The Rink Live

It is probably a stretch to think about bundling up and heading into a rink when outside the temperature is well into the triple digits, but such is life in hockey for Arizona State Sun Devils head coach Greg Powers in the midst of another blazing July in the desert.

In the past 12 months, after starting their trek into NCAA Division from a club program with no conference home and playing in a tiny off-campus rink, the Sun Devils have opened the sparkling new Mullett Arena. ASU just recently were accepted as the ninth member institution of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. Powers joined Mick Hatten and Jess Myers from The Rink Live to talk about the hurdles they have overcome and the challenges they will face playing in arguably college hockey's toughest league starting in the 2024-25 season.

Jimmy Schuldt just got done playing the longest hockey season of his career. The 28-year-old former St. Cloud State defenseman from Minnetonka played his last game on June 21. Game 7 of the Calder Cup Finals was the 97th game of the season for Schuldt, who played for the Coachella Valley Firebirds.

It was quite a season for the Firebirds, the AHL affiliate of the Seattle Kraken. The Firebirds are located in Thousand Palms, Calif., which is about a 25-minute drive from Palm Springs. It was the first season for the Firebirds, who began the season playing home games in Seattle.

Schuldt ended up having the best season of his pro career with 32 points and finishing tied for 13th in the AHL in plus/minus (plus-22) in 71 regular season games. He was recently named one of the AHL West's top defensive defensemen and signed a two-way contract with Seattle on Saturday.

But with that long season, Schuldt had to miss some big events for friends and family. His older brother, Joe, got married on the same day as Game 5 of the Calder Cup Finals. Former SCSU teammate Kevin Fitzgerald and former SCSU equipment manager Jeremiah Minkel both also had weddings that Schuldt had to miss due to hockey.

Schuldt discusses the ups and downs of the long season on this episode of the Huskies Hockey Insider podcast with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.

Any time the members of the Minnesota Wild — players, coaches, team staff, etc. — get on a plane, or check into a hotel room on the road, or take a bus to a visiting arena, or sit down for a team meal, you can bet that Andrew Heydt played a role in making it happen. As the person in charge of team services and the growing alumni association for the Wild as they approach a quarter-century as the State of Hockey's NHL team, Heydt spoke to Mick Hatten and Jess Myers of The Rink Live about the unique challenges of his position and the summer's biggest music/hockey event, a Crazy Game of Hockey, coming up in the Twin Cities.

University of Minnesota men's hockey coach Bob Motzko was watching the NHL Draft like most hockey people on Wednesday and Thursday. He got to see another of his Gopher recruits — Oliver Moore — get selected in the first round (19th overall, Chicago).

Motzko gives a scouting report on Moore, how he's coached several really good second-round picks recently, discusses how National Team Development Program players differ from other incoming players, Logan Cooley's volcanic competitiveness and more on The Rink Live podcast with Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.

Jaxon Castor truly has a unique story. His hockey career has taken him through some tremendous ups and downs and to several parts of the country.

Castor grew up in Phoenix, played about 1 1/2 seasons in the USHL for the Dubuque Fighting Saints, got traded to the Shreveport Mudbugs in the NAHL, committed to Arizona State but could not get in academically, played a season for the St. Cloud State club team and the last three seasons for the Huskies NCAA Division I team.

As a junior, he had a tough run through the postseason, filling in for David Hrenak, who missed the playoffs with pneumonia. Last season, he mostly shared the net with Dominic Basse before playing five excellent games in the postseason, helping the Huskies win the NCHC Frozen Faceoff and reach a regional championship game.

Then he made his pro debut with the Florida Everblades in the ECHL, got called up to help the Charlotte Checkers in the AHL and then returned to be on the roster for the Everblades, who won the Kelly Cup title as ECHL playoff champions.

We hear about the journey in this episode of the Huskies Hockey Insider podcast with Mick Hatten.

Sydney Wolf and Jordan McAlpine recap the NAHL draft, talk about some of the most recent news in the USHL including the announcement of a new commissioner, and discuss some of the newest commitments in girls hockey.

Patti Marshall recently signed a two-year contract to continue playing for the Minnesota Whitecaps in the Premier Hockey Federation.

Marshall, 25, played for the University of Minnesota from 2016-20 and then one season professionally in Sweden before returning to Minnesota to play for the Whitecaps and earn all-star status in each of the last two seasons.

Before playing in college, she played four seasons for Shattuck-St. Mary's (2012-16), played on the USA Under-18 team three times (2013-15) and played two seasons of high school hockey for Thief River Falls (2010-12).

Marshall is now in dental school at the University of Minnesota and she discusses how hockey ended up providing her interest in dentistry. She talks about her career on this episode of The Rink Live podcast with Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.

Former St. Cloud State forward Blake Winiecki recently completed his fifth pro season playing for the Florida Everblades in the ECHL. Winiecki, 29, helped the Everblades win their second straight playoff title by picking up nine goals and 15 points in 22 playoff games.

Winiecki talks about the team celebrating their title and how the Gulf of Mexico may have helped do a number on the trophy.

He also discusses getting to know former SCSU goalie Jaxon Castor and how he follows the Huskies these days.

Winiecki goes into a number of other topics, including being close friends with former Huskies Judd Peterson and Charlie Lindgren and a decision he will be making about his career in a couple months.

Winiecki, a former Lakeville North and Waterloo Black Hawk who played for the Huskies from 2014-18, discusses all this and more on the Huskies Hockey Insider podcast with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.

It was a whirlwind and the longest hockey season of Nick Perbix's career in 2022-23. He began the season with the Syracuse Crunch in the AHL, but quickly got a call up to the Tampa Bay Lightning due to an injury. He didn't go back to the AHL.

Perbix tells the story of finding out he was called up to the NHL as he was signing an apartment lease in Syracuse. There is also the story of how his parents ended up helping him make his NHL debut on the night that he did.

Perbix also talks about some similarities between Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper and St. Cloud State head coach Brett Larson, scoring his first NHL goal, playing for Team USA in the World Championships, his parents having some fun with his jersey, the game he was most nervous for and a lot more.

A really fun conversation with former St. Cloud State and Elk River defenseman Nick Perbix on the Huskies Hockey Insider podcast with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.