If there is one thing that has been consistent for ASU hockey this season, it is that their speed and finesse-based game has yet to travel with them on the road, leaving their mistakes and youthful inexperience to catch up to them.
The Sun Devils finished up a practice at their home venue Oceanside Arena on Wednesday with some conditioning drills as they prepare for yet another two-game road stand, this time in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan against Lake Superior State on Nov. 13 and 14.
Aside from conditioning, head coach Greg Powers said that during the week off he would like to practice "more conditioning."
"To us, we aren't taking a week off, it is just a week off of playing games," Powers said. "We are stringing together really good moments, but we're not stringing together 60 good moments, and 60 good minutes and until we do, this is how we are going to practice."
The Sun Devils returned home early in the week after losing both games to Division I opponent Wisconsin, including both a 5-1 defeat and close 2-1 loss that featured a late opportunity to tie for ASU that went just inches wide off the stick of freshman forward Jordan Masters.
Practice concluded with heavy breaths and exhausted legs following board-to-board conditioning drills and a post-practice stretch.
"There is not urgency every single shift, and at this level there needs to be that," said Powers. "That is the (rigor) of having a team with fifteen freshman, the compete level isn't there on a consistent basis so we are focusing on making sure that it (is)."
When asked if this practice was any different from the others, Powers responded that reporters simply "showed up on the right day," and assured that high-conditioning practices is something the team has done all season.
Junior defenseman Connor Schmidt returned to practice for ASU this week, while sophomore defender Edward McGovern was absent from practice due to a lower body injury that Powers said was "week-to-week."
Junior goaltender Robert Levin has also yet to return to action for the Sun Devils, although Coach Powers was optimistic about his recovery and said he remains day-to-day with a nagging injury.
The Lake Superior State Lakers await the Sun Devils for their matchup in just over a week from now coming off a three-game losing streak, having dropped six of their first 8 games this season.
Reach the reporter at csafran@asu.edu and follow @ChrisSafran on Twitter.
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