Three Stars: November 26-December 2

3. Penn State at Mercyhurst // Exhibition Game
(collegehockeystats.net)

Something I learned this past weekend: the first game in the history of Mercyhurst women's hockey was played against the Lady Icers on October 9, 1999. Unfortunately, I think the Collegian passed on covering it to run one of 38,000 PSU-Iowa football articles that week (fall break didn't help either), so this box score might be the only online trace of it. That's just as well - it wasn't really a pretty result for us.

By the way, that's two consecutive women's opponents mentioning their history with the Lady Icers in their game notes, if you're scoring at home. Just saying.

2. Ice Hockey Recap: The First Ranked Opponent
(Black Shoe Diaries)

Penn State Hockey: Weekend Roundup #4
(Victory Bell Rings)

Because of the out-of-sync timing between my posts and theirs, I never get enough of a chance to toss some love to the other great PSU hockey bloggers out there, including IcersGuy and Mary Clarke of BSD and VBR, respectively. Because of the aforementioned timing issue (their recaps go up later in the week), these posts are actually their thoughts on the Nittany Lions' weekend at then-No. 8 Union November 24th and 25th. Know what though? That one was better anyway.

Get to know their stuff, and follow them on Twitter too (@hey_pono for IcersGuy, @marycclarke for Mary Clarke). Because you're not a fully-informed fan if you're only listening to one voice.

1. Philadelphia College Hockey Faceoff Promo
(YouTube)

Yep, it's a commercial for Penn State's game with Vermont in Philly on January 19th. Cheeseball? Sure. But in a fun way. And the Nittany Lion does the ear thing he does right at the end, so it's all good.

Best of the Rest

Welsh Signs with the Mississauga Steelheads of the OHL
(The Hockey Writers)

Even though he didn't move directly from Penn State's commit list to major junior, I suppose Thomas Welsh can be considered our first CHL defection. I've largely gotten over his decommitment after he wasn't able to "come to terms" (his awkward choice of words that may or may not indicate that he wasn't looking at PSU for the 'right' reasons) with the school. I fully expect this to be the last time I ever mention him now that he's officially gone for good. However, because Welsh's relatives continue to email me articles, as if I have any interest whatsoever in promoting him at this point...

...here's a photo of Welsh getting scored on by Team USA at the World Junior A Challenge last month. I'm not sure which of the nine goals scored by Eamon McAdam's teammates in the game is represented here, sorry.

Sooners face big second half of the season
(Hockey in the Heartland)

Now that the ACHA has our attention, here's how future opponent Oklahoma (February 15th and 16th) is looking for the spring semester. The Sooners' trip to the Ice Pavilion will actually be their second NCAA DI series of the season, as they play Alabama-Huntsville on January 11th and 12th. So basically, the Icers could never get any DI games, and as soon as they depart the ACHA, teams start getting four per season.

David Glen records a hat trick in Penn State's big win Friday night but Joe D'Elia and ASU get revenge on Saturday
(Stack the Pads)

Remember when PSU was unbeaten against the ACHA as an NCAA program? Those were good times. StP has some evidence in support of that, including video of four of the Nittany Lions' eight goals Friday night.

Women's Ice Hockey Signs Seven to Letters of Intent
(quinnipiacbobcats.com)

Former PSU women's target Mika Nervick, a Minnesota high schooler - man, do we hit Minnesota hard on the women's side - signed with Quinnipiac.

Allentown Arena - yeah, that name will stick here in the 21st century - will host the AHL in 2014.

Ground breaks on new Allentown arena, expected to be Phantoms home in 2014
(Broad Street Hockey)

Yay, Pennsylvania hockey!

I do have to say that it's a great testament to the hockey fans of Glens Falls, NY that the team draws more than six people per game (3,514 so far this year, well below the AHL average of 5,313), given that they've basically been used as a place to stash the team for five years while this project gets done.

HockeyTown: Princeton, New Jersey
(New York Hockey Journal)

Guy Gadowsky is quoted heavily in this article, mostly dealing with the development of minor hockey in his former location. Undoubtedly, he's trying to build the same sort of depth of organization in Central PA.

Picture Gary Bettman on the couch of a fighter/shrink...
(Toronto Globe and Mail)

Speaking of Princeton-era Gadowsky, here's a great feature on Kings enforcer Kevin Westgarth, one of the players he coached at PU. It's so bizarre to me that between Westgarth and George Parros (who was a Tiger pre-Gadowsky), Princeton generates not only a couple of the NHL's most intelligent players, but guys who also happen to be able to throw hands.

