado College. They were unable to parlay a 35-17 shots advantage and a 4.41-2.12 expected goals advantage into a win against Denver. UND is doing the right things, now it just needs to close out two games along with it.
UND made life difficult for Arizona State's young defensive corps in the series in Grand Forks in November. If the Fighting Hawks can do that again, they'll get back in the sweep column.
Friday: 4-2 UND
Saturday: 5-3 UND
TV: Midco Sports (GF Ch. 27/622 HD), Fox 10 KSAZ. Tyler Paley play-by-play, Alex Coil analyst.
Stream: NCHChockey.com/tv.
Radio: The Fox (96.1 FM). Darrin Looker play-by-play, Mike LaMoine analyst.
GFH:
Gibson Homer brings a wealth of knowledge to UND
GFH:
Q&A with UND defenseman and Arizona native Jake Livanavage
GFH:
Abram Wiebe reacts to trade to Calgary Flames
GFH:
Pregame parties set ahead of UND-ASU series
GFH:
Tickets available for North Dakota-Arizona State on resale market
GFH:
Moorhead defenseman Beck Thoreson commits to UND
GFH:
Beck Thoreson is 'not a typical big guy'
GFH:
Will we begin seeing more young, draft-eligible forwards in college hockey?
GFH:
UND deputy AD joins rules committee — with a new outlook
The Athletic:
Scott Wheeler's top 64 for the 2026 NHL Draft
Scoring
17 Cole Reschny (CGY), fr, f, 4-20—24
21 Ben Strinden (NSH), sr, f, 13-10—23
4 Jake Livanavage, jr, d, 4-17—21
26 Dylan James (DET), sr, f, 13-5—18
29 Ellis Rickwood, sr, f, 5-13—18
9 Will Zellers (BOS), fr, f, 10-7—17
7 Mac Swanson (PIT), so, f, 4-11—15
25 Abram Wiebe (CGY), jr, d, 3-11—14
18 Keaton Verhoeff (2026), fr, d, 4-8—12
20 Cade Littler (CGY), so, f, 4-7—11
8 Ollie Josephson (SEA), fr, f, 3-8—11
15 Jack Kernan, fr, f, 6-4—10
19 Cody Croal, so, f, 5-3—8
27 Anthony Menghini, jr, f, 4-4—8
14 Tyler Young, sr, f, 2-4—6
13 Sam Laurila (NYI), fr, d, 0-6—6
6 E.J. Emery (NYR), so, d, 2-3—5
22 David Klee (SJS), fr, f, 2-3—5
2 Bennett Zmolek, sr, d, 1-2—3
24 Josh Zakreski, fr, f, 1-2—3
16 Andrew Strathmann (CBJ), so, d, 0-2—2
3 Jayden Jubenvill, so, d, 0-2—2
28 Dalton Andrew, so, f, 0-0—0
11 Ian Engel, fr, d, 0-0—0
35 Jan Špunar, fr, g, 0-0—0
31 Gibson Homer, sr, g, 0-0—0
1 Zach Sandy, sr, g, dnp
Goaltending
35 Jan Špunar, fr, 12-2, 1.64, .927
31 Gibson Homer, sr, 6-4, 2.43, .895
1 Zach Sandy, sr, dnp
Scoring
51 Cruz Lucius (PIT), sr, f, 12-20—32
23 Bennett Schimek, sr, f, 10-21—31
^12 Cullen Potter (CGY), so, f, 12-14—26
25 Kyle Smolen, jr, f, 3-9—12
19 Logan Morrell, so, f, 5-5—10
27 Samuel Alfano, fr, f, 3-6—9
3 Justin Kipkie (MIN), fr, d, 2-7—9
^2 Jack Beck, so, f, 5-3—8
16 Sean McGurn, jr, f, 3-5—8
15 Noah Powell (PHI), so, f, 4-3—7
17 Johnny Waldron, sr, f, 0-7—7
22 Ty Nash, fr, f, 4-2—6
7 Joel Kjellberg, so, d, 1-5—6
14 Carmelo Crandall, fr, f, 4-1—5
74 Brasen Boser, so, d, 0-5—5
48 Ben Kevan (NJD), fr, f, 3-1—4
37 Sam Court, so, d, 1-3—4
9 Anthony Dowd, jr, d, 0-4—4
5 Richard Baran, fr, d, 0-3—3
31 Samuel Urban, fr, g, 0-2—2
10 Tucker Ness, sr, d-f, 1-0—1
49 Braxton Whitehead, fr, f, 0-1—1
33 Connor Hasley, sr, g, 0-1—1
11 Lincoln Kuehne (2026), fr, d, 0-0—0
89 Tony Achille, jr, f, 0-0—0
*4 Austin Zemlak, fr, d, 0-0—0
*24 Justin Cloutier, fr, f, 0-0—0
13 Hunter Mullett, so, d, dnp
30 Chase Hamm, jr, g, dnp
Goaltending
33 Connor Hasley, sr, 8-7, 2.59, .920
31 Samuel Urban, fr, 4-4-1, 3.02, .917
30 Chase Hamm, jr, dnp
*Returned to junior hockey at semester break
^Suffered season-ending injury
Continue reading...
