Hell Frozen Over 11.12.24

Sun Devil Hockey Coach Greg Powers, Defensemen Noah Beck

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to Hell Frozen Over with Sun Devil Head
Hockey coach Great Powers live from the New Vanessis Pizza
Presto at ASU Campus on Fox Sports nine to ten
and the Ihearts Radio. Welcome to the course light first
period of Hell Frozen Over now alongside Coach Powers, the
voice of Sun Devil Hockey Tyler Piley.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
Well, Sun Devil Hockey is coming home again at long last,
and the timing could not be better. If you're looking
only at the team's record through ten games to gauge
where they are, you're probably not getting the full picture.
It's been a rocky start, there's no question, but the
longer version of this story includes one of the toughest
schedules in the country, challenging road trips four of the

(00:44):
last six weekends, if you can believe it, and some
unfortunate injuries. But look, it's not all doom and gloom.
In fact, there is a lot to be proud of
and to look forward to, and that's exactly what we're
going to do here tonight. Hi, everybody, Welcome into season three,
episode two of Hell Frozen Over Live tonight and all
season long from the new Venetzia's Pizza Presto on campus

(01:05):
at ASU for the next hour here on Fox Sports
nine to ten and streaming on the iHeartRadio app. I'm
Tyler Paley, the play by play broadcaster of Sun Devil Hockey.
Happy to have you along as we discuss the team's
latest news and notes and get you all set for
the upcoming series. Joining me tonight and every show this
year is Arizona State head head coach Greg Powers and

(01:26):
my broadcast partner Alex Coyle. Gentlemen, good to see you.
Hopefully we still all remember how to do this show,
considering it's been more than a month since we've been together.
It'll be a couple of weeks before the next one.
But that's okay. Coach, just getting back from Colorado Springs
on Sunday. Let's kind of start big picture here to
kind of set the scene. How are you feeling about

(01:47):
this team, your roster, and the path ahead ten games
into the season.

Speaker 3 (01:52):
Well, like you said, there's so much good, you know,
and you hate to be a spin doctor, you know,
but we're playing well. We're playing really well. We have
a very good team, and we have a team that
did on paper that we constructed that that nobody's been
able to see it, including us, because we have so
many top guys out. But you know, you put that aside.

(02:12):
The guys we have healthy. We we genuinely believe in
that that that can get the job done. And I
think they've proven that they can. We've just fallen a
tiny bit short, you know, for whatever reason. And anybody
that watch the CC games this weekend can't they can't
look me in the face and tell me we weren't
the better team both nights, you know, because we were.

Speaker 4 (02:30):
And it's just not going in for us, you know.

Speaker 3 (02:33):
So we have to peel back the onion and really
figure out how to generate some more offense, and you know,
the floodgates are going to open.

Speaker 4 (02:39):
We have a lot of talent. We have a group
that we really believe in.

Speaker 3 (02:42):
They're doing just about everything right. A couple of mistakes
here and there that just always seem to end up
in the back of our net right now, but it's
gonna come. We still have a tremendous amount of belief
in this team and and uh, it's good to be home.
It's a tough stretch, going eight out of the first
ten on the But we're grizzled and weathered and ready

(03:03):
for a really good home stretch of hockey.

Speaker 2 (03:05):
And we've already seen the floodgates open, right, I mean,
remember that Air Force game eight to one. It was like, okay,
this is what this team can do. And at that point,
the team wasn't even fully healthy. In fact, it was
less healthy than it is now, or perhaps you know,
roughly around the same, which we'll get to in a
little bit, but it just goes to show offense does
exist on this team.

Speaker 5 (03:22):
Want to touch quickly on the schedule and you guys
have played one of, if not the toughest schedule in
the country. What went into the construction of that, especially
the non conference early Why did you want to test
your team so tough early on? And what do you
think is going to come with that?

Speaker 3 (03:38):
Well, we're going to be in for a battle the
rest of the year, every every single night, so you know,
you know, going through an easy schedule to open up
and and being fools gold isn't isn't gonna pay off
in the long run. So our guys are ready, they're
ready for They've seen everything we've seen Michigan. We've seen Providence.
We've seen CC and and and it's nothing we don't

(03:59):
think we can handle.

Speaker 4 (04:00):
We know we can.

Speaker 3 (04:02):
So you know, it should just tell our guys that
were right there, because we are and and a lot
of to be honest, a lot of the schedule, the
way it was was laid out. We had twenty four
or thirty four games that were built as an independent schedule,
and then literally at the eleventh hour over the summer
past summer, you know, we decided to join the league,

(04:23):
probably a year earlier than we thought we were going to,
so it was really sprung on me and and you know,
to displace twenty four games and the way that the
cookie crumbled, these these first eight games of non conference play,
the majority of them on the road. We owed teams

(04:43):
contractual obligations to go play them, and it's just how
it worked. So I think, you know, next year, eight
of our first ten are at home. The following year,
I believe six of our first ten are at home.
So we'll never play eight of our first ten on
the road again. We were just kind of forced to
do it.

Speaker 4 (04:59):
Loujah.

Speaker 2 (05:00):
Yeah, I'll tell you just self, airline. We'll still get
them eventually over the course of a season. All right,
if you can remember back this far, because I certainly can't,
I want to rewind to the Michigan series. Loss in
game one was was tough loss. In Game two, I
guess it goes it goes down as a tie, right,

(05:20):
But Game two really was an absolute blast shootout win.
It was a shootout. Sorry miss spoke Freudian slip. There
goes down as a tie. Colin Potter really emerged as
the star of the show in that one with the
game tying goal and then of course the the shootout winner,
even though it went down as a tie. What were

(05:41):
your takeaways from that game, that series, especially your first
one at home?

Speaker 3 (05:44):
Yeah, I think I think the first night, Yeah, I
actually liked how we played. We mismanaged a puck twice
and and and and that was how we got down
to nothing. We were we were playing really good hockey.
And I think that's been kind of the theme of
every weekend, is is a turnover here and there has
led to a goal against. And it's not structural. Nobody's
hend us in. Our possession time is exponentially higher than

(06:08):
our opponents.

Speaker 4 (06:09):
Throughout the season.

