60 Days. 60 Teams. 600 Words (or Less): Arizona State

Arizona State

2018-19 Record: 21-13-1
Head Coach: Greg Powers, 5th Year Varsity
Top returning scorer: Johnny Walker (23G-11A)
Top returning goaltender: Evan Debrouwer (So.)

What is left to write about Arizona State? The Sun Devils, in season four of D1 men's hockey, became the fastest program and first independent school since Alaska Anchorage in 1992 to reach the NCAA Tournament.

In a year of surprises, ASU swung heads. If I wrote this series last year, an 8-21-5 Arizona State would be a second-week profile. Instead, it's mid-September, discussing its recipe for success and where the team goes from here.

It'd be expected the Sun Devils, returning 84% of scoring, would slowly do better as the first D1 classes become upperclassmen. Goaltender Joey Daccord improved from a .892% save percentage as a freshman to .909% as a sophomore to .926% and a Mike Richter Award nomination last season. Johnny Walker had a school-record 23 goals (2nd nationally) before getting injured near the end of the season. Defender Brinson Pasichnuk was 5th nationally among blueliners with 13 goals.

What's Old: Still waiting on a new arena and conference.

What's New: Scottsdale native Auston Matthews came around from not having ASU in his college top five and modeled some "throwbacks" to add to the team's thousands of jersey combos.

Bringing new 🔥 to the ice.

A @sundevilhockey ✖️ @AM34 collab pic.twitter.com/5ycTUBLsM1

— Sun Devil Hockey (@SunDevilHockey) August 22, 2019

Also new? Going to China to play summer hockey.

As an independent, the Sun Devils embraced their inner Johnny Cash by being everywhere. But an 11-day August international trip goes to a new level. Arizona State won the Fu Xing Cup and went to the Great Wall of China.

ASU knocks off another state by playing Harvard in Irvine, California. Not a bad way to spend late December by wanting to see some palm trees, the Harvard of tropical trees.

Daccord, the great wall of Tempe, signed with the Ottawa Senators, becoming the first Sun Devil to play an NHL game. Replacing him are BU graduate transfer Max Prawdzik (Jake Oettinger's backup), sophomore Evan Debrouwer, and freshman Justin Robbins, one of six Arizona State rookies. Eddie Lack's now the goalie coach.

Closing Thoughts: I can't wait to read (or write) the next chapter of Arizona State hockey. A November OT win over Penn State seemed like a changing of the guard. ASU made the most of its opportunity to be one of college hockey's great stories.

But the way Arizona State earned an NCAA Tournament berth is not exactly easy. ASU beat the teams it should, avoiding bad losses for the most part while struggling against top teams, going 2-10-1 against teams in the top 20 of the Pairwise. Even with struggles (and the Sun Devils beat two NCAA teams plus swept BC), that consistency gets rewarded over a long season.

Is it a story Arizona State can repeat? Can ASU fare better against top 20 schools? The Sun Devils schedule features four NCAA Tournament teams (including a Quinnipiac rematch) plus several others looking to be on the upswing. Getting back Walker, who led the nation in shots per game (4.81) on a team outshot on average, and most of the blue line help limit the loss of Daccord.

More than anything, when the tradition continues to be set, it'll be interesting to see which individual(s) adds to the recipe of success like Daccord, Walker, Pasichnuk and the entire Sun Devils did last season.

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60 Days. 60 Teams. 600 Words (or Less): Harvard

Harvard

2018-19 Record: 19-11-3 (13-7-2, T-3rd in ECAC)
Head Coach: Ted Donato, 16th Year
Top returning scorer: Reilly Walsh (12G-19A)
Top returning goaltender: Cameron Gornet (Sr.)

Put it on old Harvard to mix things up a little bit. The Crimson, of the four Beanpot schools, remain the last to appear in a Frozen Four. Ted Donato's team continues to be built in a way that works well in the current college hockey landscape, making it difficult to ignore the sound and the fury coming out of Bright Hockey Center.

Harvard enters 2019-20 with four NCAA Tournament appearances in five seasons. Reaching that consistency has been in no small part thanks to recent recruiting classes replenishing lost talent.

Five of the seven players with at least 20 points last season were underclassmen. All return. While not the multiple first-rounders of nearby schools, Donato has a mixture of players selected in the top 3-4 rounds with undrafted guys who can both develop into solid college players for Harvard.

What's Old: Players getting their NHL rights traded over the summer and then leaving early.