Bockmann's overtime-winner hands league-leader first loss
(uwsp.edu)

Former Icer Josh Daley and his teammates at UW-Stevens Point took down UW-Eau Claire, the third-ranked team in NCAA Division III, in overtime Saturday night. The Pointers are 5-5-1 so far, with Daley playing in five of those games and posting an assist.

Lebanon Valley College Moving to ESCHL IN 2013-2014
(achahockey.org)

Next season, the Icers' old conference will feature Delaware, Rhode Island, Rutgers, Stony Brook, West Chester, and now LVC. It's great to see the league develop a little bit of depth after PSU's final ESCHL season (2010-2011) saw only UD and URI join the Icers as solid programs, with complete wastes of ACHA D1 status Robert Morris and WCU holding down the other two spots (but not doing much else of value).

Three Stars: September 3-9

The student section will now be located right here in Section A.

3. 2013 Draft Hopeful Thomas Welsh Decommits From Penn State
(The Hockey Writers)

I'm not going to linger on Thomas Welsh too much (after this, I'll probably only mention his future plans, when known, in this space, then move on), but here's a take on his decommitment.

Also, North Dakota fans are now going after our leftovers. The balance of power already shifting! All hail the era of college hockey domination by schools that...aren't North Dakota!

2. Meet #33 Madison Smiddy
(YouTube)

The women's team continued their jersey-number-based countdown of "meet" videos last week with Smiddy (selected to lead this entry for her Lady Icer status), Brooke Meyer and Celine Whitlinger.

If I'm doing my math (well, counting) correctly, expect to see Katie Murphy, Taylor Gross, Birdie Shaw, Jenna Welch, Sarah Wilkie and Emily Laurenzi here next week.

1. Student Men's Hockey Tickets to Go on Sale Wednesday, Sept. 12
(gopsusports.com)

The basics: Student tickets will go on sale at the Bryce Jordan Center ticket office from 7 a.m. until 6 p.m. on Wednesday. Each student will only be allowed to purchase one five-game package (for $20) at that time. Should tickets remain after Wednesday, students can then purchase additional packages on Thursday from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m.

There wasn't really an ideal way to deal with the space crunch at the Ice Pavilion, so I respect what administration is attempting here. Essentially, instead of (an estimated) 250 students with full-season plans, there will be (an estimated) 750 students with five-game plans. The fact is, in growing a fan base, the die-hards sometimes have to give way for the sake of numbers, and that's the call being made this case. The plans, as with the grown-up plans, are sliced up equitably - one includes the opener, while the other two include a game against Air Force, the only NCAA tournament team from last season to visit.

If you're a student and reading this, other than from your phone while camped at the BJC...what are you doing? Go. Now. Don't even bother with the rest of the post.

Best of the Rest

There was totally room for both of them on there...wait, got something in my eye, be right back.

@TaylorGross24
(Twitter)

The women's team, as remarkably cohesive as it already is despite 19 newcomers, is not without drama. Consider the battle being waged primarily between junior forward Taylor Gross and assistant coach Casey McCullion over whether Titanic will be played on the bus to Vermont for the season-opening series October 6th and 7th.

Gross: Titanic on DVD combo pack coming out on Monday!!! #bustrip

McCullion: We are not watching a movie about a sinking ship on the way to VT #AssistantCoachesVeto

Gross: Casey!!!!! Coach already cleared it! It is a great movie and a tear jerker. #it'shappening

At last check, Gross was continuing to push for it, while also insisting (in the linked tweet) that if she has to, she'll watch it on her computer, but that it's definitely getting watched. While it's hardly my place to bag on a movie that made $84 billion and has like 38 Academy Awards along with naked Kate Winslet, I'm not sure that I want the captain of the women's team crying on the way to the first NCAA DI game in program history either.

Positives to Titanic? Well, you'd only need to pack one movie for the trip I guess, since it's like 10 hours long and has like 10 more hours of bonus features on the newly-released combo pack.

2012-13 College Hockey America Women's Hockey Preview
(Bleacher Report)

The Nittany Lions are picked sixth of six here, which is admittedly hard to argue as one of the two new-to-DI programs in the league (the other, RIT, was the DIII national champ last year). But in a moment of unintentional comedy only Bleacher Report can provide, their logic for the slotting was, uhhh...

