Jack Janes
| Cronkite News
ASU superfan explains how team supported him after his wife’s death
Arizona State football superfan Rudy Burgoz has been a Sun Devils fan for 66 years. He explains how the team supported him after his wife’s death.
Kyle Smolen and Bennett Schimek were named captains for the Arizona State hockey team.The team is motivated by the pain of narrowly missing the NCAA Tournament last season.Smolen and Schimek have been praised for their complementary “good cop, bad cop” leadership styles.
Arizona State junior forward Kyle Smolen missed the NCHC Frozen Faceoff in March due to an injury, but that wasn’t the pain he was going through when the Sun Devils’ hockey season ended.
Given that ASU was on the bubble of receiving a bid to the NCAA Tournament, the Sun Devils knew they needed to win the conference tournament to get in. When ASU ultimately fell to Denver in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff Semifinals, it ignited Smolen’s hunger for the 2025-26 season.
“I don’t want anyone to forget what we went through,” Smolen said. “I watched every single one of those guys come off the ice, and the pain and everything they went through.
“I don’t want that to be forgotten, just because it was over a couple months ago. I want all these new guys to understand what it felt like and to carry the same edge that all the guys that had to experience it, and witness it, felt because it’s something that we didn’t take lightly.”
His hunger is part of the reason why Smolen and senior forward Bennett Schimek were named captains of the Sun Devils, who are ranked No. 15 nationally despite dropping their first two games of the season to No. 4 Penn State. ASU hosts the Ice Breaker Tournament this weekend at Mullett Arena, with the Sun Devils playing Notre Dame on Friday, Oct. 10.
Both Smolen and Schimek played pivotal roles in ASU’s successful first season in the NCHC. Schimek notched 37 points in 35 games, while Smolen tallied 30 points in 35 games to help ASU get to the brink of a bid to the NCAA Tournament in a season when it was picked to finish eighth in the conference.
Four NCHC teams were ranked among the top 15 in 2025-26 preseason polls, including top-ranked Western Michigan, the defending national champion.
Schimek was a fixture in the top six of ASU’s lineup last year, playing an offensive game, and was a staple on the power play. Coach Greg Powers often referred to Smolen as a Swiss Army knife because of his ability to play a responsible 200-foot game on any line and in any situation.
Smolen and Schimek lead the Sun Devils on the ice, but they also lead by example away from the rink.
“I think (Schimek) and (Smolen) have done such a great job as our two captains, really bringing the team together and making them understand what our standard is here on the ice and off the ice,” Powers said.
Bringing the team together can be challenging at times, but it’s especially true in the age of the transfer portal with players moving around the league more frequently than ever. On this season’s roster, 15 of 28 players are newcomers. Still, they have bonded.
“I think it started ever since the summer,” Schimek said. “Guys are just hanging out nonstop on and off the ice. Nobody’s in a rush to get out of the rink every day. Everybody’s staying and hanging out, talking. I think it really pays dividends on and off the ice.”
Off the ice, Smolen said it’s easy to have team activities because there is so much to do in Arizona, whether it’s team dinners or trips to Golfland Sunsplash, which is a favorite in the locker room.
“We are very competitive at Golfland Mini Golf especially,” junior defenseman Anthony Dowd said. “Mini golf is huge. We play a lot of mini golf. Anything we do is competitive, even if it’s video games, Xbox or something, swimming in a pool, who can swim faster, that kind of stuff.”
Smolen also emphasized the importance of learning about the people on the team, not just the player. It’s something that he learned from the captains before him.
“From a standpoint of trying to get to know you on a personal level, like about you, your family, where you come from, what’s your history,” Smolen said. “That feeling of someone caring about you, to me, it went a long way and it helped me fully immerse myself into this program.
“So from my perspective, learning from those guys, truly getting to know these new guys, like not just what city they’re from, but like, how’s their family? What did they do growing up? What are the things they enjoy? Little things like that, that meant a lot to me. I know it means a lot to them.”
Another reason Smolen and Schimek are fit for the captaincy is because of their collaboration. The two bounce ideas off each other about how to get the most out of the players in the locker room to make sure they are on the same page.
“We have a little bit different personalities,” Schimek said. “So I think we’re a good balance for each other. I think working together and picking each other’s brains about what the best idea is in certain scenarios has been good for us so far.”
And the results have been immediate.
“I’ve had some really good captains, but these two have really set a new standard for leadership in every way,” Powers said. “You can sense it, how the guys are really dialed into everything we want to do and how we want to do it because of them.”
The two different personalities that Schimek mentions balance themselves out and open the door for more ways to express their message in the locker room. Schimek is soft-spoken. Smolen can be blunt. They create a dynamic that gives players different avenues to receive leadership.
“Good cop, bad cop,” said senior goaltender Connor Hasley, explaining the contrasting styles. “Smolen is going to come at you, and he’ll let you know, ‘Hey, you’ve got to do this, you’ve got to do that.’ (Schimek) is right there to be like, ‘Hey, you’ve got to do this, but I’ve got you.’ He picks you up, and obviously Smolen picks us up, too. It’s a great dynamic.”
Smolen realizes he’s the bad cop in the locker room. But it works for him and the team, and he smirks when he talks about the dynamic that he and Schimek have together.
“(Schimek’s) easier to approach than I am,” Smolen said. “I’m not so nice, he’s much nicer than I am, to be honest.”
The Sun Devils aim to build off a successful season in their first year in a conference. Although this will be one of the deepest rosters in ASU’s history, the team looks to its captains to lead the way.
“It starts with player leadership,” Powers said. “There’s only so much you can do as a coach. You can guide the ship and obviously set the standard. But at the end of the day, the players are the ones that have to live up to it.
“When you have such good human beings like (Smolen) and (Schimek) that are so bought into what we’re doing and what we’re trying to accomplish here to take the program to the next level and obviously win championships, it makes things a lot easier on us.”