New Beginning, Same Old Place

Micayla Catanzariti and her teammates will look to take two from Vermont this time around

What
NCAA Women (0-0-0, 0-0-0 CHA) vs. Vermont (0-0-0, 0-0-0 Hockey East)

Where
Gutterson Field House; Burlington, VT

When
Friday, October 4th at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday, October 5th at 2:30 p.m.

Coverage
Friday: TYT live blog (free), UVM video (free), UVM live stats (free); Saturday: TYT live blog (free), UVM video (free), UVM live stats (free).

The optimism of a new season is one of the truly enjoyable things about sports. Only one team per year wins the national championship, so for all others, this time of year is a chance at redemption for whatever went wrong last time around. Everyone begins 0-0-0 and, in theory, has an equal shot at being the best team in the country for 2013-2014.

Last year, shockingly, first-year NCAA program Penn State kept their claim to the "best" label past opening day, thanks to a 5-3 upset at Vermont that saw Shannon Yoxheimer and Micayla Catanzariti each score twice. Want to re-live it once more? Gladly:

The Nittany Lions came back to Earth almost immediately, as the Catamounts won the next day's rematch 3-1. Thirty-three games later, PSU was 7-26-2 and out of the first round of the CHA playoffs. Without question, it was an outstanding season in terms of laying the program's foundation, but at the same time, nobody plays hockey with the goal of winning one-fifth of the time.

However, the first weekend in October - a fresh start - is here once again, and it brings Penn State back to the same spot as one year ago - Gutterson Field House in Burlington, VT and two dates with UVM.

For all of the great things about the opening of a new campaign, one thing the situation lacks is a good way to write a pregame or preseason post. There's sort of a formula to it: here's how Team X did last season, here's what they lost, here's what they added, here's a prediction that is only ever incrementally different from the previous year's finish, and based mostly on an arbitrary assessment of the lost vs. added equation. It's far from ideal in many, many ways, but at the same time, nobody has developed a better approach to the task yet.

The situation is exacerbated in the case of Penn State, a second-year NCAA program that famously had 17 freshmen last season. There's simply very little in the way of formula that can tell us what to expect right now.

We do know that those freshmen have become 15 sophomores (Katie Zinn and Taylor McGee left the program in the spring). They're still the core of the team and still young, but now one year deep. In 2012-2013, star players emerged from that class like sniper Yoxheimer, blood-and-guts blueliner Jordin Pardoski, silky-handed Hannah Hoenshell, dangerous bundle of energy Jill Holdcroft and steady puck mover Paige Jahnke. Catanzariti and Birdie Shaw added grit, while Emily Laurenzi and Jeanette Bateman added dependability. Overseeing it all was a small, but vital group of upperclass leaders, including clutch stopper Nicole Paniccia, ACHA original Lindsay Reihl, rough-and-tumble Jenna Welch and, of course, all-compete captain Taylor Gross.

Shannon Yoxheimer scored PSU's first NCAA goal last season at Vermont

Now thrown into the mix is a highly-decorated freshman class including Laura Bowman and Amy Petersen, linemates who led Minnetonka High School to an unprecedented three Minnesota AA titles in a row, two-way forward Sarah Nielsen, and Kelly Seward, an unflappable defender who will help correct a size deficit PSU frequently faced last season.

The unstated, but ever-present, variable in all of this is competition. No matter how you slice and dice potential lineups, there's no getting around the fact that several very good hockey players - a couple of whom will have been every-game contributors in NCAA year one - will be sitting in the stands each time out.

Put it all together and you have... well, something. Almost certainly a better team than a year ago, with most players a year older and key issues involving scoring depth and defensive matchups addressed in recruiting. How much better? "Well, we played them tougher than last year" better? Second-year NCAA Lindenwood better, as the back half of 2012-2013 saw LU start to figure out how to beat established CHA teams? Something more than that? We're about to find out, and that's part of what makes the occasion so much fun.

Vermont, as a long-standing varsity team, is a little bit more of a known quantity, yet one that still shares plenty of common ground with its opponent. Following the embarrassment of allowing a new NCAA team its first win, the Cats wound up 8-21-4 overall, with a quick exit from the Hockey East quarterfinals. While that doesn't sound like much on the surface, it did represent progress, as it was the program's first-ever postseason appearance in 16 varsity seasons.

Like Penn State, UVM didn't lose much. Star goalie Roxanne Douville is back for her senior year, while offensive leader Brittany Zuback (her 14 goals and 26 points were both tops on the Catamounts) is a junior. Vermont scored just 2.15 goals per game last year, only slightly better than PSU's 1.97 number, and will therefore look to Zuback, Amanda Pelkey, Klara Myren and a strong group of seven freshmen to up their production, and to a re-tooled defense to lighten the 36.15 shot-per-game burden placed on Douville. Vermont isn't a particularly deep team (their roster numbers just 21) so consistency up and down the lineup will be vital if growth is to continue in head coach Jim Plumer's second year in charge.

