NCAA hockey tournament preview: Arizona State makes a shocking entry

When they became a Division 1 program, there was little question that Arizona State would become a high-end team at some point.

They’re a new program at a well-funded school whose athletic programs are usually quite good in many major sports, and as far as recruiting goes, it’s not hard to sell kids on playing hockey in a place where it’s always 80 degrees.

But no one thought things could happen this fast. The Sun Devils went 21-12-1 this season, just three years after being elevated to Div. 1, and had two or three of the nation’s top 50 players. For a team that didn’t even exist when this season’s crop of six seniors committed — which played home games in what anyone would mistake for a high school rink and didn’t even make a Div. 1 coaching hire when elevating the program — even being above .500 would have an incredible accomplishment. Last year, they went 8-21-5.

But here they are, the first independent program to make the tournament in more than a quarter-century. They have a forward named Johnny Walker who scored 23 goals in 31 games. They have a defenseman in Brinson Pasichnuk who had a 69 percent goals-for share in all situations. And a goalie in Ottawa’s 2015 seventh-round pick Joey Daccord who’s up for the Mike Richter Award as the nation’s best netminder because of his .926 save percentage, 20 points better than the national average.

As an indy, there was no automatic bid to win, so they got in on their own merits, against a schedule whose strength ranked 21st out of 60 this season, and finished as the 10th seed. What a remarkable season from coach Greg Powers, who before being the Sun Devils’ Div. 1 coach was the club hockey coach.

There’s some room for doubt here, of course. Their 102.8 PDO is a skosh high even for a rather talented team, and while ASU is certainly going to get there, they only have two draftees on the roster, Daccord and 2018 Calgary fourth-rounder Demetrios Koumontzis. The Sun Devils were also outshot a bit (48.2 percent SF) but you can chalk that up to both their quality of opponent and score effects; they scored the first goal 21 times and won all but four of those games.

This is just a good team, with a great penalty kill, but they get a difficult Quinnipiac team in the first round that will surely prove a tough out. There’s certain to be no “just happy to be here” attitude, but the Sun Devils only won three of their 10 games against tournament teams this year.

This, then, could be seen as a stepping stone if nothing else, because this is a program that’s only adding talent. Their recruiting classes continually rank in the top 20 in the nation, and now that they’re a tournament team, they might become just a little more attractive to high-end recruits going forward.

Put it this way: No matter the outcome for this club on Saturday night, there will likely be plenty more tournament appearances for the Sun Devils in the next several years and beyond.

Meet The Field

No. 1 St. Cloud State Huskies (30-5-3)

How they got here: They won the NCHC regular-season title to earn an at-large bid.

Key stat: No team in the country had a higher average margin of victory than the Huskies, at almost plus-1.9 goals per game. Staggering number.

Top player: Forward Patrick Newell finished fourth in the country in scoring with 47 points, and defenseman Jimmy Schuldt is in the Hobey top 10 for the second straight year. Both are seniors.

NHL draft picks: 4 (Montreal’s Ryan Poehling, Minnesota’s Sam Hentges, Tampa Bay’s Nick Perbix, Los Angeles’s David Hrenak).

Quick fact: This was basically the best team in the country on Day 1 for the second year in a row, but they changed coaches over the summer after former bench boss Jeff Motzko bolted for Minnesota. They’re arguably better than they were last year. New coach Brett Larson made sure they didn’t miss a beat.

No. 2 University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs (25-11-2)

How they got here: They won the NCHC championship in double overtime to earn an automatic bid.

Key stat: This is basically a “stats guy” dream team. Their 5-on-5 shot difference was almost plus-400 this year because they always have the puck.

Top player: Sophomore defenseman Scott Perunovich is their best player for the second straight season and led the team in scoring, but with just 28 points.

NHL draft picks: 7 (St. Louis’s Scott Perunovich, Minnesota’s Nick Swaney, Los Angeles’s Mikey Anderson, Philadelphia’s Noah Cates, Dallas’s Riley Tufte, Tampa Bay’s Cole Koepke, Winnipeg’s Dylan Samberg).

Quick fact: They’re looking to repeat as national champions and from where I’m sitting their bracket draw is extremely favorable to at least get them to the Frozen Four in Buffalo.

No. 3 Minnesota State University Mavericks (32-7-2)

How they got here: They won the WCHA final in overtime to earn an automatic bid.

Key stat: You may be wondering how a team with 32 wins on the season only got the third seed. Well, the Mavs played just four games against tournament teams this season, going 1-2-1. Their only win was the league championship game against Bowling Green.

Top player: Freshman goalie Dryden McKay had a .931 save percentage this season, tied for second in the nation among goalies with at least 30 appearances.

