The 2004-2005 Arizona Icecats' regular season comes to an end today and tomorrow at the Tucson Convention Center Arena with a series against No. 13 ASU.
This weekend's games, which start at 7:30 p.m. today and 7 p.m. tomorrow, are the last for six Icecats, including senior forward Shaun Brooks.
"I'm glad we're going out with ASU," he said. "It's such a big rivalry."
The Icecats (13-10-1) dominated their rivalry with ASU until the past two seasons.
Last season and this one are the only times in Icecat history the Sun Devils have won the season series.
The Sun Devils (17-5) swept in a tightly contested set of games Feb. 4-5, and the teams split their Dec. 3-4 matches. ASU beat the Icecats in their season-opening series Oct. 25-26.
Despite the edge ASU holds in this year's series, Icecats head coach Leo Golembiewski isn't taking it to heart.
"You can throw the record out the window when Arizona plays ASU," he said.
Senior forward Don Holtz agreed.
"We match up well with them," he said. "You can never rule out either team completely."
Holtz said that facing ASU at TCC is beneficial because the crowd rallies behind the Icecats for an ASU series more than any other.
Senior defenseman Mike Smith said he is ecstatic to get out on the ice for the last time as an Icecat, particularly against the Sun Devils.
"I love playing ASU. Those rivalry games just have a higher level, a higher level of preparation," he said.
Arizona's last appearance was against this Sun Devil team in a pair of losses in Tempe, one of which a 5-4 overtime decision.
The Icecats have had a nearly two-week layoff, thanks to an enforced forfeit last weekend by Texas Tech.
The Tech games were over before they started, thanks to the Aggies' violation of American Collegiate Hockey Association regulations.
Senior defenseman Keith Mitchell said the team would have preferred playing the two games in Lubbock, Texas, but now looks forward to playing ASU.
"It'd be good to go out with a win, but (the seniors) also want to get a win for the younger guys," he said. "It's good to come back after a win."
The Sun Devils have ample momentum coming into Tucson, having won four straight, including a sweep of No. 9 Weber State last weekend.
ASU will look to counter Arizona's seniors with a corps of underclassmen, including juniors Weston Pongracz and Ryan Esner and freshman Joe Ahern.
Arizona senior Bryan Aronchick, the first Icecat goalie to appear in more than 100 games, will mind the net for the last time. Opposite him for ASU is junior Colin Cook.