Some might cynically suggest, as in the case of Penn State as well I suppose, that bringing back largely the same roster from a losing team isn't a recipe for greater success. However, the limited data looks good so far, as a Zuback hat trick powered a 5-1 exhibition win over Nepean last weekend, after UVM lost their tune-up for PSU a year ago by a 2-1 count to the University of Montreal. Plumer also begs to differ. He clearly likes what he has and claims that several key players have had phenomenal offseasons.

In short, both teams, partly fueled by the optimism allowed by a clean slate, think they're better than the last time they saw each other. Both teams, however, are also looking for tangible evidence of it, namely an improvement on the previous-meeting split. Here's hoping that it's the Nittany Lions keeping the dream of a perfect season alive into the season's second weekend.

Jumping In With Both Feet

After the ACHA Division 1 team at Penn State Berks gave us a taste of real-life hockey action last weekend - a road split at Indiana (PA) - Penn State hockey largely hits its 2013-2014 stride beginning today. While neither NCAA team opens up until the women head to Vermont in a week, take a look at the schedule of games for all of the ACHA squads over the next three days:

Friday, September 27
Men's D3: Penn State Behrend at RIT, 7:30 p.m.
Men's D2: Penn State at IUP (D1), 7:35 p.m.
Men's D1: Slippery Rock at Penn State Berks, 7:45 p.m.
Men's D3: Rutgers-Camden at Penn State Brandywine, 9:15 p.m.
Women's D2: Liberty at Penn State, 10:15 p.m.

Saturday, September 28
Men's D3: IUP (D2) at Penn State Altoona, 3:50 p.m.
Men's D1: Slippery Rock at Penn State Berks, 4:00 p.m.
Men's D3: Penn State Brandywine at Shippensburg, 6:00 p.m.
Women's D2: Liberty at Penn State, 6:30 p.m. (at Altoona, PA)
Men's D3: Fredonia at Penn State Behrend, 7:30 p.m.
Men's D2: IUP (D1) at Penn State, 10:15 p.m.

Sunday, September 29
Men's D1: West Chester at Penn State Berks, 4:30 p.m.

Not bad, eh?

I encourage anyone able and looking for an activity this weekend to get out and support at least one of those teams. The WD2 Women's Ice Hockey Club and the D2 Ice Lions play at the Pegula Ice Arena Community Rink, of course. The WIHC's game Saturday is at Galactic Ice Rink in Altoona, which also happens to be home ice for Penn State Altoona. The Ice Lions' game at IUP tonight will take place in Indiana's S&T Bank Arena. Penn State Berks is based in the Body Zone Sports and Wellness Complex in Wyomissing, while Penn State Behrend calls the Mercyhurst Ice Center in Erie home. If you're in the Harrisburg-Hershey area, Shippensburg will host Penn State Brandywine at the historic Hersheypark Arena, while Brandywine's home game will be at Ice Line in West Chester.

For my part, I'm going to try something possibly crazy, but definitely unprecedented in a couple different ways.

A quartet of those games listed above are in the cards for TYT, which will tie the blog's weekend record for attendance at Penn State games originally set January 11th through 13th. The first game will be the Women's Ice Hockey Club's season opener against Liberty tonight, the first intercollegiate hockey game of any kind played in Pegula Ice Arena.

On Saturday, a never-before-attempted tripleheader is in order, beginning with a tough season opener for Altoona against IUP's Division 2 team. Immediately after that, the WIHC will play a rematch with Liberty on the same sheet of ice. The conclusion of that game should come quickly enough to grab a soft pretzel and a coffee for dinner and head back up I-99 to see the Ice Lions play their home opener, the first men's intercollegiate game in Pegula Ice Arena, against IUP's Division 1 team. Sometime in there, I hope to write posts about all of those games (this is all pretty meaningless to you without that, after all).

Should I survive, it will be a story for the grandkids. I've certainly watched and even attended three (or more) hockey games in a day before - any ACHA National Tournament is an obvious example - but never with the level of engagement that will be required tomorrow.

Here's a brief look at each of the games on the docket.

The WIHC has the highest of aspirations for the coming season

Women's D2: Penn State vs. Liberty

On paper, to put it bluntly, the Women's Ice Hockey Club should roll. Penn State is loaded up this year as seniors Carly Szyszko, Katie Vaughan and Allie Rothman are back for one more shot at a national championship after falling just short in last year's title game and in two previous seasons as ACHA D1 Lady Icers.

Although Mandy Mortach, the team's hard-nosed second-leading scorer in 2012-2013, will not return, nearly everyone else does. The list includes Smash Sisters Tara Soukup and Ashton Schaffer on defense, dynamic forward Devon Fisk and other key players like Mary Kate Tonetti, Elizabeth Denis, Nina Elia, Taylor Nyman, Jackie Saideh and Sarah Eisenhut, one of the best goalies in the nation, but with the misfortune of being stuck behind the highly-acclaimed Vaughan. A sound group of six new players will give PSU incredible depth as well, bolstering their status as a title favorite.

Liberty is on the other end of the spectrum. The Flames were 0-12-0 last season and scored just seven goals in those contests, and a pair of exhibition shutout losses to the Carolina Lightning U16AA squad two weeks ago gave little hope for improvement. Second-year head coach Sara Niemi will look to her goaltender, younger sister Leanne Niemi, to keep Liberty in range.

