Three Stars: December 3-9

3. Hockey Hero Mike Eruzione to Speak at Penn State
(Onward State)

It's pretty well known by this point, but Eruzione was giving the famous 2010 Penn State arena tour delegation a look at Boston University's facilities when Joe Battista received the text from Terry Pegula confirming that he had made his donation official. Kind of disappointed that Onward State missed on that little tie-in.

2. California “Gilmour Girls” Bring Unique Background to Nittany Lions
(ComMedia)

Ross Insana comes in hot with a great feature on Caliswag-certified women's freshmen Celine Whitlinger and Micayla Catanzariti. The pair, of course, went to prep school at Gilmour Academy, which is about 15 minutes from my hometown of Solon, OH, so bonus points for that.

1. Pegula Ice Arena Season Ticket Deposits to be Accepted Beginning Friday
(gopsusports.com)

There's a lot of information here to digest, and in a perfect world, I would have tackled this in a separate post when it happened, but since it's not a perfect world....

Penn State began accepting deposits for men's season tickets next year at the Pegula Ice Arena on Friday, so you might want to get on that by calling 1-800-NITTANY or stopping by the Bryce Jordan Center ticket office. The deposit is $25 per seat, and no commitment to a specific type of seat is required yet. The deposit period will run through April, after which those making deposits will be prioritized based on Nittany Lion Club points and status as a current season ticket holder (it's not disclosed how those two things weigh against each other) and given a seat selection time. Beginning next June, those seeking tickets will then begin to grab specific seats, at the following prices (the color coding corresponds to the seating chart above, in case that wasn't completely obvious):

The prices and minimum donation of $50 per seat (for season tickets) are interesting, because:

1. It's not at all out of line with what people pay at major hockey schools.
2. It's still about double what people have been paying, even this year with NCAA hockey.
3. At the cheaper prices, Penn State has successfully filled the 1,300-seat Ice Pavilion, although not necessarily easily - for example, tickets to the first NCAA men's game in PSU history were still available on game day.
4. The building, as most new buildings do, will probably fill itself in the first year, but what happens after that?

I'll save more for a full post I haven't written yet at some undetermined future date, since I'm running long for a Three Stars entry. But I sincerely hope that those in charge, as well as the highly-paid consultants who undoubtedly assisted on this, haven't underestimated the amount of market building that remains to be done.

Oh, and the women? $50 for a season ticket, $5 per game for anywhere in the main seating bowl, which will be general admission. That was easy. I'm actually glad that they'll be charging for women's games starting next year, because it reinforces the idea that it's something of value.

Further information about suites, loges, etc. is available at the link - if you're interested, you're rich enough to dig that up yourself. Or pay someone to do it, your choice. You can pay me, I'd do it for like $10 and a box of Lemonheads.

Best of the Rest

AGU 2012 Beginning: “Chasing Ice” and Climate Change
(Mass Media Musings)

Last week, former Lady Icer Abbey Dufoe attended the American Geophysical Union's (AGU) fall meeting in San Francisco, mingling with the likes of James Cameron and presenting her iBook Controversies in the Hydrosphere. Yeah, no big deal.

While a nasty shoulder injury suffered last season kept her from playing on this year's ACHA team as a senior, it's pretty safe to say she has a bright future in environmental communication and is presently seeking a graduate program that will allow her to continue on that path. I have no problem admitting that she's already environmentally communicated to me - I bought and now use reusable grocery bags after reading her thoughts on the disposable version.

Anyway, make sure you're feeling okay about your life first, then check out Dufoe's blog posts about her experience at the meeting, starting with the link above, and continuing with...

AGU 2012 Day 1: Scientific Literacy, Communication and Climate Change
AGU 2012 Day 2: Presentation Day!
AGU Day 3: Favorite Aspects of the Conference
AGU Day 4: What I Learned
AGU Day 5: Sustainable San Francisco

NCAA Men's Hockey Frozen Four
(Ticketmaster)

The men's Frozen Four is in Pittsburgh this year, and tickets are now on sale. Go forth and make sure Penn State is represented beyond the annual display of every NCAA Division I jersey.