Speaker 3 (06:10):
We're out shooting opponents we're out chanting opponents. We're just
turning pucks over in critical moments and not getting saves
when we need them. So in some of those moments,
we're getting saves, but not in some of those moments.
So the Michigan series was a great barometer. I thought
that both games were absolutely winnable. I was really proud
of the resiliency that our guys showed to come back

(06:31):
there and get into overtime and win it in the shootout.
And it was a good moment because the crowd went
crazy and it was good for our guys to experience.
They haven't been able to do it a lot yet,
but now they have a lot to look forward to.
And the atmosphere at Mullet is great.

Speaker 2 (06:47):
Our buzzword this year is margins and how thin those are.
In college hockey.

Speaker 5 (06:51):
We've seen a couple of times handling the puck has been,
you know, causing a turnover here and there. That provides
the difference in a hockey game when you see that
from your team. Is there as a coach, what can
you do? Is it something in practice or is it
simply just execution on the ice In.

Speaker 3 (07:06):
The game, it's just execution, like you know, it's the
effort for our team is there. With the efforts there,
like we're working, We're we're winning fifty to fifties, we're
winning races. Our loose puck recovery percentages higher than every
team we've played. So our guys are working. But now
we just have to get the execution to match the
effort right. And the execution in many areas is also there,

(07:28):
but it's just in critical moments, you know, brain farts
that that that just a lot of guys, to be
honest with you, have been here for a while that
are making that that they've never made before. So they
get contagious, right, And you can fix that in practice,
whether it's a bad rep you know, somebody throws a
bad pass or doesn't catch a pass or bobbles a
pass or whatever, then the next guy up in the

(07:48):
drill has got to got to make sure it's not contagious, right,
and it doesn't go to the to the whole team.
So I think it's a mental toughness issue more than anything.
And and you know, I think that that this weekend,
the focus is going to be going into this weekend
making sure that the the the the efficiency and the

(08:09):
execution matches, the effort, the efforts there, the guys care,
they're working, and at the end of the day, that's
that's really what I care about most, and that's why
I'm confident that this is going to get fixed very quickly.

Speaker 2 (08:19):
And we've seen that so far too. Yeah, especially this
past weekend. I would say after Michigan was Providence, a
city I did not personally care for, but the team
was good. They were another ranked team. Some great periods
and stretches of hockey is what I recall it. I
took away from that, but again, couldn't find a way
to win. What what about that series? You know, did

(08:43):
you take away and what did that series kind of
teach you about your team?

Speaker 3 (08:46):
Both games were winnable. Both games we played well enough
to win, you know, we just didn't win. Especially Saturday.
You know, Saturday was an unbelievable hockey game. It was
both ways. It was very even. Their goalies both nights
were tremendous. That's one thing that I want to point
out is is every team we've played, except for the
first game against Air Forces, they've gotten lights out goaltending.

Speaker 4 (09:10):
It's incredible.

Speaker 3 (09:11):
I think outside of that Air Force game. Our opponents
save percentage combined is over a point nine to five.
That's unheard of. Now it's also on us to make
it harder on the goalies, right, We got to get
in their eyes, We got to you know, change their
line and sight and we can do more things that
we haven't been doing get into the net. But the
goaltending that we face has been incredible, and it was
unbelievable that weekend against Providence. They got a couple of

(09:33):
bounces in that second game, both went off of our guys.
And you know, when you go on the road and
you score a goal Friday and a goal Saturday, you're
probably not going to win many games.

Speaker 5 (09:42):
How much has your mindset changed now that you have
conference play and you know last year at this time in.

Speaker 2 (09:49):
A in an.

Speaker 5 (09:50):
Independent schedule, it kind of would there be more pressure
on the group with the record what it is right
now or.

Speaker 3 (09:56):
Is it just there would be way more pressure as
an independent We're we're we're going into game seven this
weekend and say certainly not to say this this weekend
isn't important, because it is.

Speaker 4 (10:05):
It can get us back on track. It's at home.

Speaker 3 (10:08):
We can you know, ten of our next twelve or
at home if you include the exhibition series against Dan TDP.
So it's really just making sure that we we understand
the importance of protecting our home ice. But you know,
we have standing boards in our room and our coaches
lounge and our player lounge and and and for us
right now, it's it's and we told the guys this
before last week. It's not about the pairwise anymore, right,

(10:30):
It's about it's about getting and as high in the
standings as we can in the NCHD. Our goal is
to post a playoff series, and we believe if we
can host a playoff series that that will be where
we need to be in the pairwise, So that'll take
care of itself. It's about, you know, being successful in
our conference.

Speaker 5 (10:46):
Now does does that or has that changed any in
game adjustments that you've made at all?

Speaker 4 (10:51):
No, it hasn't.

Speaker 3 (10:53):
I mean we you know, the one thing and we
worked on this today, we'll work on it again tomorrow.
We we've absolutely stunk in overtime this year, like stunk,
and and last year we were unbelievable over time.

Speaker 4 (11:04):
Yeah, like we were unbeatable in it.

Speaker 3 (11:05):
And so it's just it's just you know kind of retraining,
I guess the habits and the details of three on
three hockey. And you know, we've been to three of them.
We haven't won any of them. We tied one, but
I think our worst overtime was probably the overtime against Michigan,
and I don't think we touched the puck.

Speaker 4 (11:22):
Gibbie was just really really.

Speaker 3 (11:24):
Good in it. So it's just about being patient. It's
a possession game and being patient and picking your spots
window attack and if you don't have anything, keeping the puck,
peeling it back and understanding there really aren't blue lines
in three on three and with the exception of offside,
so you know it it's a it's it's something that'll
be fixed. We have a lot of skill and a

(11:44):
lot of speed and and will'll it'll balance out by
the end of the year.

Speaker 2 (11:48):
After the Providence trip came Northern Michigan. That was Sundable
Hockey's annual donor trip as well. Another very too close games,
but your team finished well both nights, had secured this suite.
That was your first road sweep since last December in
Pittsburgh against Robert Morris, and I know we talked a
lot about how big that was for closing out non

(12:10):
conference play, getting those two wins and moving on to
kind of like the meat of your schedule.

