Big Ten, Hockey East Issue Challenge

After January's sellout, the Philadelphia College Hockey Faceoff has a say in a trophy this season.

At the Hockey East media day on Tuesday, the conference announced that it will conduct a 13-game "challenge" with the Big Ten from October 18th through 27th similar to the well-established, and probably more familiar to Penn Staters, Big Ten-ACC Challenge in basketball.

The Nittany Lions only play one game as part of the challenge - the Philadelphia College Hockey Faceoff against Vermont in Philadelphia on October 26th - but it's actually quite an important one in terms of the league showdown. Should the Big Ten and Hockey East end in a tie after all games are completed (two points will be given for a win, one for a tie and a bonus point for a road win), the PSU-UVM result will serve as the tiebreaker. Outside of that catfight, six games will be played in Hockey East venues on the first weekend, October 18th and 19th, with six games in the Big Ten's arenas following on the October 25th through 27th weekend.

Five of the 13 games have already been picked up by various television outlets, including the Philly Faceoff which, according to Hockey East, will air on Comcast outlets in both Philadelphia (The Comcast Network) and New England (Comcast SportsNet New England).

It's not immediately clear whether this will be an annual event, but given that the involved parties are tossing around the word "inaugural" and the fact that there will be a trophy called the "Big Ten/Hockey East Challenge Cup," the sane money is on yes.

Shortly after the challenge ends, Penn State will welcome Hockey East's UMass-Lowell to Pegula Ice Arena for a bit of a follow-up on November 14th and 15th. The River Hawks, the 2013 Hockey East regular season and tournament champs and also a Frozen Four participant, were tabbed as the number one team in the league at media day, one day after receiving the top spot nationally in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine preseason rankings.

Here's the full press release from Hockey East, including the entire slate of games at the bottom.

---

Eleven of the country's most storied college hockey programs will compete this fall in the inaugural Big Ten/Hockey East Challenge, it was announced today by the Big Ten Conference and the Hockey East Association. Eleven different institutions will participate in 13 designated games to be played between October 18-27, with six games in Hockey East arenas on the first weekend, followed by six games in Big Ten arenas and a single game on neutral ice on the second weekend.

"The Big Ten/Hockey East Challenge will offer a tremendous opportunity to build a relationship between our two conferences and to promote the strong traditions of college hockey on a national level," said Big Ten Associate Commissioner Jennifer Heppel. "The student-athletes will also benefit from the chance to take part in meaningful non-conference competition against other top programs."

"The college hockey landscape is going through a major change this season and each conference needs to look beyond its familiar boundaries," said Hockey East Commissioner Joe Bertagna. "We have great respect for the hockeyplaying institutions in the Big Ten and we hope to develop this concept to allow all of our programs to participate in this competition in future years."

A Big Ten/Hockey East Challenge Cup will be presented to the conference that records the most points from the 13 games. Points will be awarded as follows: two points for a win, one point for a tie and a bonus point for a road win. Should a Big Ten school utilize a shootout in any of its home games, it will not factor into the result. Should each conference record the same number of points, the results of the Penn State - Vermont game, played on neutral ice, will serve as the tie-breaker.

The seventeen schools that play in these two conferences have compiled an unparalleld record of success in the history of college hockey, combining to claim 33 national championships during the 66 seasons that the NCAA has sponsored the sport. Of the 11 schools participating in the inaugural Big Ten/Hockey East Challenge, five took part in last season's NCAA Championship.

Below is the full schedule for the inaugural Big Ten/Hockey East Challenge:

Big Ten/Hockey East Challenge Schedule
(All times EST and 7:00 p.m. unless noted)

Friday, October 18
Wisconsin at Boston College
Michigan State at Massachusetts
Michigan at New Hampshire (7:30 p.m.)

Saturday, October 19
Wisconsin at Boston University
Michigan State at Massachusetts
Michigan at New Hampshire

Friday, October 25
Boston College at Minnesota (8:00 p.m.)*
Boston University at Michigan#
UMass Lowell at Michigan State@

Saturday, October 26
Boston University at Michigan State
UMass Lowell at Michigan#
Penn State vs. Vermont %
(Philadelphia, PA - 5:00 p.m.)

Sunday, October 27
Boston College at Minnesota (2:00 p.m.)^

* Big Ten Network
# XFINITY Channel 900
@ Fox Sports Detroit
% Comcast Philadelphia and New England
^ Fox Sports North and Sports Time Ohio

Three Stars: April 22-28

The Women's Ice Hockey Club and head coach Patrick Fung pose in front of Kelly's Steakhouse in Boalsburg, the site of their postseason banquet, Saturday afternoon

3. Olczyk Carving Out a Bit of His Own History
(StateCollege.com)

On the occasion of Tommy Olczyk being elected captain once again for the 2013-2014 season, Ben Jones went one step beyond the usual "snip the press release" (guilty) with a quick feature. I'll always have room for that kind of initiative here.

2. Neshaminy senior earns scholarship from NHL
(philly.com)

A member of the ACHA Ice Lions on scholarship next season? Believe it.

Four years after skating for the first time, Neshaminy senior Ricky Lucas will be honored by the NHL Wednesday in Washington with a college scholarship.

Lucas, 18, is a goaltender on Neshaminy's ice hockey team. He said he would attend Penn State in the fall and plans to try out for the school's club hockey team.

Lucas got his start in hockey during his freshman year with the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation, which offers the opportunity to play hockey to underprivileged youths.

The NHL/Thurgood Marshall College Fund scholarships are given to two college-bound students from the NHL's Hockey Is for Everyone youth development program.

If you can stomach video of Gary Bettman, Lucas also got a mention on NHL.com, where he can be seen posing with the Stanley Cup.