Three hours later, they walked off the plane to 70-degree temperatures.
Yes, the Fighting Hawks are happy to be in Tempe.
UND and Arizona State are set to play a two-game series at 8 p.m. Central on Friday and 6 p.m. Central on Saturday at Mullett Arena.
"It's a beautiful spot," UND coach Dane Jackson said. "Family and friends are (here). But we split the last two weekends and we're talking about trying to be better back-to-back and proving our machine-like approach both with our mentality and our 60-minute game. Those are going to be things we really focus on and I hope to see out of our group this weekend."
This is the second meeting between the teams this season. They played in Grand Forks in November, when Arizona State's season was at risk of going off the rails.
After a 5-2 loss in the series opener, Arizona State fell to 3-7-1. The Sun Devils looked at the schedule and saw: series finale vs. North Dakota, then series against Denver, Ohio State and Minnesota Duluth.
But Arizona State beat UND 4-2 in the series finale. Since that night, the Sun Devils are 9-4.
"That North Dakota win changed the trajectory of our season," Arizona State coach Greg Powers said. "It gave our guys belief and hope. Since that win, we've played pretty damn good hockey."
That doesn't mean the Sun Devils are overly excited to play the No. 4-ranked Fighting Hawks.
"You probably don't prefer to see them four times, because they're so balanced and so deep," Powers said. "I think they have the deepest and best D corps in the country. They have no real holes. Anything you want to see on a D corps, they have it back there. They're stout, not easy to generate on.
"They have four lines that can hurt you up front. It's a really well-built, well-balanced team that's well coached with the job Dane (Jackson), Matt (Smaby) and Dillon (Simpson) are doing."
It's a massive series for the Sun Devils, who are hoping to get back into NCAA tournament contention.
Arizona State is No. 23 in the NPI rankings, which are used to select and seed the NCAA tournament. But the teams above the Sun Devils are so tightly packed together that they could move as high as No. 15 with a sweep of UND this weekend.
"Our guys know what's at stake for us this weekend with success against a team as high and good as NoDak," Powers said.
Arizona State's top line of Cruz Lucius, Cullen Potter and Bennett Schimek has been one of the hottest in the country. But Potter suffered a season-ending injury two weeks ago, so the Sun Devils will have to move someone into his spot.
Former Fargo Force captain Kyle Smolen is a candidate to get a bigger role this weekend.
Jackson said slowing down Arizona State's top players will be key.
"When we do a good job holding lines on entry — when we track well in the neutral zone and our 'D' stay up — that kind of limits the creativity of some of those top guys to skate laterally on entry and delay," Jackson said. "It makes it hard for them. I think it's really important to check as a five-man unit and it's important that when you're out against those guys, you play extra hard against them and make sure we have great sticks and a commitment to defend as a group."
Bentley transfer Connor Hasley has been Arizona State's primary goaltender. He has played 17 games and has a .920 save percentage. Freshman Samuel Urban has played nine games and has a .917. Urban posted a 37-save shutout of Miami in his last outing.
