The NCAA women's team held their media day last Thursday. Unfortunately, it was pretty lightly covered, so I didn't have the material for a roundup/link dump post.
Not that it really needs one when GoPSUSports recorded the entire thing on video and even threw in a transcript of Josh Brandwene's press conference. As someone who tries to peel back the layers of interpretation that are inevitable in journalism and give you as much raw material as possible, I approve.
As mentioned in last week's Three Stars, Joe and Heidi Battista took the final skate at the Greenberg Ice Pavilion a little over a week ago (the facility's fate is still a bit unsettled, although it won't be an ice rink any longer).
Naturally, that meant a "Joe Battista tells stories" column for his subsequent entry on StateCollege.com. Gather 'round, children.
I'm sure some of you are crying bias because I gave first star to the Women's Ice Hockey Club (assuming anyone actually cares where I place the links in these posts). Of course I'm biased. We all are, it's part of the human condition. At least I'm up front with you guys about mine.
Regardless, WIHC goalie Katie Vaughan is one of the finest student-athletes Penn State has to offer and she laid down a fantastic interview here. Hopefully, we're all biased in favor of that.
Penn State held an open house at Pegula Ice Arena on Saturday which, as it turned out, doubled as a reunion of NHL alumni. Above, obviously, is Mario Lemieux, pictured with Heidi Battista.
Former Red Wing/Whaler/Hurricane/Flyer Keith Primeau was also there, and while he might not be in the "greatest ever" discussion, he did once do this.
UPark's ACHA teams named their 2013-2014 letter-wearers last week. As should be fairly obvious from the header, Carly Szyszko will once again wear the C for the women, while Allie Rothman and Ashton Schaffer take the As.
Here's a well-done preview of the Ohio State men's team from OSU's SB Nation blog...
...I'm a little worried though. To this point, the people who support and write about Buckeye hockey appear to be very nice, reasonable and articulate. In other words, the polar opposite of their neanderthal football brethren. So basically, what are they up to?
Over in Erie, people are fretting because they don't view Mercyhurst's schedule as tough enough to prepare the Lakers for their annual NCAA Tournament trip.
But after [the Minnesota State, Ohio State, Cornell, Clarkson, Robert Morris and St. Lawrence] games, which teams on the 33-game schedule will give the Lakers the battles they need to prepare for the postseason?
Syracuse? The Orange are winless in 23 career meetings with the Lakers. The rest of the CHA? Lindenwood, Penn State and Rochester Institute of Technology finished last season with a combined 30-68-10 record. Lindenwood begins only its third year in NCAA Division I. Penn State and RIT joined D-I last year.
I guess I should probably be mildly offended, but I'm not. We're a second-year NCAA program. We'll get there.
A nice preview of the perenially-tough RMU Colonials who, with all due respect to a growing Syracuse program, have emerged as Mercyhurst's primary College Hockey America threat most of the time.
Five regular season games have already been played by CHA teams. Lindenwood lost to and tied with Bemidji State over the weekend, while Mercyhurst split that aforementioned Minnesota State series. Then there's this one, a 12-1 win by third-ranked Clarkson over RIT. Yikes.
The first time one of my favorite teams won a championship, I really enjoyed the offseason. Got the t-shirt, got the hat, went to the parade, basked in the glow. It was glorious. Then, just before the next season started, I realized something obvious but generally forgotten in brief moments of euphoria: they don't cancel the league so that my team can be the champs forever. You still have to go out and defend the title, and you probably won't do it successfully.
That's sort of how I feel about Pegula Ice Arena right now. Other schools aren't going to stop building new arenas just because we have one. And much like PSU people feel PIA is better than new facilities at Notre Dame, Miami and Minnesota-Duluth, others will feel that their place beats ours.
One of the early challengers will likely come from UNO, and while it looks fantastic, it's going to double as a basketball arena. So I think we'll be okay up against that one.
Hockey exhibit at the all-sports museum? Hockey exhibit at the all-sports museum.
You know, it's interesting... the more I learn - the outstanding collection of memorabilia shown above being the latest bit of knowledge - the more I'm convinced that my issues with the handling of Icers and Lady Icers history are not due to an institutional flaw, but instead are a result of stubborn and/or lazy individual(s).
Milestone alert: For the first time, to the best of my knowledge, a Penn State NCAA team has been picked somewhere other than last place by someone legitimate (so, like, not me). So thanks for that, Gabriella Fundaro. Okay, it's second to last, but baby steps. Additionally, Fundaro placed Shannon Yoxheimer (first team) and Jordin Pardoski (second team) on her preseason all-CHA teams.
My only criticism is that most of PSU's projected improvement was chalked up to internal growth, without a single mention of what I think is a pretty great recruiting class. It's always tough to expect rookies to be a huge part of a team (as we know from last year), but if Kelly Seward can be an anchor on defense and the Amy Petersen-Laura Bowman combination can give the Nittany Lions two reliable scoring lines, that's going to have a huge ripple effect up and down the lineup. Someone like Yoxheimer - called a borderline game-changer in the article - will suddenly see a lot more room to breathe, and she doesn't need a ton of space to pop a water bottle.
All in all, fifth place isn't a crazy thought. But if that does end up as the result, I think it will be the sort of fifth place Lindenwood experienced last year, with the occasional win over RIT and RMU, and higher slots still very much in play late in the season. And, as Josh Brandwene likes to say, anything can happen in the playoffs.
Last week was an interesting one for those trying to figure out if and when Beaver Stadium will host an outdoor game between the Penguins and Flyers and/or (even better in my view) Penn State versus anyone. First up was this piece from Rob Rossi - no relation - which claims that a major sticking point in the early discussions between the NHL clubs has been figuring out which of the two will give up a home game for a neutral-siter. That's usually an easy call when the game is played in one team's city, less so when it's not. The NHL, not the designated home team, takes in the gate from the Winter Classic and other outdoor games, so it's not simply a matter of (for example) the Penguins dropping a Consol Energy Center contest and adding in one with more revenue.
Shortly after Rossi's article, the NHL announced that the Washington Capitals will host the 2015 Winter Classic (with the venue and opponent still to be determined). Since the league plays roughly 18 outdoor games per year now, that news is hardly as crippling to Penn State's chances in the short term as it would have been a couple years ago, but it certainly doesn't help.