What's New: Seriously, this would be a different feature if it came out in early May rather than September. Harvard players seem to take some leftover lessons from Jimmy Vesey and control their futures. Both Adam Fox and John Marino pulled the "we're staying in school" move right up until the NHL teams who held their draft rights moved them to teams they wanted.

Without getting into a college thesis about the ethics or pro and cons of utilizing CBA labor rights (I only have 600 self-imposed words, okay?), the loss of both defenders will be felt. Fox led the nation in assists (insert your "how do you like them apples?" joke here) with 39 and was a Hobey Baker hat trick finalist. Marino is mobile with a more defensive edge, providing a balance to offensively-happy defensemen like Fox and Reilly Walsh.

Starting goaltender Michael Lackey also departed, a side effect of the Ivy League not having a redshirt year. He's now at Providence. Cameron Gornet played well (.915% save percentage) late in the season during Lackey's absence due to injury. He will get the first crack.

Of the Crimson's seven first-year players, three were drafted in June: Forward John Farinacci (76th to Arizona), defender Henry Thrum (101st to Anaheim) and forward Nick Abruzzese (124th to Toronto).

Closing Thoughts: It would not be a stretch to call Harvard, after losing to Massachusetts in the first round, a potential national title contender if both Fox and Marino returned. The Crimson worked through some early team struggles into a 12-3 stretch in January and February.

Keeping most of that team - especially a blue line that can score at will, finishing with the second-highest power play (28.3%) in the country - together would raise expectations.

Still, there's plenty to like even without a preseason Hobey Baker favorite. Donato's teams have been able to bounce back from losing key players this decade (Vesey, Kerfoot, Ryan Donato, etc). Harvard's D departures pave an opportunity for junior Walsh and sophomore Jack Rathbone to take the next step in their development. (Walsh, in particular, has the tools to be a No. 1 D and play in all situations.) The same can be said with returning forwards such as Jack Drury, Jack Badini, Casey Dornbach and Henry Bowlby.

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60 Days. 60 Teams. 600 Words (or Less): Bowling Green

Bowling Green

2018-19 Record: 25-15-5 (16-8-4, 3rd in WCHA)
Head Coach: Ty Eigner, 1st Year
Top returning scorers: Brandon Kruse (10G-31A) and Connor Ford (17G-17A)
Top returning goaltender: Eric Dop (Jr.)

Figuring out whether the glass is half empty or half full in Toledo Northwest Ohio depends on your outlook. Optimists can find solace in Bowling Green's recent path. So can pessimists.

After recent close calls, the Falcons finally snapped its 29 year NCAA Tournament drought, giving the eventual champions its biggest scare. For a program whose entire future was uncertain a decade ago before Chris Bergeron took over, that's no small accomplishment.

Ryan Bednard (.926%) and the team's defense stifled opponents, allowing on average less than two goals (1.83) per game. On offense, the top three scorers were all sophomores.

For a pessimist, just when things went well the bottom fell out. A 13-3-3 first half turned into a nailbiting finish for an at-large bid. BGSU lost to four of the WCHA's bottom five. The Falcons blew late leads against both Minnesota State in the WCHA championship game and UMD in the NCAA Tournament (losing both in OT).

Bergeron departed for old rival Miami. Bednard signed with an NHL team near Miami (Florida, not Ohio). Junior forward Lukas Craggs signed with Nashville as a free agent.

What's New: The Falcons host the Ice Breaker Tournament in Toledo to kick off the season...a week after kicking off the season on the road against Bergeron's Miami.

Even though the tournament now ends up being the equivalent of a networking event over drinks after meetings, it features RIT, Western Michigan and in-state rival Ohio State (who BGSU absolutely crushed 8-2 last season). Notre Dame comes to town as part of a home-and-home series. The Falcons add former Michigan Tech forward Gavin Gould as a transfer.

And of course, Bergeron leaving means Bowling Green has a new head coach. Enter Ty Eigner.

Eigner, who spent the previous nine seasons as an assistant coach under Bergeron, gets his first head coaching opportunity at his alma mater. His staff rounds out with Merrimack associate coach Curtis Carr and Wisconsin alum Maco Balkovec.

Closing Thoughts: No matter whether the glass is half empty or half full, Bowling Green has been on a program-changing run. The Falcons continue to be one of the top WCHA (for now) teams. There's some sense of stability returning several key players and Eigner promoted from within to the head coaching position.

An optimist and pessimist will answer the same questions differently. Can BGSU replace Bednard's play the past two seasons? What adjustments will be made under Eigner? How do the Falcons react to success and snapping the NCAA Tournament drought?