Powers said he expects a good atmosphere in Mullett Arena, which is
sold out except for resale tickets.
"It's exciting," Powers said. "We're in our second year in this league and to have teams and programs like North Dakota come in. . . there will be a good amount of North Dakota fans. It's going to be an incredible atmosphere. The students are back in the building. It's going to be a lot of fun. We're down a couple of high-end guys, but it's a great opportunity for others to step up."
UND ASU
18-6 Rec 12-11-1
3 NPI 22
3.8 (6th) Off 3.0 (28th)
2.1 (5th) Def 3.1 (40th)
28.7 (3rd) PP 22.2 (17th)
83.1 (23rd) PK 83.5 (22nd)
52.7 (16th) FO 52.8 (14th)
.909 (17th) SP .910 (18th)
Note: National rank in parentheses. Categories are record, NPI ranking, offense (goals per game), defense (goals against per game), power play percentage, penalty kill percentage, faceoff percentage and team save percentage.
UND — F Josh Zakreski out (lower), F David Klee questionable (undisclosed), F Cody Croal probable (ill)
ASU — F Jack Beck out (lower), F Cullen Potter out (upper), F Bennett Schimek probable (undisclosed), F Johnny Waldron probable (undisclosed), D Lincoln Kuehne questionable (undisclosed)
Lucius missed half of last season due to injury. When he returned, he wasn't quite his old self. But this year, he looks better than ever. The Grant, Minn., product has 12 goals and 32 points in 24 games, ranking fifth nationally in points. Lucius scored a goal and tallied three points against UND during the November series in Grand Forks.
The 6-foot-2, 185-pound winger loves to shoot the puck — he's fourth nationally with 95 shots on goal — but he's also a sneaky good passer. His production has been key to Arizona State's success. The Sun Devils are 2-6 when he doesn't tally a point this season, 10-5-1 when he does.
"He's a kid who has taken complete ownership of being a driver and leader," Powers said. "That's why he's taken a big step this year. It's the youngest team we've ever had from an age standpoint. Lucius realized real quick he has to be a driver for us. He and Schim (Bennett Schimek) are our heartbeats. They've really, really embraced it."
The UND freshman forward had a magical first half of the season, scoring 10 goals in his first 15 college hockey games. His torrid pace continued at the World Juniors, where he led Team USA in goals, points, power-play goals and game-winning goals.
But for the first time in his college career, Zellers is working through a little bit of a goal drought (for his standards). Zellers hasn't scored in eight games. Zellers is still doing a lot of things well and getting chances. With his goal-scoring ability, it's only a matter of time before he breaks through again.
The Fighting Hawks have played well the last four games, but are only 2-2 in that span. They were unable to parlay a 39-26 shots advantage and a 4.42-2.35 expected goals advantage into a win in the series opener against Colorado College. They were unable to parlay a 35-17 shots advantage and a 4.41-2.12 expected goals advantage into a win against Denver. UND is doing the right things, now it just needs to close out two games along with it.
UND made life difficult for Arizona State's young defensive corps in the series in Grand Forks in November. If the Fighting Hawks can do that again, they'll get back in the sweep column.
Friday: 4-2 UND
Saturday: 5-3 UND
TV: Midco Sports (GF Ch. 27/622 HD), Fox 10 KSAZ. Tyler Paley play-by-play, Alex Coil analyst.
Stream: NCHChockey.com/tv.
Radio: The Fox (96.1 FM). Darrin Looker play-by-play, Mike LaMoine analyst.
GFH:
Gibson Homer brings a wealth of knowledge to UND
GFH:
Q&A with UND defenseman and Arizona native Jake Livanavage
GFH:
Abram Wiebe reacts to trade to Calgary Flames
GFH:
Pregame parties set ahead of UND-ASU series
GFH:
Tickets available for North Dakota-Arizona State on resale market
GFH:
Moorhead defenseman Beck Thoreson commits to UND
GFH:
Beck Thoreson is 'not a typical big guy'
GFH:
Will we begin seeing more young, draft-eligible forwards in college hockey?
