A text message changed everything.

Jack O’Brien was through his second season in the ECHL, chasing an AHL contract, when his uncle Jim O’Brien sent a casual text to a contact he’d made through youth hockey — Arizona State coach Greg Powers. The reply opened a door O’Brien didn’t know was still there.

“I just wanted to let you know that he’s considering going,” Jim recalled telling Powers. “Do you have any interest?”

Powers did.

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Now O’Brien, 23, is a Sun Devil. The backlash hit fast when ASU announced his commitment this week. Comments called it desperate. Others mocked the optics of a 23-year-old joining a college program.

“Be mad at the NCAA rules,” O’Brien said. “It’s just a bunch of noise. I’m not gonna be 28 — I can only be 25, turning 26, and my birthday’s in May so I wouldn’t even be playing.”

O’Brien finished last season with the Atlanta Gladiators, racking up 29 points in 37 games.

Unlike what many assumed, O’Brien won’t have four years of eligibility. The NCAA docked him two years for his time in the ECHL, leaving him with just two seasons in college hockey.

“That is the price he paid for playing two years in the ECHL,” Powers said. “I think the narrative is this is some sort of act of desperation for us to bring a player in and it’s anything but that. Jack O’Brien is a really good hockey player and a great human being that any program will be lucky to have.”

O’Brien spent five seasons with the Portland Winterhawks in the WHL, where a COVID-shortened year and a concussion derailed what had been a promising draft trajectory. When the ECHL became his next step, he thought college was simply off the table.

“I thought I kind of got hosed,” O’Brien said. “They made that rule change right at the beginning of my first year pro and then I signed a pro contract. That must mean I can't go to college, right?”

That changed when the NCAA clarified that players who had competed in the ECHL could retain college eligibility under certain conditions. By the time O’Brien was seriously weighing his options, eight programs were involved, including ASU.

The connection with the Sun Devils came through family — Jim had gotten to know Powers over years of youth hockey, their daughters having played on the same spring teams.

Once O’Brien visited ASU, it quickly stood out. The facilities, the sellout crowds, the energy around the program — it was different from what he’d seen in the ECHL.

“I was looking at videos of guys scoring and how electric the stadium looks,” O’Brien said. “I really like Greg and the coaching staff. I think their goals and morals align with mine.

“That area of Tempe, Scottsdale and Phoenix, that’s a pretty cool area to be at and it was definitely something I couldn’t turn down.”

ASU forward Jack Beck had gone through something similar last season after playing 36 games with the Wheeling Nailers in the ECHL. The two talked frequently during O’Brien’s decision process.

“He told me what it was like going pro and what the similarities are to college,” O’Brien said. “It definitely sounds like you get treated a lot better at ASU than you do at the ECHL.”

Powers pushed back firmly on the idea that signing O’Brien signals anything other than sound recruiting.

“It’s interesting how so many other college teams have players that played a little bit of pro hockey, but when ASU does it, it’s a much bigger deal,” Powers said.

ASU will enter the 2026-27 season with many new faces, and that now includes O’Brien. The Sun Devils lost several key contributors including Cullen Potter, Cruz Lucius and Bennett Schimek — to graduation and the transfer portal. Coming off a ninth-place finish in the NCHC, they’ll turn to O’Brien and others to help rebuild the roster.

“It’s a good opportunity for me to be seen at a school like ASU, and everyone I’ve met so far, everything I’ve seen so far is pretty top notch,” O’Brien said. “It’s been a pretty crazy time. I didn’t think I’d be in this situation, but I think it could be a really good opportunity for me and I want to go to ASU and help the team win.”

A few weeks ago, Noah Powell was playing professional hockey in front of thousands of fans in Lehigh Valley. Now he’s wrapping up finals at Arizona State.

The former ASU forward signed an entry-level contract (ELC) with the Philadelphia Flyers organization this spring and saw 16 games with the Phantoms down the stretch, a brief but telling preview of his professional future.

Before he heads back east for his first full season, Powell talked about the jump from college hockey, what surprised him about the pro game, and how life looks playing professional hockey with the Phantoms.

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Q: You signed your ELC with Philly pretty quickly after the season ended. Was that planned, or how did that come together?

Powell: “I had like an eight or nine day thing where I was just waiting, just because of the deadline and they had moving pieces for playoffs. I kind of just thought it would be the plan, and then it ended up working out. So I was just happy that I had the opportunity to go sign and then go to the AHL this season.”

Q: What was the jump from college to the AHL like?

