ARIZONA STATE SUN DEVIL HOCKEY MEDIA NOTES @Sundevilhockey @Sundevilhockey /Sundevilhockey
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ARIZONA STATE SUN DEVIL HOCKEY MEDIA NOTES @SunDevilHockey @SunDevilHockey /SunDevilHockey GAME 1: #15 ARIZONA STATE AT #12 MICHIGAN NOVEMBER 14, 2020 3:00 PM (ET) ON THE HORIZON Sun, Nov. 15 at #12 Michigan 7 p.m. (ET) BTN Thurs, Nov. 19 at Michigan State 6 p.m. (ET) BTN AT YOST ARENA Fri, Nov. 20 at Michigan State TBD BTN+ Ann Arbor, MI Nov. 28-29 at Wisconsin 8/5 p.m. (ET) FS-W 3 p.m. (ET) BTN+ SUN DEVIL REWIND Coming off a program-best, 22-win season in 2019-20, and what was anticipated 0-0-0 0-0-0 to be their second-straight NCAA Tournament apperance, the Sun Devils embark on a 22-day road trip through the Midwest and the Big Ten Conference. RECORD VS. BIG TEN OPPONENTS TEAM 2020-21 OVERALL LAST MEETING While the Maroon & Gold lost two of their top scorers in defensemen BRINSON MICHIGAN 0-0-0 0-3-0-0 L, 2-5 - FEB. 20, 2018 PASICHNUK (graduated) and JOSH MANISCALCO (signed with Pittsburgh), MICHIGAN STATE 0-0-0 3-0-0-1 OTL, 0-1 - DEC. 15, 2019 they return their 1-2 punch of JOHNNY WALKER and JAMES SANCHEZ who MINNESOTA 0-0-0 0-2-0-0 L, 2-5 - MARCH 2, 2019 combined for 78 points on the top line. WALKER returns for his senior campaign NOTRE DAME 0-0-0 0-2-0-0 L, 2-4 - OCT. 8, 2015 leading all active NCAA players with 60 goals in his last three seasons. OHIO STATE 0-0-0 0-3-1-0 L, 0-3 - OCT. 13, 2018 Between the pipes, junior EVAN DeBROUWER carried a bulk of the workload in PENN STATE 0-0-0 1-4-0-0 OTW, 4-3 - NOV. 3, 2018 2019-20, playing in 22 games with a 19-10-3 record. This season he has depth WISCONSIN 0-0-0 0-4-0-0 L, 2-6 - FEB. 22, 2020 behind him with freshman and New Jersey Devils’ 5th round draft pick COLE 2019-20 SUN DEVIL LEADERS BRADY, who posted a 21-12-3 record for Fargo (USHL). Player G A Pts. Goalie Rec. SV% GAA James Sanchez 10 30 40 Evan DeBrouwer 19-10-3 .921 2.46 THE OTHER M&G Johnny Walker 20 18 38 Cole Brady (USHL) 21-12-3 .903 2.79 Michigan, who finished 2019-20 ranked No. 17 in the USCHO poll, comes into Willie Knierim 15 9 24 Justin Robbins 0-0-0 .923 4.00 2020-21 ranked No. 12 in the preseason poll and picked to finish second within PJ Marrocco 13 8 21 the Big Ten Conference. 2019-20 MICHIGAN LEADERS Despite losing their top three scorers, the Wolverines return one of the nation’s top goaltenders in junior Strauss Mann, two NHL first-round draft picks in Johnny Player G A Pts. Goalie Rec. SV% GAA Beecher and Cam York, and welcome a top-end recruiting class featuring 2020 Johnny Beecher 9 7 16 Strauss Mann 18-13-4 .939 1.85 first-rounder Brendan Brisson and projected 2021 top-two overall draft pick Owen Cam York 5 11 16 Erik Portillo (USHL) 19-5-1 .915 2.11 Power. Nick Blankenburg 4 12 16 Jimmy Lambert 2 11 13 After starting the 2019-20 season with a 7-11-2 record, the Wolverines bounced BY THE NUMBERS back to finish with a 11-3-2 record in the 2020 calendar year. Senior forward JOHNNY WALKER has 17 more career goals than any other active player in college hockey with TALE OF THE TAPE (2019-20) 60 60. Sun Devils (NCAA Rank) Wolverines (NCAA Rank) Senior forward & former Wolverine JAMES SANCHEZ was the first Sun Devil in program history to reach the 3.36 (9th) Goals Per Game 2.72 (31st) 40 40-point milestone in a season last year. 2.69 (29th) Goals Against Average 2.00 (7th) When scoring 3 or more goals, the Sun Devils were 21-3- 1 in 2019-20 while averaging 3.36 G/GP -- ranked 9th. 28.75 (36th) Shots Per Game 32.58 (11th) 21 In 2020, the Sun Devil penalty kill led the country with a 19.7% (25th) Power Play 19.0% (28th) .929 kill rate, negating 52 of 56 power-play opportunities. 86.2% (10th) Penalty Kill 84.3% (15th) 52 SUN DEVIL TWEETABLES 51.0% (20th) Faceoff % 49.3% (40th) 1. These two teams last met in @SunDevilHockey’s last series of the regular season of 2017-18, with @umichhockey taking each contest 5-3. PRONUNCIATION GUIDE 2. The Sun Devils set a program record for most victories in a season with 22 BUNCIS: bun-sis KNIERIM: NEER-um during the 2019-20 season, outperforming the 2018-19 season of 21. DHOOGHE: DOO-gie KOPPERUD: copper-RUHD 3. In 2019-20, @TheSunDevils had six players with 10+ goals versus just three in ECKERLE: ECK-er-lee KOSOBUD: COH-suh-bud 2018-19 and one in 2017-18. They return four of those six in 2020-21. 