NHL draft picks: None

Quick fact: I think WCHA refs call a lot of penalties; these guys were second in the nation in power play opportunities (191 in 41 games) behind only rival Bowling Green (195). But the Mavs scored more power play goals (44) than anyone in the country.

No. 4 University of Massachusetts Minutemen (28-9-0)

How they got here: They won the Hockey East regular-season title and earned an at-large bid.

Key stat: I basically did a big UMass stats dump column for College Hockey News this week. The big stat for me as it pertains to this tournament is that they only won five out of 12 games on NHL-sized rinks after Thanksgiving (their home ice is closer to international size), including four of the last five. Every game they play from here on out will be on an NHL rink.

Top player: Sophomore defenseman Cale Makar should win the Hobey Baker unanimously. When he was on the ice, UMass was plus-50 goals in all situations. When he was off, they were only plus-7.

NHL draft picks: 3 (San Jose’s Mario Ferraro and John Leonard, Colorado’s Cale Makar).

Quick fact: There might be a bit of a goaltending controversy here. Season-long starter Matt Murray is .897 in his last 10 appearances, so Filip Lindberg got the start in each of the Minutemen’s last two playoff games. He lost the most recent one.

No. 5 Clarkson University Golden Knights (22-9-8)

How they got here: They won the ECAC championship in overtime to earn an automatic bid.

Key stat: No team moved up the rankings in the second half more than Clarkson. They were comfortably outside the top 20 when the calendar flipped to 2019, and now here they are.

Top player: With all apologies to college hockey’s Big UFA Get 2019 Nico Sturm, but it’s junior goalie Jake Kielly. After a great sophomore season, Kielly turned in his second straight .929 performance. I think we can just accept that he is great now.

NHL draft picks: 1 (Vegas’s Nick Campoli).

Quick fact: The Golden Knights have only four players with more than eight goals, but they all have at least 14, led by Sturm’s 18, so that’s not bad.

No. 6 Northeastern University Huskies (27-10-1)

How they got here: They won the Hockey East championship to earn an automatic bid.

Key stat: The Huskies finished the season dead even in shot difference, at 1,174 for, and 1,174 against. Can’t imagine that’s true of too many NCAA teams, historically.

Top player: No arguing this one: It’s Cayden Primeau, who posted his second straight season well above .930 and might be the best goalie in college hockey this year.

NHL draft picks: 6 (Montreal’s Cayden Primeau and Jordan Harris, New Jersey’s Jeremy Davies, Vancouver’s Tyler Madden, Carolina’s Matt Filipe, Chicago’s Ryan Shea)

Quick fact: Last season, the Huskies lost all three of their best forwards in Dylan Sikura, Adam Gaudette, and Nolan Stevens, all of whom had between 42 and 60 points. This year, no forward had more than 32 points. And they’re still the sixth seed.

No. 7 Quinnipiac University Bobcats (25-9-2)

How they got here: They tied for the ECAC regular-season title and earned an at-large bid.

Key stat: They have two defensemen north of a point a game this year in Chase Priskie and Brandon Fortunato. However, Fortunato’s season is over after an injury in early February, and Priskie is only just now returning from a suspension for kicking that was a big reason the Bobcats lost to Brown in the ECAC quarterfinals.

Top player: It’s Priskie, who in any other year would be a lock for the Hobey top three. But this being the year of the defenseman in college hockey, he might not even be the third-best defender. And he’s seriously incredible at this level. Also, Hobey probably frowns on kicking suspensions.

NHL draft picks: 4 (Washington’s Chase Priskie, San Jose’s Karlis Cukste, Vegas’s Peter DiLiberatore, Detroit’s Keith Petruzelli).

Quick fact: Junior goalie Andrew Shortridge split time for the first half of the season but got the full run-out in the second. He’s .933 in the last 19 Quinnipiac games, playing every second for Rand Pecknold.

No. 8 University of Denver Pioneers (22-11-5)

How they got here: They won the NCHC championship to earn an at-large bid.

Key stat: They’re one of the few teams in the tournament with a definitive split in goal: sophomore Devin Cooley has 20 appearances, freshman Filip Larsson has 19. And they’re .934 and .929, respectively. Can’t beat that.

Top player: Despite the relatively low point total (28 in 37), it’s probably top two-way winger Jarid Lukosevicius, who led the team in goals with 18. He can just totally take over a game.

NHL draft picks: 6 (Calgary’s Emilio Pettersen, Chicago’s Ian Mitchell, Tampa Bay’s Cole Guttman, Montreal’s Brett Stapley, Vegas’s Slava Demin, Detroit’s Filip Larsson)

Quick fact: This team lost coach/mastermind Jim Montgomery to the Stars over the summer, but like St. Cloud didn’t miss much of a beat. They still looked really good basically all year and probably would have performed better overall if they hadn’t been in the conference with the two best teams in the country for the second year in a row.