Powell: “Cages come off and it’s a different brand of hockey. It’s more of a manly game where physicality matters more and there’s more at stake. Guys are right next to the NHL, one call-up away from living out their dream. People within the Flyers organization, my friends, family and coaches here believed I’d be a better pro than college player, just because of the nature and tenacity of the AHL and the NHL. I felt like my game blended in more there. I looked more comfortable. But it’s definitely a step up — everyone’s bigger, faster, stronger. We probably had 15 guys on our team that had played games in the NHL. Most guys at one point signed an entry-level contract. You’re battling against guys that were in your shoes 10 years ago, and now they have a decade of experience on you.”

Q: Did you lean on anyone in particular during those 16 games?

Powell: “A lot of the older guys like our captain, Lane Pederson. There were guys my age I’d been around before, like Oliver Bonk and Hunter McDonald, and just hanging out with them and seeing them again was cool. And then the veterans — Boris Katchouk, Philip Tomasino, Jacob Gaucher — they were all stand-up guys. It felt more like a teammate flow rather than older guys looking down at you because you’re a rookie.”

Q: Was there a “welcome to the AHL” moment for you?

Powell: “I’d played every game on like three hours of sleep my first weekend. We had three games, I’d traveled from the West Coast to the East Coast, had to do all the medical stuff, and by the time everything settled I was sleeping three hours a night. Middle of the second period of my second game, off a faceoff in the neutral zone, I run up and take a run at someone — I think it was Pickering — hit him flying into the wall. I’m thinking, alright, if you lay big hits in pro, someone’s coming knocking. I’m skating away and then I turn back around last second, and their captain, Phil Kemp, chased me down from the far blue line to the goal line with his gloves off. Big dude, like 6-4, 230 pounds, probably. Just started throwing haymakers. I could barely get my gloves off. I didn’t get hit. But that was definitely my welcome-to-pro moment. A lot of my teammates saw it and were dying. My coach at ASU texted me about it too.”

Q: Who was your main point of contact in the Philly organization?

Powell: “Riley Armstrong. He’s kind of the guy everyone goes to. He’s a big part of development camp, developing guys. If you need someone to talk to, have a question about hockey or anything else — you can go to him and he usually has a really good answer.”

Q: What do you think ASU did to set you up for this next stage?

Powell: “They really helped me get my foot in the door for pro. I was always told that for my long-term development, I needed to be physical, be an energy guy that’s hard to play against, and then score and do all the gritty stuff. They really hammered that down. Like hitting guys, little wall battles, faceoffs, just always getting in the mix. That translates to pro because, you know, you don’t want to play against someone like that when there’s 82 games in a season. Sunday at noon, Tuesday night, when the game isn’t as exciting, that kind of energy still brings buy-in.”

Q: What was Greg Powers’ impact on you this past season?

Powell: “Just really buying into my role. He said, hey, I need you to do this, it’s good for you long-term and it’s good for us. So I went in and did what he asked. At the end of the day I feel like I did a good job — obviously it didn’t go our way, but I did my part being physical and creating energy when I could.”

Q: What excites you about heading into next season with a full AHL year ahead?

Powell: “Just getting on the ice a bunch. I was in Philly after the AHL playoffs for a bit, after the NHL season too, before I had to head back for school. So I got a taste of the NHL, watched my first playoff game. It’s the coolest rink I’ve ever seen. Crazy fans. You don’t wear the wrong jersey in there. Guys are getting heckled in the penalty box. Getting that God’s-eye view of the entire landscape of the NHL, and then mixing that into training camp and seeing where it goes from there. I played 16 games in the AHL this year and that’s literally half a college season. Just being around was the biggest thing. I want to go back for development camp in the summer, soak everything in, so that when I get to training camp there’s not that emotional shock. I already had that shock 16 games ago.”

Q: Was there a “welcome to the pros” moment off the ice too?

Powell: “I went to the captain and asked where team meal was because I didn’t see it on the schedule. He said, this is pro, man. There’s no team meal. Just grab a group of buddies, find an Italian spot, call it a day. And then I got to the game the next day asking about team warm-up, and he’s like, there is no team warm-up — you just do what you have to do to get ready. There’s this sense of freedom. You have to be responsible with it, but you get to do what your body feels. I was super intimidated through my first seven games. By the end of the year I wasn’t — you’re getting into it with guys over who’s in and out of (sewer ball) and it’s just a great time.”

Well, this isn’t your typical post, but I thought I’d share it anyway.

Starting tomorrow, May 10, I’ll be in Tanzania for two weeks on a Catholic mission trip with Saint Paul’s Outreach. We return May 24. I’ll spare you the full backstory for now but I wanted to let you know where I’ll be and, more importantly, ask for help.

The travel alone is something else.