1. Awards Presented at Team Banquet
WIHC Named Most Improved Club Sport
(psuwihc.com)

The Women's Ice Hockey Club officially wrapped up their inaugural season on Saturday with an end-of-season banquet, which saw team MVP, Rookie of the Year and Player's Player awards given to goaltender Katie Vaughan, forward Devon Fisk and forward Carly Szyszko, respectively.

Two days before that, at the annual Club Sports Honors Reception, the WIHC was named most improved club sport of PSU's 78 programs.

Hey, just because it was already the most successful team debut in the history of Penn State hockey (and probably across all sports, although I don't know enough to make that statement definitively) doesn't mean it can't be enhanced further.

Best of the Rest

Left to right: Steve Rohlik (Ohio State), Mike Eaves (Wisconsin), Don Lucia (Minnesota), Red Berenson (Michigan), Guy Gadowsky (Penn State), Tom Anastos (Michigan State)

@Billy_Downey
(Twitter)

All six Big Ten coaches and the league championship trophy... nice. Steve Rohlik still looks like he's kind of stunned to be included, while Red Berenson may be about to beat the crap out of someone off camera.

Busy days ahead for Mike Eaves
(Wisconsin State Journal)

The previous entry's photo came from the Big Ten meetings held last week at the conference headquarters in Chicago, where all sorts of things like scheduling, awards and overtime rules (5-on-5 or 4-on-4?) were discussed. Notably...

A source said the league expects to stage all its series between Friday and Sunday next season. There had been talk of some games being played on Thursday and/or Monday in order to accommodate TV, but that no longer appears to be the case, at least for 2013-14.

That move - if it comes to pass - is welcome news for fans who like going to Penn State games but live in, say, Ohio and can't really make it in during the week. Although it does leave the door open for the dreaded Friday-Sunday "work around basketball Saturday and make Kyle get an extra night in a hotel room" series.

The reason I said "basketball" but not "football" in the previous paragraph? According to the message boards on Minnesota site Gopher Puck Live, loosely citing head coach Don Lucia, no Big Ten conference games will take place before New Year's Day. While the idea seems a little crazy since there are 20 Big Ten games and 11 weekends between January 1, 2014 and March 20, 2014 when the Big Ten Tournament starts, it's certainly possible in a six-team league that won't start its playoffs until later than is customary.

Abby Miller for NHL commissioner

NHL Realignment
(Off the Crossbar)

Lady Icers alumna Abby Miller brought her blog out of hiatus to drop an opinion of and couter-proposal to the NHL's upcoming realignment. I have to admit, her idea makes a ton of sense in spite of the fact that my favorite team gets completely hosed by it (a fact that even draws an apology from Miller, which I appreciate).

The Frozen Four in Pittsburgh? You betcha!
(StateCollege.com)

Joe Battista's weekly column largely serves its usual purpose as a high-energy commercial for Pennsylvania and/or Penn State hockey - eight exclamation points and seven question marks this time around, not including the title - but as also tends to happen, there was some news buried in it:

We will also be working with the Big Ten to discuss hosting the new Big Ten Hockey conference’s playoffs in future years at Consol Energy Center.

Any hosting to be done by Pittsburgh's NHL arena won't take place for a while, as the conference has already committed to a St. Paul, MN/Detroit rotation through 2017.

Battista's column was also, apparently, a hit piece on (State of) Minnesota hockey, simply because he made the factual statement that the 2013 gold-medal-winning U.S. World Junior Championship team included more Pittsburgh natives than Minnesotans. Here are a couple replies I got on Twitter, first after shooting out the link to the column, then after tweeting Battista's GoPSUSports.com bio to show that he's not, in fact, a clown even if he's now hated in the Land of 10,000 lakes.

Someone's awfully sensitive about their state's declining market share in the hockey world. See, the problem for Minnesota Guy is that the more hockey grows, whether in the Sun Belt, Pennsylvania or anywhere else, the less his state matters in relative terms.

Requiem for a team
(The Daily Pennsylvanian)

Someone who doesn't think Battista is a clown? Allison Bart at UPenn's student newspaper, who quoted him extensively in an outstanding article detailing the hill the Quakers are to climb if NCAA hockey, abandoned in 1978, is to return to University City, Philadelphia.

Bart also wrote a companion piece offering further detail on the last days of Penn's varsity program, which was greatly appreciated by my history geek side.

ISU hockey coach named ACHA coach of the year
(videtteonline.com)

I suppose if you have to be knocked out of the ACHA National Tournament, you'd want it to be by the ACHA D2 coach of the year. For whatever little consolation that may offer, it's now true of the Ice Lions and Illinois State coach Brian Corley.

Not bad for being unsettled

Top 20 College Hockey Stories of the 2012-13: #11-15
(Western College Hockey Blog)

WCHB tabs Penn State's varsity entry as the number 12 college hockey story of the just-completed season with a write-up noting that blended with those wins over Wisconsin, Ohio State, Vermont and Michigan State were losses to DIII and ACHA programs Buffalo State, Arizona State and Neumann. Fair enough. Then again, maybe I'm falling into the DI snob trap - all that those "bad" losses proved to me is that there are tons of great hockey players and programs out there, and not all of them reside in NCAA DI. Speaking of the snob trap, the "establishment," in spite of everything, still continues to be somewhat dismissive of PSU's quick bounce to respectability (I mean, how dare a CLUB program be able to play REAL college hockey in its first year trying).

Overall, the Nittany Lions still have a long ways to go before their program is completely settled, but they showed that they should at least be competitive next year in the Big Ten. They'll likely end up losing more than they win next year, but it won't be much of a surprise if they see them win on any given night.

This year, Penn State had a winning record (3-2-0) against the Big Ten teams it played, including a win over Wisconsin during the Badgers' torrid close to the season. Going by the indicators typically utilized for amateur roster assessments, Penn State's talent level should be roughly on par with Ohio State and Michigan State next year. Penn State's coaching staff has more of a recent track record of success than either MSU and OSU. On those three things alone, I don't accept being labeled as some kind of scrappy, "tough to play against" upstart that might be able to win a game here or there against an unmotivated opponent in 2013-2014.

