Arizona Hockey Notebook: Examining the road ahead for ASU, the NHL, Valley youth hockey

Sun Devils begin first NCHC Tournament this weekend at Mullett Arena

Arizona State center Cullen Potter celebrates scoring a goal against Western Michigan on Feb. 22 at Mullett Arena. (Getty Images)

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The atmosphere at Mullett Arena for ASU's final regular season series against Western Michigan on Feb. 21 and 22 was playoff worthy. That was to be expected with the top two teams in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference standings squaring off with a conference title on the line. 

But then, that's the point.

ASU coach Greg Powers told me last summer that he felt an obligation to keep hockey alive in the Valley after the Coyotes relocated to Salt Lake City in May. The Sun Devils have delivered. 

With a win and an overtime loss in their final series at Omaha two weekends ago, coupled with other results this past weekend, ASU (19-13-2) secured the No. 2 seed for the upcoming NCHC Tournament. The Sun Devils are on the cusp of qualifying for their second NCAA Tournament in program history (they would have qualified in 2020, too, had Covid not canceled the tournament). 

The Valley has taken notice, and Mullett Arena remains the gathering place for the Valley's hockey community despite the loss of one tenant.

"I've been here for 17 years and if you go back to where we all started at Oceanside (Ice Arena), it was such a small barn with low ceilings [that] you couldn't hear the crowd at Oceanside because the noise went into the glass," Powers said. "Sometimes you still have to pinch yourself if you've been around this program for as long as I have. I had guys that I played with here who have never been to a game at Mullett and they were just blown away."

Aside from the noise, the Sun Devils are also enjoying a higher profile with the Coyotes gone. In the handful of ASU games I have covered this season, I have run into Coyotes fans, youth coaches, youth teams, former ASU players and coaches, NHL personnel, and Valley hockey icons such as Shane Doan, who attended that Western Michigan series to chat with a group of Maple Leafs scouts with whom he now works. 

"We have highlights on the local news now," Powers said. "We have games being broadcast locally. We've become the community's hockey team and you can feel it happening as the season gets deeper. 

"It takes time to build a passionate fan base, but we're there. You could feel it in that Denver series (Feb. 7-8) and you could feel it in that Western Michigan series. It was a different level of electric and that's the way it's going to be this weekend."

It has reminded me just how interconnected and vibrant the Valley hockey community is.

Critics of this market never really understood that because their knowledge of it was always superficial. Low attendance, bad Coyotes teams, bad market was as far as they ever got with their analysis — an analysis that never examined the factors behind poor attendance and poor performance — namely, a string of bad decisions by multiple ownership groups.

The fans are here. I know it. You know it. We have seen it when times are good.

I suspect more good times are ahead for Valley hockey fans and, like Powers, I made a promise to you when the Coyotes left. I promised I would help keep this hockey community connected. With that, I am introducing the first edition of the Arizona Hockey Notebook.

In this edition, I take a look at what lies ahead for ASU as the NCHC Tournament gets underway next weekend at Mullett. I'll also look at the future of the NHL in Arizona. And finally, I also caught up with Lyndsey Fry, co-founder of the Matt Shott Arizona Hockey Legacy Foundation, to get a read on the state of youth hockey almost one year after news broke that the Coyotes were leaving town.

Before I begin, I encourage everybody to hop onboard with ASU. Multiple scouts to whom I have spoken believe that freshman forward Cullen Potter is going to be a first-round pick, and two more highly touted recruits are on the way next season. 

The word is finally out to the college hockey community. ASU is a desirable place to play. With a state-of-the-art arena, a membership in what has been the nation's best conference over the past decade, and the best weather in the Division I ranks, the Sun Devils have secured a foothold in the college hockey world. Just as important, they have helped all of us deal with the loss of the Coyotes.

ASU forward Lukas Sillinger celebrates after scoring against Denver at Mullett Arena on February 7. (Getty Images)

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ASU chasing NCAA Tournament bid

Powers got a spate of calls and texts after Penn State upset Michigan in the first game of their Big Ten quarterfinal series this past weekend. Powers didn't mind. He understood the math behind the PairWise's sometimes opaque system.