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Tomorrow starts with an early flight out of Phoenix at 6 a.m., landing at Newark at 1:48 p.m. From there, we meet up with the group and board an 8:45 p.m. flight out of New York to Lomé, Togo, on the western coast of Africa. That’s a 10-hour flight, and no, we don’t get off. It’s a refueling stop. Apparently the plane can’t carry enough fuel to make it across the entire continent in one shot. I don’t know enough about aviation to fully explain that, but I’m just going to trust the process.

From Togo, we cross the continent, which ends up being five hours to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where we’ll have about a two-hour layover before the final leg: a three-hour flight into Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s capital.

All in, we leave New York at 8:45 p.m. May 10 and touch down in Tanzania at 3:10 a.m. May 12. For context, the longest flight I’ve ever taken was Chicago to Phoenix.

I’ll be honest, I’m not entirely sure what to expect. I’ve never done anything like this before. I’ve never been to Africa. I’ve never been on a mission trip.

What I do know is that Tanzania is extraordinary. Mount Kilimanjaro. The Serengeti. The Indian Ocean coastline along Dar es Salaam. It’s the kind of place you see in documentaries and assume you’ll never actually get to. I’m still a little surprised I’m going.

So. Any advice?

I’ve already accepted that a movie marathon is happening. That’s non-negotiable and honestly the part I’m most looking forward to. Beyond that, I’m weighing my options.

Books are on the table. I packed a couple. Whether I’ll actually want to read somewhere over the Sahara at 40,000 feet is a different question entirely. I’ll figure that out when I get there.

I could also use this as an excuse to finally binge something. I’m not currently watching any shows, which means I’m going in with a completely open queue. Suggestions welcome.

And then there’s sleep, which brings me to the most important variable of this entire trip: seat selection. Window or aisle, and I think I’ve got a shot. Middle seat and I’m not confident I’ll get any sleep.

If you’ve done something like this before, I’d genuinely love to hear from you. Drop it in the comments or reply to this email. I’m all ears.

The hockey coverage will continue sometime this next week with a scheduled Q&A with Noah Powell. Thanks for reading something a little different.

Tim Lovell was sitting at home in Boston with nowhere to be. The 2024-25 season had started without him.

A year removed from a 37-point senior season at Arizona State, Lovell tried to make it work at Michigan the following season. It wasn’t the right fit. He left in November and waited, but AHL rosters were already set, contracts already signed and nobody was calling.

He was watching other guys who had finished below him in points sign NHL contracts. Despite having little to no options, he wasn’t going to wait anymore.

“I just was like, OK, I kind of just said, f*** it. I’m just gonna go over to Europe,” Lovell said.

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It was a decision born out of frustration, but it was also the only one that made sense. What followed took him from Finland to Germany and back to North America, through coaching changes and shrinking ice time. By the time Lovell returned to the U.S., he had burned through two countries and more uncertainty than most players see in a career.

He attended development camp with the Philadelphia Flyers and the New York Rangers main camp before landing with the Ontario Reign in the AHL. He then signed with the Greenville Swamp Rabbits, the ECHL affiliate of the Reign.

Nobody who watched him at ASU was surprised he found a way to stick. Least of all ASU coach Greg Powers, who coached him for three seasons in Tempe and still talks to him regularly.

“He’s one of the most unique players you’ll ever see play the game,” Powers said. “I think that coaches that appreciate what he is and that truly put it for Timmy, it’s all about the environment that he’s in — an environment with a coach who believes in him and lets him be him. He will shine.”

To understand how Lovell ended up in Europe, you have to understand what happened at ASU first — and more importantly, what didn’t happen.

Lovell had graduated, and a return to Tempe for a fifth year was never part of the plan for the 2024-25 season. As far back as January of his senior season, he and Powers had talked about turning pro, and both were on the same page. But with Lovell’s future still sorting itself out, Powers needed to fill his power play quarterback spot and couldn’t wait for an answer that wasn’t coming.

“It wasn’t really anything that had to do with ASU,” Powers said. “Timmy and I today still have an unbelievable relationship. We just had an honest conversation after the season. By the time Timmy knew what direction he had to go, all our spots were full.”

Lovell is firm on that point.

“I think everybody’s like, ‘Oh my God, why’d you leave ASU,’” Lovell said. “I’m like, I did not leave ASU. I graduated. I’m really, really good friends with Greg. That’s kind of the whole misreading by everybody.”

With ASU off the table, Michigan emerged as the top option. The program had a history of developing offensive defensemen such as Quinn Hughes and his younger brother, Luke Hughes.

Michigan’s schedule that season included a season opener against ASU, which meant Lovell would make his return to Arizona whether he wanted to or not.