In Rhodes finalist Rocha, Army has ‘amazing young man’
(USCHO)

In case you forgot, Army senior defenseman Cheyne Rocha is the son of Larry Rocha, a former Icers assistant who led the team during its successful 1984 nationals run, and Candace Finn-Rocha, a former PSU lacrosse player and one of the best athletes in school history. A high bar, to be sure, but Cheyne certainly doesn't look like he's about to become the family loser.



#8 Conor Garland first qmjhl goal vs Victoriaville
(YouTube)

Yeah, so Conor Garland scored in his first QMJHL game on Friday after ditching Muskegon and Penn State. He's still an idiot, according to former recruiting classmate A.J. Greer.

Atlantic Hockey Picks Dec. 7-12
(USCHO)

The Nittany Lions (I liked “Icers” better)...

I like the cut of your jib, guy. Let's go Icers.

Preliminary World Juniors Roster Named
(usahockey.com)

Penn State, realistically, is still a couple years away from getting representation in the world's most prestigious junior tournament, but Miami forwards Riley Barber and Sean Kuraly (neither of whom suck) were named to Team USA's preliminary roster last week. Why does that matter? Because the tournament runs December 26th through January 5th, so both would miss the Three Rivers Classic if they pass the final cut.

Union defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere, who scored the game-winning goal in Penn State's November 25th trip to Schenectady, is also on the preliminary roster.

Big Ten added Rutgers, Maryland in part to ensure Penn State remains in league
(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

While it needs to be said that Barry Alvarez has a penchant for talking out of his ass (see Johnson, Mark: Penn State coaching search and), this still has to be considered a solid ego boost for the Penn State community.



PSU Hockey 1972
(YouTube)

Okay, the quality is non-existent, I get that. Still, this video does give at least a sense of what the original Ice Pavilion was like in the earliest days of Icers history.

Three Stars: July 9-15

3. USHL Announces 2012-13 Regular Season Schedule
(ushl.com)

BCHL releases 2012-13 regular season schedule
(bchl.ca)

The USHL and BCHL, which together will be home to at least five of PSU's current nine men's commits this season, both released their regular season schedules this week. Time to start looking for those weeknight games (so as not to conflict with Nittany Lions games) to watch on FastHockey.com.

2. Kevin Kerr Player Bio
(usahockey.com)

2014 D Kevin Kerr attended the prestigious USA Hockey Select 16 Player Development Camp last week, following 2015 F Alec Marsh, who was at Select 17s in late June, at a USA Hockey camp. Kerr scored his Forest Green team's only goal in a 5-1 loss to Orange, one of four suffered by the team against a single win. He missed the cut for the U.S. U17 team that will compete at the Five Nations Tournament next month, which is selected from camp participants.

1. @MarkHorgas
(Twitter)

Some say championships aren't won in July. Freshman women's forward Jill Holdcroft disagrees.

PS. I could not be more glad to see the giant PSU logo banners behind the benches, in light of the Nittany Lions taking over what was traditionally the visitor's bench this year - for those unfamiliar, that bench had some hideous artwork of a hockey player, figure skater and speed skater behind it. Well, presumably it's still there, just behind the banner. Good enough.

Best of the Rest

Class of 2012: Lamoriello, Modano, Olczyk
(usahockey.com)

Congratulations are due the most famous Penn State hockey dad since Craig Patrick: Ed Olczyk, who has been announced as part of the 2012 class of U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame inductees, with formal enshrinement scheduled for sometime this fall. Here's his bio from the link.