From a roster standpoint, there are only two Canadians on the squad, and that will add to the obstacles of an inaugural season.

So, yeah, no pressure, Katie Zinn and Nicole Paniccia, but you'd better be freaking awesome. I mean, you have to beat the nineteen Canadians on first-place pick Robert Morris. By yourselves, since Americans suck at hockey.

Sorry Angela, you were good, just not Canadian good.

Above the 49: NCAA hockey on the horizon in Canada?
(The Sports Network)

In a story surprising only for how quickly it came up - and maybe not even for that - officials at Burnaby, BC's Simon Fraser University are "openly pondering the possibility of the school competing in NCAA Division I hockey sometime in the near future." I don't know how openly they're pondering, since this column doesn't produce any quotes from school officials, but that's what it says.

SFU, of course, recently became the first school outside of the U.S. to gain admission to the NCAA, although it does not presently sponsor varsity hockey.

Hockey lockout could freeze NBC's sports momentum
(Chicago Tribune)

A quick nugget buried in an article about how NBC Sports is sweating the NHL lockout:

"In the event of a labor stoppage, we are preparing a selection of replacement programming that includes soccer, boxing, original programming, and college football, basketball and hockey," [NBC Sports spokesperson Chris] McCloskey said.

If you're a Notre Dame fan, you have to be pumped about that. If you're not...meh.

Sabres owner sparks development in Buffalo
(The State Journal)

Since last week was pretty light, we'll hit Terry Pegula's coming ice rinks-retail-hotel colossus in Buffalo for a second Three Stars in a row. You'd be hard pressed to find an article more complimentary of TPegs than this one - I'm not even sure Joe Battista can top it.

Former BU defenseman Max Nicastro who, it should be said, had his charges dropped in June.

Report of the Men’s Ice Hockey Task Force
(bu.edu)

Last Wednesday, Boston University's Men's Ice Hockey Task Force, commissioned by the school in the aftermath of sexual assault charges to former Terriers Max Nicastro and Corey Trivino, released its report. The money line from the group's conclusions, in my opinion anyway, is:

Our assessment has shown that a culture of sexual entitlement exists among some players on the men’s ice hockey team, stemming in part from their elevated social status on campus. This culture of sexual entitlement, as evidenced by frequent sexual encounters with women absent an emotional relationship or on-going commitment, can also involve unprotected sex.

Hockey players enjoy an "elevated social status" and get laid a lot without dating, possibly at parties with alcohol? First time around a hockey team, guys?

Without getting into a whole thing about the role of sports in society, suffice it to say that the issue is not unique to BU or to hockey. Nor are the observations concerning preferential treatment in admissions, less-than-rigorous courseloads or insulation from the larger student body. It sincerely is not my intention to give BU a whitewash, but I do think it's a mistake to consider them a bad actor. They're an average actor, although one with the good sense to evaluate itself following a couple of incidents with similar fact patterns. Tip of the hat to those programs - and they are out there - who do better than average. Hopefully BU can join them at some point on the back of the task force's recommendations.

By the way, if you're not interested in the full report, here's the nuts-and-bolts news story from College Hockey News.

Welsh Decommits

Thomas Welsh, a defenseman who was scheduled to enter Penn State next year and who was one of Guy Gadowsky's most significant recruiting scores to date, has decommitted according to his Twitter account.

"Come to terms?" Given that we're talking about a college commitment, scholarship (full vs. half), year of entry, playing time/role on the team are the only "terms" that come to mind. I'm struggling to figure out which of these would not have been in Welsh's favor, given his stature as a recruit. Whatever the specific issue, Welsh obviously felt that it was time to pull out, two months ahead of the early signing period for his recruiting class. He becomes the Nittany Lions' first-ever decommit, unless counting the Jessi Hilton fiasco of last summer.

Today stands in stark contrast to a just under a year ago (he committed on September 14, 2011) when he said:

“I felt that I had done enough research on Penn State and felt that the hockey program and academics were the fit for me. I felt a connection with the coaching staff and I had a feeling that I would be able to contribute to the hockey program as a player. Focusing on the hockey opportunities, Penn State will be part of the Big Ten Conference, which is exhilarating in itself.

“Penn State has so much to offer beyond the hockey aspect. When you look at the environment of the campus and their leading edge facilities, it gets you excited. I found their academic course outlines very appealing, as I am preparing for my future.”