“I literally didn’t want to play,” Lovell said. “People think, it must have been so cool. No, it wasn’t. It was cool in the fact that it showed how much respect I got. But I was really emotional, especially after the second game. Everybody was cheering for me at the end. It was kind of sad.”

After registering two points in 10 games in Ann Arbor, Lovell’s college days came to an end, leaving the university in November 2024.

“A lot of things just s*** the fan,” Lovell said. “I needed to get out of there. I just wasn’t being used right.”

Now, back home in Boston with no contract and a season already underway, Lovell’s options were narrowing. His agent was honest with him; nobody was really looking, at least not yet. Lovell was training alone, waiting on a break that wasn’t coming.

His younger brother, George Lovell, a committed ASU forward, had been watching it all unfold from a different stage of his own, in the BCHL at the time.

“He’s gone through a lot of it,” George said. “He just keeps pushing. He won’t quit. He’s gonna make something happen.”

Then his opportunity came. A team in Mikkeli, Finland, needed a defenseman. Lovell and his father, Tim Lovell Sr., flew to Helsinki to try out for Jukurit.

“We went to the airport, we rented a car, and we drove from Helsinki all the way up to Mikkeli, which was like, three and a half, four hours,” Lovell said. “And then got there for practice and basically, that was the tryout to even see if I would play games. They were kind of blown away. They were like, what the f*** is this? Those guys don’t even know what college is.”

After Lovell’s third game with Jukurit, he was offered a contract that night.

“(I) Played really well those three games,” Lovell said. “Didn’t have any points, but I played really well, and the coach loved me. So I was like, OK, this is great. I’m playing a lot back to myself, doing my thing. He’s like, ‘Hey, do you want to come back for the last game? Do you want to stay here for the rest of the year?’ He offered me to stay that night after the third game, and I agreed the next morning. He congratulated me before practice and then got fired 45 minutes later.”

A new coach came in with his own agenda and his own roster in mind.

“He’s like, ‘Hey, I know you just got from university or whatever.’ He’s like, and I just got here, but like, you’re on another tryout I just signed here. Like, he’s like, ‘Yeah, I know but, this is my team now, and I’m gonna do things now.’”

Lovell had a goal and an assist over his next three games, but his ice time dwindled, ultimately resulting in another change of scenery.

“I’m leaving,” Lovell said. “I don’t care that I scored tonight. I want to get out of here.”

Lovell planned on returning to the U.S., but a team in Germany called shortly after. Adler Mannheim, one of the top clubs in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, needed a depth defenseman and a power play option in case of injury. It wasn’t a starring role, but it was professional hockey in one of the best leagues in Europe. He went, but never appeared in a game before the season ended.

Lovell returned to North America in the spring with no contract, and by September had earned a look at the AHL level with the Reign before ultimately signing with the Swamp Rabbits in October.

Swamp Rabbits coach and general manager Chad Costello, who played professionally in Europe himself, believes the experience was more valuable than it might have looked from the outside.

“Germany is known as a league that is most like North America, other than the size of the rink,” Costello said. “Mannheim, where he was, that’s one of the top teams. Just being there in that atmosphere, on a championship-caliber team with a lot of NHL-based players — that’d be a good experience for him.”

His former ASU teammate Matthew Kopperud watched all of it from afar with something close to disbelief.

“To go play in Finland when you leave college — that’s got to be almost damn near impossible,” Kopperud said. “To go live in a whole new country, let alone Finland, where their language is like their own. Survive there for a bit, and then go to Germany. He went to two very tough spots right away. But he won’t quit. He’s gonna make something happen.”

Greenville wasn’t the destination he had in mind but it was a chance at professional hockey.

“The guy who got me the look at the AHL level — I was like, you know what, you got me that look,” Lovell said. “So I’ll just sign with Greenville and hopefully they bring me up.”

What Costello saw on the ice matched everything he had heard. Lovell played every single game of his rookie season, posted 30-plus points and was, by Costello’s estimation, just getting started.

“He’s just scraping the surface,” Costello said. “Pro hockey is different, especially at our level — your teammates change every day, guys going up, guys going down. For him to have 30-plus points as a rookie his size, that’s saying a lot. I think next year he’s looking at a 50, 60-point season. And if you have 50, 60 points in this division as a defenseman, you’re getting looks and moving on.”

Kopperud, who skates with Lovell in the summers, doesn’t think the ceiling is far off either.

“His skating, his passing, his thinking ability — it’s all way ahead of everyone else’s,” Kopperud said. “If he gets a good opportunity somewhere, he’ll dominate. You saw it at ASU. He’s a ballerina on the ice.”