It's that last question which stands out. 2018-19's ending and last-minute OT losses should be a learning experience. BGSU can say it had both the ending it wanted and a chip on its shoulder being hungry for more (and I'm sure the atmosphere for Miami's trip to Toledo Bowling Green on December 30th will be fun to watch). Max Johnson is an underrated player nationally, as is Alex Rauhauser on defense. 50+ teams would take getting back three players with 34+ points.

The Falcons should be intriguing. Whether the optimist or pessimist is right, both can agree on not expecting Bowling Green to spend another 29 years without an NCAA Tournament appearance.

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60 Days. 60 Teams. 600 Words (or Less): Penn State

Penn State

2018-19 Record: 22-15-2 (11-12-1, 4th in Big Ten)
Head Coach: Guy Gadowsky, 8th Year Varsity
Top returning scorers: Alex Limoges (23G-27A) and Evan Barratt (16G-27A)
Top returning goaltender: Peyton Jones (Sr.)

Penn State, for my money, was college hockey's most entertaining team. No matter what happened, there was bound to be a spectacle in a season filled by Sportscenter Top 10 goals. No lead was safe. No red light or Coach's Challenge went unused.

The Nittany Lions put up a goal-scoring bonanza, leading the nation with 4.54 goals per game. Midway through last season, Penn State averaged a total (5.22) on pace to be a 20 year high. PSU ended with more than half a goal on average than the second-place team and over a goal than the fourth-place team.

Penn State historically has never been afraid to shoot. Adding in players who can build upon the mantra and create offensive chances, PSU has multiple weapons throughout its lineup.

🚨 LIMOOOOO 🚨

Off the rebound from Barratt and Sucese!! Penn State leads 4-0 at 1:35 of the second period!! #WeAre #HockeyValley pic.twitter.com/tJhdjsB2Ee

— Penn State Men’s Hockey (@PennStateMHKY) January 27, 2019

All three return, BTW.

What's New: Stability to end its first decade. Six of Penn State's seven players with 14 or more goals return. Several could have left. Among the 11 returning forwards are Limoges, who after 12 goals in his final 14 games, had some buzz as an undrafted free agent. (Nate Sucese and Brandon Biro each had nine during that stretch.) Barratt is a Chicago Blackhawks draft pick back for his junior season.

Guy Gadowsky also gets back forward Aarne Talvitie. Talvitie, who had 16 points in 17 games, missed the second half after getting injured captaining Finland to a WJC gold medal.

Of PSU's nine newcomers, Kevin Wall was drafted by Carolina in the sixth round of June's NHL Draft. Wall had 31 goals for Chilliwack (BCHL). Clayton Phillips transfers in from Minnesota.

Closing Thoughts: So far this has been positive. So it's time to put a big "but" to Penn State being college hockey's most entertaining team.

The offense is historically fun to watch. But the reason PSU is entertaining has to do with no lead being safe. On either side.

The Nittany Lions were an elite offense mixed with one of the nation's worst defenses (56th of 60 teams - only Western Michigan and them had a positive goal differential among the bottom 20). Goalie Peyton Jones barely was above .900%. On multiple occasions last season PSU blew 4-1 third period leads. Opponents scored 5+ goals 13 times. Remarkably, Penn State won three of those.

Any team who is the last one out can point to a number of factors (both internal and external) that barely kept them out of the NCAA Tournament. That's true with Penn State, who had an opportunity to win an automatic berth against Notre Dame.

A healthy Talvitie adds an important element. Limoges is the nation's leading returning scorer. However, whether it's Jones rediscovering his end-of-year freshman form or an older blue line improving vastly defensively, the Nittany Lions, returning the nation's top offense, is a respectable defense away from being a title contender. Seven D return, led by the Cole Hults-Paul DeNaples pairing.

While Penn State missing the NCAA Tournament was lost entertainment, it fits in with college hockey in 2019. The teams on ESPN in April weren't the ones on Sportscenter during the regular season. They were the ones who defensively were responsible and limited opponents opportunities and goals.

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60 Days. 60 Teams. 600 Words (or Less): Western Michigan

Western Michigan

2018-19 Record: 21-15-5 (13-10-1, 3rd in NCHC)
Head Coach: Andy Murray, 9th Year
Top returning scorers: Josh Passolt (16G-18A) and Hugh McGing (16G-14A)
Top returning goaltender: Ben Blacker (Sr.)