His change of heart, while disappointing, is not completely stunning when considering the tea leaves. It comes during a time when the major junior OHL has intensified its pursuit of the Toronto-area native. The Mississauga Steelheads acquired his rights from the Sarnia Sting (the team which drafted him in the fifth round in 2011) for a fifth-round choice back in early June, something they probably would not have done if they didn't think they could sign him. Welsh's original college choices included Yale, Quinnipiac, Brown, St. Lawrence, Cornell, Boston University and Vermont, so those schools could take a second run at him as well.

Welsh, who will play for the OJHL's Georgetown Raiders this year, spent the last two seasons with New England prep power Salisbury, registering 19 points in 53 games.

UPDATE 9/6, 3:30 P.M.: North Dakota blog Goon's World (yes, I read it and am linking it, mark today on your calendars) tracked down Welsh's father, who definitively states that The Scandal had nothing to do with it. In fact, "Absolutely not, PSU University is a very fine institution" was his reply when asked about it. He also came off as if the OHL maybe isn't a first-choice option, saying that "There has been some discussion with the Steelheads but that is as far as it goes. Thomas will need to explore other Div 1 schools." An alternative explanation, of course, is that he's playing it cool with them as a negotiation tactic.

So if it's not The Scandal, we're back to "terms," and I actually have something additional to contribute on that front. According to one source that I trust enough to run with the information, PSU attempted to push back his year of entry to 2014. In what I suppose we can call a Reverse Skoff, Welsh said no thanks, I'll take my talents elsewhere. That explanation has the benefit of agreeing with Welsh's "mutual decommitment" language, which struck me as interesting since it doesn't seem like he would be interested in helping PSU save face if it was solely his decision.

I try to be as honest as I can about what I know, so to that end, the previous paragraph is based on a single source. It's not a member of the Nittany Lions coaching staff (pretty sure they're not in the mood to commit NCAA violations) and it's not Welsh's father or any other member of his immediate family. It's a hockey player who has been helpful in the past and who, as far as I can tell, had no specific agenda in telling me - and as you know, word gets around in the tight-knit hockey circles.

Welsh Rarebit

Multiple sources have confirmed that Salisbury School defenseman Thomas Welsh has committed to Penn State for 2013. The Toronto native is now PSU's fifth recruit from Guy Gadowsky's home and native land, making Canada the single biggest source for Nittany Lions of 2012 and beyond (four 2012 or 2013 commits are U.S. natives, led by two from Pennsylvania).

Thomas Welsh

Defenseman
Salisbury School (Prep)
6'0", 195 pounds
Toronto, ON
DOB 2/1/1995

Salisbury School boys' hockey page

Season   Team                   Lge    GP    G    A  Pts  PIM
-------------------------------------------------------------
2010-11  Salisbury School       Prep   26    2    7    9   --

Welsh becomes the second PSU commit to come directly from the New England prep schools, joining freshman forward/Westminster alumnus Tim Acker. Probably more significantly though, defenseman Brandon Russo graduated from Salisbury following 2009-2010 before moving to the USHL last season.

However, Welsh and Acker do have something else in common: experience in an outdoor game. About two months before Westminster played in the Whalers Hockey Fest, Salisbury defeated Kent 3-0 at Michigan Stadium in one of the games auxiliary to the Big Chill at the Big House. That win was just one of 22 last year for the Crimson Knights as they skated to the Founders League title for the second time in three years. Salisbury proceeded to the New England Prep School Ice Hockey Association open tournament semifinals before losing to Kent, the eventual runners-up.

So what's even better than Salisbury's 22-5-0 record? How about a 9-0-0 record when Welsh registered a point? The goals were the final tallies of a 4-1 win over Williston-Northampton on December 4th and of a 7-3 dismantling of Albany Academy 11 days later.

The Sarnia Sting (5th round, 2011) own Welsh's OHL draft rights, yet another sign of the major junior reality creeping into our lives as we start to go after better and better players. Some projections had him as an OHL second-rounder, and the Sting's head scout believes Welsh "flew under the radar of other teams," allowing his club the later-than-expected scoop. All of which is probably a positive from a Penn State standpoint - his verbal seems to indicate that college is his plan for now. He joins Jack Barre (Dartmouth-bound in 2012) and a number of other as-of-now uncommitted teammates in that route.