Lately, people from across the hockey world have been noting any and all indications that the season is around the corner and attaching declarations like "HEY YOU GUYS! HOCKEY SEASON!" However, and with all due respect to the year-round preparation required to play the game at a high level, hockey season only truly begins when games take place. Well, we now have that. Congratulations to ACHA Division 1's Penn State Berks, the first PSU hockey team to play this season, and also the first to win, as the Blue Lions topped Indiana (PA) 5-4 on Friday. The next day brought a 4-1 decision for the hosting Crimson Hawks, but still, a road split is not the worst way to start a season.
ComRadio's Ross Insana spotted jerseys at Family Clothesline in State College with a Pegula Ice Arena patch on them last week. Cool. It's important to state that these are replicas (notice that they aren't made by Nike), so it would be premature to jump to a conclusion other than "Family Clothesline is selling replica jerseys with a PIA patch on them."
Still, it would be nice to see the patches make their way on to the game jerseys for the start of the season. It won't be easy with the Big Ten and CHA logos placed in the "patch spot" on the real thing, but there are certainly options.
Penn State is exploring a $30 million borrowing program to help tide its Athletic Department over troubled financial waters that have come with the Jerry Sandusky child sex scandal and other recent developments.
The plan is designed to help cover projected operating deficits and meet short-term capital needs at a time when the department is without football bowl revenue, home ticket sales are lagging, and the Sandusky scandal is bringing new costs.
Athletic Department expenses outstripped revenues by more than $6.1 million in 2012-13, according to university figures, which in turn has drained departmental reserves and caused a near freeze in spending on major maintenance and capital projects.
I've said it before, but hockey is pretty fortunate to have the guy behind the largest private donation in Penn State history in its corner. One has to believe that fact will help shield it from potential fallout related to the athletic department's finances.
An official announcement is coming soon, but it looks like there will be a sequel to last year's successful Midnight Madness to celebrate the first full practice for the NCAA men. This year's event will be on the night of Friday, October 4th, into Saturday the 5th. And of course in the new arena, which promises to add an extra dimension to the fun.
While the Big Ten's new television arrangement on the men's side got plenty of attention last week, the CHA and the women will have the identical setup as last season, as the league is in the final year of a three-year streaming deal with America One. Essentially, all games played in a CHA venue will be available on America One's outstanding platform, making the $125 for a season pass well worth it, in my view.
In the not-exactly-stunning department, CHA juggernaut Mercyhurst was eighth in the first USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine women's ranking of the year, with Minnesota - the undefeated national champions of 2012-2013 - in the top spot. Beyond the Lakers, Penn State opponents Quinnipiac (October 11th and 12th) and Ohio State (January 3rd and 4th, 2014) also appeared in the poll, among the others receiving votes.
On Friday, the NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Committee announced fairly significant changes to its formula for selecting at-large teams for the NCAA Tournament. Out is the criterion measuring performance against "teams under consideration," or TUC, those with an RPI of .500 or greater. In are tweaks to the RPI calculation that reward both winning on the road (while also reducing the punishment for losing on the road) and winning against teams rated in the RPI top 20. Generally, reception to the changes has been positive, as using TUC added unnecessary volatility to things (if you're unfamiliar with that situation, think about what might happen when several teams have an RPI right around .500 late in the season, and the effects of their bouncing on either side of the so-called "TUC cliff" from game to game).
Here's hoping we have a reason to care about all of that sooner, rather than later.
The program is still in its infancy, but I believe the team will be in the top half of the standings come February, and could even challenge the more structured teams such as Minnesota or Wisconsin.
The captain dropped a couple minutes worth of video on the USHL experience, watching his brothers play and helping to lay the foundation at Penn State for the league's website - and more or less demonstrated why he's the Nittany Lions' captain.
While not a Flyers prospect, Matt Skoff got a mention here under "other names to watch," since he attended the team's development camp in July. Of course, the guy who wrote the story is Penn State alumnus Tom Zulewski, so there may be a bit of a bias in play.
Still, Skoff is certainly a guy with pro potential, and Philly's taken more of a look at him than anyone else, so why not?
An ACHA section is part of Three Stars this week, led by the ACHA Division 1 preseason poll. Not a Penn State story anymore, just interesting to know. Defending champ Minot State is number one, with notables Arizona State (2), Ohio (5), Oklahoma (6), Illinois (7), Delaware (11), Rhode Island (18), Lebanon Valley (23) and West Chester (25) also appearing.
Arizona coach Sean Hogan, who is doing some really nice work on his rebuild in Tucson, wrote this article outlining factors explaining ACHA D1's rise over the last decade. And he's 100 percent on the money. While I'm biased as a big-school alumnus, I'm not sure that I see the benefit to playing NCAA Division III over ACHA D1, particularly now that the top ACHA programs have most of the "extras" in place like institutional support and great coaching. And, in recent years, it's begun to look like people who aren't terrible at hockey feel that way too.
The Illinois student paper delivered a bit of an ACHA primer for the uninformed, although one that reinforced why I still like talking about it a full three years after Penn State announced that its top teams would be leaving.
Senior defenseman Mike Evans said the Illini players are responsible for generating awareness throughout the community for Illini home games, where they make their primary source of funding through ticket sales, while the remaining bills get passed down to the team’s players and coaches.
...and, as tends to happen a lot with Illinois, there was one of those quotes:
"Illinois is a hockey state and there are a lot of great youth hockey players here that have to leave the state in order to play Division I hockey elsewhere," [head coach Nick] Fabbrini said. "The Big Ten Conference is going to be great for college hockey, and hopefully at some point the University takes a look at getting involved."
By the way, "college hockey directory" CollegeHockey.info, which hasn't done much correctly since jumping on the credibility-enhancing Twitter handle @USCollegeHockey, did notice that quote in case you were wondering. If you forgot (and how could you), CollegeHockey.info is the entity that blew up the hockey world for one evening in July by claiming that a DI announcement was imminent for the Illini.
Just as quickly as he arrived, freshman Minnesota defenseman Tommy Vannelli is now gone. A statement from head coach Don Lucia said that Vannelli struggled to balance athletics and academics, but really, he was sweating Penn State. We know that.
Speaking of PSU... Vannelli was a second-round pick of the St. Louis Blues back in June. His departure makes him the second consecutive Blues draftee to leave the Gophers early, following Max Gardiner.
