Three Stars: September 2-8

3. Club plays crucial role in success of Penn State hockey
(The Daily Collegian)

As a Hockey Management Association alumnus - that's how I got involved with Penn State hockey in the first place, for those who don't know - I'm absolutely thrilled to see that the organization survived the NCAA transition and continues to thrive, including a robust turnout at the year's first meeting last week.

I'm a little less thrilled with current president Eric Bress, who apparently feels that now "the club will have a lot more hands-on jobs compared to other years." Bress is a junior and probably isn't fully aware of the state of things before the athletic department became involved, the quote in question was paraphrased and he didn't elaborate on what was meant, so I won't lay into him as originally planned. I'm maturing, I guess.

2. Joe Battista’s Dream Will Soon Become Reality
(Onward State)

In what was an unusually competitive fight for the top three slots this week, particularly with a new Pegula Ice Arena story seemingly out every day, Jessica Tully and Onward State win the coveted honor. Why? Because Tully went above and beyond "wow, the arena's nice" to truly understand the subject matter, offering the historical backdrop that framed one man's 30-plus year journey to October 11th.

1. @BattistaJoseph
(Twitter)

As has been mentioned in a couple posts already, the official move to PIA began early Friday morning and is expected to be complete on Monday afternoon. It turns out that moving isn't very photogenic, but given the significance of the story, Joe Battista's shot entering the reception area for the last first time should do the trick.

Best of the Rest

@PSUA_IceHockey
(Twitter)

Penn State football legend Derrick Williams held his first weight room session with the Altoona campus' team last Tuesday. Here's some evidence.

Toontown's season gets underway against IUP on September 28th at 3:50 p.m. in Galactic Ice Arena.

WJAC-TV Exclusive: Tour of Pegula Ice Arena
(WJAC)

The exclusive "tour of Pegula Ice Arena" was really more like a Battista interview with a few establishing shots mixed in, but nevertheless, it's good watching. Battista, by the way, indicated to WJAC that talks about holding a game in Beaver Stadium are "ongoing."

The Pegula Ice Arena will be ready to rock during its Homecoming Weekend debut
(State College Magazine)

So what does this PIA article offer that the other 87 don't? Admittedly not much, although it does have a couple photos, some discussion of the facility's amenities, and - if you haven't heard it yet - the story of how the men's team's THON child will have his or her own stall in the locker room.

Rinkside Update: Patrick Koudys 8/19/13
(Monumental Network)

A video interview with Patrick Koudys from (I think) July's Capitals Development Camp that apparently wasn't posted until August and didn't hit my radar until September. Well done all around on that one. Nevertheless, it's an interesting look as the RPI transfer discusses his developmental goals and his expected role at Penn State this season.

Things Always Happen in Threes
(statecollege.com)

JoeBa used his column last week to reflect on the recent passing of three friends, most notably (for our purposes) including former club sports czar Vance McCullough. And as Battista tends to do, there's also a bit of news buried in there:

The director of the documentary we are producing on Pegula Ice Arena, (former Icer Mike Messner), asked me what I was thinking about just before I took the first step onto the new ice surface in the arena. I said it was a dream come true, that I was so grateful to Terry and Kim Pegula and that I wanted to dedicate that first step to the memory of my friend and mentor, Vance McCullough.

Documentary, eh? Messner's involvement more or less ensures that it will be fantastic - you may remember his work from this now-incredibly dated video (warning: watching it now will give you some sort of negative feeling, but not because of the production). Can't wait for that.

@MarkHorgas
(Twitter)

PIA photos? Sure, why not?

Other than the Community Rink photo above, the Horgas Collection also includes that rink's lobby, the student section, a 45-pound plate from the weight room (not as boring as it sounds, trust me), an overview of said room, and an exterior view from the staff parking lot.

Big 10: Ranking the Offenses by Returning Players
(Western College Hockey Blog)

In what can be classified as your typical Jeff Cox McPost (working definition: quick filler posts that probably didn't need to be anything more than a tweet), it's observed that Penn State returns more of its scoring production than any other team in the Big Ten. And immediately after, Cox argues that it's pointless to look at PSU's returning scoring due to the team's schedule last year. Okay. Thanks for that.

