TEMPE – It was 10 years ago when Joey Daccord sat in coach Greg Powers’ office at Oceanside Ice Arena while on an official visit to Arizona State. At the time, the Sun Devils hadn’t played a game of Division I hockey, and the rink they played at was far below Division I standards.
Daccord grew up in the Boston area and knew what a great college hockey program was supposed to look like. He could easily have been turned off by what he saw at Oceanside and looked for a school in the East, but Daccord was able to look beyond the dusty, cramped arena.
He saw the foundation Powers was building and the vision ASU had for what the Sun Devils hockey program could become.
While Daccord sat in Powers’ office that day, he remembers that the ASU coach ticked off a list of things that cemented the young goaltender’s decision to be a Sun Devils player.
“He was like, ‘You’re going to get a chance to get the net. You’re going to play in the NHL. And you’re going to be our first Sun Devil in the NHL, and one day we’re going to retire your jersey,’” Daccord said.
Lo and behold, those things all came true.
Before Friday night’s season opener against No. 5 Penn State, ASU honored its former goaltender by raising his number 35 into the rafters of Mullett Arena, the 5,000-seat facility that opened on the ASU campus in 2022.
“I’m just so grateful to (Powers), this university, to the athletic program, to be here tonight and have this moment and share it with my family and my friends,” Daccord said during the ceremony. “A bunch of my old teammates are here. It’s just so special, so cool.
“I’m incredibly grateful. I just feel so blessed tonight, and I feel really loved and appreciated. It means the world because this university means so much to me.”
Before beginning his career at ASU, Daccord was drafted in the 7th round, 199th overall, by the Ottawa Senators in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. Arizona State provided a great opportunity for him to play, develop and prepare for the professional game.
In his freshman year, Daccord got the net in 15 games. As a sophomore, he was the every day starter.
But it was Daccord’s junior season that was most memorable.
He started all 35 games for the Sun Devils in the net during the 2018-2019 season, posting a 2.35 goals against average, .926 save percentage and a 21-13-1 record.
He played a pivotal role in the Sun Devils’ run to the NCAA Tournament, the first in program history.
After ASU was eliminated from the tournament, Daccord packed his bags and made his NHL debut with the Senators.
He bounced between the NHL and AHL for a few years and was selected by the Seattle Kraken in the 2021 expansion draft. In the 2023-2024 season, Daccord finally broke out as a pro and was the Kraken’s starting goaltender, posting a 2.46 goals against average and .916 save percentage in 50 games played.
In the offseason after earning the starting job, the Kraken signed Daccord to a five-year $25 million contract.
One thing that has helped Daccord throughout his career is ASU’s mantra, “Be The Tradition.”
The mantra was a message to ASU’s players in the early days of Division I hockey because those players had a chance to set the standard for the waves of Sun Devils ahead. “Be The Tradition” is displayed on walls throughout Mullett Arena. It can be found all over the team’s facilities. It was even emblazoned on the custom jacket Daccord sported on the night of the ceremony.
“It’s the mantra for a reason,” Daccord said. “It’s going to stand forever because that’s what this entire program was built on, and it gave me the platform to achieve everything that I’ve ever wanted.”
Powers refers to Daccord as one of the founding fathers of ASU’s hockey program, and it’s because of those founding fathers that ASU has built one of the top hockey programs in the country.
Since Daccord left for professional hockey, the Sun Devils have produced another NHL player in Josh Doan, built the $137 million Mullett Arena, joined the National Collegiate Hockey Conference – one of the toughest conferences in college hockey – and has become a desirable destination for recruits.
“What we accomplished here, and the foundation that we set here, was something that was given to us as a blank slate,” Daccord said. “We basically could take it and mold it however we wanted to. And to now have seen that foundation set and to see where it is now, I mean, look at some of the amazing players out there that our team has now.
“You’re just going to see more and more guys make it to the NHL.”
Although Friday night was Daccord’s first time at an ASU game as a fan, he has remained close to the program. He texts with the coaching staff frequently and has visited the facilities in the past.
Daccord doesn’t feel like a former player. He feels he’s part of a family.
“It’s that sense of family that makes me feel so special and appreciated and loved by this school and by this program,” Daccord said. “Honestly, I feel like it’s my duty and my responsibility to give back as much as I can to this program.”
Daccord said that sense of family is the reason why he created Dac’s House and the Joey Daccord Community Impact Fund.
Dac’s House is a program that gives two or three families of kids fighting childhood cancer a suite at Mullett Arena for ASU hockey games.
“He’s the greatest ambassador for our program you could ask for,” Powers said. “He’s got a great story. He loves this place. He loves this institution, and I’m happy that he got to come back and see what he helped build. The environment, the crowd, the facility, everything.”
There is mutual respect between Daccord and Powers, and it pays off for both sides.
Given that the NHL season begins this week, the timing of the ceremony had to work out perfectly. The Kraken had practice at 10 a.m. the next day, and there’s no commercial flights that could get Daccord back to Seattle in time.
The only solution? Arizona State sent a private jet to pick him up and take him back in time for practice.
“With the help of our amazing donors here and the incredible athletic department, they were able to make it happen for me,” Daccord said. “If you come to Arizona State, you put the program first, you put the team first and the university first, the program and the university will take care of you.”
Daccord had to leave during the third period Friday night to get on his flight back to Seattle. But on his way out, he stopped by the student section to live the atmosphere, the arena and the hockey program that he helped build.
“Now to be looking at what’s been built here and the success that the program’s had, and feeling like I had a pretty big hand in that, means everything,” Daccord said. “I just feel lucky to be a part of it. I’m just so proud to be a Sun Devil, honestly, and see the success that the team’s having now.”
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