The path took him from Ann Arbor to Finland to Germany and eventually to Greenville, each stop carrying its own set of obstacles and setbacks.

After everything he has been through in the span of two years, the only thing that hasn’t changed is where he wants to go.

“It was a great year, a lot of fun,” Lovell said. “I think I’m just getting started.”

When the Arizona Coyotes relocated to Salt Lake City ahead of the 2024-25 season, there were concerns that hockey’s growth in the state might slow or stall altogether.

Without an NHL franchise anchoring the sport in the desert, many feared the momentum would fade. Instead, through the sixth annual Skatin’ For Leighton, Lyndsey Fry, the president and co-founder of the Arizona Kachinas, has made sure it hasn’t.

“Leighton’s mom, Carly, as soon as the team announced they were leaving, one of the first things she said to me was, ‘What happens to Skatin’ For Leighton?’” Fry said. “I said, ‘I promise you, we’re gonna make it bigger and better.’ Just because the team’s leaving, that’s not going to change anything about the event, and it hasn’t.”

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Leighton Accardo was 9 years old when she passed away on Nov. 24, 2020, after an 18-month battle with stage 4 cancer. An Arizona Coyotes fan and hockey player, she had captured the hearts of the Arizona sports community and the broader NHL world.

Three months after her death, Fry launched Skatin’ For Leighton with a 96-mile skate across the valley to raise awareness and funds for the Leighton Accardo Memorial Fund.

The event sold 675 tickets and raised more than $80,000 at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. For Jeremy Accardo, Leighton’s father and the pitching coach at Arizona State, that number means everything.

“When you have a kid that passes away, your biggest fear is that they’re going to be forgotten, that the light’s going to fade,” Jeremy said. “It’s stuff like this that keeps that light burning, and burning brighter. It’s incredibly important to us as a family, and I think it’s even more important to the girls and the youth that it affects.”

This year’s event folded in the Kachinas’ end-of-year awards celebration, keeping families engaged longer and making the day feel less like a fundraiser and more like a block party.

“We wanted it to feel like a party,” Fry said. “We wanted to feel like there’s 600 people in here because that’s ultimately what we have.”

ASU’s Logan Morrell, Lincoln Kuehne and Ben Kevan skated alongside young girls in Kachinas jerseys. Morrell grew up skating in Gilbert as a teenager, the same community where the Accardo family lives.

“Growing up in Gilbert, to see how far they’ve helped grow the game in Arizona, it’s been really cool being part of,” Morrell said.

For Kevan, seeing a community full of girls who love the game carried its own weight.

“It reminds me of my little sister,” Kevan said. “It’s nice seeing there are a bunch of others out here really loving this game.”

Though former Coyotes players, now-Utah Mammoth players, Clayton Keller, Lawson Crouse and Dylan Guenther couldn’t attend, all three in the playoffs, their presence was still felt through a silent auction that also featured jerseys from Jack Hughes, Quinn Hughes, Macklin Celebrini and Alex Ovechkin.

Carly Accardo, Leighton’s mother, said Crouse’s wife, Claire, texted her the morning of the event.

“She just said, ‘I hope it’s a great day. We’re thinking about you guys,’” Carly said. “They’re very genuine. We’ve appreciated their support.”

For Carly, the crowd circling Salt River Fields at Talking Stick pointed back to one thing.

“It means Leighton impacted a lot of people,” Carly said. “She touched a lot of lives. And we have a lot of people here committed to keeping her memory alive, just as much as we are.”

The Kachinas now field 18 teams and more than 200 girls. At least one family per team receives support annually through the fund. The goal hasn’t changed: make sure no girl in Arizona misses the sport because of money. Each year, Carly sets a fundraising target of $49,000.

“The fundraiser doesn’t go to cancer research like a lot of fundraisers do,” Fry said. “Mostly because we wanted to make sure Leighton was remembered for what she loved, not what took her life.

“If you have 20 or 30 kids that can’t afford to play, that starts to impact all your other teams because now you can’t fill your roster. It’s a whole ecosystem.”

There are rumblings the event may eventually expand to other states. Jeremy said the beauty of it is that it largely runs itself, a committee of Kachinas parents who start planning the next year before the current one ends.

“I can’t take credit for much except raising a wonderful daughter and going through what we went through,” Jeremy said. “But every time this thing ends, the next year’s thoughts and ideas start coming.”

The Coyotes may be gone. But in Arizona, the game goes on and a little girl named Leighton has something to do with that.

“She’s a big part of growing the game here and introducing girls to the sport,” Carly said. “It makes me really proud.”

Youth hockey has been Bliss Littler’s world for as long as he can remember, spending decades developing players at nearly every level of the game. His experience spans the USHL, NAHL, BCHL and WHL.