---

Eddie Olczyk was the third overall pick of the 1984 NHL Entry Draft by the Chicago Blackhawks and enjoyed a 16-year professional career. A member of the 1994 Stanley Cup champion New York Rangers, Olczyk's career was split between six teams, including the Chicago Blackhawks (1984-1987, 1998-2000), Toronto Maple Leafs (1987-1991), Winnipeg Jets (1991-1992, 1995-96), New York Rangers (1992-1995), Los Angeles Kings (1996) and Pittsburgh Penguins (1996-1998). All total, he notched 342 goals and 452 assists for 794 points in 1,031 games. Additionally, Olczyk represented the U.S. nine times on the international stage during his career, including as a member of Team USA at the 1984 Olympic Winter Games in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, as a 17-year-old, where he skated on the famed "Diaper Line." He also helped Team USA to a second-place finish in the 1991 Canada Cup. A native of Palos Heights, Ill., Olczyk is the current lead game analyst for NHL on NBC and NHL on NBC Sports Network. Olczyk was also heard during the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, including the gold-medal men's ice hockey contest, which was the most-watched hockey game in America in 30 years. Olczyk, who spent parts of two seasons behind the bench as head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins from 2003-05, presently serves as the game analyst for Chicago Blackhawks television broadcasts.

---

So wait, he wasn't even on the Jets anymore when NHLPA '93 came out? If EA took liberties like that, why couldn't they just leave Ronnie Franchise on the Whalers?

Penn State alumni and friends give more than $208 million
(Penn State Live)

A dose of good news, both generally and in relation to the hockey programs: PSU received its second-highest gift total ever in the just-concluded fiscal year, as the $208 million figure trails only 2010-2011's $275 million. Part of the difference is due, of course, to Terry Pegula, who gave $44 million of his (initial) $88 million pledge during that particular period, followed by $22 million more last year.

Tempering that positivity is the fact that total commitments (gifts plus pledges of future gifts) are off by 37 percent, as Forbes points out. Some of that is also due to Pegula, but even taking him out, commitments are at their lowest level since 2005-2006. Still, for the time being - because who knows where the future takes us - I think it's fair to call PSU's donation base healthy. The continued engagement of Penn Staters in the school will definitely be something to keep an eye on, because interest in athletics is very obviously part of that.

Another crucial thing, as I've mentioned before, is the fate of the football program in light of the Freeh report released Thursday, because anything that damages it creates collateral damage throughout the athletic department.

@LULionsHockey
(Twitter)

Even if Penn State didn't have a varsity women's team, it would be kind of cool to see an old ACHA rival make things "we painted it on the ice" official with the CHA. But hey, good news, PSU's in the CHA too and will be playing on that surface on my birthday (November 16th, as well as the 17th). Happy birthday, me.

The new face of the CHA
(examiner.com)

Speaking of, here's a brief look at Penn State's conference...

Women's hockey head coach Scott McDonald earns a three-year contract extension
(ritathletics.com)

...as well as some coaching news involving a member team. I can just imagine Scott McDonald walking into RIT AD Lou Spiotti's office and saying "hey, who do I have to beat up to get a contract extension around here?"

Tess Weaver will continue to make No. 36 look good this season.

2012-13 Penn State Roster
(gopsusports.com)

Let's keep the women's string going with the observation that the roster has now added jersey numbers. Of the six members of last year's Lady Icers, four kept the same numbers. Jess Desorcie changed from 43 to 15, while captain Taylor Gross is now 24 instead of 48. Considering those two players wore their "new" numbers at their stops prior to joining PSU in the middle of last season, it's hardly stunning that they jumped on the chance to switch when it opened up. Former TYT interviewees Emily Laurenzi and Sarah Wilkie both got their previous numbers as well (20 and 21, respectively), so I'm good with everything.

Girgensons, Sabres Agree to Terms on Entry-Level Contract
(sabres.com)

Micheletto To UMass; Reports and FTT Opinion
(Fear The Triangle)

People frequently ask me my expectations for the coming men's season. My answer, in truth, is that I don't have the slightest clue. But given that 10 of the 35 games on the schedule are against ACHA or NCAA Division III opposition, I don't think "close to .500" is an unrealistic goal. "Close," in my definition, would be in the neighborhood of 14 wins (assuming a couple ties in there), meaning of course, that just four wins in 25 games against DI and the NTDP U18s gets us there - assuming that we don't get Wayne Stated by one of the ACHA teams. In addition, breaking off an unexpected, season-highlight type of win against a major-conference team is a secondary goal of mine.