Altoona coach Tom Lantz hopes his team will have a late-game edge

Men's D3: Penn State Altoona vs. IUP (D2)

Altoona, as with all two-year commonwealth campus teams, is a unique coaching challenge because every player is either a freshman or (figuratively speaking) a senior. Tom Lantz doesn't have the luxury of multi-year rebuilds, and only sees limited gains from individual players along their respective development curves before needing to bring in an entirely new team.

The good news in that department, as Toontown attempts to bounce back from a disappointing 2012-2013, is that one of this year's "seniors" is explosive forward Conlan Sodrosky, and another is stalwart defenseman Brian Kruser, both of whom were recently named alternate captains. Although he slumped a bit late in his freshman season, Sodrosky showed that he produces points in bunches, as his 19 in 16 games included outings of five, three and three. The team made headlines in the offseason by acquiring the services of Penn State football legend Derrick Williams as a strength and conditioning coach, and it's hard to believe that Altoona's training with a former NFL player won't pay dividends in those tight third periods.

Indiana's D2 club will present an obvious challenge as a team in a higher division. Last year, the Crimson Hawks split a pair of games against members of Altoona's conference, College Hockey East, beating Saint Vincent College 4-1 and losing to Pitt-Johnstown by the same score. Ryan Dougherty, who scored 12 times in 14 games a year ago, will lead the IUP offense.

The Ice Lions are counting on Creek Lewis to score - often - from near the blue paint

Men's D2: Penn State vs. IUP (D1)

Second-time first-year Ice Lions head coach Ryan Behnken, although also playing an Indiana team one step up in division, has a set of problems a little bit different from Lantz. After a couple seasons of reaping residual benefits of the Icers' transition to NCAA status in the form of players like Mike Broccolo, Joe Zitarelli and Mac Winchester, those guys have now graduated. Second-team All-American defenseman Brandon Russo, another former Icer, didn't graduate - but he did transfer to Canisius to play for the Golden Griffins' NCAA Division I team. So in a sense, it could be said that 2013-2014 is the first year for whatever the "real" program will be going forward, as PSU attempts to follow up on a pair of dominant seasons ending with nationals bids.

That's not to say that the Ice Lions are barren. Far from it. Junior power forward Creek Lewis remains one of D2's best scorers, and he's complimented quite nicely by Taylor Vincent, an 18-goal man as a freshman last year. Ryan Urban, Franky Reluzco and Fredrik Linge are also names to watch up front, while senior standouts Chris Dinsmore and Max O'Malley will be expected to help a somewhat inexperienced blueline corps grow into the part as the season progresses. Teddy Steinhart is the presumptive starter in goal, although he'll be pushed hard by senior Martin Gudewicz and freshmen Michael DeGaetano and Matthew Erlichman.

Much like the Ice Lions, the Crimson Hawks (who, unlike most teams discussed here, have already started their season and carry a 1-1-0 record, as mentioned at the top of the post) face a few holes to fill. Top scorers Jeff Cupelli and Chase Keibler have departed, leaving Tyler Fitzgerald and Adam Kondraski under pressure to increase their production. Ryan Lord returns in goal, although he struggled a little bit in his first outing of the season, a 5-4 loss to Penn State Berks.

CHAmpionship Drive

Penn State's Hannah Hoenshell will try to out-dangle RIT defenders Danielle Read (2) and Kristina Moss (4) this weekend in a CHA first round series at Frank Ritter Memorial Arena

What: NCAA Women (7-24-2, 1-17-2 College Hockey America) vs. RIT (14-15-5, 7-8-5 College Hockey America) in a best-of-three CHA tournament first-round series

Where: Frank Ritter Memorial Ice Arena, Henrietta, NY

When: Friday, March 1 at 2:00 p.m., Saturday, March 2 at 2:00 p.m., and (if necessary) Sunday, March 3 at 2:00 p.m.

Coverage: TYT live blogs (free), CHA video ($), RIT audio (free), RIT live stats (free) ,

All season long, this inaugural group of Nittany Lions has been pointed towards this moment.

With the NCAA tournament never really in play thanks to the CHA's - thankfully, now temporary - lack of an autobid (only Mercyhurst among league members has proven able to earn an at-large bid) the CHA tournament, which opens this weekend, has taken on the role of an end, both literally and figuratively, and not just a means to one.

That's been the recurring theme from Josh Brandwene all season, whenever he's been asked about his team's goals for this first NCAA season: improve every day, peak for CHAs, and anything can happen in a playoff setting. He's right, and his Nittany Lions will look to capitalize on that puncher's chance that always comes with great goaltending, likely from Nicole Paniccia this weekend, and grinding effort players like Birdie Shaw, Micayla Catanzariti and Shannon Yoxheimer (seriously, don't let the team highs of 14 goals, 16 assists and 30 points fool you, she's outstanding without the puck too). As has been the case all year, limiting the opponents' shot quality, if not volume, and capitalizing on the counterattack will be of paramount importance for a squad looking for a signature win to bookend the NCAA era-opening 5-3 victory at Vermont on October 6th.