GFH:
UND deputy AD joins rules committee — with a new outlook
The Athletic:
Scott Wheeler's top 64 for the 2026 NHL Draft
Scoring
17 Cole Reschny (CGY), fr, f, 4-20—24
21 Ben Strinden (NSH), sr, f, 13-10—23
4 Jake Livanavage, jr, d, 4-17—21
26 Dylan James (DET), sr, f, 13-5—18
29 Ellis Rickwood, sr, f, 5-13—18
9 Will Zellers (BOS), fr, f, 10-7—17
7 Mac Swanson (PIT), so, f, 4-11—15
25 Abram Wiebe (CGY), jr, d, 3-11—14
18 Keaton Verhoeff (2026), fr, d, 4-8—12
20 Cade Littler (CGY), so, f, 4-7—11
8 Ollie Josephson (SEA), fr, f, 3-8—11
15 Jack Kernan, fr, f, 6-4—10
19 Cody Croal, so, f, 5-3—8
27 Anthony Menghini, jr, f, 4-4—8
14 Tyler Young, sr, f, 2-4—6
13 Sam Laurila (NYI), fr, d, 0-6—6
6 E.J. Emery (NYR), so, d, 2-3—5
22 David Klee (SJS), fr, f, 2-3—5
2 Bennett Zmolek, sr, d, 1-2—3
24 Josh Zakreski, fr, f, 1-2—3
16 Andrew Strathmann (CBJ), so, d, 0-2—2
3 Jayden Jubenvill, so, d, 0-2—2
28 Dalton Andrew, so, f, 0-0—0
11 Ian Engel, fr, d, 0-0—0
35 Jan Špunar, fr, g, 0-0—0
31 Gibson Homer, sr, g, 0-0—0
1 Zach Sandy, sr, g, dnp
Goaltending
35 Jan Špunar, fr, 12-2, 1.64, .927
31 Gibson Homer, sr, 6-4, 2.43, .895
1 Zach Sandy, sr, dnp
Scoring
51 Cruz Lucius (PIT), sr, f, 12-20—32
23 Bennett Schimek, sr, f, 10-21—31
^12 Cullen Potter (CGY), so, f, 12-14—26
25 Kyle Smolen, jr, f, 3-9—12
19 Logan Morrell, so, f, 5-5—10
27 Samuel Alfano, fr, f, 3-6—9
3 Justin Kipkie (MIN), fr, d, 2-7—9
^2 Jack Beck, so, f, 5-3—8
16 Sean McGurn, jr, f, 3-5—8
15 Noah Powell (PHI), so, f, 4-3—7
17 Johnny Waldron, sr, f, 0-7—7
22 Ty Nash, fr, f, 4-2—6
7 Joel Kjellberg, so, d, 1-5—6
14 Carmelo Crandall, fr, f, 4-1—5
74 Brasen Boser, so, d, 0-5—5
48 Ben Kevan (NJD), fr, f, 3-1—4
37 Sam Court, so, d, 1-3—4
9 Anthony Dowd, jr, d, 0-4—4
5 Richard Baran, fr, d, 0-3—3
31 Samuel Urban, fr, g, 0-2—2
10 Tucker Ness, sr, d-f, 1-0—1
49 Braxton Whitehead, fr, f, 0-1—1
33 Connor Hasley, sr, g, 0-1—1
11 Lincoln Kuehne (2026), fr, d, 0-0—0
89 Tony Achille, jr, f, 0-0—0
*4 Austin Zemlak, fr, d, 0-0—0
*24 Justin Cloutier, fr, f, 0-0—0
13 Hunter Mullett, so, d, dnp
30 Chase Hamm, jr, g, dnp
Goaltending
33 Connor Hasley, sr, 8-7, 2.59, .920
31 Samuel Urban, fr, 4-4-1, 3.02, .917
30 Chase Hamm, jr, dnp
*Returned to junior hockey at semester break
^Suffered season-ending injury
Continue reading...