If you couldn't tell, I'm not really a fan of the post. Just doing my job and sharing it.

Students Invent Bag to Get Around Stadium Security
(Onward State)

While Beaver Stadium has been the focus of Penn State's new policy prohibiting bags other than ones that are clear, plastic and one gallon or less in volume, it's important to remember that the rules apply to all athletic events - including those at Pegula Ice Arena. Fortunately, enterprising individuals, including a group of current PSU students and recent alumni, are already at work helping people cope with the new reality through an innovative new product.

Single-Game Tickets on Sale Tuesday
(ohiostatebuckeyes.com)

Ohio State's men's single-game tickets are on sale now, which obviously includes Penn State's trip to Columbus on the January 31-February 1, 2014 weekend. Go forth and conquer.

PS. The women are also at OSU this year, on January 3rd and 4th of next year, but those are free admission.

So. Much. Weed.
(Deadly Nuts)

Sticking with the Buckeyes, here's an amazing review of the men's team's new alternate jerseys from a blog that makes me think OSU people aren't all that bad, provided they're not big American-style football fans.

Not looking any better for Michigan State
(Big Ten Ice Hockey Blog)

After calling for a last-place Big Ten finish for the Nittany Lions, the Big Ten Ice Hockey Blog has pegged Michigan State for fifth. I just don't see it. If anything, I have a bias in favor of Sparty - I sincerely like the school and the program, and MSU is certainly one of the most storied programs in the sport. But PSU is a better hockey team right now.

2014 Hockey City Classic: Outdoor College Hockey Doubleheader Announced For Minneapolis
(Western College Hockey Blog)

On January 17, 2014, Minnesota will host an outdoor doubleheader at TCF Bank Stadium. The Gopher women open up against Minnesota State at 5:30 p.m. eastern, followed by the men's team versus Ohio State. So if you're one of those people who still gets excited for open-air hockey not involving your favorite team (I'd place myself in the "heightened interest" category, but "excitement" is too far), enjoy.

@GopherPuckLive
(Twitter)

It looks like Mariucci Arena is ready for the Big Ten:

One Year Later: Penn Staters Wearing NHL Logos

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.

Nittany Lions Close NHL Development Camps

With the last-to-start, last-to-finish Boston Bruins concluding on-ice activities at their development camp on Sunday, here's a look at how things proceeded for each of the five Penn Staters - draft picks Eamon McAdam (Islanders), Mike Williamson (Canucks) and Patrick Koudys (Capitals), along with free agent invites Casey Bailey (Bruins) and Matt Skoff (Flyers) - who received a crash course in life as an NHLer over the past week.

I'd like to think that part of my value lies in my ability (well, willingness, it doesn't really require talent) to sift through things, pull out the essentials, eliminate the duplication of information, and save you guys from the trouble. With that in mind and under the assumption that you know how to find out who the Capitals' second-line center will be this season or how guys like 2013 top-15 picks Ryan Pulock and Sam Morin looked at their respective camps if you care, the plan here is to limit things to direct coverage and discussion of the PSU guys.

However, I also included links to daily summary articles for each team (even when not discussing our specific interest), just to give an idea of the activities of everyone at the camps, Nittany Lions included. Unfortunately, not all teams updated every single day - or at all - beyond one-on-one interview videos and player-based features well past this post's scope, and there was a ton of variance in how much of the off-ice agenda was shared. Other than what is listed, most camps participated in team-building exercises in the evening, with excursions to see the local baseball team probably the most popular of those.

One more thing before getting started: the first rule of being an obsessive "I need to know everything" blogger is that there's always more out there than is possible for one human to locate. If you know of something I missed (quality photos of Skoff and/or Williamson playing hockey in NHL jerseys would be particularly helpful), let me know in the comments and I'll be more than happy to share, with full credit, of course.

Anyway, here we go...