One team that knows a little bit about playoff hockey is the Nittany Lions' opponent for the series, RIT. After all, the Tigers join defending CHA champ Robert Morris as the only teams able to claim the most recent edition of a major tournament - RIT won the ECAC West and the NCAA Division III national championship last season prior to elevating to DI this year.

Scott McDonald's charges are quite familiar to Penn State through four meetings this season. Notably, PSU chipped off one of their four league points from the Tigers back on October 26th at the Ice Pavilion. The Nittany Lions, behind Nicole Paniccia's 59 saves and first-period goals from Taylor Gross and Yoxheimer, nearly escaped with a 2-1 win before Tenecia Hiller's floater off of a turnover with 1:29 left in regulation forced a draw.

RIT won the other three games in the season series, the last pair coming just two weekends ago at Ritter Arena, in games that became rather physical. Two notable incidents in that department took place during the Tigers' 4-0 win on February 16th. The first involved PSU junior Jenna Welch, who let fly with a sharp elbow to Erin Zach following the latter's late second period goal, drawing the ire of Jess Paton in reply. The other was a post-whistle battle between dangle queen Hannah Hoenshell and RIT's Danielle Read with 16 seconds left in the game.

The Tigers' starting goaltender, Ali Binnington, returned last weekend for their series at Mercyhurst after missing those PSU games with an upper body injury, so the sophomore with sparkling numbers (2.03 goals against average, 0.925 save percentage) is expected to be the last barrier to Penn State's offensive production. Elsewhere, Hiller and Kim Schlattman lead the senior-laden team with 14 goals each, while defender Kristina Moss and her wicked shot generates a lot of trouble from up high and Zach uses a good degree of jam to create additional problems from near the blue paint.

A Penn State upset would mean that the Nittany Lions are locked in to a semifinal against top seed Mercyhurst next Friday. The Lakers won the right to host the CHA semifinals and final by winning the CHA regular season crown for an incredible 11th straight year, thanks to a 17-3-0 league record.

Elsewhere in the CHA tournament this weekend, second-year NCAA program Lindenwood will visit defending champion Robert Morris in the other first-round series, one that features teams trending in opposite directions.

Lindenwood, after beginning their time in DI with a 4-40-1 record in their first 45 games against other DI teams, has gone 5-1-2 since January 26th, obviously an incredible turn in fortune (one that raises the intriguing possibility of a similar tipping point for Penn State next season). Included in the month-long hot streak: wins over every CHA opponent except Mercyhurst, including 2-1 in overtime over Syracuse on Tuesday and a home sweep of RMU two weeks ago, which will certainly have the Colonials salty.

Nicole Hensley, a freshman goaltender and a former teammate of PSU defender Jeanette Bateman with the Colorado Select program, has been in the middle of the surge, as she faces more than 43.5 shots per 60 minutes but only allows 3.59 of them through. The offensively-challenged Lions have found enough to win in recent weeks, hitting that magic number of three goals five times during their current run after doing it just four times all season previous to that. LU's top line of Alison Wickenheiser, Alyssa West and Allysson Arcibal accounts for nearly half of the Lions' goal scoring - 28 of the team's 60 this season.

RMU came into this season as something resembling CHA co-favorites with Mercyhurst, and things started off well enough through December 8th, when the Colonials completed a sweep of the Lakers to climb to 9-3-2 overall and 5-1-0 in the CHA. Since then though, they're just 4-11-1 overall, including 2-11-1 prior to the team's home sweep of Penn State last weekend. The magnitude of the skid is baffling, given the talent level in Moon Township, including goaltender Kristen DiCiocco, the new program wins leader, as well as dynamic defender Jamie Joslin and waves of quality forwards like Rebecca Vint, Kristen Richards, Kelsey Thomas and Thea Imbrogno. Without a doubt, four Colonials wins over the next two weekends would redeem a disappointing season, although they'll have to start with two against a team that took the season series three games to one.

After both the Penn State-RIT and Robert Morris-Lindenwood series are decided, the two winners will head to the Mercyhurst Ice Center next weekend, with the lowest-surviving seed playing the hosts (obviously and as mentioned, that will be PSU, should the Nittany Lions advance), while second-seeded Syracuse will play the other first-round winner in the other semifinal. The winners of the single-elimination semifinal will then meet for the league tournament title.

The Stretch Run

Tess Weaver and the Nittany Lions are looking for position on defender Brett Lobreau and Lindenwood.

What
NCAA Men: vs. Alabama-Huntsville (8-18-2 all games, 3-17-1 NCAA, 1-16-1 NCAA DI)
NCAA Women: vs. Lindenwood (3-23-2, 3-9-2 CHA)

Where
NCAA Men: Greenberg Ice Pavilion, University Park, PA
NCAA Women: Greenberg Ice Pavilion, University Park, PA

When
NCAA Men: Friday, February 8 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, February 9 at 7:30 p.m.
NCAA Women: Friday, February 8 at 2:00 p.m. and Saturday, February 9 at 2:00 p.m

Coverage
NCAA Men: Friday: TYT live blog (free), PSU video ($), PSU audio ($), PSU live stats (free); Saturday: PSU video ($), PSU audio ($), PSU live stats (free)
NCAA Women: Friday: TYT live blog (free), CHA video ($), PSU live stats (free); Saturday: CHA video ($), PSU live stats (free)

I probably don't need to use too many words in explaining the importance of the final home series of the season for the women. For starters, Saturday's Senior Day ceremony will honor forward Kate Christoffersen, a player who, safe to say, probably never expected to see a Senior Day as a member of an NCAA hockey team back when she was a freshmen (her concussion issues that nearly ended her career give that story a nice twist too).