Why do I mention all of that? Well, on January 19th, Penn State plays Hockey East's Vermont in Philadelphia. It's one of the more high-profile games on the schedule, and it stands a very good chance of being one of the three highest-attended games this season (I'm ceding first and second place to Wisconsin for the time being). However, UVM was a miserable 6-27-1 last year. UVM lost its two best players, leading scorer Sebastien Stalberg and goalie Rob Madore, from that team. UVM returns one player who scored 10 goals last year. UVM is now down their best recruit for the coming year and possibly an assistant coach as well. If the Lions are to chip off a major conference team this season in one of the seven or eight attempts, UVM would seem the definitive low-hanging fruit at the moment.

UPDATE: John Micheletto has been confirmed as the next UMass coach, with a press conference scheduled for Monday afternoon.

Michigan Daily Issues Statement, Stands By Report as Lawsuit Looms
(The United States of Hockey)

Remember last week when I mentioned the Jacob Trouba story, where the star defense prospect reportedly spurned a $200,000 offer from the OHL's Kitchener Rangers to stick with his Michigan commitment? Well, the Rangers are suing the (student) reporter and (student) paper who broke the story. Chris Peters has been all over this, so rather than fire off a paragraph of half-baked analysis, I'll just direct you over there. In a nutshell, the Rangers are douchebags and idiots (my words, not Peters').

Hockey City Classic scheduled for Soldier Field in February 2013
(USCHO)

It's finally been confirmed that on February 17, 2013, Notre Dame will play Miami and Wisconsin will take on Minnesota in a doubleheader at Chicago's Soldier Field, dubbed the Hockey City Classic. Here's hoping for a strong attendance number, both because of the hope I'm still carrying that the Big Ten tournament will be in the Windy City in the future and because it might get Northwestern and/or Illinois to think long and hard about things.

abbeydufoe
(Instagram)

Sometimes it's nice to be reminded that Penn State isn't a horrible place. Thanks, Abbey.

Three Stars: March 19-25

3. 3 New Infographics
(Mass Media Musings)

Abbey Dufoe is back with some engaging reading framed around three infographics containing statistics on various social media sites. No, it's not about hockey, but it's still topical - if you clicked through to this post from Twitter or Facebook (unfortunately, there is no TYT Pinterest yet), you owe Ms. Dufoe a couple minutes of your time.

2. Saginaw Spirit forward Brandon Saad prepares for final playoff run
(mlive.com)

Icers Nittany Lions forward George Saad gets some nice run in a story primarily about his brother. I can't think of anything else to say about it that carries the appropriate amount of both pith and snark, so just read it.

1. Hockey in Nittany Lion Land
(Stadium Journey)

Ever wonder how the Ice Pavilion would hold up under the scrutiny of an intrepid reviewer who has taken in venues like Ford Field (for my money, the NFL's best stadium), PNC Park (for my money, MLB's best stadium) and Consol Energy Center (never been there, but it's new and probably nice)? Don't worry, it wasn't all bad, I promise. But it will make you excited to bail on the place.

Bonus link: Here's the Stadium Journey review of Notre Dame's Compton Family Ice Arena, probably the biggest design influence on PIA.

Best of the Rest

The Puck stops here
(Pennsylvania Puck)

Remember PA Puck? Apparently, they threw up their hands and quit on February 29th.

Ultimately we just didn’t have enough site traffic and certainly not enough advertisers in order to continue.

I don't mean to throw dirt on the site's grave, but...it just launched in October - they didn't even give it a full hockey season. I'm not privy to their traffic numbers, but they have 621 Twitter followers (TYT has 548 and has been at it a year longer). They have 1,171 Facebook likes (TYT has 103...wooooo). They may not have had many advertisers, but they certainly had more than zero. To build that kind of a following in five months, that's a pretty good start in my opinion, especially considering that very few sites of any kind are all that popular in their first year (for what it's worth, whatever "popularity" TYT enjoys largely began in months 12 and 14 according to the stats). What exactly were they expecting, Puck Daddy numbers from the word "go?" The whole thing just smells of unreasonable expectations and prematurely throwing in the towel to me.

