Last July, inspired by the NHL development camp invites received by Nittany Lions David Thompson and Tommy Olczyk, I wrote a post called "Breakout Past: Penn Staters Wearing NHL Logos." Thompson and Olczyk were included, of course, with the rest of the list filled out by grainy, low-quality black-and-whites of players like Don Coyne and Alon Eizenman scanned from ten-year-old media guides. That's not a knock on those players or the Icers, of course - Mark Scally playing in a pair of NHL exhibition games for the Penguins in 2000 is still the gold standard for "Penn State to the show" as far as I'm concerned - but it did indicate a clear dichotomy of players from PSU's most successful period of ACHA hockey around the turn of the century and the very beginnings of NCAA-level talent at the school, with remarkably little in between. It admittedly felt a bit forced.
It's staggering how far things have progressed in a year. No, it's not all the way there yet. The list doesn't include any active NHLers, and scouring the internet for a couple days just to find not-that-great photos of a couple players (thanks for nothing, Flyers) or none at all of another (thanks for literally nothing, Canucks) seems a little south of the big time. Still, things are moving forward at a fantastic rate.
Just to be thorough, let's start with Olczyk and Thompson.
The most obvious progress has been in the form of Penn State's NHL Entry Draft picks.
[Note: Max Gardiner committed to Penn State in January 2012 and had been drafted by that point, but he wasn't included in last year's post because he hadn't been photographed playing hockey in his Blues jersey.]
Mike, if you want to pop on a Canucks jersey, selfie up, and send it over, I'd be more than happy to update this post.
This month, Koudys, McAdam and Williamson all attended development camps held by the teams owning their NHL rights (Gardiner's team, the St. Louis Blues, does not hold an on-ice camp, although they do bring prospects in for off-ice instruction). They were joined by a pair of teammates invited as free agents, similar to Olczyk and Thompson last year: Matt Skoff with the Flyers and Casey Bailey with the Bruins.
Where will the Penn State-NHL connection sit one year from today? Can't wait to find out.
As first broken by Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star Tribune and confirmed by Lions 247's Andrew Dzurita, Max Gardiner of the USHL's Dubuque Fighting Saints is Penn State-bound next season.
Season Team Lge GP G A Pts PIM
------------------------------------------------------------- 2007-08 Minnetonka High MN-HS 27 9 12 21 16 2008-09 Minnetonka High MN-HS 25 15 25 40 -- 2009-10 Minnetonka High MN-HS 17 17 26 43 14 2009-10 Team South West MN-HS 22 6 6 12 -- 2010-11 Univ. of Minnesota WCHA 17 1 2 3 24 2011-12 Dubuque Saints USHL 21 6 5 11 6
First, probably the most exciting part: Gardiner will become the first Penn Stater ever to be an NHL draft pick. He was selected 74th overall by the St. Louis Blues in 2010. Just in case you were wondering why a good Minnesota boy (said in my Don Cherry voice) is wearing a bluenote in that picture at the top.
Since I know you're wondering on the back of that news...
Hockey's Future rates Gardiner's NHL potential as a 7.0 D. The 7.0 part of that translates as "second-line forward." However, the D part indicates that he's seen as unlikely to reach his full potential and could drop three slots on the numeric scale (4.0 represents a top minor-league forward who gets recalled occasionally).
Gardiner has offensive skill combined with a good compete level. He is more of a playmaker than a goal-scorer. It remains to be seen if his offensive game will advance at the pro level, but he has some potential as a power forward if he improves his overall strength.
Generally, he's seen as a sturdy power forward (in spite of the strength issue cited by HF) who works hard, isn't afraid of the front of the net and can play the body, but one whose skating is questionable.
Here's a taste of the career with the Minnetonka High School Skippers that got him drafted. The Skippers were state runners-up in Class AA in 2010, and Gardiner was a finalist for the state's prestigious Mr. Hockey award.
Outside of his high school career, the Blues had to be pretty impressed with Gardiner's genetics. By that 2010 draft brother Jake, a defenseman, had his own stellar career at Tonka in the books, was drafted 17th overall by the Anaheim Ducks (in 2008), had 34 points in two seasons at Wisconsin (he ended up with 75 in three) and had won gold at the World Junior Championships. Jake is now with the Toronto Maple Leafs and enjoying a nice rookie season with 10 assists in 38 games.
From the time he was drafted though, the Gardiner story takes a little bit of a turn. He joined the Minnesota Golden Gophers (a future conference rival, of course) last season, but only got into the lineup 17 times. In a 3-3 tie with Wisconsin on November 6, 2010, he struck a blow for younger brothers everywhere by handing Jake a minus on his first collegiate point, an assist 4:18 into the game. He scored his first/only goal 13 days later at Michigan Tech but started wearing a suit during games shortly after, appearing in only four games after New Year's.
"We had a good conversation," Gophers coach Don Lucia said, "and he was disappointed in the ice time he received last year and was concerned about playing time in the upcoming season. "Leaving assures him of the ice time he is looking for. I am disappointed he is leaving, but I understand his decision and wish him all the best."
"It's just what's best for me...[Lucia is] disappointed, but he said he supports whatever I think is best for me...I've been in touch with [the Blues organization] a lot. They said they'd support it either way if I stayed or not."
Dubuque, the USHL's defending champion, snapped Gardiner up in that circuit's draft last spring in case things went south at Minnesota. They did, so the ninth-largest city in Iowa is where he's spending his transfer year this season. After a slow start, he's picked things up of late with six points in his last five games, including two-point efforts in two of his last three. The Fighting Saints do have some college player reclamation success in the form of Vinny Saponeri, who was kicked off of Boston University's team in 2010, won the Clark Cup with the Saints last season, and is now at Northeastern and third on the Huskies in scoring.
The left-handed shot received recent interest from programs like North Dakota and Western Michigan but chose Penn State, where he'll presumably join Justin Kirchhevel, Bryce Johnson, Taylor Holstrom and Nate Jensen as a player with more NCAA experience than Penn State's program. And get multiple chances to stick it to Lucia and Minnesota.