As first reported here (yes, I closed my eyes and smelled myself as I was typing that), former Icers and Ice Lions defenseman Brandon Russo has transferred to Canisius, where he'll play for the Golden Griffins' NCAA team. He's now officially added to their roster.
The men's team's 2013-2014 yearbook is now online, complete with the usual trappings and the continued neglect of Icers history.
Alabama-Huntsville treats their club titles with the appropriate level of respect. The yearbook for the Lindenwood women contains all-time results for the ACHA years, ACHA records and even a full page highlighting their four national championship teams. Yearbooks for NCAA DI programs that have spent time in DII or DIII manage to highlight history from those eras.
Penn State had the most successful program in ACHA history, one that is directly responsible for Joe Battista, Terry Pegula and everything happening right now. There's no excuse.
It's old news by now, but easily the most enjoyable thing from last week - sorry student ticket line - was observing the excitement of the Penn State's hockey players as they moved into Pegula Ice Arena for the first time.
Best of the Rest
Former UConn Huskies Taylor Gross, Nicole Paniccia and Jenna Welch
Steve Hass, the guy behind that Twitter account, had a good week on PhotoShop, also dropping in TPeg Claus in recognition of the "Christmas" celebrated by the women's team last Monday and addressed in the first star (the men's team too I suppose, although they weren't knocking out Christmas carols ahead of their move-in).
Big Ten media day is Thursday morning in St. Paul, MN, and most conference schools have named those in their respective delegations.
Penn State: Head coach Guy Gadowsky, Tommy Olczyk, David Glen Michigan: Head coach Red Berenson, Mac Bennett Michigan State: Head coach Tom Anastos, Greg Wolfe, Jake Hildebrand Ohio State: Head coach Steve Rohlik, Curtis Gedig
I haven't seen announcements from Minnesota or Wisconsin yet. Of course, the Gophers can pretty much bring the whole damn team, should they choose.
It sounds like we're (finally) about to get the long-awaited Big Ten television schedule.
Since media day is coming up on Thursday, the guess here is that it will be revealed then to give pop to Big Ten hockey's first installment of what, generally, are pretty bland events stacked with "we're excited for the season" quotes and those preseason coaches polls that everyone talks about for two days before forgetting them.
Worth a quick mention: the CHA is entering the final year of a streaming deal signed in 2011 with America One, so the arrangement for the women will be identical to last season.
I've said this before, but I'm really glad people like Mary Clarke and IcersGuy (at Black Shoe Diaries) exist, because they both excel where I fall short: at taking a step back, a deep breath and a look around. Here's a solid ICYMI from Clarke to reset things.
John Bacon's new book Fourth And Long, which looks at several college football programs during the 2012 season including obviously-newsworthy Penn State, has been a discussion machine of late with the pigskin crowd.
On Thursday, Bacon spoke at PSU and revealed that Josh Brandwene actually played a small, but vital, role in delivering full access to Bill O'Brien's program:
"The scene was Friday, April 20," Bacon said. "I was at a lunch for the ground of the new ice rink being broken. Bill was there and I let him know that I was coming. This wasn't an ambush at all. He was there and he knew I was coming.
"There was an empty seat at his table and Josh Brandwene, the current coach for Penn State women's hockey is sitting at the table. I had known Josh from over twenty years ago when we were both coaching at a Penn State hockey camp at the old rink. And he sees me and goes "Bakes!" and I think "Thank God." Before I know it I'm spending 15-20 minutes with Bill O'Brien just kind of introducing myself.
"Later on that day I walk across the street and he asks if I want to hop on the bus to take a ride to the stadium for the walk through before the night before the spring game. And I said 'Yes.' and I was there and then went to the spring game on Saturday and that's how the whole thing started. Rather informal actually." Official Online Auctions (gopsusports.com)
Piece of history alert: With the varsity teams both receiving new jerseys this season, the old ones have started to make their way to auction, with a blue 2 (Rich O'Brien) and a white 13 (Kenny Brooks) posted right now.
Can Casey Bailey snipe his way to Hobey Baker contention?
Sophomore forward Casey Bailey wasn't in Nate Wells' top five Big Ten candidates for the Hobey Baker Award, but he did score an honorable mention along with seven others. Top 13 in the league? That's not terrible - have you looked at the talent in the league lately?
Alyssa West will be Lindenwood's captain this year, while Kendra Broad and Chelsea Witwicke will serve as alternates. Witwicke is a native of Roseville, MN and was a high school teammate of PSU's Paige Jahnke, while West came up in the Little Caesars and Victory Honda programs and is therefore pretty familiar to most of the PSU Michigan Mafia (Shannon Yoxheimer, Birdie Shaw, Katie Murphy, Madison Smiddy and Jordin Pardoski).
In all seriousness though, losing Bryson Cianfrone to major junior isn't a crippling loss for the Wolverines. Cianfrone's Ann Arbor entry had already been postponed from this year until next year and he didn't exactly set the USHL on fire in 2012-2013 (as a teammate of Nittany Lions freshman David Goodwin and commit Alec Marsh in Cedar Rapids).
Lebanon Valley College has always been an interesting program to me, for reasons including the fact that they keep the fires burning at old Hersheypark Arena and their status as sort of an anti-Penn State that fell off a cliff in NCAA Division III before resetting as a successful ACHA team.
Anyway... here's PennLive blogger Derek Meluzio's Q-and-A with LVC forward and York, PA product Klayton Garman.
Women's Ice Hockey Club seniors Carly Szyszko, Katie Vaughan and Allie Rothman
This is how I want to remember the Ice Pavilion: some of my favorite hockey players under yellow-orange lighting... and a pretty legit photobomb from the Zam driver.
From her father and uncles who played for the Icers, through her status as a locally-raised rink rat and her time playing and working in it, to her freshman season as a member of the inaugural NCAA women's team at Penn State, few people are as connected to the Greenberg Ice Pavilion as Jill Holdcroft. Via teammate Lindsay Reihl, here's Holdcroft saying her goodbye to the old orange barn.
With the official move to Pegula Ice Arena scheduled for completion early next week, we're just entering an exciting new beginning for Penn State hockey. Every new beginning, however, comes from some other beginning's end. Farewell old friend, you've been awfully good to Penn State for 33 seasons of hockey.