4. Three Sun Devils are Michigan natives, including Jacob Semik (Canton), Benji GOURLEY: GORE-lee KOUMONTZIS: co-mun-ZEEZ Eckerle (Northville) and Michael Mancinelli (Northville). GRANDO: gran-DOH MANCINELLI: Man-sin-el-EE 5. The Sun Devil offense ranked 5th in the country during the 2020 part of the GVIDO: guh-VEE-doh SANDHU: san-DOO season scoring at a clip of 3.75 goals per game. JANSONS: YAWN-sons SEMIK: seh-MICK WALK THE WALK SUN DEVIL SCENARIOS • The former defenseman turned forward in junior hockey, who started his college career with just one goal and During the 2019-20 regular season, the Sun Devils are: two healthy scratches in his first 11 games, has never looked back as JOHNNY WALKER finished that rookie • 15-2-1-0 when scoring four or more goals campaign with the most goals per games played of all collegiate freshmen with 16 goals and 22 points in the • 14-0-2-2 when allowing two or fewer goals final 23 games. • 17-3-2-0 when scoring first • That freshman year, WALKER completed his first NCAA season with seven goals in the state of Michigan • 15-2-1-0 when leading after one period including back-to-back, two-goal performances against Michigan at Yost Ice Arena. In that final stretch, • 17-0-1-0 when leading after two periods JOHNNY WALKER was born. • 2-3-1-1 when trailing after one period • The Phoenix native went on to tie for the lead in goals scored during his sophomore year with 23 in 31 games • 2-5-1-0 when trailing after two periods played -- his G/GP led the nation -- which included seven goals in three games against a combination of Omaha and then-No. 6 Penn State. The last goal of that stretch being an overtime winner against the top-10 • 5-5-1-1 when tied after one period Nittany Lions in Happy Valley that set the tone for a historic season for the Sun Devils. WALKER was the • 3-5-1-2 when tied after two periods catalyst in the program’s run to their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance, and becoming the fastest start- • 9-4-0-2 in one-goal games up program to reach the postseason. 2020-2021 SCHEDULE • Last season, just when it seemed WALKER couldn’t take another step, he rounded out his game with another 20-goal season and 18 assists for a personal NCAA best 38 points. A majority of the season was spent on a Date Opponent Network Time/Result line with Michigan transfer JAMES SANCHEZ, who fed off one another as SANCHEZ paced the team with 40 Nov. 14 at #12 Michigan BTN+ 3 p.m. Nov. 15 at #12 Michigan BTN 7 p.m. points and 30 assists -- the program’s first 40-point, 30-assist player. Nov. 19 at Michigan State BTN 6 p.m. • Entering his senior season, WALKER returns with the most career goals of any active player in college hockey Nov. 20 at Michigan State BTN+ TBD with 60. He also ranks 5th in total points with 96 in 100 games played. Nov. 28 at Wisconsin FS-W 8 p.m. Nov. 29 at Wisconsin FS-W 5 p.m. “NEVER BEEN DEEPER” Dec. 3 at #20 Notre Dame NBCSN.com 7 p.m. • “We have five really good lines right now, and it’s a tough decision to figure out which four of the five are going Dec. 4 at #20 Notre Dame NBCSN 7 p.m. Dec. 11 at #9 Penn State BTN+ 6 p.m. to go. We know three of them that are staples, but when you have the talent on four and five that we have, it’s Dec. 13 at #9 Penn State BTN+ TBD a good problem to have. When you’re playing all road games, that depth is going to come in handy there’s no Dec. 17 at #10 Ohio State TBD TBD doubt about it.” -Head coach Greg Powers Dec. 18 at #10 Ohio State TBD TBD • “We’ve never had a deeper forward group then what we have. It’s by far the deepest forward group we’ve had. The biggest question mark is how do we replace the minutes lost on the back end from Brinson (Pasichnuk) and (Josh) Maniscalco, and especially (Jacob) Semik who sits out game one with a suspension from the final Wisconsin game last year.