It's hard to believe it, but a month into the job, new ASU head hockey coach Dave Hakstol still has not stood behind the bench at home in Tempe.

That changes this weekend.

Arizona State will return to Mullett Arena for a weekend series against reigning national champion and NCHC foe, No. 4 Denver.

Hakstol is 3-1 since taking over, but how do the Devils stack up against the Pioneers?

Here is everything Dave Hakstol had to say in his Wednesday media availability:

Recap of Split Series at St. Cloud State

"What I thought, what we saw in real time, the win on Friday was a good, valuable win. I thought we played a better hockey game on Saturday night. We didn't get the results. It's the second night that is usually the toughest one to get if you're able to get the first one, and we weren't able to do that, so we'll take a lot of the building blocks out of the Saturday night game that I thought were really good, and then some areas that we want to improve on. Pretty limited practice time this week with a short week, but we'll take advantage of that and try to hit some of those areas."

Mindset vs. Reigning National Champion Denver

"Go win a hockey game, and we play Friday night. Prepare ourselves as well as we can. Be ready to go. I'm not big on the building process anymore. We had our opportunity (the bye week two weekends ago). We had our weekend off."

"Every night, there's three points on the line, right? So those points come and go. You don't get them. You don't get another shot at them. So right now we have to do things necessary for us as a team to go out and win games, regardless of who that is."

"Again, a ton of respect for Denver University, for what they've done. They're a hell of a hockey team, but we'll worry about ourselves. We'll have ourselves ready and prepared for the things that we're going to do well."

What Will You Work On In Your Second BYE Week, Following the Denver Series?

"I won't determine that until after the weekend. That's the way right now. My focus is on the weekend and what we need to do to prepare for games. We'll evaluate things late Sunday afternoon with the noon game on Sunday, and then we'll pick our pathway going into that weekend off."

Being Back in the NCHC and The Level of Competition

"Being in this conference, (it's) where every week is just another top team. I knew that when I left the league 12 years ago, and I think the league has gotten better since. I've been (learning) through the first two games. I'm gonna learn a little more about the league as we go through it, the first time or two."

"But like I said, every night in this league, it's hard, right? The team that we have coming in has had about as much success as anybody in the country over the past few years. They're extremely well coached. They've got a high level of skill. They don't do a lot of things that beat themselves. So they present a good challenge for us, and we should be excited for that."

What Are The Strengths of This ASU Team?

"That's a tough one to sum up in two or three areas. If you look at our performance on Friday night, specialty teams on the road were extremely important. So on the (PK) penalty kill side, we were organized, we were competitive, we got good goaltending. On the power play side, I thought our execution was good. We spent a ton of time in the zone, and we generated opportunities in different ways. So I thought those were real positives."

"Saturday night, we didn't get the results on the power play, but I thought it was outstanding. So we'll face a little tougher test this week in the PK that we'll face against Denver, but that's going to have to be a positive factor for us. Five-on-five, regardless of the situation of the game or regardless of momentum swings, we've been able to calm down on the bench, understand what the next shift needs, and go out and do that and push momentum back in the right direction. So those are going to be some of the factors that are really important for us in every game within this league."

Excitement To Finally Play at Home

"(I'm excited for) the whole experience. I've been in this building before. Watched games here. I've watched college games in this venue, and it's awesome. Fans are right on top of you, so it rips. I'm just looking forward to the excitement of getting home, and we've got to make sure we compartmentalize that a little bit. We've got to have a good focus on what we need to do to be successful. But no question, I'm going to enjoy the experience of the first game back here."

Hakstol will make his ASU Mullett Arena debut when the Sun Devils take on No. 4 Denver on Friday night and Sunday afternoon.