It’s been 20 years, and senior defenseman Jordan Young is still playing hockey at Oceanside Ice Area.
“This is the only rink I ever played at growing up, and any hockey memory or experience I’ve had is in this rink,” he said. “I remember when I was a kid looking up in the stands, seeing family and being able to do that now — 20 years later — that’s something I’ll be able to hold onto forever.”
After last weekend’s finale against the 18-and-other U.S. National Team, Young hung-up the skates, as his collegiate hockey career concluded.
Young is a local; he grew up in Cave Creek, Arizona. He was apprehensive about choosing ASU at first. There was the pressure of staying local or attending a program that already was established. At the time, when Young was making his decision to commit to ASU, it was still an ACHA team.
“I was kind of hesitant of where I wanted to go, I wanted to go to a real good school,” he said.
Although he traveled to many big name programs during his junior hockey days, nothing felt quite like home.
“While I was playing junior hockey, taking visits to other schools and seeing what they had to offer, I kind of just never felt at home,” he said. “I had a gut feeling that I didn’t want to go somewhere else.”
Even though he was unsure about choosing ASU, Young believed becoming a Sun Devil was the right decision. His senior year was special because his team made the transition to Division I.
Young described this year as the missing piece to his puzzle. This year brought the full hockey experience that he could have had anywhere else; his list of what he wanted from a school was completed.
“I mean, in the end, the best part is just the validation that I made the right decision to come here,” he said.
Young is one of few players that experienced the transition form an ACHA club team to an NCAA program. He was head coach Greg Powers' first U.S. Hockey League recruit at the ACHA level and the pioneer for many more kids to take similar routes. Within three years after Young, Powers said he had seven USHL recruits.
Powers said Young had a huge impact.
“He’s a special kid," he said. “He kind of started a trend, for kids that may have slipped through the cracks, missed the Division I level or were looking for walk-on spots — (they) looked at our situation and said that kid did it.”
Young is appreciative that he is a part of a Division I program and said people might not understand how good this team will be.
“It meant so much to me for ASU to get a Division I hockey team,” he said. “I don’t think people outside of the Arizona hockey community understand how special this is until a couple years down the road, and they will see where it will be.”
The big question is: What will Young do after graduating this May? He has plans on traveling, then eventually putting his degree from the W.P. Carey School of Business to use and jumping into the working world.
Powers said Sun Devil hockey will miss how genuine Young is.
“I think we will miss his presence,” he said. “He loves Sun Devil hockey, it means everything to him, and he’s genuine. … He helped us grow our program, you can’t create genuine passion, it has to be developed, and we will miss that.”
The coolest thing to Young is fact that he ended his career the very place it started. Jordan says he sees himself involved with hockey in the future in some capacity.
“I feel like it’s a big responsibility to give back, especially here at the rink that I grew up playing in,” he said. “For ASU hockey, I will be as present as I can be, hopefully I can leave a big footprint here.”
Related Links:
After first NCAA season, ASU hockey’s poor record precedes bright future
ASU hockey falls to US 18-U in season finale at Gila River Arena
Reach the reporter at chaz.frazier@asu.edu or follow @chaz_frazier on Twitter.
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