Of course, maybe they'd still be chugging along if they gave Pennsylvania's two NHL teams, one AHL team, one ECHL team, one OHL team and six NCAA DI men's and women's programs not named the Hershey Bears more than cursory attention.

@VinnieChant
(Twitter)

The women's team had their end-of-season banquet on Saturday, and based on the post-event Twitter traffic, a blast was had by all involved. Here's crutch-toting outgoing captain Sara Chroman posing with the coaching staff.

Time To Pare Down The NCAA Hockey Tournament, And Other Necessary Tweaks
(BC Interruption)

Since we're new at this whole "NCAA" thing, consider this sort of a primer on some of the common discussions surrounding the NCAA hockey tournament. Presently, the 16-team field plays down to the Frozen Four through four regional tournaments in mostly-empty neutral-site arenas in locales like Albany and Green Bay. The Frozen Four is sometimes in off-the-wall places that have less than zero college hockey presence (this year, it's in Tampa, FL and "hosted" by Alabama-Huntsville - figure that one out). This Boston College blog proposes slashing the field back to 12 teams and only including major northeastern and midwestern cities in the rotations for the various rounds of the tournament.

Ten years later: The 2002 regionals, Molly, and the Greatest Weekend in Yost History
(MGoBlog)

At the risk of alienating many of you, I have tremendous respect for the University of Michigan and its hockey program...the tradition, that rink, those fans, Red, the players, all of it. Read this story - originating in the era of six-team, campus-site regionals that draw feelings of nostalgia from BC Interruption - and begin to dread Penn State's trying to go into Ann Arbor and win.

@skw21
(Twitter)

Incoming women's recruit Sarah Wilkie was on campus for an accepted students day last week. And because she's cool, she helped slacker me out by snapping a pic of the PIA site.

Robert Morris home rink to now be called 84 Lumber Arena
(USCHO)

Whatever your opinion of its namesake or how he made his money, the name of PSU's arena will not be the worst in college hockey. Good to know.



RIT on TV: Women's Hockey Going DI
(YouTube)

Here's a quick story on PSU's newest conference rival, courtesy of Rochester's local news.

We asked, you answered... (well a few of you)
(B1G Ice Hockey)

And finally, a shameless self-plug to close things out this week, since I'm quoted extensively here. Just in case you don't yet know how I feel about the Big Ten.

Three Stars: January 23-29

3. On the Fly, Jan. 28: Down 4-0, UCF Edges ‘Bama 5-4
(hockeyyall.com)

It was tougher than expected, but the Ice Lions won a 17th game in a row and moved one step closer to an autobid to the ACHA national championship tournament with a win over Rowan Saturday night. The game was also notable for a milestone reached by the team's captain.

Chalk up another memorable moment for Penn State’s Jim Recupero. The Ice Lions senior recorded the 100th point of his career in Penn State’s 5-3 victory over Rowan in a DII Mid-Atlantic College Hockey game.

This milestone point, an assist on Penn State’s first goal, comes on the heels of Recupero’s outstanding performance for the ACHA DII Selects in a five-game European tour during the semester break. Recupero was the Selects’ leading scorer.

As for the game, “Real sloppy first two periods for us, but [we] came out hard in the third [period] as we spent the first 10 minutes of that period in their zone,” said Sylvain Theriault, Penn State assistant coach.

The victory was the Ice Lions’ 17th in a row and improved their season record to 22-2-0-0 and their MACH North Division record to 10-0-0-0. They’re ranked second in the ACHA DII Southeast Region.

2. Working on a Building
(Centre Daily Times)

This creatively-titled article is probably the most thorough response to the Board of Trustees' approval of Pegula Ice Arena. Just because they're related to common questions, a couple of clips are in order.

No official ground-breaking has been set. In addition to digging into the current parking lot to tap into utilities, the turf of the former Bigler Field — a new one has been erected across University Drive for the lacrosse teams — is being torn up. [Joe] Battista said everything is ahead of schedule, digging should begin sometime in February, and an official ceremony will be held in early spring. A steel framework should be in place by the time football season rolls around and the building is expected to open in September 2013.

