TEMPE –– “I connect so strongly with the team identity: blue collar, earn everything. I feel like that relates to my story and my career.”
At this second, TJ Semptimphelter is using excessive in the No. 1 spot between the pipes for the Arizona State males’s ice hockey crew. The sophomore goaltender completed four-straight highway begins to kickoff the 2022-23 season, together with 157 saves and his first-ever collegiate shutout.
But this time closing yr, Semptimphelter was once a rookie at Northeastern, using the bench in the back of Devon Levi, the Mike Richter award winner for many exceptional goaltender in faculty hockey. An elite goaltender in his personal proper, Semptimphelter performed 8 video games, profitable 4 for the Huskies closing season and incomes the Eberly Award for absolute best save proportion in The Beanpot; a event that hosts the 4 main Boston collegiate hockey groups. But Northeastern had their guy in Levi, so Semptimphelter determined to take his possibilities in the switch portal.
“My initial reaction when he went in (the transfer portal) was that he was THE number one priority,” mentioned head trainer Greg Powers. “I watched him in the Beanpot and immediately fell in love with his game. I love how he competes and how athletic he is in net. Then after getting to know him and speaking over Zoom and on the phone I knew deep down he was the guy who can help get this program to the next level in every way.”
“Coach Powers played a huge part in winning me over,” mentioned Semptimphelter. “Just his honesty and enthusiasm about the program. It also helped that I knew Timmy (Lovell), (Josh) Doan, and the twins (Ty and Dylan Jackson, also Northeastern transfers) who were all coming here so I felt comfortable making that transition.”
Semptimphelter had a phenomenal summer season operating with Liane Blyn, the director of sports activities efficiency at Sun Devil Athletics who specializes with the hockey program and helped him develop as a participant off of the ice. His first reviews round the training workforce helped him know he was once in the proper position to assist the program be successful this season.
“I was super excited when I spoke with Andrew Matheson and Powers about being able to get out here over the summer to start working out and preparing for the season,” Semptimphelter mentioned. “Coach Blyn has been awesome, she’s been helping me in the gym and staying mobile, it’s stuff we’re going to continue to do throughout the season.”
This summer season Semptimphelter won an invitation to attend the Toronto Maple Leaf’s building camp. NHL building camps supply avid gamers the likelihood to shuttle to NHL crew amenities and rinks and compete towards present skilled and fellow amateurs – striking foes and buddies on the ice in the similar sweaters. For Semptimphelter, the camp granted him a brand new imaginative and prescient and figuring out for the recreation – one extra simplified for high-pressure eventualities.
“The biggest thing that I took away from it was to see the culmination of very high-end players,” Semptimphelter mentioned. “As a goalie, I think it (playing with the best athletes in the sport) makes the game easier for me to make reads and understand what’s coming, but it was refreshing to have that experience coming into the season.”
There’s without a doubt that Semptimphelter is able to take the subsequent step to assist raise ASU Hockey to the subsequent stage.
“He’s not been good, he’s been great every day in practice,” mentioned Powers. “He’s a young man that just understands how much practice translates into the moment come game time. Everything about TJ embodies “Be The Tradition” and what we want out of our athletes.”
The New Jersey local was once named beginning goaltender towards then-No. 5 Minnesota Duluth to kick off the new season of Sun Devil Hockey the place he recorded 77 saves over a two-game stretch. The sophomore enjoys the demanding situations that include being a goaltender and appears ahead to how this season will play out since the transition to changing into a Sun Devil has been more straightforward than he may ever consider.
Together as a crew, Semptimphelter and the males he performs in the back of, set a trust that they are able to compete with any crew at any time. After 4 video games, there’s a sturdy trust that ASU can cross toe-to-toe with any collegiate hockey crew.
“It’s really refreshing and exciting to be on a team where day-in and day-out you’re always going to have a chance,” Semptimphelter mentioned. “That’s my job back there, to go in and give the guys a chance every night to come out with a win. Through those first four games, you can see that and it’s an exciting start for the rest of the season.”
Ever since he began to skate, Semptimphelter believes he was once destined to be a goalie. When he was once 3, he started taking part in skating courses and he by no means regarded again. He recalls his oldsters waking up early to cross to the hockey rink for practices and feels pleased with all the laborious paintings he is installed.
Semptimphelter’s paintings ethic is influenced by way of his oldsters and helped him develop into the individual that he’s nowadays. Former goaltender Brian Boucher, who performed 13 seasons in the NHL was once his adolescence goalie trainer rising up and an excellent affect in educating Semptimphelter how to be an excellent hockey participant.
“My parents played a huge role in not only the hockey player that I am today, but the person that I have developed into,” Semptimphelter mentioned. “Boucher was the coach of our team and being able to come to practice as a young kid every day and see one of your favorite NHL goalies as your coach, and getting advice from him was just tremendous for my development, it helped grow my love for the game.”
Since becoming a member of the crew over the summer season and making ready for the season, he is excited to be part of the first Sun Devil Hockey crew to play in Mullet Arena. He shared that he and the crew are able to display lovers what Sun Devil Hockey is in a position to after the program spent seven seasons at Oceanside Ice Arena. The house opener is ready to happen on Oct. 14 towards Colgate at 7 p.m. at Mullett Arena.
“We’re going to be moving into basically the Taj Mahal of college hockey rinks. I’m super excited, a lot of the guys on the team have told me and some of the other transfers about how incredible our fan base is, even when we were playing out of Oceanside, so I’m really excited to see how that carries over.”