No. 9 Ohio State University Buckeyes (20-10-5)

How they got here: They won the Big Ten regular-season title and earned an at-large bid.

Key stat: Things might be a little dicey here, because they’ve only won one game (against a poor Michigan State team) in their last seven contests.

Top player: Junior forward Tanner Laczynski leads the team in points per game, but two separate issues limited him to just 26 of the team’s 35 contests. He went 10-20—30 in those 26 appearances.

NHL draft picks: 5 (Toronto’s Dakota Joshua and Ryan O’Connell, Philadelphia’s Tanner Laczynski, Columbus’s Carson Meyer, Florida’s Miguel Fidler).

Quick fact: This is another team that’s splitting goaltending duties, but not for reasons that make a lot of sense. Sophomore Tommy Nappier has .934 in 19 appearances, and senior Sean Romeo went .902 in 17. Why not play the guy who’s actually good all season? I don’t get it.

No. 10 Arizona State University Sun Devils (21-12-1)

How they got here: They became the first independent school in 27 years to earn an at-large bid.

Key stat: How do you get into the NCAA tournament as an independent? Get .926 goaltending from your starter. Pretty simple formula and Joey Daccord played all but 20 minutes of the season to get them there.

Top player: People might be mad at me for this but it’s probably forward Johnny Walker, not Daccord. Walker put up 17-7-24 in 32 games last year with very little help, got a little more help this season and went 23-11-34 in 31. He also took almost five shots a game. He’s really good.

NHL draft picks: 2 (Calgary’s Demetrios Koumontzis, Ottawa’s Joey Daccord).

Quick fact: This is an indy that played 10 of its 34 games against tournament teams, which is impressive. It’s a testament to their own willingness to schedule tough opponents, and unlike some other teams that aren’t tournament regulars, those opponents’ willingness to put them on the schedule.

No. 11 Cornell University Big Red (18-14-5)

How they got here: They tied for the ECAC regular-season title and earned an at-large bid.

Key stat: No one in the country allowed fewer goals than the Big Red, at just 68. But Minnesota State allowed only 70 in seven more games played, so that’s just something to keep in mind.

Top player: It’s probably still sophomore goalie Matthew Galajda, who took a step back this year (.939 last season to .921) but had five shutouts in 28 games. Real good player.

NHL draft picks: 4 (The Rangers’ Morgan Barron, Chicago’s Beau Starrett, Edmonton’s Matt Cairns, Tampa Bay’s Alex Green).

Quick fact: Galajda actually got hurt in the ECAC final, and as of this writing there’s some question as to whether he’ll be good to go in the regional. If he can’t, that’s a huge blow to the Big Red’s chances.

No. 12 University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish (22-13-3)

How they got here: They won the Big Ten championship to earn an automatic bid.

Key stat: The Irish join Arizona State as the only ones to enter the tournament with a negative shot difference. Notre Dame is minus-38 in shots, but plus-24 in goals. I guess you take it and chalk that up to a great system that makes the goalie’s job easy, but yikes.

Top player: Speaking of that goalie, Cale Morris is .931 this year, after going .944. Another guy where you just say, “Yeah he’s an insanely good goalie.” Right up there with Primeau for the best in the nation.

NHL draft picks: 8 (Colorado’s Cam Morrison, Nick Neivermann and Nate Clurman, Columbus’s Andrew Peek, New Jersey’s Matt Hellickson, Florida’s Joe Wegwerth, New York Islanders’ Jake Pivonka, Nashville’s Spencer Stastney).

Quick fact: Only one player on this team had more than 100 shots this season? That seems impossible.

No. 13 Harvard University Crimson (19-10-3)

How they got here: They tied for third in the ECAC and earned an at-large bid.

Key stat: Adam Fox was on the ice for more than two-thirds of the Crimson’s goals this year (71 of 106). If you wanna call this a one-man team, no one’s gonna stop you.

Top player: Obviously it’s Fox, who has 48 points this season and would be the Hobey winner in a walk in any other season. But it’s Makar’s award. Come on.

NHL draft picks: 6 (Carolina’s Adam Fox and Jack Drury, New Jersey’s Reilly Walsh, Vancouver’s Jack Rathbone, Anaheim’s Jack Bidini, Edmonton’s John Marino).

Quick fact: Harvard was 11-3-2 with last change this year, and 8-7-1 without it. They won’t have last change against UMass in the tournament opener.

No. 14 Providence College Friars (22-11-6)

How they got here: They finished second in Hockey East and earned an at-large bid.