Greenberg Ice Pavilion’s days as a skating facility may be numbered, but the building will not be closed or demolished when construction finishes on a new campus arena in October.
Greenberg is slated to continue operating until shortly after the Pegula Ice Arena is officially completed.
“They want to make sure that everything is fully operational at Pegula,” said Paul Ruskin, of Penn State’s Office of Physical Plant.
Once Pegula is up and running, the current plan for Greenberg, which has housed Penn State hockey teams since 1980, is to use it for other intercollegiate sports activities.
“There are committees which will be meeting for the next few months to determine just what that purpose will be,” said Ruskin.
As someone who will always be nostalgic for the Ice Pavilion, it's good to hear that the building will remain standing, even if it won't contain ice (which was never a realistic outcome). Years from now, it would be fantastic if the [whatever the building will eventually be called] is well known for something like being Penn State lacrosse's indoor home, while also retaining the character that made it an amazing place to watch a hockey game.
Indoor lacrosse is just one of many possible outcomes under the rather large umbrella of "intercollegiate sports activities," of course. Others discussed have included gutting the building and converting it to a high-performance training facility, as well as simply laying down sport court (roller hockey!) once the ice is removed - both of which were fully explored by Leah Blasko in an outstanding 2012 article. A third option presented at the time, knocking it down, is now apparently off the table.
The situation, oddly, mirrors the fate of the Ice Pavilion's predecessor. That facility, which was located on the site of the current Lasch Football Building, started as an outdoor rink that opened in 1955. A roof was added in 1960, walls followed in 1963, and the Icers began playing there in 1971. In 1978, the old Ice Pavilion was repurposed as an indoor practice facility for football and other sports. Sound vaguely familiar?
The original Ice Pavilion in its former glory
From there the new Ice Pavilion, which opened in 1981 and adjacent to the fieldhouse to complete the Greenberg Indoor Sports Complex, will hopefully follow a different and more successful path in its reincarnation.
Football and other teams quickly found the fieldhouse inadequate and a replacement, Holuba Hall, was built across the parking lot just eight years after the Icers were kicked out of their original home, in 1986. The fieldhouse existed for a while after that purely as an indoor track facility, but one that was not up to par with the competition or NCAA championship standards due to the limitations of the building's size. The Ashenfelter Indoor Track Facility, finished in 1999, rendered the fieldhouse completely redundant, and it was demolished to make way for Lasch, which opened in 2000.
In order to bid a fond farewell to the Greenberg Ice Pavilion, the orange barn Penn State hockey called home from January 16, 1981 until February 16, 2013, here is the second half of a subjective opinion of the top 33 games in the
building's history. The significance of the number 33, of course, is that the rink hosted 33 seasons of games. "33 Seasons, 33 Games (Part I)" covered numbers 17 through 33, while this one hits the top 16.
Unfortunately, due mostly to lack of documentation concerning Lady Icers and Ice Lions games, this list only includes contests from the Icers-to-NCAA men lineage, with sincerest apologies to all involved in the many fantastic Ice Pavilion games not involving the Icers or Nittany Lion men.
This post will also serve the secondary purpose of launching TYT into its offseason series of history-themed posts, dubbed "Breakout Past" during a period where I had to come up with a really lame title (preferably including a pun) for everything. Look for those each Thursday, starting next week.
16. Penn State 5, Towson 4 - January 22, 2005. In what would turn out to be the Icers' final championship of the Nittany Lion Invitational - a tournament created the season after the Ice Pavilion's opening - scrappy Towson played the Icers extremely tough until Brett Wilson's power play goal with 16 seconds left propelled PSU to victory. Wilson's heroics were only necessary because of three bad calls related to goals, including two apparent Icers scores that were waved off in the second period, the latter of which was a Teague Willits-Kelley effort that was ruled a goal by the referee on the play, setting off the horn... only to be overturned by a linesman 60 feet away. The brutal officiating included the other end of the ice, as the Tigers' Erik Dixon tied the game at 4-4 with 3:33 remaining despite the fact that the net behind goalie Paul Mammola was off the pegs for at least ten seconds prior to the puck's entry.
15. Penn State 4, Central Oklahoma 3 (OT) - October 15, 2010. Arguably, the 2009-2010 Icers were the best team of the Scott Balboni era, so when Jonathon Cannizzo scored late in the first overtime to eliminate PSU from championship contention by a 2-1 score in the 2010 ACHA quarterfinals after the Icers led 1-0 until just 89 seconds remained in regulation, it was quite a blow. While a regular-season win in the following campaign wasn't a full measure of revenge, it was still quite satisfying, especially after the Bronchos' Donald Geary forced overtime 23 seconds away from a Penn State win, perhaps inspiring a couple of "here we go again" eyerolls within the Greenberg throng. George Saad ensured that any similarities to the previous heartbreak ended there by making a fantastic play in overtime to take the puck off of the boards, work to the front, and score. In what - at best - is a footnote to history, the Icers' second home game following the NCAA elevation announcement was a primary motivator of the creation of this blog.
George Saad (center) celebrates his OT winner against UCO
14. Buffalo State 5, Penn State 4 - March 14, 1992. Two weeks after PSU failed to win the first-ever ACHA national championship on home ice (see number 8), the ICHL regular season champions - who went 14-1-1 in league play, the best record in ICHL history - were stunned by Buffalo State in the conference tournament opener. Chris Kruger, Bob Kowalski and Regis Marrale all scored in the third period for the Bengals, who survived a controversial finish to their win. Dave Murphy sniped in the last minute to cut the BSC lead to 5-4, then appeared to tie the game with one second remaining, a goal negated by a ruling that the Bengals had intentionally dislodged the net beforehand. The Icers were awarded a penalty shot, but ICHL MVP Andy McLaughlin was denied by goaltender Chris Economou, who would go on to win tournament MVP honors while leading his team to a championship game loss to Niagara College.
13. Penn State 3, Towson 1 - January 22, 2000. In one of the all-time great performances by a visiting goaltender at the Ice Pavilion, Towson's Derek Rabold stopped 52 of the 54 Icers shots he faced to win NLIT MVP honors, despite his team's loss in the championship game. Prior to Loren Remetta's empty-netter, heavily-favored PSU (which scored 12 on 84 shots against Rutgers the day before) only cracked Rabold twice - once with Jamie Weston's slap shot, and on the winner, a spectacular end-to-end play that saw Weston feed Neal Price at center to catch the Tigers in a line change. Price motored down the left side, then connected with Joe McArdle, who one-timed it home from the right circle.