Second, take a look at the current CHA standings.

		Pts.	GP	Record	Win%	GF	GA
1	Mercyhurst	24	14	12-2-0	0.857	68	14
2	Syracuse	21	14	10-3-1	0.750	40	19
3	RIT	15	14	5-4-5	0.536	29	31
4	Robert Morris	13	14	6-7-1	0.464	35	29
5	Lindenwood	8	14	3-9-2	0.286	25	58
6	Penn State	3	14	1-12-1	0.107	14	60

The bad news: with just six games remaining, PSU has a ceiling of 15 points, one the Nittany Lions - realistically - probably won't hit. However...

Fifth place is very much attainable with a sweep of Lindenwood, which would pull PSU within a point with road series at RIT and Robert Morris completing the regular season. LU closes with Robert Morris at home and Syracuse on the road. Avoiding last place in a year one where everyone automatically tabbed the Nittany Lions for the basement? Yeah, that's a very tangible achievement for a program that has shown plenty of intangibles so far.

Now, whether fifth place is desirable considering that the current standings would lead to a CHA tournament series at RIT, and Penn State very nearly beat the Tigers before setting for a tie back in October...well, that's a different argument, I guess. I'm not one of those "lose for the draft pick" types, so to me, fifth place is always better than sixth place. Regardless of the standings, getting a couple wins on the board would be nice in and of itself for a PSU team that last beat another DI team on November 17th, in earning a split at Lindenwood with a 3-2 win powered by Emily Laurenzi's winner with 5:50 remaining.

The Lions, not exactly DI veterans themselves, will also be looking for continued progress following a stunning tie-win series with RIT last weekend. After beating only Sacred Heart among DI teams in their first varsity season in 2011-2012, and only Penn State in the first semester of this year, the Lions have now chipped off Robert Morris in addition to RIT within the last month. And like PSU, they still have a shot at upward mobility in the standings. So really, it's a pretty big series for both teams, one which should be fantastic to watch.

Lindenwood is led offensively by Alison Wickenheiser (team highs of nine goals and 17 points), Kendra Broad (seven goals, 13 points) and Allysson Arcibal (eight goals, 12 points). Wickenheiser and Arcibal combined for ten shots and five points in the Lions' 5-1 win over PSU on November 16th. Freshman Nicole Hensley, a former teammate of PSU defender Jeanette Bateman with the Colorado Select, receives the majority of time in goal and has a very respectable (all things considered) 4.06 goals against average to go with her 0.910 save percentage.

Huntsville goalie John Griggs faces 36.8 shots per 60 minutes.

Independent League MegaBowl

Men's team members - led by captain Tommy Olczyk - have taken to Twitter with the hashtag #IndependentLeagueMegaBowl to hype their series with Alabama-Huntsville.

Really though, can you blame them? This is a team that, despite a very successful first NCAA season in a lot of ways (14-15-0 in all games, 10-13-0 in NCAA games and 8-11-0 against NCAA Division I), has absolutely nothing to play for at the end of it. Seventeen days from now, after completing a series at Wisconsin, the season will just sort of awkwardly...end. It's quite an appropriate bookend for the Ice Pavilion, actually: for the first time since the rink's opening season of 1980-1981, the highest-level PSU men's team will not close the season with a national championship or conference tournament.

Penn State and UAH, as everyone knows, are the only two independents in NCAA Men's Division I. Next year, both will be in conferences. No team in their right mind will ever choose to be an independent unless in transition to something else (the case with PSU, obviously), and under that reality, multiple independents at any one time is fairly unlikely in the future. So yeah, we're deciding the independent championship for the rest of eternity here, no big deal.

The saga of Alabama-Huntsville's program has been well-chronicled, both here and elsewhere, so I'll just distill it down to the (admittedly lengthy) bullet points.

