3. Blasting to begin at new ice arena site; disturbance to be minimal
(Penn State Live)
I'm starting to regret my life choices now that I know there are people out there who create explosions for the purpose of setting up an ice arena's foundation. Regardless, blasting began today and will continue for approximately six weeks.
2. Kerr Commits to Penn State
(College Hockey Inc.)
The biggest casualty of my breaking the TYT hard drive after an Ice Lions game on February 11th was the usual commit post on Team Comcast d-man Kevin Kerr. Fortunately,
1. @VinnieChant
(Twitter)
I could have gone a lot of different routes in handing THON first star this week - the fantastic routines of both the men's and women's teams at Saturday night's pep rally, your garden-variety photo of a colorfully packed Bryce Jordan Center or, of course, the eye-popping final count of $10,686,924.83. Sometimes, though, the smaller moments have more impact - like when Icers forward Josh Daley played catch with Colton, the team's THON child.
Best of the Rest
@TYTBlog
(Twitter)
In terms of promotional impact, getting on the local telecast of a Lake Erie Monsters-Rochester Americans AHL game isn't really the pinnacle of...well, anything. Still, it's pretty cool.
PSU Hockey Eligibility Matrix
(Google Documents)
Friend of TYT Andrew Dzurita (of Lions 247 fame) has attempted to put together an eligibility matrix for the men's program, including current players and recruits entering in 2012, 2013 and 2014. Spoiler alert: things are getting packed quite tightly, with surely more players to follow.
Building has started on Penn State hockey rink
(philly.com)
A well-done article by an outlet with a large readership means some nice publicity. Works for me.
 |
| Mercyhurst senior Jill Szandzik, a refugee from Wayne State's defunct program, scored the first two goals in the Lakers' 3-0 win over Robert Morris to clinch first place in the CHA. |
Mercyhurst women clinch 10th straight CHA regular-season title
(goerie.com)
The Lakers held off a strong challenge from Robert Morris and have now stood as the CHA's hegemon for an entire decade. MU will try to match that regular season run with a tenth consecutive tournament title on March 2nd and 3rd at RMU.
Time running short for MSUM hockey decision
(WDAY)
Minnesota State-Moorhead is still trying to start a DI hockey program and still doesn't have enough money to do so. A completely meaningless, self-imposed deadline will likely pass at the end of the month, at which time MSUM will either give up or create a new fake deadline. Enthralling, yes?
Should Kansas Add Division One Ice Hockey?
(Rock Chalk Talk)
No. Stop it.
Kansas would be ok. Apparently Kansas, like Wisconsin, has in state reciprocity with Minnesota, so a lot of kids from the Twin Cities go there now.
ReplyDeleteStill, Illinois makes more sense. Illinois and Northwestern.
I'd love to see Illinois, Northwestern, Indiana and Iowa add varsity hockey. A 10 school B1G conference would be awesome. That would leave Nebraska and Purdue. I think it's possible to also get them involved in my lifetime.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Kansas would add Hockey to become more attractive to the B1G when the next round of realignment comes around.
It's so rare for hockey to be anything resembling a revenue sport that I'm not sure a program would make an otherwise unattractive school any more attractive. As for the current Big Ten schools, I think Nebraska, Illinois and Iowa will go first. Nebraska's gotten a ton of buzz because of their coming arena and location in the USHL's footprint, although administration seems to be a little hesitant since another school in the system (UNO, obviously) has DI hockey. Illinois would be a great add...I tallied up the home states of DI players a while back, and I think (going from memory) it went MN, MI, NY, MA and then Illinois, a state that has no DI program. I think they'd be wise to add it, although as with most hopefuls, Title IX and the (lack of a) facility (meaning, of course, money) stand in the way.
ReplyDeleteIMO, Northwestern and Purdue will be the last two Big Ten schools to add hockey, not Nebraska and Purdue.
I'd think Northwestern could do it because, being in a massive urban area, it shouldn't be too hard to find co-tenants for a rink.
ReplyDeleteNot sure about Nebraska. Maybe their plan is to just let it be UNO's thing.