With the Wolverines sitting at No. 14 after their two-game series loss to the Nittany Lions, No. 16 ASU has a very good chance of passing Michigan with a quarterfinal series win against Minnesota Duluth. A sweep would really help. But while the rest of us are focusing on the handful of teams around ASU in the PairWise, Powers is watching multiple results of the teams the Sun Devils have played, or the teams they hope to pass.

What Providence does in the Hockey East Tournament matters. What Cornell and Quinnipiac do in the ECAC playoffs matters. Wisconsin's near upset of Ohio State in the Big Ten quarterfinals would have afforded the Sun Devils an opportunity to pass the Buckeyes, while hoping that the Badgers didn't go and win the Big Ten title, thereby bumping a team above them in the PairWise. And if Minnesota State runs the table in the CCHA, the Mavericks will finish inside the top 16 and not bump someone, which is what the Atlantic Hockey Conference champion's automatic bid is sure to do.

"There's so many things that could still happen," Powers said. "All we can do is focus on the playoffs. So we're like, 'Let's go win a trophy and just take this into our own hands because we know we can. We know we're good enough. 

"We beat Denver three out of four times. We were 26 seconds away from a sweep in North Dakota. We took four out of six points against Western Michigan. We swept St. Cloud on the road. We've got a hell of a team and we're the healthiest we've been all year so let's just go win this thing."

Powers said at the start of the year that he thought ASU would need 20 regular-season wins and a first-round playoff series win to get into the tournament. ASU fell one win shy of the regular-season mark — it blew four leads in the final minute of a game this season — but the health of the team was certainly a factor with key forwards such as Artem Shlaine, Lukas Sillinger, Bennett Schimek, Charlie Schoen, Ty and Dylan Jackson, and Cruz Lucius all missing significant time. 

Benji Eckerle is the only player out of the ASU lineup as it heads to the postseason, so when the team gathered for a bonding exercise at Top Golf on Saturday, the vibe was loose and confident.

"We get a real postseason," Powers said. "We get a conference tournament for the first time in our history. This is what we wanted. The opportunity is still there."

Coyotes players salute the fans at Mullett Arena after their final game in the Valley on April 17, 2024. (Getty Images)

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When will the NHL return to the Valley?

My old PHNX colleague Leah Merrall sent me a video on Saturday with the caption: One year ago today.

Leah shot the video while the two of us were standing next to the glass at Mullett Arena, capturing the return of former Coyote and fellow Chicago native Christian Fischer in a Red Wings jersey. As many of you likely remember, Fischer regularly and unapologetically violates a cardinal Chicago rule by putting ketchup on his hot dogs (and everything else he eats.) Thus the bottle of ketchup I am holding up in the video.

It has been almost a year since any of us watched an NHL game live in the Valley, but it's moments like this that make me grateful for the quarter century of NHL coverage I was afforded in my career. It's amazing how many opportunities this game has provided me since I started following the Blackhawks and lacing up skates at age 6.

I am grateful I got to see Australia because of the NHL Global Series.

I am grateful for the network of colleagues, executives, agents, coaches and players that I have built.

I am grateful to get to know Nick Olczyk, the son of my former Pee Wee teammate, because he sits in the Utah broadcast booth building fantastic chemistry with Matt McConnell and reminding me how engaging and warm and hilarious the Olczyk family is throughout its generations.

I am grateful for the personalities I have come to know — most of whom I still talk to today — but I miss strengthening those relationships in person.

Coyotes fans suffered the ultimate indignity when the team relocated last spring, but I do not believe that move spelled the end of NHL hockey in the Valley. The NHL understands this market far better than the critics who say it should never get another team. The league knows it can succeed with the right ownership group and a new arena in the right location.

So when will the NHL return? You've probably heard some optimistic timelines elsewhere, but the truth is, it's too soon to say.

Almost two months ago, Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Tom Galvin announced his intent to form an advisory committee of political and business leaders dedicated to bringing the NHL back to the Phoenix metro area. I expect the head of that committee and other members to be announced sometime in May or early June.

I'm not going to get into all the particulars of why we have to wait until then, but it should be clear to all that the NHL does not like storylines that distract from the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Coyotes' relocation is an obvious exception, but again, don't expect further word soon.

As for what happens after that, it's the same old story. As I have reported numerous times, there are groups exploring bringing an expansion franchise back to the Valley. The league is aware of these groups. The first thing that has to happen however — one that NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly have emphasized — is the need for a new arena in a suitable location. There are locations that are absolutely being explored, but nothing is set in stone yet. Those organizing the hunt are still open to multiple potential locations and talks regarding those locations have taken place as recently as late February.