• From 1979 through 1985, UAH was a non-varsity power, winning the 1982, 1983 and 1984 club national championships (the Icers also claim a 1984 title from a separate tournament). It's probably not accurate to call them a former Penn State archrival - it was really more a case of two top teams frequently meeting in big games. UAH beat PSU in the final for their 1983 title, to give one example.
• In 1985, the Chargers moved to NAIA status for one season, then to NCAA Division II, then to Division I from 1987-1992 (compiling a 63-81-8 record during that time) as the NCAA temporarily eliminated DII for hockey.
• Division II was restored in 1992, and UAH moved back and was extremely successful, winning national championships in 1996 and 1998.
• The NCAA once again chopped DII - this time for good - for the 1999-2000 season, and the Chargers moved back to DI and College Hockey America. UAH was also successful in the CHA, winning the league tournament in 2007 and 2010 to qualify for the NCAA tournament.
• However, the story takes a sharp turn due to the instability of the CHA. During UAH's time in the conference, Findlay and Wayne State dropped varsity hockey, while Air Force, Bemidji State, Robert Morris, Niagara fleed to other leagues, causing the CHA to fold. UAH applied to join the CCHA, but was rejected (some actually blamed Penn State for this, which is BS on a number of levels).
• Huntsville, expectedly, has struggled mightily as an independent, winning just nine games in three years. Recruiting has dropped off, a full schedule is nearly impossible, particularly for home games (UAH has hosted ACHA teams five times this year, including three ACHA D3 opponents, as a result), the head coach's office has had a revolving door (after knowing only Doug Ross from 1982 through 2007, Danton Cole, Chris Luongo and current boss Kurt Kleinendorst have held the job since), and revenue is difficult to come by without a conference arrangement.
• In response to all of that, then-Alabama system chancellor Malcolm Portera announced the cancellation of the program in October, 2011. The funeral didn't last long though, as Portera retired a couple months later and new chancellor Robert Altenkirch reversed the decision.
• Still, without a conference, UAH's days were likely numbered - fortunately, we didn't have to find out, as the program was accepted into the new-look WCHA for next season in January. Rejection from the WCHA likely would have meant a death blow for the scrappy program that has somehow survived quite a few of them.

So that's where we are - two programs facing exciting new beginnings in conferences next year, but with nothing at all to play for at the end of this season. Bring on the Independent League MegaBowl.

Michigan State Q-and-A with The Munn Minute

What: NCAA Men at Michigan State

Where: Munn Ice Arena, East Lansing, MI

When: Friday, January 25 at 7:05 p.m, Saturday, January 26 at 6:05 p.m.

Friday Coverage: Video: MSU ($); Audio: MSU (free), PSU ($), Stats: MSU (free)

Saturday Coverage: Television: Big Ten Network (check local listings); Video: MSU ($); Audio: MSU (free), PSU ($); Stats: MSU (free)

In lieu of the typical TYT pregame post, Michigan State blogger Matt Latham of The Munn Minute and I took turns answering questions for the inside angle on each other's teams. Here's my half of the deal, if you're interested:

Big Ten Hockey - Penn State Q&A with TYTBlog
MSU Drops Exhibition Contest, Q&A Part II with TYTBlog

Be sure to get TMM - the Michigan State blog officially endorsed by TYT and located at themunnminute.blogspot.com - on your reading list and follow it on Twitter (@TheMunnMinute) as well.

Now for the best look at 6-15-3 (5-12-1 CCHA) Michigan State you'll get anywhere. Thanks again to Matt for helping out!

TYT: First, obviously, tell us a little about your team this year. You made the NCAA tournament last year, but graduated nine seniors, including all three of your NHL picks at the time - plus Torey Krug signed with the Boston Bruins as well. So a bit of a rebuilding year?

TMM: From a fan standpoint, the first half of the season was about trying to figure out all the new players. I think we all thought this might be a bit of a "down" year, but I don't know if many of us were expecting the offense to struggle as much as it has. This hasn't been helped by injuries to guys like Dean Chelios and David Bondra. Not that we were expecting a ton of offense from either guy, but I think it's forced some players into unexpected roles. Plus losing a guy like Krug really has been noticeable on the power play. Krug was a special player.

The key to this team begins (and ends) in goal. Freshman Jake Hildebrand wasn't getting a ton of attention from recruiting sites or so-called experts, but the kid has delivered a superb season. Prior to this weekend, he had a sub-2.00 GAA and a .940 save percentage. Ferris got to him a little bit on Saturday, so the GAA is back over two (2.01) and his save percentage dipped to .937. It's a shame his record is what it is - 4-10-2, but he's only given up more than two goals in three of those 16 games, and he's been on the wrong end of three 1-0 games. I think his performance on Friday against Ferris State was one of the best in a Spartan uniform dating back to Jeff Lerg's 2007 national title performance or even back when Ryan Miller wore the green and white.

MSU forward Matt DeBlouw was a seventh-round pick of the Calgary Flames last June.

Up front, Matt Berry and Matt DeBlouw have been the scoring leaders. Berry has been struggling lately though (he hasn't scored a goal since the Great Lakes Invitational third place game against Michigan on December 29th). Brent Darnell and Tyler Sorenson have been slowly coming around. On the blueline will be a name every hockey fan should be familiar with - Chelios. Jake Chelios anchors the blueline this season, but his offense has been struggling a bit this year (only six points so far). Another defenseman to pay attention to would be John Draeger - who really seems to be improving and getting more comfortable out there

[Note: Berry will miss Friday's game after receiving a game disqualification against the U.S. National Team Development Program U18s on Tuesday.]

So basically, you should see some great goaltending and a team that has struggled to light the lamp on offense. This MSU team is bigger than in the past, and I feel they are better skaters too. The question I have is if Will Yanakeff will see time this weekend. I'm wondering if Hildebrand needs a break, but with the exhibition contest on Tuesday, Yanakeff might see time there giving Hildebrand a breather. Yanakeff is a strong goalie in his own right, though his numbers aren't quite as good as Hildebrand.

TYT: Despite the step back record-wise, you have a big win against current No. 7 Notre Dame, and you got a solid kick in on Michigan, which is still a ridiculously talented team despite their record, as well. I have to think those are encouraging signs that the team will bounce back in the next couple years. Is that how you guys are seeing the cycle of things?