Vancouver Canucks

Mike Williamson

• On the first full day of camp, July 8th, the Canucks posted a video of drills with Williamson making a cameo (number 71). He's not doing much other than standing there and listening to a coach, but hey, it's something.
• Following the Grouse Grind - a climb up Grouse Mountain in North Vancouver - on July 10th, a brief interview with Williamson was posted on Canucks.com. He said that camp so far was "really good... it's been great so far, and it's good to meet the guys." Williamson then described himself as a defenseman who tries to be physical while moving the puck as quickly and efficiently as possible and also said that his goals for the week involved gauging the team's expectations and the work that needs to be put in to succeed on the highest levels.
• Later that day, the prospects visited the BC Children's Hospital, where Williamson was photographed with Nicole, a six-year-old fighting kidney disease (he's the one leaning on the top of the bed). A few other shots of Williamson on the trip were captured by the Vancouver Sun, including the one above (he's the furthest right) with four-year-old heart patient Mady Keefe.
• At the conclusion of camp, Williamson expressed his gratitude on Twitter:

Sunday, July 7th: Fitness testing, on-ice drills and measurements
Monday, July 8th: Skills testing, MMA training, yoga, scrimmage
Tuesday, July 9th: Skill development, weight training, dragon boat races, cooking class
Wednesday, July 10th: Grouse Grind, visit to BC Children's Hospital
Thursday, July 11th: Open scrimmage
Friday, July 12th: Four-on-four scrimmage, exit meetings

In addition to the regular recaps, Canucks.com also produced live blogs on several days that did a good job integrating their social media presence: July 8 // July 9 // July 10.

---

Washington Capitals

Patrick Koudys

• According to Caps blog The Peerless Prognosticator, Koudys spent July 9th's session partnered with Madison Bowey, Washington's 53rd overall pick on June 30th. The Manitoba native has spent the last two full seasons with the WHL's Kelowna Rockets and in 2012-2013 put up 30 points in 69 games. Bowey spoke with the media that day, but shockingly nobody asked him about his development camp d-partner.
• On July 10th, Koudys again was paired up with Bowey for the camp's first scrimmage. However, their Team Red was waxed by Team White 7-3, with video of most of the game's goals available here. On the 3-1 goal beginning 19 seconds in, Koudys allows his man into a good scoring position, although it's unclear if he got a stick on the shot as it came through.
• Team White dominated Team Red for the second time in a row on July 11th, winning that day's scrimmage 4-0. Koudys was again paired with Bowey, and the two were caught napping on White's second goal, scored by Riley Barber (Bowey more so than Koudys). All four goals were captured on video this time around.
• The third scrimmage went to Red, 7-3 (video of all goals here). Koudys appeared - it's not always easy to read numbers on the video, but I believe it's him - to make a careless giveaway on a pass up the middle to lead to White's first goal (seemingly verified by this tweet), and he was in the box for Chandler Stephenson's shorthanded effort to make the score 5-2.
• I would like to make it clear that videos showing only a game's goals tend to not be very flattering to defensive defensemen, and that Koudys likely played much better than what the previous three points indicate.
• Red completed the turnaround with a 6-4 win in the camp-closing scrimmage on July 13th (first period, second period, third period, highlights). Koudys played a steady game from the back end partnering occasionally with Bowey, but mostly with 2013 seventh-round pick Tyler Lewington. On the game's opening goal, Koudys was able to start the rush by knocking a bad D-to-D pass that could have ended in disaster loose at the defensive line for Stephenson to advance with speed, and he was also effective when pinching. Primarily though, he was true to type as a stay-at-home guy who made smart plays under pressure and wasn't afraid to stand people up both entering and exiting zones. He was victimized on the goal that made the score 3-2 for White by a fluky bounce off the post that allowed his man to pound it home and was occasionally drawn out high in the zone, but he made up for any missteps with a couple of outstanding shifts on consecutive penalty kills with his team hanging on to a late one-goal lead.

The Capitals' official updates were largely on video and unfortunately offered little insight regarding the camp's off-ice actvities. So instead, here is The Peerless Prognosicator on three of the six days.