Am I predicting a conference championship, an NCAA tournament appearance or even a winning record? Of course not. I am, however, predicting that the Nittany Lions will have to pack white jerseys when heading to St. Paul at the end of the season because some less "settled" program will have finished lower in the standings.

Former players issue vote of no-confidence in UAA AD
(Anchorage Daily News)

Rough week for Alaska-Anchorage athletic director Steve Cobb, who received a vote of no confidence from the UAA hockey alumni last Tuesday, three days after the Alaska State Hockey Association similarly expressed its displeasure. The ASHA's complaints...

...cited the steady decline of UAA hockey and claimed repeated efforts to reach out to the university's athletic department and hockey coaches have been "systematically met with callous indifference."

The former players seem just as concerned... with their egos.

Things reached a tipping point, [alumni association president Mark] Filipenko said, when UAA went looking for a new hockey coach. Both resolutions criticize Cobb for not involving alumni or anyone from the hockey community in the search for a coach to replace Dave Shyiak, who was fired last month after going 80-177-33 in eight seasons.

Penn State, of course, has been the beneficiary of UAA's "steady decline" in the form of transfers Justin Kirchhevel and Eric Scheid.

Could be worse for Cobb, I guess:



Hockey East returns to Fenway Park in 2014 with Notre Dame-BC as the showcase game
(Western College Hockey Blog)

Everyone's sick of outdoor hockey... until it involves a team they care about.

The "Major Program" Fallacy

This post is not about Penn State. Yet it is.

I'll start at the beginning. On Friday, following their acceptance of Hockey East's invitation to become the 12th team in the league, the University of Connecticut hosted what's been called a "celebratory event" at Hartford's XL Center. It had all the trappings of a pep rally, including predictions of success from people probably not qualified to make such predictions. Just to single a couple out, here's Connecticut Senate Republican Leader John McKinney:

"Not to put too much pressure on coach (Bruce) Marshall, but it won't be long until the next Jonathan Quick (Hamden, Conn., native - Massachusetts) or Max Pacioretty (New Canaan, Conn. - Michigan) or Cam Atkinson (Avon, Conn. - Boston College) aren't going to BC or Michigan or UMass. They'll be going to UConn and we'll be winning plenty of hockey games."

...and UConn President Susan Herbst:

"We plan on being a major force in collegiate ice hockey. Joining Hockey East is an unbelievable honor for us. I wrote a letter to the other league presidents and told them we're going to bring a lot of excitement and a lot of fans and we'll see them on the ice."

Right off the top, I have to admit that I found UConn's event a little gauche at first. I've sincerely never heard of hosting a "party" to celebrate a conference move (beyond the standard press conference, of course), and there's been enough moving done over the last couple years that I feel like I'm working with a decent sample size. That said, I'm glad they're excited, because as I've said, a strong Huskies program is good for college hockey. Yes, they have some growing to do, but it's nothing that can't be accomplished with commitment and hard work. Given that going from zero to 18 scholarships is not cheap, they deserve the benefit of the doubt in that regard. Great, story over.

Or is it? See, for whatever reason, the backlash to the UConn event has been swift and harsh. Take, for example, this post from Boston College blog BC Interruption. In reacting to McKinney's quote above, they wrote:

And this is based on... what, exactly? Some fun game you played in your head where UConn was suddenly this really attractive school for hockey recruits? This is one of those things that just smacks of ignorance. You have no idea what in the hell you're talking about, do you, Senate Republican Leader John McKinney? Some secretary just slapped this on your list of crap to do today and you were like, okay sweet. That's exactly what happened, isn't it?

These kids playing hockey in Connecticut aren't dumb. They have been living hockey for the last dozen years. They know college hockey. They know the top schools. You think just because "hey, UConn has a team!" all these top recruits are going to flock to UConn, instead of the top hockey schools in the country?

Really, BC Interruption? It's a pep rally. Things get said. Often, those things are outlandish. Pep rallies are exempt from "normal" rules for that reason. Guarantees of victory, for example, often happen at pep rallies before big games. Yet they're never reported, and if the team in question wins, the person making the promise doesn't achieve Mark Messier status. Regardless, I'm not sure why the clear best program in the country over the last decade or so cares about it in the slightest. So easy there, hero.

Why do fans of this program care - at all - about lowly UConn?

That second paragraph sounds awfully familiar, though.

I think it's funny how some in the PSU fan base seem to think that they are just going to start a hockey program and start competing with the big boys of the college hockey, these are the same in the sport that have had programs for a very long time.

Ah, there it is. That November 2010 quote is from TYT BFF Eric Burton, aka NDGoon of Goon's World, aka guy who shouts "OMG PAGEVIEWS!!!" in response to any and all criticism of his typically fallacious thought processes (unfortunately, he left the quote as a comment on a different blog which has since gone out of business, so you'll just have to trust me).

For the life of me, I can't figure out what drives supporters of two of the historic giants of college hockey to go out of their way to attempt to put new or newly recommitted programs like Penn State and UConn in their place. I suppose the first answer that jumps to mind is "insecurity," but why? I mean, they're great, we suck, end of story, right? What's their issue? We're rightfully excited to be a part of the big time? Why is that any of their concern? I suppose if hockey's entering a new world of big schools and big TV money, that might work out better for PSU and UConn than for a North Dakota, Denver or Minnesota-Duluth. But I don't think anything like that is imminent, and I'm guessing they don't either.

I'll leave it to them to explain their motives if they wish. But in the meantime, let's look at the substance of their claims: the idea that "top hockey school" is an inflexible label and that having programs "for a very long time" is a competitive advantage that can't be overcome.

Colorado College and Michigan are both interesting cases. They were arguably the two best programs in the early years of the NCAA's sanctioning of hockey. Michigan won the very first NCAA title in 1948 and added six more by 1964. CC won in 1950 and 1957 and were always in contention for the first decade of the NCAA championships.