But for all that experience, he knew when to step back. When his son Cade Littler entered the transfer portal, the decision was his alone.

“Cade’s 21 years old, he’s a young man,” Bliss said. “Coach Powers has always believed in Cade and I think that’s what he’s looking for right now is a chance to take a bigger role. I think he has a big chip on his shoulder right now.”

The connection to Arizona State runs deeper than just the portal. Littler’s ties to the state date back to his early teenage years, long before college hockey was even part of the conversation. As a 14-year-old playing weekend hockey in Wenatchee, Wash., Littler attended a USA Hockey West Regional camp where he crossed paths with players from Arizona.

Despite being drafted by Cedar Rapids RoughRiders in the USHL, the COVID-19 shutdown halted the league and forced Littler to pivot. He then spent a full season with the Junior Coyotes, living in Arizona, strengthening his ties to the state, before later heading back to Wenatchee to suit up for the Wenatchee Wild in the BCHL—the same program where his father, Bliss, served as general manager.

But it was during his time in Arizona that he first crossed paths with ASU head coach Greg Powers, planting the seed that would eventually bring the Calgary Flames’ 2022 seventh-round draft pick back to the desert.

“We recruited Cade a little bit prior to him committing to North Dakota,” Powers said. “My relationship was mainly with his family because I actually coached his sister on some summer select teams with my daughter. His dad, Bliss, is a junior hockey legend and an unbelievable person, so we know Cade comes from really good stock.”

Littler arrived at North Dakota in 2024-25 as former Fighting Hawks head coach Brad Berry’s recruit. When Berry was replaced by current North Dakota head coach Dane Jackson in 2025-26, things changed.

For a player who believed he had more to give, he ultimately entered the transfer portal.

“I wanted to do more,” Littler said. “To have the opportunity to be out there more. But I also think, for me, points is not everything. That’s not really my game. I impact the game in a lot of other ways than just points. It’s more like, how much can you impact the game in other ways?”

Brad Elliott Schlossman, a college hockey beat writer for the Grand Forks Herald, covered Littler closely during his two seasons at North Dakota. He was not surprised to see him in the portal and believes the move to ASU could unlock a different level of play from a player whose best hockey may still be ahead of him.

“A lot of times guys like him who are bigger and stronger, it takes them a little longer in college hockey than some of the smaller guys,” Schlossman said. “And sometimes those are the guys that pop as upperclassmen.”

Schlossman also points to Littler’s size and reach as what makes him difficult to play against on both ends of the ice.

“He’s really big and rangy, long arms and a long stick and he uses that really well to disrupt plays,” Schlossman said. “Even if he’s a half step behind a guy he can knock the puck off his stick. As a freshman he was one of their leaders in plus-minus. Other kids just did not score a lot when he was on the ice.”

When Littler was recruited to ASU this time, Powers was straightforward.

“We didn’t have a good year and when you don’t have a good year people forget that a year ago we almost won the damn league,” Powers said. “I made changes. We’re fixing every area we wanted to fix and we’re not done.”

That energy was not lost on Littler.

“Anytime a player transfers I feel like there’s probably a chip on their shoulder,” Littler said. “But I also think it kind of matches up with ASU too, with how their season went last year. When I was down there you could definitely tell he (Powers) had a chip on his shoulder. I think it’s kind of mutual.”

Powers has been aggressive in reshaping the Sun Devils’ roster, bringing in 10 transfers along with six or seven freshmen heading into 2026-27.

Littler figures to slot into a top-six center role and Powers is counting on him to be a central piece of next season's roster.

“What I really like most about him is he always seems to produce and make things happen in big moments,” Powers said. “I think with Cade there is a player that you win with and he’ll be given the opportunity to play pretty much every situation. I think if he knows he’s believed in he will excel at a very high level.”

Littler has what he was looking for and now he has something to prove. At ASU he will get every chance to do that.

“I loved it there,” Littler said. “It definitely is kind of a draw to come back. I knew Powers when I was down there, so I had that connection there. I’m excited to come back.

“You have a chance to do stuff that’s never been done before as a player, but also as a team. I think we’re going to be a good team. I think we’re going to surprise a lot of people.”

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College hockey is evolving.

More than 200 players entered the transfer portal April 13 when it opened, reshaping rosters across the country overnight. Arizona State was no exception, losing 10 players to the portal.

“It is what it is,” ASU head coach Greg Powers said. “It is just the landscape. More teams are going through it than teams that are not.”

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This page will track ASU players who have entered the transfer portal and where they have committed. It will also have commitments ASU has received.