Remember how the arena used to cost $75 million and now it costs $89 million?

Battista, however, did not stop with the Pegulas, having raised close to $105.5 million to fund the arena and the men’s and women’s programs.

Great, problem solved. Now if only Penn State had a Board of Trustees willing to ask questions or engage in any kind of debate whatsoever...and even if those questions were already asked and answered outside of the board's meeting January 20th, where is the transparency we were supposed to be getting?

1. Penn State Pegula Ice Arena to be LEED Certified
(Mass Media Musings)

Speaking of the arena...you probably already know about this post because you went to Lady Icer Abbey Dufoe's blog the last time I plugged it, loved it, and subscribed. If you didn't, I'll just assume that you weren't reading TYT three weeks ago. So for all who are new here, this post is her reaction upon learning that Pegula Ice Arena is to be LEED certified.

Now for my reaction: I realize that this isn't a popular opinion in Penn State hockey circles, but the money used to build the arena came from something that causes a whole host of environmental concerns, as one might expect when it involves pumping a bunch of things like benzene, lead, methanol and boric acid into the ground and hoping nothing bad comes of it (Terry Pegula is no exception). The least we can do is make said arena as environmentally friendly as possible, so here's hoping we find somewhere else to trim when the cost overruns start to pop up.

Best of the Rest

@TYTBlog
(Twitter)

Last week, IcersGuy from Black Shoe Diaries informed me that Curtiss Patrick, recently named to the Icers' Hall of Fame for this year, appears in NHL 09 as a free agent. So I pulled out my copy of the game and took a picture of his player bio. Crazy stuff. By the way, while his 66 overall rating doesn't sound like much, it does beat Guillaume Latendresse's brother Olivier.

Nanooks’ Karr working on organizing new WCHA
(Fairbanks Daily News-Miner)

Ready to mine some news from the News-Miner? Buried in this article is a disclosure that Penn State has committed to play in the 2014 Brice Alaska Goal Rush, hosted by Alaska (the good Alaska, Fairbanks). This would mark Guy Gadowsky's return to the school he coached from 1999-2004 and makes all kinds of sense for that reason alone. Well, there is one other reason: the NCAA game limit exemption (specifically, games in Alaska don't count against it).

The Goal Rush is a season-opening tournament (this season, it was won by the hosts on October 14th and 15th, 2011) so this wouldn't be next season or the season after, but the season after that. Feel free to forget all about this so you can get excited again when it's officially announced.

Rasmussen leads the way for Storm'N'Sabres
(sctimes.com)

Josh Brandwene is after Kendra Rasmussen, who is about to become the all-time leading goal scorer in the history of the Sartell/Sauk Rapids (MN) high school program. In 23 games this year, she leads the Storm'n Sabres in scoring with 26 goals, 14 assists and has her team on top of the Central Lakes league with a 10-1-0 conference record. Also in the running for Rasmussen are Quinnipiac and a handful of Division III schools.

Bierwirth helps Raiders right ship
(Hillsborough Beacon)

The Hillsborough High School senior defensemen is heading to Penn State University next year, where he’s unsure if he will be able to play for the Nittany Lions as they go into Division I hockey. Bierwirth is trying to extend his final scholastic season as long as he can, and that means pushing the Raiders toward the year-end state tournament.

Yeah, good luck with that.

Ohio Bobcats vs. Penn State Nittany Icers
(Taehoon Kim Photography)

An OU-centric (but still outstanding) collection of photos from Friday and Saturday.

Hockey aims to claim elusive D2 title
(eaglenews.org)

Meet D2 nationals hosts Florida Gulf Coast University, which also doubles as the team keeping the Ice Lions from the top spot in the southeast region.

Solution for sites in sight
(postcrescent.com)

It seems like there's a lot of momentum for revisiting the Big Ten tournament format, which presently calls for the teams seeded third through sixth to play a campus-site best-of-three first round, with the winners meeting the top two seeds at the No. 1 seed's rink for single-elimination semifinals and finals.