Behold.

A funny thing happened, though. In spite of all that success, both programs fell off the map. Michigan had 25 rough years between their 1964 championship and 1989, six seasons into Red Berenson's tenure. The Tigers topped that, enduring 35 seasons of brutality that even Guy Gadowsky and his sick flow couldn't halt (he played at CC from 1985-1989) and nearly seeing their program end amidst the demolition of the Broadmoor World Arena in 1994.

Yet after literally decades of mediocrity (or worse), both programs bounced back. CC ripped off 10 NCAA tournament appearances in a 12-year stretch from 1993-2006. Michigan has done even better, as they currently own an unreal 22-year streak of NCAA appearances, which includes a pair of national titles. Both are accepted as national powers despite their long periods without success.

Also accepted as national powers: Maine and Miami. The Black Bears started up in 1977 and within 22 years owned a pair of national titles. Miami, established in 1978, was awful into the 1990s until George Gwozdecky started to rebuild the program and Enrico Blasi finished the job. Northern Michigan was born in 1976 and won a national title in 1991. Lake Superior State has never been a particularly successful program other than between 1984 and 1996, but found three national titles under Frank Anzalone and Jeff Jackson. Bowling Green started in 1969, was the 1984 national champion, and following Jerry York's departure to Boston College (which endured six straight losing seasons before and just after his arrival, by the way) in 1994 began a long descent that nearly ended with the program's termination a couple years ago. Notre Dame actually dropped to club hockey during BG's championship season yet was coveted by just about every conference during the CCHA's dismemberment, eventually preceding UConn into Hockey East.

Banners don't skate, nor can they save your program from being cut.

Let's get one thing straight: the landscape changes. It's a highly-competitive sport, and if your skates dull for even an instant, you're in trouble with plenty of programs working hard to take your spot on the mountain. Being good now doesn't guarantee being good ten years from now. Being bad now doesn't guarantee being bad ten years from now. Sure, it may be a predictor, but inertia can be and often is overcome, in both directions. And being around forever? Princeton's been playing hockey since 1901. Gadowsky coached there for seven years and led the Tigers to two of their three NCAA tournament appearances. Ever. Brown is the third-oldest program out there and has been Division I since there's been a DI. Anyone betting on them in a hypothetical matchup with Union, which has been in DI since 1991, at the moment?

I could go on, but I think I've made my point. Yes, there are also programs like UMass and Minnesota State, which haven't really done much of anything since elevating to DI in 1993 and 1996, respectively. But a very good proportion have. Some programs generally stay on top, some generally stay on the bottom. But that's a guideline, not a law. Penn State's starting on the bottom and UConn's "starting" close to the bottom, but that doesn't mean they'll be there forever. I'm not promising that either will be successful, because it's by no means an easy process, but I am promising that they're not precluded from the possibility of it.

So there it is. If you're interested in more, I took a closer look at the last five programs to go from nothing to DI (UNO, Miami, Maine, Northern Michigan and Alaska-Anchorage) and how they compare to Penn State in a two parter (Part I, Part II) back before anyone read this blog.

Three Stars: June 18-24

3. New York Islanders Business Directory
(newyorkislanders.com)

Unfortunately, I was unable to find a press release on this, but...

Matt Bertani, who served as an Icers assistant from 2005-2008, is the new video coach for the New York Islanders. Quite an impressive career track, to say the least. He left PSU to assist with the Islanders' AHL team, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, where he remained until now (surviving a head coaching change in the process, which shows a good deal of organizational faith). He's a dyed-in-the-wool ACHA guy, as he played with Mercyhurst's club team and he also developed some pretty diverse experience as a youth hockey coach prior to coming to PSU.

Actually, it's a meteoric rise and a great comeback story - you may recall that Bertani was nearly killed in a men's league game last year while suffering a broken neck in a collision. Congratulations Matt!

2. Gadowsky adds a pair of forwards
(Lions247)

Meet Alec Marsh and Chase Berger - at the moment, PSU's entire 2015 recruiting class.

1. Jerry Sandusky guilty on 45 of 48 counts
(The Daily Collegian)

I hope that this isn't taken as minimizing the trauma of those who came into physical contact with Jerry Sandusky and who then stood as his accusers, but we were all his victims. The justice system has done what it could with him - he'll likely spend the rest of his life as the worst type of person one can be in prison - and for that I'm glad. I just wish it could give us back what we've lost in transit to this point.

This story will likely fade from the national media's consciousness now, although the appeals, the civil suits, the Freeh report that already smells like a sham designed to pin this all on "football culture" (whatever that means), the hopeful unmasking of all in Penn State administration who kept what I suspect was a "well-known secret" at the highest levels of university governance...all of those things make this an awkward sort of semi-closure. They will keep picking at the scabs and delaying the already imperfect healing process. The good news? We are Penn State. Emphasis on "we," because Penn Staters, collectively, are what makes Penn State great. Keep excelling at whatever it is you do in life. Live the last verse of the alma mater. Do it while wearing a PSU shirt, if possible. Take the hits you'll undoubtedly receive for doing so, but keep moving forward.

We are Penn State, and we will eventually take our university back.

PS. I'm absolutely stunned that more people haven't pointed out that Sandusky is one of the jokers in the unlicensed Penn State Football Heroes playing card decks sold at PSU retail outlets for several years. The actual cards simply have footballs in the top left and bottom right corners, so I took some artistic license there.

Best of the Rest

Pride of Pegula Store
(cafepress.com)

Dooooo itttttttt.... you know you're going to want to white something out at a hockey game at some point. Pictured: my likely first purchase.

Penn State back in play for Army hockey
(recordonline.com)

The October 26th game at Army is one of my favorites this year. The Black Knights are one of just three currently-active Division I programs played by Penn State's original 1940-1947 varsity team, and the only one on this year's schedule (Cornell and Colgate are the others). I'm glad that fact hasn't gotten lost.