Speaker 3 (12:15):
Yeah, you know, in Northern, I mean, you come away
with two wins and a sweep on the road, doesn't matter.
It's a great weekend, and we did. I'll be honest,
I didn't feel a huge difference between the Northern weekend
and the CC weekend from a you know, I thought
we carried the play just as much last weekend as
we did in Marquette. Again, both weekends, it was the

(12:36):
common theme of just not being able to put the
puck in the net. Northern's goalie was unbelievable. CC's goalie
was unbelievable. And again, you know, I know the floodgates
will open with this group.

Speaker 4 (12:48):
We just got to keep at it.

Speaker 5 (12:50):
The biggest difference for me with the team in that
Northern Michigan weekend was having ardem Schlane and the grit
and the roleie played at the faceoff dot Immediately, what
does he bring to the team, And for Sundevel fans
that haven't heard his story yet, what can we expect
from him?

Speaker 3 (13:05):
He's he's he we brought him in to be that
that reliable two way center that can perform for us
at both ends of the ice, get his possession off
of face offs, which he's done a really really good
job of. But he just brings a level of experience
and and just confidence into the room and on the
bench that that.

Speaker 4 (13:23):
We really needed.

Speaker 3 (13:24):
And and he he's a tremendous kid, a great player,
and you know, in his defense, he's played well for us.
But you know, his Northern Series, you know he practiced
three times. He didn't he didn't practice once the entire
pretty much preseason, so he had three practices before that series.
He had, you know, three practices last week. Now he's
got four games under his belt. He's going to get

(13:45):
better and better and better and be more impactful. And
he's already created such a positive impact, but it's just
going to get more and more.

Speaker 2 (13:51):
Yeah, he's been really fun to watch, all right. To
close out kind of our recap, most recently, just got
home from Colorado Springs. You played CC. We started slow
in game one, but chipped away, ultimately took a three
to two lead toward the midway point of that third period,
and then really held the Tigers at Bay until the
fifty seven second mark, which forced overtime. They tied the

(14:14):
game at that point, forced overtime, and then Zachariah Wisdom
scored the overtime winner nearly two minutes into that extra frame.
Just how tough was that one for you to swallow?

Speaker 3 (14:24):
They're always tough to swallow because you all play a
team and you feel like you earn a win.

Speaker 4 (14:28):
And and really the way that our guys.

Speaker 3 (14:30):
Were continuing to play tight checking hockey up a goal
the last you know, nine minutes was great to see.
You know, they were doing everything. They're managing the puck well,
they're gaining zones, which is what you want to do
late in games of the league, and you want to
stay tight checking, you want to stay on top of them,
and we were doing that. They weren't generating anything. They
never found their game, and we made a couple of

(14:51):
mistakes with the puck on his own, you know, and
and we're unable to close it out, and then made
a mistake in overtime obviously, and they put it in
the back of the net. And it was really disappointing
because I don't think that you know, you know, I
know my team well and and and I think all
of our our coaches do and and the guys on
the bench, there was never a doubt.

Speaker 4 (15:12):
That we were winning that game.

Speaker 3 (15:13):
And then when they tied it up, it was just
kind of like, what, like, what the hell just happened? Yeah,
they had twelve shots with ten minutes left in the game,
you know, So it was it was it was a
gut punch, you know. But but but I think even
though we didn't get the result we wanted Saturday, I was,
I was, I was a little bit worried about how
the guys were gonna respond, right, and because it was

(15:34):
such a gut punch, and and man, they responded. They played,
in my opinion, they played even better and harder Saturday
than they did Friday. We got Caden and Barcode. You know,
he's he's a he's a first team All American for
a reason, and he showed it.

Speaker 2 (15:47):
Yeah, he was. He was unbelievable. Before we had to break.
One final question for you, and of course we'll talk
more later in the third period about the NCHC kind
of writ large. Obviously you've played these teams before many times,
but never in conference competition. So just based on what
you've learned in the last year or so since you've
joined the conference. Can you remind us what we can

(16:09):
all expect from the other eight teams over the next
four or five months that will be playing these teams.

Speaker 3 (16:14):
They're all good, They're all really really good, and I mean,
Omaha's a team that's I think they've lost sixth straight.
They're going to come in here this weekend incredibly hungry
and desperate to get off the schneid, and we're gonna
have to be our very best and that's gonna be
no different every weekend. You know it's then the next
weekend we're at number one Denvers, so there will be
no weekends off the rest of the season. You're gonna

(16:35):
see incredibly high level hockey, the best college hockey has
the offer every weekend.

Speaker 2 (16:39):
You just heard it from Coach Road. Won't be easy,
but that's kind of a point and that's what makes
it fun. Each and every day. We'll talk about ASU's
upcoming schedule with Coach Powers in the third period. Coach
appreciate you as always, We will talk to you shortly
up next. Our first player guest of the season. He's
off to a fantastic start and you can argue he's
been Arizona State's best player through ten games. We'll introduce

(17:00):
you to defenseman Noah Beck right after this quick break
here on the Mountain America Credit Union, Sun Devil Radio Network.

Speaker 4 (17:06):
Jazz Russions and exclusions apply.

Speaker 1 (17:09):
You're listening to Hell Frozen Over with Sun Devil head
hockey coach Greg Powers. Let's start the Tobo Chico hart
Seltzer second period on Fox Sports nine to ten and
the iHeartRadio WAPP.

Speaker 4 (17:21):
Thanks for sticking with us.

Speaker 2 (17:22):
Second period of Hell Frozen Over, our hour long show
talking all things Sun Devil hockey. We're live every Tuesday
before a home series this season from Vanetzi's Pizza Presto
here on College Avenue in temp So if you're not
here tonight, consider joining us for our next show Tuesday,
December third, six pm. You can come grab some delicious
food and talk college hockey with us.

Speaker 1 (17:45):
Well.

Speaker 2 (17:45):
Look, Greg Powers has been clear from the start of
the season he wanted this year's team to have experience
as the Sun Devil started their NCCHC journey, and the
best way to do that was to turn to the
Transfer Portal. It's an area where the Devils have thrived
in years past, and one of the star transfers was
Noah Beck, a two way defenseman from Clarkson who filled
a big gap on the blue line, and he's really
off to the best start of any Sun Devil this season.