Would any team raise a banner for being state Pairwise champs? I doubt it, however, Western Michigan could celebrate being the best team in Michigan last season. While Lake Superior State also has a claim to the title, the Broncos finished with the highest Pairwise, which is the only thing to go by since none of the seven Michigan schools made the 2019 NCAA Tournament.

Two of the three Ohio teams did. Three Minnesota schools were the top three overall seeds and Massachusetts had a Frozen Four school, but it was a complete shutout for the third "M" state.

Western Michigan, for much of 2018-19, was the state's best chance, an honor that could continue in 2019-20. The Broncos keep much of its core intact and avoided the early departures most teams in its position do.

What's New: More Andy Murray. While the NHL has opened its doors wider for NCAA coaches, the former LA Kings and St. Louis Blues head coach continues to stay in the college game. WMU and Murray agreed to a new deal that keeps him in Kalamazoo until 2023-24.

The Broncos also hope to get a healthy Wade Allison. After being derailed by two injury-filled seasons, he returns for his senior year. Allison, who had 8 goals in only 22 games, served as Western Michigan's bellwether for much of last season. When playing, the Broncos did not lose a game until February.

Murray's team also gets the reigning USHL Player of the Year, Ronnie Attard, on its blue line. The 6'4", 210 lbs Attard led all USHL defenders with a USHL single-season record 30 goals and 65 points in 48 games for Tri-City. Not surprisingly, Attard's season led to him being drafted in June as the Philadelphia Flyers selected him with the 72nd pick.

Closing Thoughts: Every team ends up being different no matter how little turnover ends up happening. However, even with that caveat, Western Michigan, just on the outside of the NCHC elite, on paper looks similar this season to the one who lost to CC in the NCHC quarterfinals. Besides Attard, the Broncos only have three other freshmen.

Western Michigan does need to replace Trevor Gorsuch, who became the starting goaltender and one of college hockey's underrated turnarounds last season, along with leading scorer Colt Conrad. Ben Blacker has plenty of experience in goal. Incoming freshman Brandon Bussi, just up the road in Muskegon, had the third-best save percentage in the USHL.

Adding Attard to a blue line that has another big underclassman in Mattias Samuelsson should be a boost. Keeping Allison and Hugh "S.A" McGing for their senior seasons can be beneficial to the offense, along with a repeat standout performance from Josh Passolt, who developed into a 16 goal scorer last season.

Murray getting players like Passolt and McGing to bloom and develop has been key to the Broncos' success in recent years. It's a good way right now to look at Western Michigan's play. Nothing to stand out and raise a banner over, but plenty to still celebrate if one so chooses. There's a group who can develop into an NCAA Tournament team to represent the Great Lakes State.

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60 Days. 60 Teams. 600 Words (or Less): Union

Union College

2018-19 Record: 20-13-6 (10-10-2, 7th in ECAC)
Head Coach: Rick Bennett, 9th Year
Top returning scorer: Anthony Rinaldi (11G-12A)
Top returning goaltender: Darion Hanson (Jr.)

2014 Frozen Four appreciation week rolls on with a profile of the Dutchmen. (Sadly, if not for moving AIC up for making the NCAA Tournament, Union, of all teams, fittingly would have been the Labor Day profile.) The Pairwise continues to have a cold sense of humor, even if Shayne Gostisbehere is not on the ice.

Union won at least 20 games for a third straight season thanks in part to non-conference success. A 4-0-1 start with a sweep of Northeastern at Matthews Arena, the Friendship Four title in Belfast, a dominant win over St. Cloud State at the Three Rivers Classic plus a goaltending duel for the Mayor's Cup over RPI stand out.

Conference play was not as successful.  Union's seven non-conference wins in 12 games nearly matched its 10 ECAC wins. The Dutchmen finished seventh in ECAC (one point away from fifth), entering 2019-20 taking some time to reassess and rebuild back into contention following the departure of its top three scorers and other major contributors.

What's New: One reason to reassess and rebuild is that Bennett has 12 newcomers this season. Eight forwards, two defenders and two goaltenders make up the Dutchmen's Class of 2023.

As a group, the new Union players are from mostly outside the Northeast. Bennett's Minnesota pipeline continues to flow as three of the eight forwards - Christian Sanda (Vadnais Heights), Colin Schmidt (Wayzata) and Chaz Smedsrud (Luverne) - hail from the "State of Hockey." Defender Dylan Anhorn helped Prince George (BCHL) capture the Fred Page Cup (as BCHL champions) and Doyle Cup (between the BCHL and AJHL champs).