I like the neutral site idea. Unless it's played in St. Paul, MN every year. Then I hate it. I don't normally root for anything productive to happen in the NCHC, but I do hope that they swoop in and steal that particular venue. The Big Ten would then be forced to Chicago or somewhere that doesn't force the conference's easternmost team to travel to its westernmost outpost every year for the tournament. Yay. Also, a word of caution as we proceed through all of this: never believe anything out of Barry Alvarez's mouth.

MSUM athletic director says hockey is 'so close'
(inforum.com)

In case you were wondering, Minnesota State-Moorhead hasn't given up on trying to start a Division I hockey program. Oh right, you weren't wondering. Sorry about that.

For you, coach
(singledaysjourney.tumblr.com)

With good reason, numerous Icers and Lady Icers shared pictures of the backs of their buckets last week.

Three Stars: January 2-8

3. Mass Media Musings
(abbeydufoe.wordpress.com)

Lady Icer Abbey Dufoe is academically inclined and socially conscious. Basically, everything we like to brag about when it comes to Penn State student-athletes. Therefore, you should repay her by reading her blog and checking out her Tumblr as well.

2. M2 Select Team
(achahockey.org)

Ice Lions captain Jim Recupero returned home from a highly-successful tour with the D2 Selects just in time to help PSU climb to 18-2-0 via a 7-2 trouncing of Pittsburgh on Saturday night. While over in Europe, he helped the ACHAers to a perfect 6-0-0 record by scoring in the first four games (stats for the final game were unavailable).

1. #1 Penn St. visits Sooner ice
(A World Unto)

Remember that time Penn State played at Oklahoma and there wasn't any video? Well, here's the next best thing: a ton of great pictures.

Best of the Rest

100 People of Power & Influence
(The Hockey News)

That Terry Pegula was included in THN's annual list was not a surprise. That he dropped from 67th last year to 73rd this year, yeah, that was a little surprising. Reminder: he didn't own the Buffalo Sabres (or the AHL's Rochester Americans) at this time last year. Even the NCAA conference shakeup cited in his blurb hadn't gotten underway yet. Curious, to say the least.

'Pucksutawney' predicts these top stories for 2012
(Pennsylvania Puck)

Hershey Puck only squeezed the Bears into four of the top 10 Pennsylvania hockey stories for the upcoming calendar year, so I suppose that's a start.

PSU did get in on two themselves - pretty exciting to think that our NCAA men's and women's programs will debut and the Pegula Ice Arena will break ground before we celebrate new year's for the next time, no?

Joe Battista: From Dallas to Philly, a Whirlwind Holiday Schedule
(statecollege.com)

I'm not sure how he does it, but we're all better for it.

Last night's Penn State hockey game
(Lions 247)

One Central Oklahoma observer called their shootout upset of the Icers on Friday the biggest win in their program's history. I think the other time the Bronchos beat PSU gets a little bit of a shaft in that statement (at the 2010 national championships, UCO beat No. 2 PSU in overtime to advance to the semifinals), but who am I to judge? The team looks pretty happy about this one too.

College Hockey: The Most Underrated Atmosphere in Sports
(Let's Zoo It)

A college hockey convert at Western Michigan tells his story:

An impressive 4-2 victory later capping off a series sweep of the spartans in Kalamazoo was enough to get the whole community rocking, and sold me on my new favorite sport to attend. And by the way, these fans didn’t leave to go drink at the end of the second intermission. This was true, genuine, fight-for-our-team approach from this student body. It really says something about a sport when you can take a student body noted for its generally poor attendance and passion and have them stay till the final horn sounds and lock arms singing the alma mater with the band. Pretty powerful stuff.

National Collegiate Hockey Conference Names Jim Scherr as First Commissioner
(denverpioneers.com)

I think it's cute when the NCHC thinks it's a real conference. But yeah, they hired a commissioner, and admittedly, the former CEO of the United States Olympic Committee is a nice pull.

Penn State Icers at Winter Classic
(gopsusports.com)

That was fun, wasn't it?