(18:08):
Noah joins us now on health frozen over to officially
introduce himself to Sun Devil Nation. Noah, great to see you.
Thanks for being here tonight, appreciate your time. Thank you
for having me. All Right, first things first, I want
to give you that chance to kind of introduce yourself
to everybody here, everybody listening right now. I mentioned you
come here from Clarkson, you played three years there. Just
tell us a little bit about yourself, your interests, and

(18:29):
kind of your hockey journey up to this point.

Speaker 4 (18:31):
Ah.

Speaker 6 (18:31):
Yeah, So I'm from Toronto, Ontario. I played four years,
just graduated from Clarkson and came here. I grew up
playing against a few guys on the team, like the Jackson's,
playing with Alexander and Smollen. So just through the recruiting
process talking to them and as all the coaches, I
knew it would be a really good fit for me here.

Speaker 2 (18:51):
That's awesome.

Speaker 5 (18:52):
How quickly when you jumped into the portal, did you,
you know, kind of identify ASU as a possible landing spot.
How much did you rely on the guys that you
played with or against growing up, and why ultimately was
ASU the choice?

Speaker 6 (19:04):
Yeah, so I didn't really have too much of a
clue when I first entered took it. I kind of
wanted to go quick and give other teams a chance
to recruit if I decided not to go there, so
just rely, I relied on guys on many different teams.
But from everything I heard here about the culture and
coaching staff and just the style of play as well,
I thought it was a perfect fit for me. And

(19:25):
so far it's been really good.

Speaker 4 (19:27):
The weather.

Speaker 2 (19:27):
Yeah, I was gonna say, you can say it. I mean,
let's be honest. So far up to this point, what
what's your experience been like with the guys. When did
you get to Tempe? Did you come over the summer?
And then up to this point has the experience been Yeah?

Speaker 6 (19:40):
So I got here July first, so I got to
know a lot of the guys right away and spend
a lot of time with them before school and skating
started up. I even spent a lot of time with
guys from last year that graduated like or even before,
like Mastro, Simon and Grat and Chambers copp Route, and
they had all the good ones. They had nothing but

(20:01):
good things to say. So that was pretty special. And
then they welcomed me in with open arms right away.
It was pretty easy transition and I've absolutely loved it.

Speaker 2 (20:11):
Yeah, no complaints so far. That's good news. We'll check
back in with you. Look, it strikes me just looking
at kind of your numbers and your journey leading up
to this show that you've kind of really grown into
yourself as an offensive minded defenseman. You led Clarkson defenseman
and scoring last year. You're leading the entire Arizona State
team this year. You're averaging more than a point per
game up to this point. I'm probably not telling you

(20:33):
anything you don't already know, but kind of what's your
game plan when you hit the ice? Is it offense?
Is it defense? Is it just worrying about both?

Speaker 6 (20:40):
What?

Speaker 2 (20:40):
What's your game plan?

Speaker 6 (20:41):
Honestly, it's just consistency, trying to make the right plage
time I'm out there. And I think that's one thing
that our coaches have put a big emphasis on for me,
is that consistency because in the past I've been a
little inconsistent, and I think that just staying consistent offensively
and defensively is a big thing to get me moving
forward to the future.

Speaker 2 (21:02):
On the ice.

Speaker 5 (21:03):
What are the some of the keys to keeping that
the consistency, and also like, how does it feel to
be on a run like this in a new place
and be able to contribute right away.

Speaker 6 (21:12):
Yeah, I would say it's like simplicity, not not trying
to do too much. I think I got a bad
habit of that at some points in my clerks In career,
and I had a bit of a down year last
year after two great seasons. So just keeping it simple,
not not being fancy passing it to the open guy.
I mean, that's the name of the game. So doing

(21:33):
all that and everything will work itself out, and.

Speaker 5 (21:35):
Then contributing right away on a team that has needed
some of that offense.

Speaker 6 (21:40):
Yeah, it's been great, obviously, I'm very happy with how
it's been going, and I think our team has been
playing well. Obviously not the exact results we want, but
I know we have a lot more in us and
the goals will come.

Speaker 4 (21:54):
I know.

Speaker 2 (21:55):
Coach Corbett, Mike Corbett spends most of his time coaching defense, right,
what have you learned from him so far this year?
He's a guy who's obviously been around this league a
whole a very long time, has learned from some of
the best coaches, including Ran Pecknold at Quinnipiac was a
head coach himself. What has he taught you up to
this point. Yeah, I think they've all been great. Korbes, Dana, coach, Craig,

(22:16):
and Hexy. Kind of we get to work with all
of them, like with power, play with Hicksie d skills
with Dana and so on, and just obviously playing against
Korbes as well for three three years prior to this,
same with Dana for three against Dana for three two
or three years, it's been special. They already all kind

(22:36):
of knew my game playing against me, and now I
get to play for them. So they've done a really
good job of sort of focusing on my good and
really helping me out to improve the things that I
wasn't so strong. And it seems like, and you feel
free to correct me if I'm out of line with this,
but it seems like defense is kind of the one
area that's been pretty solid consistently this season. How are

(22:59):
you kind of of helping the younger guys, you know,
taking your experience and helping guys like Sam Court, like
Joel s Shelberg, even Anthony Dowd And then on the opposite
side of the coin, how are they helping you get
better with with their you know, talents and skills.

Speaker 6 (23:14):
Yeah, I think, uh, just leadership Like Merchmaggs and I
were all were the older guys there, and I know
the freshmen look up to us because that's exactly how
I was as a freshman. I had senior defensemen that
I looked up to completely and just being open with them,
like no matter what, whenever they have a question, Uh,

(23:34):
just positively reinforcing them. And because they've been great, and
it's it's tough as a freshman, especially going into a
league like the NCCHC and the out of conference schedule
we've had, but they've done well dealing with it and
they've been put in some tough, tough situations, but they've
done a really good job so far. So just just
being there for them, and I mean they push us

(23:56):
every day. We learn new things from them. So it's
just been It's been a great relationship with the younger guys.

Speaker 2 (24:02):
Awesome.

Speaker 5 (24:03):
With the way collegiate sports are structured now, there's always
going to be you guys coming in and you specifically
spending so much time in another place and then coming
in and wanting to gel.

Speaker 2 (24:14):
Quickly with this group.

Speaker 5 (24:15):
What allowed you to gain the relationship that you have
so far with this team.