Garret Nieto is the younger brother of Brown goalie Gavin Nieto, which will either make for a fun ECAC brother battle or mass confusion of people thinking they are seeing double - four G. Nietos! The other incoming goalie is the appropriately named Merek Pipes.

Potential leading scorer Liam Morgan left in August for Belfast. Union's annual Mayor's Cup game with RPI for Capital Region bragging rights is scheduled for January 25th.

Closing Thoughts: It wasn't planned, but coincidentally having the two 2014 championship game teams go back-to-back shines a light on the similar position both are in five years later. The connection remains. Both have Luverne freshmen (Smedsrud and Jaxon Nelson) as part of large rookie classes. Even Colin Schmidt was at one time a Minnesota commit.

Then there's the fact Union, like yesterday's team (and the other 2014 Frozen Four semifinalists), has not hit its expectations. On one hand, the Dutchmen keep winning 20+ games and beating elite teams. On the other hand, Bennett's teams have made a single NCAA Tournament appearance in the five seasons since winning the 2014 national championship.

Bringing in a large freshman class to replace major contributors can take some time to adjust, but the expectations should be a little lower. Union does not, on paper, get an easy start to the season, opening against a BU team in a similar position before playing Northeastern and Massachusetts on back-to-back October weekends. Searching for the consistency missing in recent seasons and having time to find it leads to an intriguing situation. The ECAC portion of the schedule might be that much more important.

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60 Days. 60 Teams. 600 Words (or Less): Minnesota

University of Minnesota

2018-19 Record: 18-16-4 (11-10-3, 3rd in Big Ten)
Head Coach: Bob Motzko, 2nd Year
Top returning scorers: Brannon McManus (14G-12A) and Sammy Walker (10G-16A)
Top returning goaltender: None

It's finally Minnesota's day in the series. So much to discuss. So few words.

Bob Motzko's start behind the Gopher bench began by tying then routing UMD in a way no other team did all season. Even then, Motzko correctly said there was work to be done.

Home losses to two of the five worst teams nationally burrowed the Gophers into needing a miracle to make the NCAA Tournament. Inconsistency led to Motzko tinkering and the team being near .500 all year. A five-forward power-play unit bolstered scoring. Hot goaltending helped when an opportunistic offense went cold. Minnesota had 5+ goals seven times contrasted by an early 12 game stretch where the Gophers scored two or fewer goals eight times.

Minnesota clicked down the stretch, going on a 7-1 run with wins over three NCAA Tournament teams. The Gophers finished third in the conference before an OT loss to Notre Dame in the Big Ten semifinals ended the miracle bid.

What's New: Goalies. All those goaltenders who started games? They're gone, along with a large senior class.

Junior starter Mat Robson signed an entry-level contract with the Minnesota Wild. Two-time B1G Goaltender of the Year Eric Schierhorn and third-string goalie Brock Kautz both graduated.

With no returning goalie, the job looks to be between freshman Jared Moe and Michigan transfer Jack LaFontaine.

Robson isn't the only early departure for the Gophers. All-American Rem Pitlick, who had 31 points in 23 second-half games, signed with Nashville following his junior season. Clayton Phillips transferred to Penn State.

The home schedule includes the return of the Mariucci Classic. All four Minnesota teams will be at Mariucci this season in addition to a Thanksgiving weekend series against rival North Dakota.

Not-So Closing Thoughts: Look, this will not be my only 2019-20 preview for Minnesota. A more in-depth profile will be written somewhere in one form or another.

Until then, for a team whose identity for much of last season was inconsistency, there's more change and smaller, unanswered questions.

Turnover in players means this is quickly becoming Motzko's team. 10 of the 12 new players were recruited by him. That includes 2019 first-round pick Ryan Johnson and 39th overall pick Jackson Lacombe. Both defensemen have been on the upswing of their development. Bryce Brodzinski was 2019 Minnesota Mr. Hockey. Under the radar is Ben Meyers, whose 33 goals were third among all USHL players. His scoring touch would be a boost to add to 2018-19 Big Ten freshman of the year Sammy Walker and Sampo Ranta.

One big question concerning Minnesota is whether talented underclassmen can step up and lead after losing so many key players. The Gophers don't have the luxury of Robson stealing games early when the team was heavily outshot. (Minnesota was outshot by 5.58 shots per game and the only team in the bottom-20 of that stat with an above .500 record.) Only Brannon McManus returns on the top power-play unit.

2018-19's final month saw positive steps and that Motzko's team can play with anyone. Minnesota had the second-highest PWR quality win bonus of any school. The Gophers showed what is possible. Now it's about putting it together.

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