Penn State will play on Oct. 26 at Tate Rink, the first visit by the Nittany Lions to West Point since 1947. The school dropped varsity hockey after that season and has competed as a club program in recent years. Penn State will compete as a Division I independent this season and join the new Big Ten conference in 2013-14.

"Recent years?" Makes it sound as if the Icers started up in 2004. Oh well, nobody's perfect.

Penn State, Jerry Sandusky, NCAA Sanctions and the “Death Penalty”
(Victory Bell Rings)

Included because it brings up an interesting idea, forwarded mostly by people who hate Penn State: could the NCAA sanction PSU to the stone age? While anything is possible, I don't believe they will, because the simple fact is that none of what happened affected the on-field product in any way. When the NCAA speaks of "lack of institutional control," it's in the context of breaking NCAA rules, which are in place (generally) to ensure fairness in the realm of athletics (that's what the first "A" is for, after all). I question whether the NCAA has the jurisdiction to punish PSU for this. I also question why this story gets coverage from ESPN, but that's a different rant.

Even if the NCAA wants to bring penalties on Penn State athletics, where do they begin? As I said, this is not a football crime, regardless of how it has been portrayed. If a penalty comes, it has to be big. It has to be everybody from women’s basketball, to wrestling to baseball and fencing. A hockey team that doesn’t yet exist would be penalized. Will the NCAA punish hundreds of athletes because of the wrong-doings of an administration? Has there ever been an NCAA punishment that didn’t involve a single athlete committing a single infraction?

Yeah, basically.

Click to enlarge.

Under Construction for the Pegula Ice Arena!
(I admit)

An updated PIA photo from a likely, yet not, source - a PSU Undergraduate Admissions blog.

Penn State Ice Pavilion Tickets
(StubHub)

Every once in a while, I come across a little reminder of big-time status that blows my mind. This is one of those, even though there aren't any tickets up yet.

Western Pennsylvania nets notable status in hockey world
RMU hockey basks in ’Burgh spotlight
(Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

With the NHL Entry Draft in the Steel City Friday and Saturday, local media did not disappoint with the easily-predicted "yay Pittsburgh hockey!" articles. But hey, good PA hockey is good for Penn State. And Robert Morris. So yay, indeed.

Signs point to Federal league in Williamsport
(Shooting for the Show)

Closer to the other end of the commonwealth, it looks as if Williamsport might be getting a taste of our favorite sport.



Connecticut jumping to Hockey East, to 18 scholarships for 2014-15 season
(USCHO)

The headline more or less says it all. Hockey East finally has their 12th team, and hopefully UConn will prove worthy of it because a successful big school in a big conference is good for college hockey. They're adding the full 18 scholarships (up from zero) and will play home conference games at the XL Center, formerly the Hartford Civic Center, also formerly the home of the Hartford Whalers. So yeah, I'm dropping some Pat Verbeek on you.

And just because I haven't done this in a while, here's how the conferences stack up, beginning in 2014. The only change from 2013 to 2014 will be the Huskies' arrival in Hockey East from Atlantic Hockey.

Big Ten (6): Penn State, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, Wisconsin.

NCHC (8): Colorado College, Denver, Miami, Minnesota-Duluth, Nebraska-Omaha, North Dakota, St. Cloud State, Western Michigan.

Hockey East (12): Boston College, Boston University, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Massachusetts-Lowell, Merrimack, New Hampshire, Northeastern, Notre Dame, Providence, Vermont.

ECAC (12): Brown, Clarkson, Colgate, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, Quinnipiac, RPI, St. Lawrence, Union, Yale.

WCHA (9): Alaska, Alaska-Anchorage, Bemidji State, Bowling Green, Ferris State, Lake Superior State, Michigan Tech, Minnesota State, Northern Michigan

Atlantic Hockey (11): Air Force, American International, Army, Bentley, Canisius, Holy Cross, Mercyhurst, Niagara, RIT, Robert Morris, Sacred Heart.

Still Screwed, But Hoping the WCHA Has Mercy (1): Alabama-Huntsville.

Don't bother memorizing it, I'm sure it will change before 2014 in some way.

Just Three Proposals for Prime Canalside Site
(Buffalo Rising)

Sounds like TPegs might finally be looking to shut Canisius up. Yeah, I thought their begging for a handout was a little gauche - and before you accuse me of hypocrisy, Pegula actually has a connection to Penn State and initiated the discussion with the school. So there. Anyway...

Sources said the Sabres are proposing a multi-rink facility, with a themed sports bar/restaurant to be developed by Delaware North Cos. for the block. The rinks would be used as a practice facility for the team as well as the home base for some of the area's collegiate hockey teams. It would also host amateur and youth tournaments.

According to Business First, the Sabres/Delaware North project also includes a hotel component, parking for 1,000 cars, and retail along both Main and Perry streets. There would be two rinks, one with spectator seating for a couple of hundred, the other with up to 1,500.

That's actually smaller than the rink of Division III Buffalo State, where the Griffs currently play. Then again, they drew 626 fans per game last year, fourth worst in DI, so I think they'll be okay.

Title IX at 40
(Philadelphia Inquirer)

Finally, happy birthday to Title IX - a landmark not only for female athletes, but for everyone who believes in equality.

Three Stars: March 26-April 1

3. 2011-12 Penn State Lady Icers Awards Banquet
(pennstatewomenshockey.com)

In last week's Three Stars, I included a picture from the event (which took place two Saturdays ago) of Sara Chroman with the coaching staff. Here is a gigantic improvement on that, both in terms of quantity and quality.

2. Hockey player scores top Thorold honour as athlete of the year
(thoroldedition.ca)

Anthony DiFruscia is a name to keep in mind if you're a recruiting geek. Selected in the second round of the OHL entry draft last year by the Niagara IceDogs, the 16-year-old Ontario forward instead chose to attend Salisbury Prep in Connecticut, where he plays with 2013 defense commit Thomas Welsh. So why am I talking about him?