12. Penn State 4, Hobart 3 - November 29, 1995. While games against NCAA Division III teams later became close to a 50-50 proposition, they were something a little south of that 18 years ago. That fact, combined with a 6-5 overtime win by the Statesmen during the 1994-1995 season, made this triumph noteworthy, even if it didn't directly count for ACHA positioning. The Icers faced second-period deficits of 1-0 and 2-1 before goals by Brian Rolli, Steve Hajek and Don Coyne over a 4:30 stretch late in the period put PSU ahead for good, including insurance against Hobart's extra-attacker answer with time winding down. "The loss to them last year left a bitter taste in our mouths," goaltender Jeff Crispino said, "so this win means a lot."
11. Penn State 6, Kent State 5 (OT) - February 17, 1984. Throughout the 1980s, Kent State - which sponsored an NCAA Division I program from 1986 until 1994 - was one of the Icers' toughest regular opponents. In 1983-1984, despite PSU's eventually winning the national club championship, the Golden Flashes won three of the four games between the two, and nearly took the fourth. Penn State trailed 5-3 late in regulation, but Art McQuillan scored on a backhander with 3:51 remaining to trim the deficit to 5-4, and Brad Rush tied the game roughly two minutes later off of Lynn Sipe's setup. Greg Powers then deflected a Glenn Cawood shot past Adam Brinker for the OT winner. "We've been in overtime before," Powers said, "and me, Art [McQuillan] and Clark [Dexter] go full force in overtime. We were pressing and getting our shots - you could tell it was gonna come. I told everyone on the bench, 'You don't have to warm up, because we're going to score.'"
10. Iowa State 5, Penn State 3 - January 23, 1999. In a preview of the infamous 1999 ACHA national championship game won by "vacated," the Icers and Cyclones met in the NLIT championship game, and the teams ranked first and second in the ACHA for the entire 1998-1999 season put on a show worthy of the pollsters' esteem. After Darren Anderson (one of the stars of "vacated's" title run, as it would turn out) gave ISU a 2-0 advantage on a 3-on-0 rush, Penn State answered three times to gain the lead in the third period: Jason Zivkovic on the power play, Rob Shaner's rebound putback and C.J. Patrick's slapper. The Cyclones, however, had their own rally against a shaky John Sixt with John Strama and Brian Paolello putting ISU back ahead, and Jeff Smith added an empty-netter.
Jamie Hettema scored in the first game at the Ice Pavilion
9. Penn State 6, Upsala 5 - January 16, 1981. A contest generally only remembered for the Ice Pavilion's opening and for the crowd of 1,450 that stood as the building's record for its first nine years was also a fantastic game in and of itself. Matt Glass became the first of many Icers to fill the net beneath Section E, but he was answered by the Vikings with just 45 seconds left in the opening period. Glass' second, along with tallies by Glenn DeStefano, Rush and Jamie Hettema gave PSU a seemingly-safe 5-2 lead late into the third period, before Upsala managed to score three times in the last 120 seconds of the game. DeStefano, however, also scored late and goaltender Jim Pollock shut the door just in time for the Icers to escape with a win that wasn't finalized until 1:00 a.m.
8. Iowa State 5, Michigan-Dearborn 3 - February 29, 1992. The only non-Penn State game on the list qualifies due to its heavy significance as the first championship game in ACHA history, and still the only national title won by the man, long-time ISU coach Al Murdoch, who ended up with his name on the trophy given to the ACHA's last team standing. The Icers were denied home-ice glory that year by Dearborn, as the Wolves bombed PSU 8-5 to earn their way into the final. Incidentally, the captain of that 1991-1992 Iowa State team was Bill Ward, who is now the girls hockey coach at National Sports Academy, the alma mater of current PSU women's team forward Emily Laurenzi.
7. Niagara College 6, Penn State 5 (2OT) - March 12, 1988. In an ICHL semifinal matchup, Knights goaltender Jim Darling made 40 saves - eventually winning tournament MVP honors and leading the Welland, ON-based school to the championship - in beating the Icers. Penn State held a 5-2 lead at one point, but were unable to avoid ICHL elimination at the hands of Niagara for the third season in a row (including another 6-5 double-overtimer two years prior to this game). Payback would be sweet, and it would come the next season when PSU beat the favored Knights 5-3 on the way to the title (see number 3).
6. Penn State 4, Canton 3 (OT) - January 14, 1984. The SUNY school, then known as the Northmen, took an early 1-0 lead on a Mike Jones clapper 1:55 in, and were on the verge of running a flat PSU team out of the rink but for a series of shots ringing off posts and missing gaping nets. Even with puck luck seemingly on their side, Penn State still faced a 3-1 deficit entering the third period, but a Powers putback of a Sipe rebound, following a Jim Yablecki goal, brought the Icers back to even midway through the frame. Yablecki then won the game, and the championship of the third NLIT, 2:35 into overtime with a wrister off left wing. The goal almost never happened, as PSU survived a near-miss by Canton just six seconds into extra time: "The guy came breaking in on a 3-on-2," goaltender John Davis said. "He passed it right in front, and as he came by, he just took my skates right out from under me. They just shot it and I stopped it from the back of the net. The puck has to be completely over. I didn't think it was, it was close though."
Casey Bailey (18) scored PSU's first NCAA goal at the Ice Pavilion
5. American International 3, Penn State 2 (OT) - October 12, 2012. Without a doubt the only game that made the list based on the pre-game warmup, and the chills I (and undoubtedly others) got watching PSU get ready for an actual, honest-to-goodness NCAA Division I men's hockey game after decades of almosts and what-ifs. Nittany Lions hockey will see greater heights than an overtime loss to perennial doormat AIC, a result made possible by Ben Meisner's 61 saves and Jon Puskar's winner, but there will only be one first, and only one time experiencing the unique feelings it inspired.
