The Sun Devil hockey team has finally approached a weekend in which they have games to play on their calendar after having to wait nearly nine months.
The team, one of two independent programs in college hockey, announced a scheduling arrangement with the Big Ten Conference in early October, as a number of NCAA conferences had to resort to conference-only schedules due to the pandemic.
ASU will play all 28 of their scheduled games on the road in the midwest as a result.
"(Not playing at home) doesn't matter to us," ASU senior forward James Sanchez said. "Everyone's in the same boat ... it's going to be a dead building wherever we go. It's kind of our saying we're going with this year; we're going to be some road warriors. We always play well on the road and we like being that team that comes in and beats people at their own place."
The agreement between ASU and the Big Ten brings a unique anticipation ahead of the season for the Sun Devils, which begins on Saturday.
"It's a much different sense of enthusiasm," ASU head coach Greg Powers said. "The main message that we have really tried to drill home really since we've started is, 'Let's just enjoy being able to play.'
"Four months ago, we didn't know. Even two and a half, three months ago, we still didn't know exactly what it would look like and (if) it would be possible as an independent to pull this off ... after everything we've been through and what everybody else has been through, the most important thing for us is to enjoy the experience and the opportunity to go compete."
The team suffered a few significant losses, with defensemen Brinson Pasichnuk and Josh Maniscalco both signing NHL contracts over the summer. The two composed of the team's top defensive pair, but Powers and the Sun Devils are resolute their additions this season make up for the incurred departures.
"(Losing Pasichnuk and Maniscalco) is not ideal for us, but we are happy for them and proud we could help be a part of their journey," Powers said. "We lost some tremendous program builders across the board...(but) we've never had a deeper program than what we have."
Among the influx of new players include transfer forward Sean Dhooghe and transfer defenseman Tanner Hickey, both of whom came from other NCAA programs — Wisconsin and Alabama-Huntsville, respectively.
Dhooghe, a senior, recorded 56 career points in the past three season with the Badgers, including 26 goals; Hickey, a sophomore, led Chargers' defensemen in points last year with 10 through 30 games in his first year of college.
"I really enjoy being out there with him," ASU senior forward Johnny Walker said of Dhooghe. "Me and him and (James Sanchez) are starting to gel. Every practice we get together and build more chemistry, and we're really lucky to have such a great player transfer and jump right into things."
In addition to Dhooghe and Hickey, the ASU's incoming freshman class also has lots of potential, including NHL draft selections in goaltender Cole Brady and forward Ryan O'Reilly. Brady and O'Reilly are two of ASU's three drafted players on the team. Forwards Benji Eckerle, Matthew Kopperud, Michael Mancinelli and defenseman Carson Kosobud round of the freshman class.
"The freshmen have came in and contributed and been really focused and we've added a lot of depth up front and on the back end," Walker said. "The incoming class did a great job of filling some of those (holes) we had."
Like Walker, Coach Powers is confident in the team's ability to use their roster depth to their advantage this season, given the amount of travel time they will have and the concentration of highly ranked opponents on their schedule.
"I think (our depth) is going to be hugely important," Powers said. "(We have) five really good lines right now. It's a tough decision what four of the five we are going to go with ... when you're playing all road games, that depth is going to come in handy."
Walker, who is about to begin his fourth year with the program, is taking what he's learned with him in his goal to win a national title.
"One thing I've learned here is that as long as you're doing the right thing and working hard and coming to practice focused and ready to work, everything else will take care of itself," Walker said. "There's really nothing I've wanted more — especially this group of guys and this program — than to win a national championship."
No. 15 ASU will begin its first conference-only schedule in program history on Saturday and Sunday against No. 12 Michigan at the Yost Center in Ann Arbor.
Reach the reporters at aklatsky@asu.edu and follow @averyklatsky on Twitter.
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