He has received scholarship interest from American universities and has already received offers from Penn State and RPI.

At his age, 2014 is his earliest possible college entry, so here's hoping he continues to resist Niagara's overtures until then while simultaneously receiving a solid sales job from Welsh. If you read the article, you may have noted that the Canadian media (which is notoriously anti-college hockey) is already trying their best to push the other way.

1. Paving the Way for Future Female Hockey Players
(penguins.nhl.com)

Know what's really cool? This:

1. Someone does a pretty in-depth interview with incoming women's player Darby Kern, one of the more exciting talents arriving in the fall.
2. Said interview contains a vast photo gallery. Contrary to rumors about a rigorous selection process, if you can come up with a solid picture for the top of a Three Stars post, that's like 80 to 90 percent of becoming first star.
3. Said photo gallery unexpectedly contains an off-ice picture that (when appropriately cropped) allows me to replace the very obviously dated headshot of inadequate resolution on the W Current Commitments page and in upcoming Commit Cycle posts.

Pixelation eradication.

That there would be what the mediator's handbook calls a win-win-win situation. Now if only they'd decide to hit Jill Holdcroft next week...

Best of the Rest

Q&A Goalie Style with Hershey Bear Matt Tendler
(PennLive)

You remember Matt Tendler, right? He's the former Neumann goalie who started the game at Citizens Bank Park and kept the Icers off the board during the first period, making 12 saves. Under baseball rules, he would have been the goalie of record. It's probably worth also pointing out that he's a Pennsylvanian and therefore wasn't involved in NU's NCAA violations, which pertained to financial aid awards for Canadians. Anyway, he's now with Pennsylvania Puck's favorite team and recently had this to say to PennLive:

The outdoor game is the second greatest memory of my hockey career, second only to my first game for the Hershey Bears. For me, I think the coolest part of the game was beating Penn State, a university that many of my friends are alumni of, and as we know are very faithful to their school.

The game could not have played out any better than it did for me. I was able to start the game, posted a shutout in the first period, was named first star of the game, and gained bragging rights over so many of my close friends. To even have the opportunity to skate on the outdoor ice at Citizens Bank Park is a memorable one, but to actually get to play a game against such a well respected university and play in front of that many local fans is something I will never forget.

UConn to Apply to Hockey East
(College Hockey News)

Back in October, Notre Dame became one of the last programs to jump the sinking CCHA ship, electing for Hockey East once Conference Armageddon hits in 2013-2014. That move will give HEA 11 teams, so naturally, speculation as to a potential 12th team began immediately (nobody seemed to care that the Big Ten once chugged along for nearly 20 years with 11 teams). Apparently Connecticut, presently of Atlantic Hockey, would like to be the answer to the question. Pluses to UConn's entry from the league's perspective? Well, their women's program is already in Hockey East and non-hockey fans are familiar with the school. Minuses? Just about everything else. Regardless, according to the Hartford Courant, Hockey East officials have already taken a site visit.

Personally, I would have liked to have seen RPI take the slot. It seems pretty silly to choose a program based on promises of new facilities and increased investment when you have a program already with those things - and toss in a pair of national championships for good measure - right in front of your nose. But, if nothing else, UConn allows me to insert a picture of the former home of the Hartford Whalers, since there's a chance the Huskies would play there.

As much as I wanted to show the Whale at the height of their glory, this seems more appropriate.

Parker Milner has BC’s back
(Boston Herald)

Milner, who will attempt to lead Boston College to a national championship this week, is just one of a ridiculous number of goalies coming from Pennsylvania in recent years. There's no doubt PA hockey is on the rise, but nowhere is that more evident than between the pipes. Incoming recruit Matt Skoff gets a mention in the story as well.

AJHL career lifts Glen to Penn State
(Edmonton Journal)

Apparently, incoming forward David Glen was looking at Princeton before Guy Gadowsky moved to PSU. Score one for the coach over the arena in the "which draws more recruits" war.

Morelli OnLion: Making progress
(gantdaily.com)

The obligatory "hey, the arena is being built" article from anyone who covers Penn State athletics. Still, if you can get past the factual errors (the Pegula donation was announced in January 2011...what?) there's some nice stuff within, particularly in terms of fundraising updates. Here's one Joe Battista quote:

"Our goal is to endow every scholarship that we’ll offer. Right now, we’ve fully-endowed 20 of the 36. We’re getting there."

Jutting Relieved of Coaching Duties at Minnesota State (College Hockey News)

Outside of the Frozen Four, which begins Thursday, the dismissal of 12-year head coach Troy Jutting at Minnesota State/Mankato State/MSU-Mankato/whatever was the biggest college hockey story of the past week (to go with the UConn thing, I guess). If you're keeping score, this is coaching change number two this year - Joe Marsh officially stepping down at St. Lawrence was the first - so only six more will equal the record-breaking offseason of 2011.

@VinnieChant
(Twitter)

This is just freaking cool.

Is BTN Enough?

Has the Big Ten already fallen behind in the college hockey arms race?

At first blush, the question seems a little ridiculous. And, to be perfectly honest, it's not one that even crossed my mind before last week. That's when Versus (soon to become NBC Sports Network) unveiled their initial college hockey broadcast schedule, consisting of sixteen games this season, including four from this year's Hockey East tournament. Hockey East and Versus/NBC Sports also announced a multi-year deal to keep the conference prominently on the network beyond this season.

That news, in and of itself, didn't lead to the question. We've known that something like this was coming since August and Notre Dame had already announced, via press conference last month, that Versus/NBC Sports would broadcast all Irish home games beginning with the 2013-2014 season. My reaction at the time was along the lines of "Notre Dame won big, the Big Ten won big, but we'll have to go down the road a couple years before a final verdict."