4. Penn State 4, Oklahoma 3 (OT) - February 4, 2012. The Icers' aura of ACHA invincibility in the final season before making the NCAA jump had already been smashed by Delaware and Central Oklahoma by the time Oklahoma came to town late in the season, but after Shane Vordran capitalized twice on misplayed pucks by goaltender Matt Madrazo to give the Sooners a commanding 3-0 third-period edge, a palpable new height of concern among Penn Staters was reached. And promptly rendered moot by Justin Kirchhevel's two goals in the last five minutes of regulation sandwiching one by Taylor Holstrom. Saad was once again large in overtime, putting back a rebound of an Eric Steinour shot to cause the old barn to explode. "I've been here for a lot of great wins over the years," Joe Battista said. "This will go down as one of the greatest comebacks ever in this building." Third best, to be precise (the Icers never trailed in one of the top three games).
3. Penn State 8, Buffalo 6 - March 12, 1989. No less of an authority than Battista considers this game, for the ICHL tournament championship, the launching point for the success enjoyed by his program in the years that followed. The Icers, who had struggled in the conference since joining in 1985, took the unorthodox step of skipping the club national championships that season to focus on success in the ICHL playoffs after a fourth-place finish in the regular season standings (in those days, nationals preceded the ICHL tournament). The move paid off, although it certainly wasn't easy. Facing a 4-2 deficit entering the third period, PSU quickly tied the game, just as quickly fell behind by two once more at 6-4, then took advantage of a rare full two minutes of 3-on-3 hockey to once again pull even. John Ioia's rebound goal on a 2-on-1 with Lance Riddile at the 17:10 mark put the Icers ahead for good, with Brian Stevenson adding an empty-netter. Current women's head coach Josh Brandwene scored twice for Penn State on his way to the program's scoring record for defensemen.
1 and 2. Penn State 4, Ohio 3 (OT) and Penn State 4, Ohio 3 (OT) - October 29 and 30, 2004. I mean really... could it be anything else? Essentially, take circumstances similar to that UCO game in number 15, add in the fact that the previous season's national tournament loss was in the championship game (as opposed to the quarterfinals), the juice of the best rivalry the ACHA has ever seen and a sellout crowd wearing white t-shirts, then multiply it by two. Michael McMullen scored the winner in Friday's game by cutting to the middle off left wing and putting back his own rebound, a goal that completed a rally from a 2-0 deficit with 10:33 to play. Kevin Jaeger was the hero the next night when he finished a hat trick on a breakaway resulting from Mike Carrano's lob over the Bobcat defense.
In order to bid a fond farewell to the Greenberg Ice Pavilion, the orange barn Penn State hockey called home from January 16, 1981 until February 16, 2013, here is the first half of a subjective opinion of the top 33 games in the building's history. The significance of the number 33, of course, is that the rink hosted 33 seasons of games. This post will cover numbers 17 through 33, with the top 16 to come in Part II.
Unfortunately, due mostly to lack of documentation concerning Lady Icers and Ice Lions games, this list only includes contests from the Icers-to-NCAA men lineage, with sincerest apologies to all involved in the many fantastic Ice Pavilion games not involving the Icers or Nittany Lion men.
33. Penn State 5, Air Force 1 - November 10, 2012. While it won't be remembered as a fantastic game in and of itself, it did end up as the best (with no disrespect intended to Alabama-Huntsville, the only other DI team to lose in the Ice Pavilion) NCAA-era win the barn saw. Matt Skoff stopped 31 of 32 Falcons shots in the game that arguably made him the lead goaltender for the rest of the season, and Max Gardiner assisted on goals by three different scorers.
32. Penn State 3, Rhode Island 2 (SO) - February 3, 2007. Ties were eliminated in favor of the shootout in ACHA Division 1 for the 2006-2007 season, and thanks to Nate Obringer's goal, along with Chris Matteo's blanking of the Rams in the skills competition, the Icers earned their first shootout win over the defending national champions. Perhaps even more significantly, the win completed a season sweep of URI, after the Rams spoiled Joe Battista's final game as head coach with a 3-1 win in the 2006 national championship game.
31. Penn State 8, Cortland State 7 - December 4, 1981. The Icers never led until the final three minutes of the contest, but still managed to upset NCAA Division III Cortland in a defense-optional affair that stands as the Icers' first win over an NCAA team. PSU faced two-goal deficits at 4-2, 5-3, 6-4 and 7-5, but Brad Rush and Clark Dexter scored the tying and winning goals 43 seconds apart late in the third period to turn the game on its head. The line of Toby Ritner, Joe Grainda and Matt Glass combined for five goals, while Battista had three assists to become the first PSU defenseman to crack the 100-point plateau.
Clark Dexter would go on to score the winner in this wild game against Cortland
30. Eastern Michigan 4, Penn State 3 - December 2, 2000. One day after Adam Patterson stunned the Icers in overtime, the Eagles proved the win was no fluke by doing it again the next day by an identical score. Penn State, which was without star players Alon Eizenman and Josh Mandel, battled back from a 3-1 deficit only to see EMU notch the first Ice Pavilion sweep by the visiting team since Erie College pulled it off on December 10th and 11th, 1993.
29. Penn State 5, Kent State 3 - February 1, 1986. In one of the Golden Flashes' final games before elevating their program to NCAA Division I status for the following season, the Icers got revenge for two early-season blowouts at Kent and an overtime loss the previous night with a highly-physical win. Rick Tullio and Lynn Sipe both scored in the first nine minutes of the game, and after KSU struck back with two in an 18-second span, Tim Holdcroft and Davis Mulholland restored the two goal advantage in the second period. Sipe added a second goal early in the third period to seal the result.
28. Rhode Island 5, Penn State 4 (SO) - February 5, 2011. In the first season following the announcement of the NCAA transition, the Icers very nearly missed the ACHA national tournament for what would have been the only time ever, thanks to a string of inconsistent results that lasted for most of the season. With numerous players and coaches from both sides missing this contest due to the 2011 World University Games, David Macalino scored the shootout winner for the Rams, the only goal in 10 total attempts, after the teams traded goals throughout a back-and-forth 65 minutes. However, the PSU side left the series confident that the three-point weekend (following a 4-3 Icers win the previous day) was enough to make nationals. "It feels like we got two wins,” Paul Daley said. "We played really well and made good adjustments. Coach [Josh] Hand [who took over bench duties with head coach Scott Balboni at the WUG] has had a super-positive mentality with us. The bench is upbeat. It’s had a great effect."