I will update with any new names as we inch closer to April 28, the final day the portal is open.

Departures:

F Sam Alfano (7-11-18, Maine)

D Brasen Boser (2-5-7, North Dakota)

F Carmelo Crandell (7-5-12, Colorado College)

D Sam Court (1-5-6, Minnesota State)

D Anthony Dowd (0-4-4, Massachusetts Lowell)

D Justin Kipkie (4-9-13, St. Thomas, MIN 5th)

D Joel Kjellberg (2-9-11, Northeastern)

F Ty Nash (5-5-10, uncommitted)

F Cullen Potter (12-14-26, Michigan State, CGY 1st)

D Austin Zemlak (0-0-0, Ferris State)

Arrivals:

F Nic Chin-Degraves (3-6-9, Penn State)

D Hunter Hady (0-1-1, Michigan)

F Olivier Houde (13-15-28, Lindenwood)

G Sam Hillebrandt (4-8-0, 3.76, .870, Ohio State)

F Cade Littler (5-8-13, North Dakota, CGY 7th)

D Matthew Mayich (7-8-15, Clarkson, STL 6th)

F Ben Muthersbaugh (19-17-36, Union)

D Filip Nordberg (0-7-7, Merrimack, OTT 2nd)

F Daniel Shlaine (5-5-10, Minnesota Duluth)

D Rylan Brown (0-1-1, Michigan Tech)

Committed freshman:

F Michael Barron (18-50-68, USHL)

F Nathan Behm (38-48-86, WHL, CHI 3rd)

F Ryder Betzold (15-27-42, USHL)

G Marko Bilic (9-2-0, 3.16, .892, NAHL)

F Brandon Gorzynski (27-42-69, WHL, DAL 4th)

F Landon Hafele (15-27-42, WHL)

F Dylan Krayer (23-40-63, BCHL)

D Noah Lapointe (6-3-9, USHL)

F George Lovell (2-2-4, USHL)

F Bryce Mattern (8-8-16, USHL)

F Teddy Merrill (30-30-60, USHL)

F Lukas Sawchyn (27-61-88, WHL)

D Jack Willson (12-35-47, USHL)

D Jonas Woo (29-57-86, WHL)

The college hockey transfer portal opened Monday, April 13, opening up a 15-day window for players to transfer.

By 9 a.m., over 150 players were confirmed to have entered. By the end of the day, that number had surpassed 250. For Arizona State, which is coming off a last-place finish in the NCHC, the portal brought significant change. A total of 10 Sun Devils entered, including the team’s top player, Cullen Potter.

But for ASU forward Jack Beck, it was just outside noise.

“It was a no brainer for me,” Beck said. “I love ASU, everything about it. I want to help ASU become a huge powerhouse school, which I think they will and I already think we are. I genuinely do think this is the best place in college hockey to play. I’m loyal to ASU and I’m a man of my word.”

Beck’s path to ASU is unlike most. He came through a landmark NCAA rule change that took effect Aug. 1, 2025, opening the door for former Canadian Hockey League players, previously barred from NCAA competition, to pursue college hockey for the first time. Former pro players whose earnings fell below the NCAA’s threshold for actual and necessary expenses were granted eligibility — and Beck was one of them.

Part of what made the decision so easy was the family ties that brought him to Tempe in the first place. His brother, Noah Beck, played for ASU during the 2024-25 season before signing a professional contract with the San Jose Sharks.

“They treated my family and my brother like gold,” Beck said. “I mean, my brother got an NHL deal and obviously that's my goal one day, to get one out of here and follow in his footsteps.”

But family wasn’t the only reason it was easy to stay.

“The facilities we have are the best,” Beck said. “We sell out every night. We have NHL ice. Our coaching staff is unreal. You see they always get the best out of players. And being in warm weather, you can go golf and do whatever you want. We have so much around Tempe. You can go to Scottsdale for nice dinners — you just have everything here.

“We're in the best conference in college hockey. Six out of the eight championships are all from NCHC teams. Why wouldn't you want to play in the best conference in college hockey? I wish I got to play more last year. But I definitely owe them in more ways than one and I would never leave this school."

Noah, now playing professionally for the San Jose Barracuda, the Sharks’ AHL affiliate, sees what ASU did for him reflected in what it is doing for his younger brother.

“I tell everyone how amazing it was, the coaching staff (is) unreal and to see him do that now and get that opportunity is unreal,” Noah said. “Powers helped the whole coaching staff and just being able to wake up every day too and head to the rink in that weather is nice. It's easier to get up and want to go to the rink when it’s warm.”

For Noah, the case for ASU is simple.