Speaker 6 (24:20):
Yeah, I'd say one thing is just obviously I wanted
to go somewhere that had a summer training program and
coming here July first, a lot of guys came in July,
which was very nice, so I just getting to know
them early, especially with me only having one year, I
wanted to get to know the guys beforehand. And really
I think good teams are close teams. That always kind

(24:41):
of happens that way, So really get to know everyone,
the staff, the players beforehand. And also leand and amazing.

Speaker 2 (24:49):
Chase you away, No, no here, I hear it.

Speaker 6 (24:53):
She's She's been fantastic, and that's always one thing I've
needed to work on. It's my strength. I've been a taller,
skinnier guy, but she's helped me out a ton before
the season and even during.

Speaker 2 (25:04):
First year in the NCHC. I know you know you
weren't here for the lead up to it, but you
got kind of your first taste last weekend. In your opinion,
what are some realistic goals for ASU as we move
forward this year?

Speaker 6 (25:21):
I would I think we have we could easily finish
top four. I mean, that's our goal we want. We
want home ice in the playoffs. And I think even
though we lost both games this weekend, we clearly proved
that we outshot them forty one twenty one then thirty
to twenty one, And I think it just proves how
good of a team we are, especially with how many

(25:41):
guys are down right now, just the depth we have
and how bad we want it. So I think we
Sun Devil fans can expect big things from us.

Speaker 5 (25:49):
I agree, and got a point in nine one too,
which those will stack. Knowing that the results haven't been
where maybe the group has wanted. How as a veteran
guy in that dressing room, have you tried to keep
especially the young guys, at an even keel and trusting
the process that you guys are playing well, the results
will come.

Speaker 6 (26:08):
Yeah, just reassuring them we have a very good leadership group.
I think That's one thing that's special about us is
we have tons of older guys and our captains do
a great job. And it's not only the guys who
have letters on their jerseys, like ardham Shlane. He's also
here for only one year, but he's one hell of
a leader and he's done a great job reassuring the
guys too. Just constant, constant reinforcement that like it will come.

(26:32):
We did score eight that first game. We know we
have it in us and it'll come eventually.

Speaker 2 (26:38):
I have a bunch more questions for you. Unfortunately we
are running out of time, so I want to get
to a couple of rapid fire ones. If you all right,
have you found a favorite restaurant other than Vanetzi's Pizza
presso here on college ab since getting out to Tempe.

Speaker 4 (26:52):
That's a good question.

Speaker 2 (26:54):
I can circle back and you can pick a Yeah,
that dog or cat person?

Speaker 4 (26:58):
Dog person?

Speaker 2 (26:59):
That is the correct answer. Introvert, extrovert, extrovert. Okay, where
does Mullet Arena rank on the list of the many
college barns you visited over the years?

Speaker 6 (27:08):
I would say number one?

Speaker 2 (27:09):
Yeah, like legitm yeah exactly. So all right, I'm going
to circle back to the restaurant thing. Man, Okay, I'll
just looking around, like where are I How honestly, I
don't know. I can't think of one right now. We'll
have to bring you back later in the season and
I'm going to follow up on that. Yeah, I'll know
what's coming in that time. You have a question, what's
been your your best part of the season so far?

(27:31):
Of course, you know it's still early, but there have
been some some pretty awesome moments for you and the team.

Speaker 6 (27:36):
Yeah, I mean, I definitely say that shootout went against Michigan,
just in front of our own crowd.

Speaker 2 (27:41):
Your goal made it possible.

Speaker 6 (27:43):
Yeah, it was. It was just my family was in town,
so it was. It was a pretty special moment, all right.

Speaker 2 (27:49):
Last one before we let you go, of course, we
have to mention the fact that you were selected by
the Saint Louis Blues seventh round of the twenty twenty
NHL Draft. How exciting was that night for you, for
your family and and is it still a goal of
yours to play in the NHL after college?

Speaker 6 (28:05):
Yeah, of course it's the goal of mine. I want
to play hockey until I can't anymore. And uh, but yeah,
that night was special. I was actually sitting in class
my freshman year because it was COVID, so the draft
was a bit late. And uh, I guess my teammate
knew because of our assistant coach, so they pulled me
out of class and then got out the phone call
and it was it was very special.

Speaker 2 (28:26):
So cool and what an organization too. Yeah, and you've
been to their dev camp. Yeah, I went twice. That's
pretty cool. Awesome. Well, we have so many more questions
for you. Unfortunately we're on a time limit here, so
we're gonna let you go. But defenseman Noah Beck with us.
You're gonna want to get used to his name because
we're about to hear it a lot more as the
season progresses. We appreciate you spending time with us. Hope
you get to enjoy some pizza and good luck this weekend.

(28:48):
We'll see on Friday.

Speaker 6 (28:49):
Thank you so much for having appreciate it all right.

Speaker 2 (28:51):
When we returned to help frozen over. On this Tuesday night,
Coach Powers will rejoin the show for the third period.
He'll have updates on the team's path forward, and we'll
discuss the team's next series at home against Omaha that's
right after this short break. On the Mountain America Credit
Union Sun Devil Radio Network.

Speaker 1 (29:07):
You're listening to Hell Frozen Over with Sun Devil head
hockey coach Greg Powers. This is the do Sekis third
period of Hell Frozen Over on Fox Sports nine ten
and the Ihearts Radio.

Speaker 2 (29:19):
Who back in Tempe for the third period. You're listening
to Hell Frozen Over live on the Mountain America Credit
Union Sun Devil Radio Network from Benetzi's Pizza Presto on
College Avenue. Shows this season on Tuesdays before home series
six to seven pms our time slot. Our next one
is Tuesday, December third, So come grab a slies hang
out with us Coach Powers and our Sun Devil Hockey guests.

(29:41):
All Right, I want to start by rewinding just a
little bit, but we'd be remiss not to talk about
the fact that you've seen so many former Sun Devils,
both at home and on the road to start the season.
Tim Lovell, Ryan o'reiley, Matthew Romer up in Marquette. How
special was it to kind of reconnect with those guys
for a day. It was really cool, you know, I mean,
it was it was different. It was it was certainly
a little weird, you know, especially with Timmy and and

(30:05):
and O and always with us for four years and
Timmy three. But but you know, all those guys are
doing well and we're happy for him. They found new
homes and they're happy, and that's all that matters. We
just had Noah back on. I'm sure you listen to
his remarks in full. He was he's been outstanding this year.
I mean, I don't think there's any question about it.
What's your kind of assessment up to this point of Noah.