But keep something in mind when you hear these rosy projections for how quickly the NHL could return to the Valley. Just because a committee was formed to bring the NHL back to Arizona, and just because groups are exploring locations, that doesn't mean that the previous issues are gone.

I have also seen it suggested that because Galvin is supporting a return, Coyotes 2.0 finally has the political support it lacked in the past. That's an overstatement of the situation. Galvin has long supported the Coyotes. So have numerous other politicians with whom I have spoken. Political support alone won't get this done.

That said, if Galvin is able to, ahem, galvanize the Valley's political powers that be, that would be a major step in the right direction. Too many politicians merely shrugged at the thought of the Coyotes relocation in the past. Poor and dysfunctional ownership played a major role in their indifference — or even disgust — but the birth of the Utah Hockey Club was a reminder of what widespread political and community support can do for a franchise. Ryan Smith had everybody in the fold. The Valley needs a similar effort.

I don't know that I will have any updates on the future of the NHL in the Valley before that May/June date I outlined above, but if I do, this is where you can read them.

Getty Images

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Valley youth hockey going strong

Lyndsey Fry has a much greater priority these days, but it's not keeping her from pushing forward with the Matt Shott Arizona Hockey Legacy Foundation.

Fry and her wife, Emily, have a baby daughter, Eily (pronounced eye-lee), who is almost three months old. It won't be long before Eily is on skates — if Fry can help it.

"She's lots of fun and she's super cute," Fry said. "Every day feels like I'm just trying to run upstream, but it's wonderful."

With the Coyotes relocating nearly a year ago, Fry has been busy trying to keep youth hockey alive and kicking in Arizona. Without the financial support of the league and the team, that's a challenge. The Meruelo family donated an initial $2 million to what Fry has set as an eventual goal of endowing the foundation at $10 million. Utah captain and former Coyote Clayton Keller also donated $10,000.

"Endowments take a really long time to build, but we got a really nice kick start with the Meruelos giving us the initial money so we could just start operating," Fry said. "We're still in investment mode, really making sure that we're getting the right people in place — one, to run the programs, but two, to educate people about the programs. 

"We still walk into so many buildings and people are like, 'Wait, is this Little Howlers?' Shott's Tots is the replacement program to Little Howlers so we've really been focused on the educational piece; letting people know we're still here."

The efforts are paying off.

"We're on pace right now to have close to 500 kids go through the learn-to-play program," Fry said. "Normally under the Coyotes, we were averaging somewhere between 500 and 700 yearly. We were behind the 8-ball with the Shott Foundation, trying to get things up and running, so from our vantage point, everything that the Matt Shott Arizona Hockey Legacy Foundation was designed to do is happening. We are combating the challenge of keeping kids playing."

While Fry is still running the Arizona Kachinas program for girls, the Shott Foundation hired four full-time workers in the past year including a marketing director. Its part-time staff is active, it has a videographer, it has commercials running during Utah and Vegas games, and the foundation has already reached 2,000 school kids as it looks to grow the game.

The Foundation also recently partnered with the Arizona Amateur Hockey Association and the Arizona Community Foundation (ACF). 

"They've got just a giant pool of money from all of these different nonprofits that work with them and kind of house their assets so they're able to get pretty generous returns," Fry said of the ACF. "They're connecting us with people that specifically are looking to donate money."

There may not be NHL hockey in the Valley for the immediate future, but Fry is determined to keep the sport growing at the youth level.

"I really don't think there's anything quite like the Shott Foundation in any other non-NHL market; something that's running the ecosystem that we're running," Fry said. "We're running street clinics at schools every single week, just like we did with the Coyotes. Those are the kids that continue to get interested in learn-to-play programs.

"We've taken the expertise from our past experiences, we've put the infrastructure around them, and we're just letting the guys do exactly what they did before. And it's working, which is really cool!"

By doing so, Fry is keeping her promise to the late Matt Shott.

"When he was laying on his deathbed, my promise to Matt was that we'd keep his legacy going," Fry said. "I'm just following through."

If you have an idea for the Arizona Hockey Notebook, leave it in the comments or email me at: craigsmorgan@gmail.com

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