Two things caused me to more closely examine that position. The first was the fact that future Big Ten schools are represented only twice in this year's "national" schedule, compared with seven appearances each for future NCHC schools (most of which are in the WCHA at the moment) and the 2013 version of Hockey East (not including the conference tournament, which obviously adds to that total).

The other was this thought-provoking blog post from freelance sports reporter Rachel Lenzi (by the way, the blog as a whole is outstanding, give it a read).

NBC/VERSUS coverage of college hockey is a good thing – again, sheerly for EXPOSURE. How many times have you turned on your basic cable sports stations and seen a nationally televised college hockey game?

ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3 (the four-letter network’s Internet outlet) and ESPNU have typically broadcast the NCAA Tournament and the Frozen Four. In a way, it seems as if ESPN has monopolized the NCAA hockey tournament. Otherwise, college hockey has been confined to regional and local networks – some that weren’t easily accessible nationwide, unless you had DirecTV or the digital sports tier on your local cable provider.

For example – there are a few regional networks:

• Big Ten Network
• New England Sports Network
• Fox Sports North
• Root Sports

Even though I like watching the regional feeds – watching Maine-North Dakota a few weeks ago, I got a kick out of some of the commercials from the Grand Forks area – regionalization of the sport hinders the growth and exposure of college hockey.

When I first noticed her inclusion of Big Ten Network in the "regional" category I protested, mindful of the usual drumbeat from BTN brass, including "73 million households in the U.S. and Canada" and "on cable in 19 of the 20 largest markets in the U.S." But as I invested more thought, I realized that she's right.

See, while BTN does have a national footprint to an extent, one rather large hindrance exists: it only insists on basic (or extended basic) carriage in Big Ten states. Elsewhere, it's buried somewhere on a sports tier, along with present college hockey broadcasters CBS Sports, Fox College Sports, and those other regional sports networks that most people barely recognize, largely ignore, and perhaps don't even realize are out there.

There's no doubt whatsoever that despite this limiting characteristic, BTN has been a financial boon to the conference - it paid out an estimated $6.5 million to each member school for the 2009-2010 season. And yeah, I'm a fan of the product, enough so that I've complained to you about not getting it before. But neither of those things are the point to me. How many households will the BTN add because of hockey? How many more ads will they sell because of hockey? How many more buyers for streaming packages will step forward because of hockey? How much exposure will the conference's hockey product get beyond each school's already-entrenched following? I remain unconvinced that the answer to any of these questions is anything of substance.

Meanwhile, Hockey East (and possibly the NCHC later on) is bringing in television revenue that simply would not exist without hockey. Perhaps even more importantly in the long run, they're in with a channel that's quickly becoming the outlet of record for hockey, thanks to their position as the lead national broadcaster for the NHL. The Big Ten's involvement with Versus/NBC Sports at this early stage seems to be that of schools which merely happen to be playing Notre Dame and Denver.

That's vital, and college football may prove instructive in that regard. While the Big Ten pulled games off of ESPN networks in favor of BTN starting in 2007, the SEC enhanced their relationship with ESPN - a savvy move in part because, like it or not, ESPN is the primary distributor of reputation points (and perhaps more) in college football. Arguably, reputation fuels recruiting, which fuels on-field success, making the whole thing a self-fulfilling prophecy. And guess what? They're doing it all while still getting paid to the tune of $2 billion over 15 years.

Ultimately, I still believe that we have to wait a couple years to properly identify winners and losers. The Big Ten could still come out ahead for a few reasons (not the least of which is the fact that BTN is "stuck" with the Big Ten, regardless of the number of eyeballs on the product, while Versus/NBC Sports will eventually drop college hockey if it's not profitable). But as of right now, the conference that started this new era may be getting passed by a less insular competitor.

Three Stars: October 3-9

3. Women's game a perfect fit for PSU's Brandwene
(Pennsylvania Puck)

I think one key thing that distinguishes a good women's coach from a great one is this: the great ones consider themselves of the women's game, even though all (of the male ones) started in the men's game. They're not simply men's coaches who need a paycheck and are doing time until something "better" opens up - coaching women is who they are and what they do. Guess which one Josh Brandwene is.

“As my coaching style changed and evolved over what’s now 20 years as a head coach, I discovered (the women’s game) was an exact match for who I am as a person and a coach now. It was just a great fit.

“It was natural as far as who I am as a person and as a communicator. It just worked. It’s a hard thing to quantify, but it was absolutely the right fit for me and that has sort of helped serve as a springboard to where I am and why I’m such a really good fit for the institution here and for coaching the women’s program here.”

2. Design committee looking into designs for Pegula Ice Arena
(The Daily Collegian)

The brass visited the shiny new Compton Family Ice Arena at Notre Dame to get some inspiration for possible tweaks to the Pegula Ice Arena design. But one interesting story here: someone finally asked a very obvious question, concerning the fate of the Ice Pavilion.

“There’s lots of different ideas about turning [the Ice Pavilion] into everything from a high-performance training area that would be kind of a joint venture between athletics and kinesiology and making it into recreational space,” [Joe] Battista said. “There is always the option of keeping it as an indoor roller hockey, indoor soccer facility.”

The decision on what to do with the Ice Pavilion will be up to Penn State Director of Athletics Tim Curley and Mark Bodenschatz, the associate athletic director for facilities and operations, Battista said.

Do the second one, the roller hockey, indoor soccer thing. Please.

1. Sneak Peek: Pegula Ice Arena
(Onward State)

Eric Weiss from Onward State has ambitiously put together all of the known renderings of Pegula Ice Arena. While there's nothing there unseen to devoted TYT readers (note his source), it has the added advantage of analysis by someone who actually knows something about architecture - like, say, an architecture major from PSU's outstanding program.

Best of the Rest

M2: Penn State 5, Lindenwood (M1) 7
(Thank You Terry)

Yes, I just linked myself.