Speaker 4 (30:26):
He's been great.

Speaker 3 (30:27):
You know, you try to very quickly when you get
kids for one year figure out what makes a tick
right and how to get the best out of him.
And I think that with Becker, he's just always going
to be at his best when he has that snarl
and he plays a little mean and everything just kind
of goes downhill for him. So you know, as long
as he continues to play hard and really good stick

(30:49):
defensively and kind of in your face defensive hockey, his
offensive game will come from there because he.

Speaker 4 (30:54):
Just goes hard, right.

Speaker 3 (30:55):
So the snarl I think is the key word for him,
and he's played with it, you know, really in every
game but one. You know, he's been really good for us,
and and we would, uh where we're happy is here.

Speaker 4 (31:06):
He's going to be a big piece all year.

Speaker 2 (31:08):
He had he obviously had a power play goal last
weekend at CC. I know Special Teams has kind of
struggled to start this season. Do you have a diagnosis
of your power play and penalty kill struggles and perhaps
a solution up to the.

Speaker 3 (31:22):
Yeah, I don't. I don't I disagree with you. I
think I don't think it's struggled. You know, I think
that you know, our power play is at twenty percent.

Speaker 4 (31:32):
You know, that's a pretty good number.

Speaker 3 (31:34):
We're we're just accustomed to seeing it at twenty eight,
you know. And and so it did some really good
things this past weekend. You're you know, when you fail
eighty percent of the time, you're going to feel like
it's a failure.

Speaker 4 (31:44):
But it's actually a pretty good number.

Speaker 3 (31:46):
You know, like essentially the baseline you want to be
at as always at least twenty.

Speaker 4 (31:50):
We're a little bit over twenty right now. Uh PK.
Before this weekend was over ninety.

Speaker 3 (31:56):
I thought that they scored two goals that weren't a
result of K structure one was a bad goal. I
thought that Gibby would want back on Friday, And the
one on Saturday was just three guys out to launch
and let two guys in behind them off of a
PK four check. And it had nothing to do with structure.
It had to do with focus and and just awareness.
And you know, if we don't let those two in,

(32:18):
we're back over nineties. So special teams is certainly not
why we are where we are, But you know, it's
got to continue to get better. The power play's got
to get big goals for us. The power play got
us a huge goal Friday, Yes, to give us a lead,
and that's what you want. You want your power play
to to put you in a position where it can
win you a game.

Speaker 4 (32:38):
And on Friday it did.

Speaker 5 (32:40):
Goaltending for a second. I know Tyler's gonna ask a
little bit more specifically later on, but when you're making
a decision whether to change goaltenders, split starts, who to
go with, how where, how do you toe that line
of we need to win tonight, but we also need
both goaltenders hot and confident for the run of play.

Speaker 3 (33:00):
Yeah, I mean, I've always I've always been a one
goalie guy, you know. And and I just think that
all these kids say they want to go play pro hockey,
and if you can't handle playing thirty four games, how
are you going to handle playing eighty five?

Speaker 1 (33:12):
You know?

Speaker 3 (33:12):
So you know, I think that, you know, if the
players have to play all thirty four games, a goalie
should be able to play all thirty four games.

Speaker 4 (33:20):
They're standing there half the game, how's the goalie?

Speaker 3 (33:22):
So I can say that, Yeah, So that's just my philosophy.

Speaker 4 (33:26):
Now.

Speaker 3 (33:27):
With Gibbey and Luke, I've gone back and forth with
them because they've both been good. Will I do that
moving forward?

Speaker 1 (33:33):
No?

Speaker 4 (33:33):
I won't. You know.

Speaker 3 (33:35):
Right now, I think I think that that they both
have had really good moments, but Luke's been a little
bit more steady and a little bit more calm, and
there's been a couple of games where Gibby probably would
would want.

Speaker 4 (33:45):
A few back.

Speaker 3 (33:45):
And so right now, and you can expect to see
Luke on Friday because of that.

Speaker 2 (33:49):
And will you still treat that as a game by
game decision or do you do you would you think?

Speaker 4 (33:55):
I think?

Speaker 3 (33:56):
You know, I I don't think there's any long term
decision that's going to go into like name gonna starter.
They both support each other really well. I have full
confidence we can win with either goalie. It's like I said, Gibby.
Gibby stole a tie in a shootout win against Michigan,
so he's done good things sports this year. But but
I think when you look at the whole picture right now,

(34:17):
Luke's probably been a little sharper. So I think that
in the near turn to plan this weekend. And I
always reserve the right to change my mind at any
given because that's that's what I can do. But the
plan is obviously to give Luke two starts, you know,
and I think he's earned it, and he hasn't had
a back to back. Gibby got a back back against Michigan.
You will see Gibbey van very soon. He's a hell

(34:40):
of a goalie and and sometimes you just need a
little bit of a reset. And he was really good
in practice today, So he's got to put some good
practices together and we're gonna just.

Speaker 4 (34:48):
Take Friday by Friday and worry about Saturday. Saturday.

Speaker 2 (34:51):
Yeah, and hopefully Gibby uses it as as kind of
that motivation for for for the return, if you will
I want to speak a little bit more broadly about
a couple of different topic in the college hockey landscape. Uh.
First things first, it's a topic we discussed on our
last show over a month ago, which was the debate
UH if you will, and the pending decision about c

(35:12):
HL players being able to play NC double a hockey.
We now know a decision has been made they will
be allowed to play. We know you have some recruits
in the pipelines, one of which has already committed to
Arizona State. I know there's only so much you can say,
but but just kind of your opinion of the decision
and and kind of how this paves the way forward.

Speaker 3 (35:33):
For I mean, I think I think it's great. I'm
I'm a supporter of it. Obviously, we we verbally committed
a kid, you know, a couple of months ago, so
so I'm proud of how we handicap this, this situation.

Speaker 4 (35:46):
We were highly criticized.

