2020–21 Arizona State Sun Devils men's ice hockey season explained

The 2020–21 Arizona State Sun Devils men's ice hockey season was the 6th season of play for the program at the Division I level. The Sun Devils represented Arizona State University and were coached by Greg Powers, in his 11th season.

Season

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the start of the Sun Devils' season was delayed. Due to scheduling problems resulting from the pandemic, Arizona State entered into a scheduling alliance with the Big Ten and would play a conference schedule. The Sun Devils would only participate in regular season games against Big Ten teams, the program would not formally join the conference nor would any of its games be counted in the Big Ten standings. Arizona State would also not be eligible for the Big Ten Tournament.^[1]

Due to the nature of their agreement, Arizona State played all of its games on the road. That, and playing against stronger competition that previous years, led to the Sun Devils' facing an uphill battle in their pursuit of a second NCAA berth. In ASU's first series of the season they were swept by Michigan but were dealt a serious blow when senior captain and all-time leading goal scorer, Johnny Walker, suffered a knee injury that would keep him out for 6 weeks.^[2] After another offensively inept series, the Sun Devils suddenly came to life against Wisconsin, taking both games and jumping back into the USCHO rankings.

The team played well in Walker's absence, ending the year with a 4–6–2 record, but when their captain returned the team was in the middle of a string of ranked opponents. For the entire month of January, Arizona State played top-20 teams. When the dust settled, ASU's record had plummeted and the team had virtually no chance of making the national tournament. The team played well over the final three weeks of the season but they couldn't recover from a disastrous 1–7 run.

Departures

Max Balinson	Defenseman	Transfer (Long Island)
Tyler Busch	Forward	Graduation (Signed with Tranås AIF)
Brett Gruber	Forward	Graduation
Logan Jenuwine	Forward	Transfer (Lake Superior State)
Austin Lemieux	Forward	Retired
Josh Maniscalco	Defenseman	Signed Professional Contract (Pittsburgh Penguins)
	Forward	Graduation (Signed with San Jose Sharks)
Steenn Pasichnuk	Forward	Graduation (Signed with San Jose Barracuda)
Max Prawdzik	Goaltender	Graduation

Recruiting

Cole Brady	Goaltender	19	Pickering, ON 127th selection in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft
Sean Dhooghe	Forward	21	Aurora, IL transfer from Wisconsin
Benji Eckerle	Forward	21	Northville, MI
Chris Grando	Forward	22	Islip, NY transfer from Boston College
Tanner Hickey	Defenseman	21	Leduc, AB transfer from Alabama–Huntsville
Matthew Kopperud	Forward	21	Denver, CO
Carson Kosobud	Defenseman	21	Moorhead, MN
Michael Mancinelli	Forward	19	Northville, MI
Bronson Moore	Goaltender	22	Tempe, AZ previously played club hockey
Ryan O'Reilly	Forward	20	Southlake, TX 98th selection in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft

Roster

As of January 3, 2021.^[3] |}

Schedule and Results

|-!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular Season^[4]

Scoring Statistics

		25	13	6	19	8
		26	5	11	16	8
		25	6	8	14	6
		16	4	10	14	21
		23	3	10	13	8
		25	1	10	11	4
		26	6	4	10	8
		22	5	5	10	0
		22	4	6	10	14
		18	5	4	9	12
		25	4	5	9	14
		22	1	7	8	12
		26	1	7	8	14
		26	2	5	7	6
		24	1	4	5	0
		20	2	2	4	2
		22	2	2	4	10
		26	1	3	4	8
		24	2	0	2	0
		16	0	2	2	0
		26	0	2	2	34
		1	0	0	0	0
		2	0	0	0	0
		3	0	0	0	0
		4	0	0	0	0
		5	0	0	0	0
		10	0	0	0	2
		13	0	0	0	0
Bench	-	-	-	-	-	8
Total			68	113	181	199

^[5]

Goaltending statistics

	13	635	3	5	2	35	354	1	.910	3.31
	16	827	3	9	1	57	454	0	.888	4.13
	3	96	1	2	0	10	51	0	.836	6.23
	1	13	0	0	0	2	6	0	.750	8.75
Empty Net	-	7	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	-
Total	26	1580	7	16	3	106	865	1	.891	4.02

Rankings

See main article: 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey rankings.

Poll	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21 (Final)
USCHO.com	15	NR	NR	20	20	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	bgcolor=FFFFFF	-	NR
USA Today	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR

USCHO did not release a poll in week 20.^[6]

Players drafted into the NHL

2021 NHL Entry Draft

2	37	Josh Doan^†	Arizona Coyotes
5	158	Ty Murchison^†	Philadelphia Flyers

† incoming freshman^[7]

Notes and References

Web site: ASU/Big Ten Agree to Schedule Arrangement for 2020-21 . Arizona State Sun Devils . October 6, 2020 . February 5, 2021.
Web site: Not Dead Yet, ASU Hockey Looking for Late Season Push . Sports 260 Arizona . January 12, 2021 . March 15, 2021.
Web site: 2020–21 Men's Ice Hockey Roster. Arizona State University. July 25, 2018.
Web site: Arizona State Sun Devils (Men) 2020-2021 Schedule and Results . College Hockey Stats . December 5, 2019.
News: Arizona State Univ. 2020-2021 Skater Stats . Elite Prospects . June 20, 2020.
Web site: USCHO Division I Men's Poll . USCHO.com . November 26, 2019.
News: NCAA player rankings, selections in 2021 NHL Draft . USCHO.com . July 24, 2021.