Breakout Past: John Davis Feature

Here's a feature from the February 27, 1985 Daily Collegian on goaltender John Davis, written late in his senior season. When Davis' career ended, he was the Icers' all-time leader in both career and single-season wins. He backstopped Penn State's first national championship team in 1984, and also notably stopped 49 of 53 shots in a 4-4 tie with once-and-future NCAA Division I team Notre Dame that season. Davis was both president and vice president of the ice hockey club's business arm, later to be known as Hockey Management Association.

Click to enlarge.

Many of you surely recognize Davis' name from more recent Penn State hockey news, but for those of you who don't...

Intercollegiate Athletics announced [on April 15, 2011] a leadership gift from John N. and Karen M. Davis to the Penn State Ice Campaign. The family's gift will endow a full position scholarship for a goaltender as well as the naming gift for the men's hockey head coach's office. The office will be named the "Joseph M. Battista Head Coach's Office" in honor of former Icer head coach and current Associate Athletic Director for Ice Hockey Operations Joe Battista.

The Davis family joins Paul and Nancy Silvis, co-chairs of the Penn State Ice Hockey Campaign, as leading supporters of the ice campaign with this gift, the second major contribution the campaign has received since Terry and Kim Pegula's $88 million commitment last fall for a new ice facility as well as the start of Division I men's and women's ice hockey programs at Penn State in 2012.

"The hockey team becoming a varsity sport is a dream that a lot of us have had since we first put on the Penn State jersey," said John Davis, who played for the Icers from 1981 to 1985. "Karen and I feel fortunate to be able to give back to the University, in particular to help support a scholarship for the ice hockey team. I am also proud to join the effort of a fellow Petroleum Engineering graduate, Terry Pegula, who has made the dream of so many become a reality."

Hey, you know how big I am on the past-present connection.

Davis was inducted into the Penn State Hockey Hall of Fame in 1996, the same year as current women's coach Josh Brandwene. Obviously, he's been quite successful in business as well, working as a petroleum engineer for Exxon and Netherland, Sewell & Associates before founding Alpine Gas Company in 2003.