27. Penn State 7, Michigan-Dearborn 5 - November 12, 1994. In the early and middle 1990s, Michigan-Dearborn, a former NAIA power - until the NAIA stopped sponsoring a hockey championship after 1984 - that was coached by none other than current Michigan State NCAA coach Tom Anastos from 1987 through 1990, emerged as the Icers' biggest rival (notably, it was UM-D who halted the Icers' championship hopes in 1992, the first and only time PSU hosted the ACHA national tournament). Suffice it to say, it was not a friendly rivalry. In an ending that foreshadowed a somewhat similar event five years later, the game was called with 4:31 remaining after a shoving match between Icers goalie Jeff Crispino and the Wolves' Jesse Hubenschmidt. That exchange capped a 13-penalty period for Dearborn, including game misconducts to head coach Joe Aho and assistant coach Edward Forman.
26. Penn State 5, Eastern Michigan 5 (OT) - December 3, 1999. The Icers, despite holding a 3-1 lead in part thanks to Paul Sealock and Brandon Cook both scoring their first career goals, fell victim to an EMU rally that saw Dan Maszatics and Craig Morton each score twice, with Morton's breakaway backhander standing as the equalizer. The result, combined with an Eagles win the next day, and a sweep at the Ice Pavilion the next season (see number 30), gave rise to the idea of an Eastern Michigan/Penn State-ruled ACHA that never really materialized, at least from the EMU end.
Nate Obringer was all of the offense in a 1-0 shutout of Lindenwood in 2005-2006
25. Penn State 1, Lindenwood 0 - November 18, 2005. There was no way to know it at the time, of course, but a single series at the Ice Pavilion would turn out to be the only meeting of these two ACHA titans. Since the association's 1991-1992 founding, either Penn State or Lindenwood has appeared in 17 of the 22 championships games, winning a combined seven titles. The more established dynasty came out on top of the newcomers, as Paul Mammola (this game's goalie) and Matteo (in net for a 2-0 win the next night) put together a weekend shutout of the Lions. Obringer's goal with 5:47 left in the third period of the series opener represented all of the Icers' offense - but it was all that was needed thanks to a stout defensive effort, despite the absence of senior blueliner Matt Wallace due to injury.
24. Penn State 5, Fredonia 4 - November 5, 2011. In a game played against the backdrop of the emerging Jerry Sandusky scandal - Sandusky, Tim Curley and Gary Schultz were arrested and the infamous grand jury presentment was released earlier that day - the Icers rallied from a 4-2 second-period deficit against the NCAA Division III Blue Devils, with Steve Edgeworth's power play blast tying the game early in the third period and George Saad potting the winner at 5:46.
23. Penn State 5, St. Clair College 4 - February 14, 2003. In an era when the Icers largely toyed with ACHA opposition, games against Canadian Colleges Athletic Association schools like Windsor, Ontario-based St. Clair provided a sound challenge for the dynastic PSU team. On this occasion, Curtiss Patrick's backhander with a defender draped on him with 3:03 remaining provided the margin of victory, while Bill Downey registered his 100th career point on a goal earlier in the game. Significantly, this was the final home win for a senior class that won ACHA national championships at the end of each of its seasons in blue and white.
22. Penn State 6, Canton 5 (OT) - February 14, 1982. With a fresh, new ice rink on campus, the Icers initiated a four-team in-season tournament called the Nittany Lion Invitational, which would become a staple of the team's schedule over the next 25 years. The inaugural championship game, though, remains a classic. Penn State trailed 5-3 with less than 90 seconds remaining, but much like Lynn Sipe three years later (see number 17), Glenn DeStefano singlehandedly tied the game by scoring at 18:48 and again at 19:11. Rush then scored the OT winner on a slot wrister following a Norm Jacobs faceoff win. In victory, Icers coach Jon Shellington one-upped his college coach, Canton bench boss Terry Martin.
21. Niagara College 6, Penn State 5 (2OT) - February 28, 1986. In 1985, Penn State significantly upgraded its schedule by joining the International Collegiate Hockey League, a conference that, over PSU's seven seasons of membership, would play a key role in elevating the program to new heights. The Icers' first appearance in the ICHL playoffs would provide a glimpse of the challenge to come when Niagara raced out to a 5-1 lead after two periods. PSU would rally to force overtime, but it was for naught, as the Knights ousted the second-seeded Icers in a second 10-minute extra period. The loss spoiled the idea a highly-anticipated championship-game meeting between Penn State and St. Bonaventure, which won the ICHL's regular season title.
20. Penn State 4, Buffalo State 3 - February 19, 1994. Former ICHL rival Buff State elevated to NCAA Division III in 1993-1994, but the Icers still managed to get one last shot on the Bengals thanks to Don Lamison's hat trick, as well as his crucial blocked shot in the dying moments to preserve the win. "Here's what you have to understand about the kind of player Don Lamison is," Battista said. "Not only does he have three goals and an assist, but he blocks that shot with about a minute left, and then clears it out of the zone. That says a lot about him, and those are the kind of plays that win championships."
Tim O'Brien scored twice in taking down top-ranked Illinois
19. Penn State 5, Illinois 4 - January 17, 2009. Top-ranked Illinois, which enjoyed the only perfect season in ACHA history in 2007-2008, fell twice in a row to the number three Icers for the Illini's third and fourth losses in two years. In the back half of the series, PSU jumped out to an early 3-0 lead on two goals from Tim O'Brien and another from Steve Peck. Illinois would rally to tie the game at four, but Lukas DeLorenzo potted the third-period winner after intercepting just in front of the Illini net. "I was just forechecking their defenseman and I got my stick to the other side," DeLorenzo said. "I put my stick in the lane and luckily I walked in on a breakaway."
18. Delaware 3, Penn State 2 - February 5, 2000. Around the turn of the century, the home series with the Fighting Blue Hens was always notable for its coinciding with alumni weekend, thanks in no small part to the fact that former Icers Josh Brandwene and John O'Connor were on the UD coaching staff. On this occasion Brandwene, who of course got his white hat out of storage later to become the NCAA women's coach at PSU, spoiled the ceremonies of the day and led Delaware to its first win over PSU in 30 tries, dating back to the 1978-1979 season. Travis Bradach's goal off of Mark Scally's stick with 12 seconds remaining in the second period held up as the winner, while Lance Rosenberg made 56 saves for the Hens.