“To be a part of something new and and want to sort of build it and and be one of the first teams to win and really be that tradition, like we always talk about,” Noah said. “They’ve done a great job of moving players on to the next level.”

The journey to this point has not been easy for Beck. He suffered a lower body injury in early January, one that would put him in the stands for the remainder of the season.

“It’s been probably almost four months now,” Beck said. “I go to physio three times a week and we do tests on it and everything. I didn’t have any pain when I was shooting. I haven’t had any setbacks yet, so I’m pretty happy.”

The commitment from Beck, injured or not, has not gone unnoticed by head coach Greg Powers.

“We have a great relationship, I think that has a lot to do with it,” Powers said. “He didn't have the season that he set out to have because of his injury. But his brother had an unbelievable experience and a ton of success here. He wants to experience that. He wants to be a catalyst to making that happen.

“Jack has also played pro hockey, American Hockey League level, East Coast Hockey League level — and he understands that the players here have it better. We didn’t have a good season last year, and we’re going to attack this offseason with a ton of vigor. He’s leading the way and he wants to be part of the solution, to get it fixed and be a part of a resurgence next year.”

For Powers, Beck embodies what it means to “Be The Tradition,” a motto that has followed ASU since its days at Oceanside Ice Arena.

“He's going to be a leader for us next year,” Powers said. “He's already a leader right now. He's not here because of NIL, he's not here because of any other reason other than he wants to play hockey at Arizona State.”

Beck and the core, which includes Kyle Smolen, Logan Morrell, Samuel Urban and others, have been working out at the facilities every day, patiently waiting for the season to come to them.

“We’re all still working out every day and having fun together and talking,” Beck said. “So we’re all just kind of wanting to get the season started.”

The transfer portal remains open until April 28 and the Sun Devils already have a wave of incoming transfers and freshmen on the way.

For Beck, the new pieces only add to what he already believes — that ASU is closer than people think and that the future of ASU hockey is brighter than the outside picture paints.

“I want to help this team win the NCHC and help ASU become a huge powerhouse school,” Beck said. “I want to bring a national championship to Arizona State.”

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At the conclusion of my sophomore year at Arizona State University and my first semester at Cronkite News, where I had covered ASU hockey and the general hockey scene in Arizona, I had options as to what I could do with my summer.

I could search for an internship and slap it onto my résumé. There was some interesting stuff out there and I did think about it, but nothing really came to fruition.

Other opportunities were on the table as well, but nothing panned out.

That is when I joked with one of many amazing professors at Cronkite, Craig Morgan, that I could write for his site, AZ Hockey Insider. He cannot cover ASU hockey because he is employed by ASU. The thought intrigued me and it was not until I got home that afternoon that I actually started digging.

One thing led to another and I found myself in a rabbit hole of YouTube videos on how to make a Substack successful. I lost count of how many times those videos said to find your niche.

Well, my niche is hockey. It has been that way since my dad took me to an Arizona Coyotes game for my birthday in 2015. At the time, I didn’t know what that meant, for a large part it was just being a fan and watching the games after school.

Since then, I have covered the Sun Devils and the Vegas Golden Knights and Henderson Silver Knights for the past three years at The Hockey Writers. Now I am here — trying to do the exact same thing, except not for a company.

This time I am doing it because I don’t know what else I’d be doing. I cannot see a world where I am not covering the Sun Devils.

That was one of the main things that drew me to ASU in the first place — the opportunity to cover a NCAA Division I hockey program in my backyard. Who wouldn’t want to?

That is what you can expect here at Valley Sun Hockey. Stories around the Sun Devils and everything college hockey related, with occasional coverage of the broader state of hockey in Arizona.

Stories no one else is telling — that is the goal and that is what you, the readers, should expect from Valley Sun Hockey going forward.

Feature stories, in-depth pieces and of course some fun content here and there. That is the freedom of being an independent writer and I plan on taking full advantage of it.

Where this goes, I am not sure. I plan on giving it my best and seeing where the adventure takes me. It could be a big fail and my ego will be crushed or I’ll be the next Albert Einstein. Just kidding… but I am excited to see where this will end up.

As of now, I do not plan on charging for articles. I am not in a position to do that quite yet, and frankly, I do not think you should have to pay until I have earned it.

Down the line, if Valley Sun Hockey finds its audience and it makes sense, that is something I may consider. For now, we will see where this goes and if the training wheels come off eventually, we’ll go from there.

In the meantime, consider subscribing. It is free and you will get weekly content on the Sun Devils during a tumultuous time in college hockey — whether the transfer portal, NIL or anything else that irritates you as much as it irritates me, you will find it at Valley Sun Hockey.

Until then, let’s ride.