Monday, July 8th: On-ice testing, practices
Tuesday, July 9th: Practices
Wednesday, July 10th: Practices, scrimmage
Thursday, July 11th: Practices, scrimmage
Friday, July 12th: Practices, scrimmage
Saturday, July 13th: Scrimmage

---

Philadelphia Flyers

Matt Skoff

• Prior to camp beginning, Stack the Pads covered Skoff's invitation.
• On July 10th, the Flyers prospects participated in their annual Trial on the Isle, a unique development camp tradition that involves a day of participation in beach-based competition and community service events in Stone Harbor, NJ. Skoff's four-man team included 2011 fourth-round draft pick Marcel Noebels, Colorado College defenseman Eamonn McDermott and Erie Otters (OHL) forward Stephen Harper.
• Skoff, thanks to his backwards Penn State hat, was pretty easy to spot in photos and video at Trial on the Isle, including a group shot with him right in the middle taken before things got underway - and it looks like he's bulked up a bit. He also makes a cameo in an Instagram video of the players approaching the beach and elsewhere (see media at the link in the last bullet).
• While it probably wasn't the producer's intent, Skoff is fairly prominently featured in this camp highlight video as he faced shots during drills from some of the team's top prospects. He's the goalie with the dark mask and mostly white pads with the small oval near the top, or number 70 on the rare occasions you can see his back.
• Although he looked to be doing well in the video, there's at least a bit of anecdotal evidence of the opposite, specifically, mentions of players like Morin and Petr Straka scoring quality goals on him. It does need to be said, though, that a free agent invite like Skoff is only newsworthy to Flyers people when he's getting beat by their draft picks/prospects, so we'd be unlikely to hear of more positive exploits.
• Behance.net grabbed the best action shot of Skoff I managed to find.
• Like Williamson, Skoff delivered a wrap-up tweet when it was over, and also gave some insight regarding his apparent beef situation:

The Flyers media relations staff, for the most part, was pretty terrible in their reporting about camp (beyond Trial on the Isle), partly because their attention was ripped away from it by the introduction of free agent signings and former coach Fred Shero's election to the Hockey Hall of Fame. As a result, I relied on TheHockeyGuys.net for July 7th, 8th and 11th. Beyond the official site's July 10th recap, which I did use, they also came through with a nice feature explaining the goals of Philadelphia's camp, and how they differed from previous scrimmage-heavy years.

Sunday, July 7th: Testing, light drills
Monday, July 8th: Practices with position groups separated, light afternoon skate
Tuesday, July 9th: Two on-ice sessions
Wednesday, July 10th: Trial on the Isle
Thursday, July 11th: Practice, grocery shopping and cooking class, camp break

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Boston Bruins

Casey Bailey

• Any information at all on free agent invites can be considered a bonus, as obviously, the team, media and fans are much more focused on their draft picks (and usually just the high ones - even guys like Koudys and Williamson tend to be afterthoughts). Fortunately Hockey's Future poster Alicat provided a nugget from July 13th's session - and a positive one to boot: "Good hands and is an excellent passer. Has some speed. He, [Seth] Griffith and [Anton] Blidh had one rush where they went tick-tack-toe and scored on [Zane] Gothberg. Very reminiscent of [the Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Nathan Horton line]'s passing on odd man rushes."
• HF's DKH called Bailey "noticeable" in a brief collection of end-of-camp thoughts. Encouraging stuff to see, particularly when, as mentioned, the average Bruins observer had little incentive to care about him.
• Besides the picture above, which originated with the Bruins' Twitter account, he was also photographed by Puck Sage while shooting on goalie prospect/famous hockey family member Malcolm Subban.
• During Monday's team-building activities on Thompson Island, Bailey (blindfolded, bottom left) was included in an Instagram collage of a climb up an alpine tower.

Wednesday, July 10th: Practice, testing, social media training
Thursday, July 11th: Skills drills, full practice, cooking class
Friday, July 12th (1, 2, 3): Practices, community service activities
Saturday, July 13th: Running/fitness testing, practices, scrimmages, nutrition class
Sunday, July 14th: Practices
Monday, July 15th: Team building exercises, camp break

