Doubleheader Delight

First off, some TYT news: I wasn't particularly fond of how I did the game recaps last year. If you're new here, basically, I'd watch both games of a weekend set, then try to write up my "weekend observations" (as I called it) sometime Saturday night or Sunday morning. A couple of problems with this approach:

1. Two separate games aren't always flowing with abundant common themes. If the Icers looked great in one game and horrible in the other (which seemed to happen a lot), I'd have no idea what to do. Do I take a positive or negative tone? Does it depend on larger context - how I usually tried to take it? I honestly have no idea.
2. I like doing things besides TYT. Frequently, these things happen on Saturday night. Often, I'd find myself showering during the first intermission of games, then walking the dog during the second so I could run out the door the second the game ended.
3. In light of #2, I'd find myself apologizing for late posts and thinking that I'm a horrible, horrible blogger for not even acknowledging that a game took place until Sunday evening in some cases.
4. I tried to tweet game updates, take notes for my posts and, you know, actually watch the game all at once. That's hard.

My brilliant antidote to most of this will come through live blogging, which will be the primary way I'll handle the games this year. Then, after they're over, I'll dress up the post with my score graphic, the links to recaps and the other extras customary on Weekend Observations posts (as they become available). When I'm not available to watch a game live, I'll suck it up and do it the old way. Unfortunately, most of you will probably find the women's game recaps sparse due to my out-of-state residence and the lack of an internet broadcast or other coverage beyond the Collegian (when they decide to write something) and the box scores on the ACHA site. Luckily, that issue largely goes away next season with the CHA-America One deal, and I'll keep my fingers crossed that the large amount of NCAA competition on the schedule this season alleviates the issue somehow as well.

With that out of the way, let's get on to the nuts and bolts of this weekend, a pretty exciting one as we get our first true public look at Transition Team 1.0 Friday at 6:30, followed by the Lady Icers home opener at 9:15 against Buffalo. The women follow up with an encore Saturday at 3:30. Steve and Barb Penstone are back for another season of outstanding UStream webcasts on the men's games, starting Friday and available here.

Justin Kirchhevel is about to be unleashed on the world outside of Alaska and South Dakota...so basically, the world.

On the men's side, the biggest story - other than the dire need for an adequate supply of roster cards - is the fact that Guy Gadowsky and his staff have stepped aside to do something more useful (recruiting) than the largely-for-the-fans Blue/White Game. In their place will be Icers alumni Mark Horgas and Rick O'Brien (notably, defenseman/human jackhammer Rich O'Brien's father) on one side and Cliff Graziano on the other. PennStateHockey.com had a nice three-way interview with the fill-in coaches this week, while View From the Booth checked in with the younger O'Brien to get his side of things.

After last Friday, one could hardly be blamed for wanting to see the Lady Icers in a more appropriate context against a fellow ACHA team, and against Buffalo, we'll get that chance. Last season, PSU topped the Freeze by 3-1 and 4-1 counts and in those games current Lady Icers Carly Szyszko (2), Katharine Gausseres, Allie Rothman, Denise Rohlik and Kirsten Evans all scored, while Katie Vaughan stopped 15 of 16 shots over 40 total minutes. They'll need more of that balanced effort to pick up the pair of wins that's come pretty regularly against UB in recent seasons, because things ratchet up again immediately afterward with a trip to NCAA Division III SUNY-Potsdam on October 21st and 22nd.

Vaughan and her teammates are expecting a bounce-back weekend.