TMM: Frustrating would be a way to put it. This team has been up and down all season, which I suppose you can expect playing 300 freshmen (ok, not that many, but a lot, and I have to keep with the Spartan theme). This last weekend was a kick in the gut, in my opinion. Ferris State is a solid team, and they know how to play their system, but I really feel like MSU needed some points after playing as well as they did against ND. MSU simply didn't look as sharp against Ferris State. The 7-2 win against Michigan seems like it was last season at this point, but we also have losses to Bowling Green (at the time they were in last), and now MSU sits in last place in the CCHA. I think they are better than that, but the effort has to be there each night with this team, because there is no room for error.

With that said, some of the little things under Coach Anastos have gotten better. The team does battle much better in the corners, they are winning more face-offs, and for awhile there the power play was actually one of the best in the country (pre-December). I think the recruiting has picked up, but the next two seasons are going to be very telling if the hiring of Coach Anastos was a positive or not. I would expect the team to bounce back and compete well in the Big Ten next year - if the players continue to train hard in the off season.

TYT: You mentioned Matt DeBlouw, one of your star freshmen, who of course was a teammate of our Mark Yanis with Muskegon in the USHL. Tell us a little more about him.

TMM: DeBlouw was one of those freshmen most Spartan fans had pegged as an immediate impact player, and he really hasn't disappointed. His skating ability, puck movement, and vision look really strong out there. At the same time, it seems like he can get caught up trying to make the sweet play (as anyone could) instead of trying for the garbage goal. He has a great shot, and with three points in his last three games, I think he might be heating up once again.

He's been up and down too though - once he finds that consistency, I think he'll be one of the best forwards in the Big Ten.

To an extent, the jury's still out on coach Tom Anastos, but early returns are positive.

TYT: Coach Anastos - what's the feeling on him there? I openly made fun of the hire at the time - I mean, who hires their conference's commissioner - especially after you guys flirted with Denver coach George Gwozdecky, but he's really turned my opinion 180 degrees, I think he's going to prove the right guy. I'd play for him if, you know, I had ability.

TMM: I'll be honest. I was a Danton Cole guy. Cole to me seemed like the perfect fit - a hard-nosed Spartan with a fire in his belly to win. Originally, I wasn't happy with the Coach Anastos hire to the point that I was almost upset. Cole seemed like a slam dunk, and I couldn't see a team hiring the league's commissioner (I mean - if the Red Wings hired Gary Bettman, I might become a Blackhawks fan).

I made some jokes about it too - I figured we'd get all the calls now that we have the guy who ran the CCHA behind our bench. I mean, he has the connections to the commissioner's office right? No more [Matt] Shegos [a CCHA referee and Michigan alumnus who is not particularly popular] screwing us over.

But in all seriousness, the first thing Coach Anastos did that sold me was his first meeting with the team - when he told the entire group "You are my guys, and I'm one of you." Coach Anastos understands hockey at Michigan State (helps playing here). The job Coach Anstos and Coach [Kelly] Miller did with this group was amazing, and it turned me around as well. We were back to respectability in the CCHA and nationally making the NCAA tournament. The team responded well - and they really looked like they were working their you-know-whats off to get playing time. That sold me. Even this season as they struggle, the team looks different than it did the last couple years under Coach [Rick] Comley. The recruiting looks like it's picking up, and I feel the future is very bright under Coach Anastos and Coach Miller.

I also think hiring Coach Miller as an assistant was a brilliant move. I know some Spartan fans that thought Miller would be a good head coach. Plus, Coach Anastos has done a great job bringing the student body and community back to the sport. The PR of the team has improved quite a bit, and now the stadium is filling up again. I'd have to check this, but I heard this weekend that Michigan State leads the CCHA in attendance.

Now just imagine when the thing gets turned around what will happen.

Chris Chelios headlines a group of well-known hockey dads with a stake in PSU-MSU.

TYT: Who would win in a game between the parents of our players? We have Ed Olczyk and Dave Jensen, who were both teammates with Chris Chelios on the 1984 Olympic team, and you also have Peter Bondra. I'm thinking edge to you guys, yours are Hall of Fame-level.

TMM: I'm too biased here as a Wings fan - Chelios hands down gives the all-pro Spartan squad the edge. I'm pretty sure Chris could still lace them up today - though Jake and Dean Chelios claim they can take him now.

TYT: From a PSU perspective, the Big Ten is all we know hockey-wise, so tell us a little about the MSU perspective, as a program that has to actually leave behind another conference, rivalries, etc. Excited for the future or bitter about it?

TMM: Oh, I'm excited, and I haven't made this a secret or anything. I LOVE the idea of Big Ten hockey. I used to love seeing Minnesota and Wisconsin over Thanksgiving. I won't miss staying up till 12 a.m. listening to the team play in Alaska, but I do hope MSU continues to try to schedule the Michigan schools and teams like Notre Dame and Miami. I've heard MSU is committed to playing all the Michigan schools now in non-conference games, so that includes teams like Michigan Tech - which would be fun to see.