Key stat: The Friars only played two tournament teams in the second half, but that was a weekend sweep of Northeastern and a win over UMass by a combined score of 10-3.

Top player: I think it’s Jacob Bryson, one of the best two-way defenders in the country but not on the level of a Fox, Makar, Priskie, or Schuldt. Being a tier below those guys is nothing to be ashamed of, and he was still over 65 percent GF this year (51-27). Real good, fun player.

NHL draft picks: 10 (Edmonton’s Vincent Desharnais and Hayden Hawkey, Vegas’s Jack Dugan, Minnesota’s Brandon Duhaime, Pittsburgh’s Kasper Bjorkqvsit, Buffalo’s Jacob Bryson, New York Islanders’ Ben Mirageas, Arizona’s Michael Callahan, Philadelphia’s Jay O’Brein, Chicago’s Mikael Hakkarainen).

Quick fact: Providence’s bracket is a source of some controversy: They’re “at home” because their regional is in Providence, but they’re the bottom seed in it. They’ll play Minnesota State, a club that only had one win against tournament teams in four tries this year.

No. 15 Bowling Green State University Falcons (25-10-5)

How they got here: They finished third in the WCHA and earned an at-large bid.

Key stat: The Falcons are eighth in per-game offense and second in per-game defense. The problem is that they were second in their own conference behind Minnesota State in both categories. Seems like this is just two teams that are much better than their entire conference.

Top player: Probably Max Johnson, who led the team in both goals and points this season, but honorable mention to both goalie Ryan Bednard (.926) and defenseman Alec Rauhauser (plus-46 in on-ice goal difference). Actually, it might just be Rauhauser.

NHL draft picks: 3 (Vegas’s Brandon Kruse, Nashville’s Adam Smith, Florida’s Ryan Bednard).

Quick fact: Unlike the meh performance by Mankato against tournament teams, the Falcons went 3-2-1, including an 8-2 win over an otherwise stingy Ohio State team.

No. 16 American International University Yellowjackets (22-16-1)

How they got here: They won the Atlantic Hockey championship in overtime to earn an automatic bid.

Key stat: This season has gone from long-time doormat in a backwater league to actually being respectable. And in very short order. Just two seasons ago, in 2016-17, they had just eight wins under first-year coach and AIC alum Eric Lang. The next year, they nearly doubled that to 15. This year they hit 22.

Top player: Blake Christensen put up 16-30—46. The next-closest scorer on the team, Kyle Stephan, was 11-15—26 in four fewer games.

NHL draft picks: None

Quick fact: This team won 22 games despite a 59th-in-the-nation .887 save percentage. Their own shooting percentage? A fifth-in-the-nation 11.5 percent.

NHL Teams Represented

In all, 30 of 31 NHL teams have at least one prospect in the NCAA tournament this year. Here's the breakdown:

Anaheim: 1

Arizona: 1

Buffalo: 1

Calgary: 2

Carolina: 3

Chicago: 4

Colorado: 4

Columbus: 2

Dallas: 1

Detroit: 2

Edmonton: 4

Florida: 4

Los Angeles: 2

Nashville: 1

New York Rangers: 1

New York Islanders: 2

New Jersey: 2

Minnesota: 3

Montreal: 4

New Jersey: 1

Ottawa: 1

Philadelphia: 3

Pittsburgh: 1

Tampa Bay: 4

Toronto: 2

San Jose: 3

St. Louis: 1

Vancouver: 2

Vegas: 5

Washington: 1

Winnipeg: 1

The only organization without representation is Boston, a team of cowards.

Schedule (all times Eastern)

Friday

Harvard vs. UMass (Manchester, N.H./Northeast regional), 3 p.m., ESPN2

Ohio State vs. Denver (Fargo, N.D./West regional), 4 p.m., ESPNU

Notre Dame vs. Clarkson (Manchester), 6:30 p.m., ESPNU

American International vs. St. Cloud (Fargo), 7:30 p.m., ESPN3

Saturday

Providence vs. Minnesota State (Providence, R.I./East regional), 1 p.m., ESPNews

Bowling Green vs. Minnesota-Duluth (Allentown, Penn./Midwest regional), 4 p.m., ESPNU

Cornell vs. Northeastern (Providence), 4:30 p.m., ESPNews

Northeast regional final (Manchester, 6:30 p.m., ESPNU

Arizona State vs. Quinnipiac (Allentown), 7:30 p.m., ESPN3

West regional final (Fargo), 9 p.m., ESPNU

Sunday

East regional final (Providence), 4 p.m., ESPN2

Midwest regional final (Allentown, 6:30 p.m., ESPNU

Ryan Lambert is a Puck Daddy columnist. His email is here and his Twitter is here.

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