Speaker 3 (35:47):
A lot of people that didn't handicap it or didn't
think about it in college hockey thought we jumped a
gun and created an undue prosa or undue chaos. And
and at the end of the day, you know, I
just you can't fight City Hall. You know this was
going to happen. This wasn't going to be a decision
that we could make. This is going to be a
we didn't have a say in this matter, like we

(36:08):
didn't have a say, and I knew as soon as
somebody filed the class action lawsuit it was gonna happen,
and it was the only amount of time, so we
handicapped it. I think really well, we got out ahead
of it. We dumped some resources into scouting and recruiting
up in those leagues, and you will see multiple CHL
players on our roster next year, not only just just

(36:31):
any players, very very good ones.

Speaker 2 (36:33):
You talk so much about how there are only so
many stalls in college hockey, right and obviously this the
pool is wider now, so there are even fewer stalls.
If you will couple that with the fact that we
just found out today that American International a I SEE,
will be downgrading from Division one to Division two college

(36:54):
hockey beginning next year. Apparently it's due to budgetary constraints.
Kind of your thoughts on them. You've played AIC before
and to see a team go down from D one,
how does that make you feel?

Speaker 3 (37:06):
It's sad, you know. It's it's unfortunate because they're a
great program. Eric Lang's done an unbelievable job. They've turned
out tons of Division one coaches through the years. The
guy that helped us build our program, Mike Field, played
their coach there. I know he's upset about it, you know.
So it's unfortunate. You never want to see that happen,

(37:27):
you know. The thing is is these programs, you know,
they don't have to opt into the house settlement. They
don't have to do it. They can stay status quo
with what they're currently doing and not have a roster
cap of twenty six and not do revenue sharing. So,
you know, I hate to see programs use this as
a cop out to just drop a sport, you know.

(37:49):
And that's what I feel like this is. And I
feel bad for those kids, I feel bad for those coaches,
I feel bad for their alumni. But I've viewed as
a cop out just to drop a sport because they
didn't want to pay for it.

Speaker 5 (37:59):
On the flip side, teams that are looking to move
on and either go from club to Division one or
whatever the situation. How much are you hearing anything around
on possible growth, is it coming soon? And how much
would you help that program.

Speaker 3 (38:14):
There's always rumors and there's always programs that reach out
to me and say, hey, well it was a blueprint
and how'd you do it? And you know, and I
tell the same answer every time. There wasn't a blueprint.
There wasn't a blueprint. I tell them the same thing,
to just be really good at the level that you're at.
Run an unbelievably efficient program. It gives kids a first

(38:35):
class college hockey experience. It doesn't matter if it's scholarship
hockey or not. You can still give them a first
class experience. You gotta win, you gotta win big. Otherwise
they're not going to keep you, even if they do elevate.
So you know, that's what you focus on. You focus
on what you can control. You focus on that, and
if you do everything the right way and you do
it big, the right people might notice and some good

(38:58):
things might happen.

Speaker 4 (38:59):
But it's hard to do. It's really hard to do.

Speaker 3 (39:01):
And in today's landscape with the House settlement and revenue
sharing and nil, there are not many athletic departments looking
to add sports.

Speaker 4 (39:09):
That's just the reality where we are.

Speaker 2 (39:11):
We only have a couple of minutes left, and I
do want to get to a couple more topics about
your team first and foremost, can you give us an
injury update on guys like Cruz, Lucius, Cole Helm, Charlie, Shane, Bennett,
je Make and Lucas so interesting.

Speaker 3 (39:23):
Yeah, it's it's, you know, all really good players that
we could We could really use all of them right now.
You know, I think Helmer probably will be uh oh
cleared to play this weekend, you know, but but hopping
back into it when you haven't practice is tough. Silly
should be back. That'll be a nice, nice uh.

Speaker 4 (39:43):
Shot in the arm, you know.

Speaker 3 (39:44):
He he he took an injury against Northern Michigan and
just just couldn't go, you know, And and we won't
get into what it was, but it's kind of chronic
with him, and he's got to watch it if he
can so he can be his best when he does play.
And uh, Cruise is gonna be out for the next games.
You know, We're we're gonna have crews for the entire
second half, fully healthy, fully ready to go. And you know,

(40:07):
our our our roster wasn't built to not have him
for for the first sixteen games, but we're we're doing
the best to.

Speaker 4 (40:13):
Get through it. He's he's an electric player.

Speaker 3 (40:17):
He's he's he's arguably one of he's gonna be one
of the top three players that will ever put on
on Jersey to date.

Speaker 4 (40:22):
He's that good.

Speaker 3 (40:23):
So when he gets back, it's gonna give us a
huge shot in the arm. We can't wait to get
him back. Who Charlie and Bennett Shimmick, we're hoping his back.

Speaker 4 (40:33):
We'll see.

Speaker 3 (40:33):
He took a hit in the first period Friday night
and wasn't clear to play Saturday, and he really wants
to play this weekend, so we're hoping he gets cleared
and and and advances the way we need him to advance.
He wants to play, he feels better. I would say
if he's not in this weekend, he will for sure
be back against Denver, but we're hopefully he'll play. And

(40:54):
Charlie's just he's he's nursing something that that that he
just is having trouble getting through, you know. And and
he tried to go against Northern and he didn't feel
like he was himself, and he's he's got to do
what he's got to do to get healthy and he's
gonna be out for a while.

Speaker 2 (41:08):
Yeah, all right, Well some good news in there, Alex.
Not to cut you off, but with like a minute ago,
I do want to get your scouting report on Denver
coach and and kind of your thoughts on what it'll
take to get Oh sorry, I said Denver, your thoughts
on Omaha and kind of your thoughts on what it'll
take to get a couple wins this weekend.

Speaker 4 (41:28):
I think you know.

Speaker 3 (41:28):
I told the guys this today. They're gonna be hungry,
they're gonna be desperate.

Speaker 4 (41:31):
They've lost sixth straight.

Speaker 3 (41:32):
They're a good team, a lot of close losses like us,
so they're gonna look to get back on it. They've
beaten Minnesota, they've beaten you Mass this year.

Speaker 4 (41:39):
They're good. They have unbelievable goaltending. That's the worst news
we've done. We've ran into.

Speaker 3 (41:44):
We've ran into such good goaltending, and this kid is
just as good as the kid we saw last weekend.

Speaker 4 (41:49):
So we're gonna have to figure it out.

Speaker 3 (41:52):
We're gonna have to figure it out real quick because
it's not gonna get any easier.

