Preview: Arizona St. at Miami

Got to love October PairWise.

According to the computer-ranking system used to determine at-large bids for the NCAA Tournament, Arizona State is No. 3 in all of Division I.

Miami is fourth.

The No. 13 Sun Devils are in their ninth season of existence, all as independents, but they will begin NCHC league play next fall.

This is the first-ever series between these future conference foes.

VFTG takes a brief look at the series:

WHO: No. 13 Arizona State Sun Devils (4-0) at Miami RedHawks (3-1).

WHERE: Cady Arena (3,019), Oxford, Ohio.

WHEN: Friday and Saturday – 7:05 p.m.

ALL-TIME SERIES: First meetings.

ARIZONA STATE RADIO: KGME-AM (910), Phoenix, Ariz.

MIAMI RADIO: None.

STREAMING: NCHC.tv ($).

NOTES: At some point, Tempe will likely begin construction for a life-size statue of Greg Powers.

Powers is the first and only head coach the Sun Devils have known since hitting the ice as a Division I team in 2015.

Arizona State — with its nearest potential foe Colorado Springs 700 miles away — went D-1 before it was cool, having no obvious conference hook-up and playing in a Phoenix-area community center.

ASU went 3-22 in its inaugural campaign but eclipsed the 20-win mark back-to-back seasons in Years 4 and 5, qualifying for the NCAA Tournament as an at-large independent both years.

The Sun Devils struggled in the pandemic season but won 35 games the past two campaigns and have notched four straight wins to open the current slate.

Now boasting brand-new home rink Mullett Arena — which ASU is currently sharing with the NHL Phoenix Coyotes — the Sun Devils’ future appears bright.

Arizona State was recently admitted to the NCHC as the conference’s ninth team and will begin league play in 2024-25.

(NOTE: Because of ASU’s league acceptance, these teams will not meet in Tempe next season as non-conference foes to complete their home-and-home contract, but the RedHawks may still travel to the dessert in 2024-25 for a conference series — so much for our fall 2024 travel plans)

The Sun Devils’ early success this season has all came at home but was against quality foes Merrimack and Northern Michigan, with the former receiving 34 votes in the latest USCHO poll.

After shutting down club rival Arizona, 16-0 in an exhibition (that’s allowed now — hopefully Miami capitalizes on this new rule change), Arizona State held its first four opponents to five goals in its four wins.

The biggest key to the Sun Devils’ early success? Goalie T.J. Semptimphelter. The Northeastern transfer posted a .934 save percentage with the Huskies his freshman season in 2021-22 and recorded five shutouts with ASU last season, stopping 91.3 percent of his shots faced.

Boasting a 1.24 goals-against average and a video game-esque .952 save percentage, Semptimphelter has logged every minute in net for Arizona State, including a season-opening 31-save 1-0 shutout vs. Merrimack.

Sophomore Gibson Homer, a former Miami commit, is the backup on an ASU that leads Division I in save percentage.

The 2023-24 version of the Sun Devils boasts plenty of NHL bloodlines, as Jackson and Josh Niedermayer, Lukas Sillinger and Anthony Dowd are all logging significant ice time.

The Niedermayers are the sons of Hall of Fame defenseman Scott Niedermayer, who won four Stanley Cups and logged 1,263 games and notched 740 points with New Jersey and Anaheim.

Josh — a freshman — has already dressed for three games and picked up a helper, and third-year Sun Devil Jackson is also 0-1-1.

Sillinger is tied for the team lead in points with four, and his father, Michael Sillinger, suited up for 1,049 games in 17 seasons with a dozen NHL teams.

Dowd, a freshman, already has two assists in three games to start his collegiate career, boasting a dad that played 16 NHL seasons and logged 728 games and 239 points.

Up front overall, Arizona State lost its top two forwards, who combined for 80 points, and no remaining forward recorded more than 25 last season.

But three returning forwards picked up at least 20 points in 2022-23: Twin brothers Ty Jackson and Dylan Jackson and Sillinger. Ty Jackson was third on the team in points with a 6-17-23 line, and Dylan Jackson scored 12 goals, third-most on the team.

Sillinger finished with nine goals and 12 assists and has 78 collegiate points.

Matthew Kopperud is a huge goal threat, having scored 21 goals as a sophomore before being limited to 21 games last season. He has already scored three times in 2023-24, adding a helper.

On the blue line, Tim Lovell led the Sun Devils in defenseman points last season with 18, and he is already 1-3-4 in 2023-24, tied for the team lead with Kopperud, Sillinger and UMass-Lowell transfer and graduate senior Brian Chambers (0-4-4).

Among solid returnees on the back end are Ty Murchison and Ethan Szmaguj.

The Sun Devils’ power play is tied for ninth in the NCAA at 25.0 percent, so Miami needs to stay out of the box.

Logan Neaton has logged every minute between the pipes for Miami and has a .919 save percentage, holding opponents to five goals during the RedHawks’ current three-game winning streak.

Latvian freshman Bruno Bruveris, coming off a quality season with USHL Cedar Rapids, is finally expected to be cleared for eligibility and should be in net for at least one game this series.

Matthew Barbolini leads the team in goals (3) and points (6) and invented the Barbolini hat trick in the finale vs. Canisius, finishing with a goal, an assist and a ten-minute misconduct.

Way-too-early most-improved player Artur Turansky is 2-3-5, second on the RedHawks in points.

The forward lines flowed well vs. Canisius, and hopefully they can continue to build chemistry vs. a higher-caliber opponent.

Eight deserving defensemen are vying for seven lineup spots, so it will be interesting to see who makes the cut moving forward.

While both teams are off to hot starts, the PairWise rankings are obviously inflated just weeks into the season. But it’s certainly better to start near the top than near the cellar, where Miami has finished too often the past few seasons.

Arizona State is a step up from Miami’s early competition, but it’s the Sun Devils’ first games outside of Tempe, so this should be an excellent test for a RedHawks team riding a five-year best winning streak including a quality sweep two weeks ago.