Not surprisingly, Greg Powers‘ first season in the NCHC has been a major success.
The Arizona State coach has headed a program that’s over 1,000 miles clear of 90 percent of the Division I landscape as an independent since its inception 10 years ago.
But despite all the pylons Arizona State has evaded, including the pandemic aftermath, the Sun Devils won 24 wins games last season and are currently third in the NCHC and No. 14 in PairWise.
And ASU comes to Oxford on a hot streak, having won 11 of 12 games before dropping a 5-4 decision at Colorado College last Saturday.
VFG takes a look at the upcoming series:
WHO: No. 12 Arizona Sun Devils (14-9-1) at Miami RedHawks (3-19-2).
WHERE: Cady Arena (3,049), Oxford, Ohio.
WHEN: Friday and Saturday — 7:05 p.m.
ALL-TIME SERIES: Miami leads, 1-0-1.
VIDEO STREAMING: NCHC.tv ($).
MIAMI RADIO: Both nights — WKBV-AM (1490), Richmond, Ind. Greg Waddell (PxP) and Luke West Poley (color).
NOTES: Arizona State is the only NCHC team against which Miami boasts an all-time winning record.
The RedHawks hosted the Sun Devils as a then non-conference opponent last season and won the opener, 5-4 and tied the finale at one apiece (Johnny Waldron and Raimonds Vitolins both had multi-point weekends).
If one looks up ‘late bloomer’ in an online search, the biography of Ryan Kirwan may pop up near the top.
At 6-feet-2, Kirwan somehow wasn’t drafted despite netting 46 goals and recording 78 points in two seasons with USHL Green Bay.
In three seasons at Penn State the graduate senior scored 34 times and picked up assists on 35 more (strangely he finished 13-13-26 both his freshman and junior years).
Kirwan leads the conference with 16 goals and is tied for fifth in the NCAA and with a 16-10-26 line, he’s the only NCHC skater with more than 25 points not on Denver’s roster.
Four other forwards have tallied at least 20 points — three of which are also transfers.
Forwards Bennett Schimek and Artem Schlaine (UConn and Northern Michigan) both have 22 points. Schimek (Providence) leads the team with two shorthanded goals, and Schlaine is second on the team in goals (9) and plus-minus (10).
Lukas Sillinger led Arizona State in points last season with 48 — 11 clear of the field — and is 3-18-21 in 2024-25, his third season with the Sun Devils after two at Bemidji State.
Undrafted sophomore Kyle Smolen has taken a major step forward, as he is 7-14-21 with four power play goals.
Undersized freshman Cullen Potter has lived up to his surname, potting eight goals in 22 games.
Clarkson transfer Noah Beck is pacing ASU on defense with 23 points, including a team-high 19 assists.
Luke Pavicich and Gibson Homer have largely split time in net for the Sun Devils this season, although Pavicich has posted the better numbers recently, including a 24 of 25 performance in a win over Colorado College last Friday.
Sadly, Homer and freshman defenseman Brasen Boser — who has dressed for all 24 ASU games and is 1-2-3 — were both previously Miami commits.
Arizona State is fourth in the NCAA on the power play at 28.0 percent and is 17th in penalty killing (83.3 percent), plus the Sun Devils are tied for the No. 4 spot with five shorthanded goals.
We tried to bury this as far as we could…but yeah, Miami has tied an all-time school record with 16 straight losses.
So barring at least a tie on Friday, this 2024-25 team could etch its legacy in the record book for the wrong reason.
View From the Glass 