Three Stars: November 21-27

Cliff Benson (holding coat) is not broadcasting his status with The Second Mile at the moment.

3. Momentum building for Lady Icers program
(Centre Daily Times)

I think I have it figured out: the CDT will cover Penn State hockey, but only when they can get a PSU student to write the article for free/cheap. Regardless, the students do a great job of things.

2. The More Things Change...
(PSU Sports Blog by Lions Pride)

I'll admit to being intrigued when my favorite PSU merch store endeavored to write about hockey. But they lost me in the very first paragraph.

Yawn. Another Thanksgiving, another dominant season, another top ranking; it’s beginning to get boring waiting until March. The Penn State Icers (surprise, surprise) are the best team in the country as the 2011-2012 American Collegiate Hockey Association season begins to heat up.

I'm going to assume that they last checked in with the program in 2007.

There was more, including what I took as digs, or at least backhanded compliments, directed towards the ACHA legacy. Calling the Ice Pavilion a "dump," for example, is a right reserved for people who have set foot in it more than once.

1. Sabres Owner Says Penn State Scandal Is "Not About Covering Your Ass" Before Covering His Ass About Hiring Second Mile Board Member
(Deadspin)

Word to the wise, T-Pegs: before calling out "anyone who knew anything," check your own backyard. That includes friend and Buffalo Sabres employee Cliff Benson - Second Mile board member and "finance chair," whose role with the now-infamous charity was deleted from his sabres.com profile - as well as Pegula-backed Pennsylvania governor Tom Corbett, who has come under fire for his handling of the Sandusky scandal, both as the state's chief executive and in his previous role as attorney general.

I should make it clear that none of this, on its face, makes anyone guilty of anything, either legally or morally. However, Pegula's transparent attempt to position himself on the moral high ground, both with the university (as he seeks to acquire whatever influence he hasn't yet purchased) and the public, turned out to be a foolish venture. Once the facts are all on the table, if they ever are, we'll be able to assign white and black hats all by ourselves, despite not being billionaires.

Best of the Rest

Malvern Prep ice hockey to play La Salle at Citizens Bank Park as part of NHL's Winter Classic
(Delaware County Times)

The DCT has some additional information on the PSU-Neumann outdoor game, currently still in "everyone knows it's happening, we're just waiting for an announcement" status. Specifically, it's a night game. Layer up.

The Malvern Prep varsity ice hockey team will face off against La Salle College High School at Citizens Bank Park in January as part of the NHL's Annual Winter Classic festivities.

The Malvern-La Salle game will take place Jan. 4, at 5 p.m. at the ballpark, the home of the Philadelphia Phillies.

The game, being dubbed the first annual High School Holiday Classic, will be followed by a college contest between Neumann University and Penn State.

Gophers series at Michigan State a preview of Big Ten hockey
(1500espn.com)

Illinois and Penn State were always the most likely candidates to be the "next one" and when Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula handed his alma mater in State College a check for $88 million to build an on-campus rink, Nittany Lions hockey was on the way. From there it was only a matter of months before the Big Ten made the official announcement this past March that starting in the 2013-14 season, Minnesota, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State and Wisconsin would compete in for the conference crown on the ice.

Sorry Ohio State. Sorry that I'm not sorry, I mean.

On Twitter, players are in even more of a public eye
(USCHO)

Rachel Lenzi gets her hustle on with an important piece about the double-edged sword of my favorite social media network, as it relates to college hockey. Twitter is obviously a vital part of what I'm doing here, and believe me when I say I've been on both sides of things.

By the way, I'm cashing in whatever influence I may carry with you to highly recommend her blog, Into the Great Wide Open. It's not a hockey blog per se, but it's a life blog. You're all alive last I checked, so get on it.

By the way, part two: feel free to imagine me humming Tom Petty for the rest of this post.

Gadowsky building foundation for Penn State hockey

(Fairbanks Daily News-Miner)

If you thought Lions Pride was out of touch, the paper of Guy Gadowsky's former, former locale leads off with this gem.

Time is on Guy Gadowsky’s side.

The inaugural head coach of the Penn State University men’s hockey team has the luxury of having a year to build the NCAA Division I program in State College, Pa.

There are no interruptions of games or developing strategies for opponents.

Crap, I must be writing about the wrong team again.

ACHA - Penn State
(flamefans.com)

Mirroring Liberty's institutional lack of tolerance that makes for a rather ironic school nickname, I'm going to have to say that I'm not very tolerant of this entire message board thread. Penn State is indeed eligible for the Murdoch Cup this year. So is Liberty, although they might as well not be.

Nik Cvetinovic demands your audience.

A Study of Point Guards
(The Mid Majority)

Shameless plug for my first of several contributions this season for TMM, which is accepting reader-submitted recaps of college basketball games involving mid-major teams. This one covers Detroit at Akron from Saturday night.

I'll accept your scorn only after you understand that a) I didn't blow off a PSU hockey game to do it and b) I don't subscribe to the unwritten rule that says hockey people have to hate basketball. The NBA? Sure, I'm as upset as the next guy that the lockout ended. College basketball, however, is a great game. Especially mid-major college basketball. Furthermore Kyle Whelliston, the guy who's run the site since 2004 (but is now on "permanent sabbatical" from hauling all over the lower 48 to watch games), is one of my writing role models. If I ever become half as good as him, I'm quitting this and finding something where I can get paid to write.