Speaker 2 (41:55):
Simon lat Cozy actually Mike pick for the preseason poll
of nh Goaltender of the Year, So we'll see if
that rings true. Thanks Tyler. Yeah, well, listen, listen, he's
really talented. We'll see him twice this year. We'll go
to Omaha's well later in twenty twenty five. All right,
Coach Greg Powers with the latest. His Sun Devil's hit
the ice at Mullinarena for the first time in more
than a month this Friday at seven. You'll hear from

(42:17):
him on our pregame show, which begins at six point thirty. Coach,
appreciate you always and we will chat with you on Friday, sir.

Speaker 4 (42:22):
Thanks guys.

Speaker 2 (42:23):
All right, three periods down on Health Frozen Over. Much
more to come in overtime. When we return, Alex and
I will reflect on the season so far, discuss what's
on the horizon. Stick with us. Health Frozen Over is
back in just a moment on the Mountain America Credit Union,
Sun Devil Radio.

Speaker 4 (42:37):
Netligibility terms, conditions and exclusions apply.

Speaker 1 (42:40):
The Love Anitas look Ahead is next on Hell Frozen
Over with Sun Devil head Hockey Coach Greg Powers on
Fox Sports nine to ten and the iHeartRadio WAPP.

Speaker 2 (42:50):
Theanetsi's Pizza Presto overtime on Hell Frozen Over. I'm Tyler Paley,
joined by my broadcast partner Alex Coyle. First off, sir,
welcome back to the pro Gratid. You missed our first episode.
It's unfortunate, though, I do have to tell you we
decided to submit that one for an Emmy. Oh okay,
and so moving forward. Yeah, I guess you just you
just you snooze.

Speaker 4 (43:10):
You loose.

Speaker 5 (43:10):
Yeah, I was snoozing for sure yet baseball, right, Yes,
well that's snoz it snoozing at baseball.

Speaker 2 (43:16):
All right, let's start with the obvious three six and
one record to start scale of one to ten. I'll
tell you first, I think I'm only at about maybe
a two or a three on the concern meter, and
I'll expand on that after your answer. But where would
you say you rank on the concern meter? I think
it's closer to four.

Speaker 5 (43:33):
Okay, you know the process has been good, right, But
I think I've said it a couple of times, either
in post game shows or during intermissions. When you dominate
a team, you have to have that make the impact
on the outcome of the game. And I think what
we saw this past weekend. They dominated for probably fifty
minutes of that series, right, and it could not separate

(43:55):
themselves by more than one goal. And I think at
some point you have to make teams pay for that.
On the other side, though, the reason why it's not
six seven eight, it's they have played well, they have
played like that, They're getting guys healthy again, they're they're again.
We didn't want the silver lining of getting a point
on Friday night from that result, but you get a

(44:15):
point on the road, and you start to stack those,
especially against the number six team in the country. Those
continue to build over the course of the season. So
I think once you get that complete game and as
you can go on a run, it's gonna be awesome
to want.

Speaker 2 (44:29):
I think it's fair and I take that. The only
reason I'm at and I'll settle it a three is
the way I look at this is we have played
two games of this season. I know we've played ten,
but the non conference, not that it doesn't matter, it does,
but we have played two games in the kind of
the meat and potatoes part of this season, right, and
and so yes, you got to be able to finish.

(44:50):
You're only as good as your record. This is a
This is very much a sport where wins and losses matter,
and at the end of the day, you can talk
about moral victories all you want, but this is a
sport where you have to win hockey games. And I
think we have played two hockey games. That's the way
I look at it, that's sure. But anyway, all right,
Noah Beck was our guest earlier Coach sung his praises.

(45:11):
I think we have seen firsthand through ten games how
incredible he has been. What's your kind of main takeaway
on Becker up to this one. I think it's the
size that he plays with. But also he has the
Tim Lovell flair too it right, and he has the
ability to score the big goal in the big moment,
which he's shown a couple of times, especially on the
power play the big stick from the blue line, to

(45:33):
have a booming shot like that, not even he doesn't
even have to one time to get the velocity on
the puck. Good rister.

Speaker 5 (45:38):
And you know, I love how Coach Powers has described
his play as a snarl. I think that's perfect, right,
And I think he leads by the example kind of
you know, takes on the identity of the Clarkson program sure,
and the way they play the gritty style and brings
it over here and adds it to the group. And
to have another veteran defenseman as well in addition to
Shmaggie and Merch and to have that kind of rollback

(46:01):
their calming presence, make the right play on the defensive zone,
but also the offensive skill to make an impact and
be the second leading scorer in the country in the
d ranks. We could talk for an hour alone about
Schmags and merg Yeah, we'll save that for our next show,
because Wow, they have just been remarkable and there's been
so many things to talk about that we could.

Speaker 2 (46:18):
Gie their back together. By the way, you and me
both look injuries galore heading into this weekend. Not ideal,
but I'm a little bit more reassured by what Coach
Powers just said. Out of the five guys out right now,
it seems like two or three may return this weekend,
if not by the Denver weekend and then by hopefully
you know, second half of the season, all of them

(46:40):
or at least four out of the five are back.
Charlie Shane, you gotta feel bad for him, I mean,
you know he's been trying so hard to come back
for like years now, but nevertheless, it's going to be
a long road ahead for him. All Right, we only
got about forty seconds left here, so let's talk about
this weekend. Olmaha lost a lot of talent in the offseason,
most notably Victor Mansini, go ranger. Still have a great goaltender,

(47:01):
Simon Lack Cozy well coached. Probably gonna be another close series.

Speaker 5 (47:05):
Well now, I think Omaha was probably the favorite team,
favorite opponent that we played last year, and the way
they played, you know, it wasn't fun in the moment,
but thinking back, like the structure that they played with,
the grit, the speed, the talent, right, and it's going
to be a lot of that, and it's going to
be a chance to have the crowd boost a little
bit and give some love to a team that's looking

(47:27):
for some results.

Speaker 2 (47:27):
All Right, We're back at home this weekend. Excited to
see everybody out at the Mullet. If you're not heading there,
you can join Alex and me for pregame coverage six
thirty Friday and four thirty Saturday. Our thanks everybody tonight,
We'll talk to you at six thirty on Friday. Good Night, everybody,