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New York Islanders

Eamon McAdam

• The team posted an Instagram video of what they called McAdam's "first drill in an Islanders jersey" on July 9th, the opening day of their camp. Kid can move laterally, which is probably good for a goalie.
• That same day, WFAN's Daniel Friedman asked him about the first thing he noticed when stepping on the ice. The answer: "How strong everybody is. Everyone's bigger, faster, stronger than anything I've ever experienced." (1, 2)
• On July 10th, Friedman mentioned McAdam as a practice standout, and followed up after the close of camp with some impressions: "He was sharp throughout the week. The thing I noticed about him was how fast he moved across the crease and his knack for being square to the shooter... At times, he was a little too aggressive and he certainly has what to work on, but McAdam looked good. Refreshingly, he looked nothing like his pre-draft stats suggested he would. He made a handful of quality saves during the scrimmage, including some fairly tough ones."
• He stopped 28 of 33 shots and took the loss in the open-to-the-public Orange vs. Blue scrimmage on July 11th and was outstanding in the skills competition that followed the game (covered in a separate post). Another opinion on his play there, from This Is Islander Country: "I liked what I saw from Eamon McAdam in net. He gave up a soft goal or two, but the kid is only 18. He played the angles well and moved pretty well laterally in the net. Made a handful of nice saves too. Needs to work on his rebound control a bit, but he definitely looks like a solid goalie prospect."
• Newsday's photo gallery of the event included a great McAdam shot (above).
• All departures are not created equal:

Tuesday, July 9th: On-ice practices, off-ice training
Wednesday, July 10th: On-ice practices, off-ice training
Thursday, July 11th: Morning skate, Orange vs. Blue Scrimmage/Skills Competition
Friday, July 12th: Practices, camp break

Koudys Becomes Fifth Development Camper

Junior defenseman Patrick Koudys will attend the Washington Capitals Development Camp July 8th through 13th at the Kettler Capitals Iceplex in Arlington, VA, according to a team release.

Koudys' invitation was expected as he was a 2011 draft choice of the Caps, and on- and off-ice instruction of a team's prospects is, by and large, why these camps exist. He joins Casey Bailey (Bruins) and Matt Skoff (Flyers), who were both announced as free agent invites to camps on Wednesday. Eamon McAdam (Islanders) and Mike Williamson (Canucks) have also confirmed that they will attend the camps of the teams that drafted them on Sunday.

Washington's camp guide offers this tidy Koudys bio:

D (51) – Patrick Koudys – Drafted by WSH in the fifth round (147th overall) of the 2011 NHL Draft Koudys posted one goal and 14 assists in 64 games in his first season with Muskegon of the USHL. His 95 penalty minutes ranked second on the team. He plans to attend Penn State University in the fall.

More thoroughly, Koudys was playing in Muskegon to cover his NCAA-required sit-out year after transferring from RPI, where he played 58 games from 2010-2012 - including on the Engineers' NCAA Tournament team in 2011. Prior to his two collegiate seasons, the stay-at-home defenseman played for the Burlington Cougars of the OJHL in 2009-2010, where he teamed up with Nittany Lions sophomore Luke Juha. Koudys will have two years of eligibility remaining to use at Penn State.

As with the Flyers and Bruins camps, on-ice sessions are open to the public. Here's the schedule of events, with all times subject to change. It has not yet been specified whether Koudys will play for Team White or Team Red.

Monday, July 8

9:00 a.m.: Team White on ice (testing)
10:45 a.m.: Team Red on ice (testing)
2:30 p.m.: Team White on ice
3:30 p.m.: Team White media avail.
4:00 p.m.: Team Red on ice
5:00 p.m.: Team Red media avail.
5:15 p.m.: Adam Oates media avail.

Tuesday, July 9

9:15 a.m.: Team Red on ice
10:15 a.m.: Team Red media avail.
10:50 a.m.: Team White on ice
11:50 a.m.: Team White media avail.

Wednesday, July 10

9:00 a.m.: Team Red on ice
10:30 a.m.: Team White on ice
3:45 p.m.: Intrasquad scrimmage
5:15 p.m.: Media availability

Thursday, July 11

9:00 a.m.: Team White on ice
10:00 a.m.: Team Red on ice
3:00 p.m.: Intrasquad scrimmage
4:30 p.m.: Media availability

Friday, July 12

11:00 a.m.: Intrasquad scrimmage
12:30 p.m.: Media availability

Saturday, July 13

Capitals Fan Fest
10:00 a.m.: Intrasquad scrimmage
1:00 p.m.: Media availability