Scoring dynamo Lynn Sipe provided heroics in fantastic contests against Kent State and Ohio
17. Penn State 6, Ohio 5 (OT) - January 19, 1985. By most accounts, the 1990 National Invitational Tournament meeting that saw PSU pull off a massive upset in Athens was the launching point of the Icers-Bobcats rivalry, but there's a pretty strong case to be made for this game, the third of four consecutive overtime games between the teams. Penn State trailed by two with just 23 seconds remaining, before Sipe got to work on a pretty unlikely natural hat trick (to go with another goal he had scored earlier). First, he poked home a power play rebound to pull the Icers within one. Then he deflected home a Jeff Speece clapper to tie things up. At 7:06 of the 10-minute overtime period, Sipe banked in a wrister off of OU goalie Lindsey Nonnemacher's mask. The win gave PSU the title in the fourth Nittany Lion Invitational.
Last Monday, with the ACHA D2 regional tournaments completed, the Ice Lions learned their Pool C rivals for the upcoming ACHA championship tournament - Marist (No. 1 in the Northeast Region), Illinois State (No. 3. in the Central Region) and Weber State (No. 4 in the West Region).
In true ACHA style, I can't tell you precisely when Penn State will play each of those teams just yet, although we do know that the games will be on March 15th, 16th and 17th at the Hardee's IcePlex in Chesterfield, MO. Should PSU win the group, they'll advance to the semifinals on the 18th against the Pool A winner (Grand Valley State, Arizona State, Northeastern, Maryland), then hopefully to the finals on the 19th.
On February 21st, in a Commonwealth Campus season wrap-up post, I mentioned that Berks senior Sean Sowney became the fourth player in program history to hit the 100-point mark for his career. Well, take that one step further: Sowney finished with 111 points to end as Berks' all-time leading scorer, with the record-breaking point coming on the final shift of his career to cap a four-point night.
“It’s a great feeling knowing of all of the people who went to this school you are the only one to ever do this,” Sowney said. “The record may be broken but at the time when I left, I was the leading scorer.”
Following his high school career, Sowney attended Burlington County College for one year before attending Penn State. The year spent at the two-year institution consumed one year of Sowney’s athletic eligibility.
“I know if I had an extra year I could have put that record out of reach.” Sowney said.
Whether the record falls next season or not, Sowney’s living in the present.
“This is one of those achievements where you realize everything you you’ve done in your career, it’s all came together. It’s an awesome feeling.” Sowney said.
A great story, and certainly worthy of the lengthy write-up it received - as well as first-star status.
The major story here is the pouring of the concrete that will sit underneath the Pegula Ice Arena's playing surface, but to be honest, I'm more impressed with the general aesthetic here. I mean, look at it - beyond the installation of the ice and seats, a couple (much) smaller things, and a bunch of stuff you can't see in the photo, that's your home arena. Not too bad.
Too soon? Yeah, probably. But nevertheless, it's a great in-depth look at the Tigers and what has to be called a highly-successful first DI season in Henrietta, NY - I watched RIT's first DI game against Mercyhurst on September 28th where they went down 2-0 18 seconds in, and I've seen their most recent work, against Penn State of course. Not really much of a comparison. Tons of credit is due head coach Scott McDonald, his staff, and a group of senior leaders with that championship mentality for their getting up to speed quickly.
On rare occasions, Laura Bowman has to open her mouth to communicate with Amy Petersen
Here's one more look at the third consecutive Minnesota title won by Laura Bowman and Amy Petersen - soon to be called incoming PSU freshmen - and their teammates. If you hadn't already figured it out, it looks like we're in for some freaky Sedin twin-like ESP stuff with the best friends. This passage concerns Bowman's clinching goal in the state championship game:
Petersen and Bowman put the game away at the 3:04 mark of the final period. Carrying the puck into the offensive zone on a 2-on-1, Bowman slowed the play, passing across to Petersen, who returned the favor for a tap-in goal for Bowman.
"Amy and I have played together for 11 years and we just have amazing chemistry. I was impressed with our play," laughed Bowman, who added three assists in the tournament. "We were talking about how pretty it was when we were screaming. We knew it was pretty."
Since bailing on his Penn State commitment for the defense-optional QMJHL, Conor Garland has done fairly well, with 17 points in 19 games. And he's starting to generate some buzz ahead of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft in spite of his elfin stature. No, I don't really care, and you probably shouldn't either, but I guess it's sort of my job to point things like this out, and I neglected to delete his Google Alert, so...
Depressing? Hilarious? Awesome? Guess that sort of depends on your favorite sport and your outlook on life. Personally, I don't think it's a violation of #OneTeaminess to acknowledge that Penn State men's basketball hasn't been a highly-successful program, for the most part, and will often be on the ouch side of oddities like this. And hockey winning at Wisconsin in year one of the NCAA era was awesome. So that's where I am with it.
While on the surface, this article is no different from the glut of shallow pieces generated by Guy Gadowsky's end-of-season press conference - new arena coming, surprisingly good team, everyone's happy and excited, if you missed them -respect coming from Minnesota is a little different.
Coached by Guy Gadowsky, who produced success first at Alaska and then at Princeton before landing the coveted job in State College, the Lions finished the season with a respectable 13-14-0 record, which included wins over Michigan State, Ohio State and the Badgers.
It also included a bewildering loss to Arizona State's club team, but such are the growing pains to be expected in a hockey program that had zero seniors and was started from scratch two years ago.
Gadowsky took a few players off the Lions' club team, recruited heavily in the growing hockey communities in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, and got a few transfers, including ex-Gopher Max Gardiner, from Minnetonka.
"It wasn't like they were starting a new program. They had a nucleus of players on campus, and they were able to get some transfers in which helps when you're building your program," Gophers coach Don Lucia said. "I think they're going to walk in in a good spot. They had a good year this year, and obviously, it was a big win (at Wisconsin)."
"Started from scratch?" Kind of a baffling way to put it, especially given that it's almost immediately contradicted by Don Lucia. I've written about it before, but you simply can't separate the Icers from what happened this season, end of story. I'll take it a step further and say that the loss to Arizona State was less about "growing pains" and more about the quality of the ACHA that helped launch PSU's NCAA program (certainly, both played some role - ASU wouldn't be able to do that to a Boston College).
Yep, I'm playing ACHA hero again. Someone at Penn State has to do it.