But more importantly, I linked the Ice Lions who, at 5-2-0, really seem to have a new spirit about them under Josh Hand's direction. New website, new effort at media relations, new UStream channel with game broadcasts, and hey, the product on the ice isn't too shabby either - as mighty Lindenwood can now attest.

Sandwiching that effort at the D2 showcase this past weekend was a 3-2 overtime win over DePaul on Friday and a disappointing 6-5 loss to SIU-Edwardsville on Sunday in a possible letdown situation. Still, this has the look of a program ready to take the next step after barely missing nationals last year. They'll keep after that goal next weekend with engagements at Monmouth (October 21), at Rider (October 22) and at St. Joseph's (October 23).

@Billy_Downey
(TwitPic)

Did the Icers have to shower after the Lebanon Valley College game before heading up to Paternoville?

Mercyhurst 'looking to start again' after offseason losses
(USCHO)

I shouldn't enjoy Rick Gotkin's continued shock over losing Taylor Holstrom and Nate Jensen to Penn State as much as I do. But it probably means that we got a couple pretty good players.

2013 regional sites announced
(ncaa.com)

East: Providence, RI; Northeast: Manchester, NH; Midwest: Toledo, OH; West: Grand Rapids, MI. Book your hotels now. Actually, don't, we won't be playing there (unless you want to go and represent PSU regardless, of course). But we could play in the NCAA tournament - in theoretical land, anyway - and that's pretty exciting in and of itself.

The Frozen Four for the first PSU varsity season was previously announced in favor of Pittsburgh, PA and the Consol Energy Center.

10 Questions: Hockey Coach Guy Gadowsky
(Onward State)

It's a little frustrating when those who cover hockey on a part-time basis score a big interview...then ask the same questions everyone else asks. I swear I've read each of those answers about 30 times from different outlets. Granted, I'm not typical in that department. And please don't take this as me complaining about attention. There ain't no bad publicity.

@ShawneyJ
(Twitter)

Part of my routine involves searching for "Penn State hockey" on Twitter (thanks to the legendary Teddy Hume for that advice). Most of the time, I learn nothing except what's going on with the PSU field hockey team. But sometimes, I see Icers getting shouted out by Olympic gold medal gymnasts. Well done boys.

@MattBHeck
(Twitter)

Then again, once in a while, I find something like this. Not unexpectedly, Mr. Heck is a North Dakota loyalist - more or less the one school that hasn't been all "hey, welcome to the club" and seems to hate us for some unexplained reason.

BGSU Hockey To Join WCHA Beginning In 2013-14

(bgsufalcons.com)

Notre Dame Hockey Program To Join Hockey East Beginning In 2013-14

(und.com)

Are we finally close to the end of all of this? Bowling Green dropped the idea of starting their own conference with some Atlantic Hockey schools and Buffalo and has accepted their standing WCHA invitation. Notre Dame has officially announced for Hockey East. So, in 2013, we have...

Big Ten (6): Penn State, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, Wisconsin.

NCHC (8): Colorado College, Denver, Miami, Minnesota-Duluth, Nebraska-Omaha, North Dakota, St. Cloud State, Western Michigan.

Hockey East (11): Boston College, Boston University, Maine, Massachusetts, Massachusetts-Lowell, Merrimack, New Hampshire, Northeastern, Notre Dame, Providence, Vermont.

WCHA (9): Alaska, Alaska-Anchorage, Bemidji State, Bowling Green, Ferris State, Lake Superior State, Michigan Tech, Minnesota State, Northern Michigan.

ECAC (12): Brown, Clarkson, Colgate, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, Quinnipiac, RPI, St. Lawrence, Union, Yale.

Atlantic Hockey (12): Air Force, American International, Army, Bentley, Canisius, Connecticut, Holy Cross, Mercyhurst, Niagara, Robert Morris, RIT, Sacred Heart.

Still completely screwed (1): Alabama-Huntsville.

X-Factors (2): Buffalo, Minnesota State-Moorhead

There's a pretty logical conclusion to all of this (which of course means it will play out some other way). Hockey East poaches from the ECAC (many think RPI) to get to 12. The ECAC then hits Atlantic Hockey (many think RIT) to get back to 12 themselves. Atlantic Hockey and the WCHA get stuck with odd numbers as the two weakest conferences. But that's not entirely a bad thing, because it leaves the door open for the two x-factors to grab an open slot in those conferences. Unless UAH gets an invite to one, which unfortunately doesn't seem all that likely.

What's Next for College Hockey?
(College Hockey News)

At the risk of linking something redundant with what I just said, this one had to go in for its mention of...wait for it...Rhode Island (!) as a potential Hockey East team (they admit it's not a realistic scenario, but still).

How Notre Dame Won Realignment
(The United States of Hockey)

Of course, Notre Dame joining Hockey East ended up as almost secondary news at its own press conference to this: NBC Sports will be broadcasting ND home games starting in 2013. That's how the Irish are declared winners here, a conclusion with which I don't fully agree, in part because I think the Big Ten Network's digital platform (which, if it's anything like basketball, will include all member teams' games not on TV...even the away ones) is being sold short. NBC Sports will undoubtedly develop that end of things in time, but they haven't as of yet. Notre Dame won big without a doubt. But I think the Big Ten schools won just as big.

Really though, I think we need to go a couple years deep before we can accurately identify winners and losers. The NCHC looks pretty bad at the moment, but they may come off as geniuses if Notre Dame's better-than-everyone-else-in-the-conference deal ends up being a giant wedge, a la Texas and the Big 12 in those other college sports. The luster will come off of the golden dome pretty quickly if nobody watches (a legitimate question to ask: is Notre Dame or Notre Dame football the true "national brand?"). However, until the NCHC produces their own major TV deal, they'll have to answer the following question: what, exactly, was the point of your conference?

CHA moves forward despite step back
(USCHO)

Speaking of conference realignment, here's a nice look at our women's conference - including where it's been, where it is now, and where it might be going in the future.