But MSU has one main rival in hockey - Michigan. Notre Dame is up there too, but nothing gets either fan base going like a MSU-Michigan hockey game, and I often tell people who don't know much about it, to check it out. It can be more heated than anything you see in football or basketball. It helps the two teams usually are pretty good though (or at least have been over the last 20 years).

And I think if you look over the long term attendance figures, you'll see MSU fans show up for big name schools - even if they aren't big hockey schools. Ohio State draws well. Notre Dame always drew well. Wisconsin and Minnesota did well even though it was over a holiday break. I bet Penn State will too. And if MSU really fills their schedules with some of their CCHA brothers, then I think we'll have the best of both worlds.

TYT: What's your take on the Big Ten's recent struggles and your outlook for the future of the league?

TMM: Thank God for Minnesota. Wisconsin has been hit hard by early departures, and I think Michigan is finally learning that too, along with what it's like to try to play without a goalie. MSU is clearly in rebuilding mode, and Ohio State has forever been a sleeping giant. I can't see any of these schools staying down for long. Right now Minnesota looks like they'll be kings of the Big Ten for a little while. I fully expect the Big Ten schools to compete in the coming years on a national level. It could be a very tough league based on the history of the programs.

TYT: An obligatory PSU-MSU question: thoughts on the Land Grant Trophy. Should we move it over to hockey, or maybe try something new between the schools?

I think you said it best when you said it's like playing your twin brother. Neither school really has much ill-will towards one another, and I suppose that is a good thing right now. The football rivalry never really amounted to much of anything. The trophy itself, yeah, without a doubt the ugliest thing in sports. I'm not sure we can force something here hockey-wise. I fear if we do, we might outdo ourselves with the Land Grant Trophy part II. The rivalry would need to naturally develop. Let's face it, Minnesota and Wisconsin have each other and Michigan-Michigan State have each other as well. Those are two of the most historical rivalries in college hockey. I figure Penn State-Ohio State could be a good rivalry.

We'll have to see how competitive both teams are in the new conference. If both programs are playing for Big Ten titles, the rivalry will heat up. In the meantime, we can enjoy the Land Grant history and cheering for each other to kick some SEC butt in bowl games (once PSU becomes bowl eligible again - sorry).

But as I've said on my blog - I'm really looking forward to seeing Penn State this season. Because the potential is there for something. If anything maybe we can get a blog bet going - hijack in school colors or something for a week. Or maybe force the loser to display the Land Grant Trophy - large photo size.

Freshman Jake Hildebrand, formerly of the Cleveland Barons U18s, has stolen the goaltending job.

TYT: Prediction? Pain? I'm a little nervous with us coming off of a big win - this is actually our first time going back-to-back against major-conference teams.

TMM: Some MSU fans think it'd be embarrassing to lose to Penn State this season. I kindly point out to them that Penn State has beaten Ohio State, something Michigan State couldn't do at Munn. I fully expect Penn State to compete hard both nights, because if anything, this (I figure) is one of your bigger weekend series of the season (Wisconsin being the other). Your team will be fired up for this weekend, and MSU will need to be ready to go.

MSU hasn't won two straight games all year, and I'm not about to predict it until I see it happen. I figure this is a good weekend to begin a streak like that, but I don't expect it to be easy. I'm hoping that maybe the offense can finally get going a little bit this weekend. I think both teams are looking for consistency, and when they are, anything is possible.

Catfight Takes Center Stage

What: NCAA Men vs. Vermont in the inaugural Philadelphia College Hockey Faceoff

Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA

When: Saturday, January 19 at 8:00 p.m.

Coverage: Television: The Comcast Network (check local listings); Audio: UVM (free), PSU ($), ComRadio (free); Live stats: PSU (free); TYT live blog (free)

This is going to be fun.

With ticket sales reportedly exceeding 17,000 a sellout crowd in Pennsylvania's largest city, an unprecedented live television audience, and a puck drop just five hours after a nationally-televised Penguins-Flyers game on the same ice to open the lockout-shortened NHL season, Saturday night's Philadelphia College Hockey Faceoff will undoubtedly be a landmark game in the early history of Penn State's NCAA program.

Oh yeah, and PSU has a decent chance of winning too.

Since the 2012-2013 schedule was announced, I've claimed that Vermont was Penn State's best shot at a major-conference win (let's forget, for now, that we already have a major-conference win). The reasons are simple and well documented, but just to review:

• The Catamounts, a Frozen Four team in 2009, have regressed each season since then, bottoming out at 6-27-1 (3-23-1 Hockey East) last year.
• From that team, UVM lost four-year starting goaltender Rob Madore.
• They also lost leading scorer Sebastian Stalberg, who had a year of eligibility remaining but elected to go pro. He signed with the San Jose Sharks as a free agent and now plays for their AHL affiliate in Worcester, MA.
• Zemgus Girgensons, easily Vermont's top recruit for this season, was drafted 14th overall by the Sabres last June and elected to sign with Buffalo rather than attend college. He's also in the AHL, with the Rochester Americans.
• Head coach Kevin Sneddon saw his staff gutted over the summer. Assistant John Micheletto was hired to coach Hockey East rival Massachusetts, and Micheletto took fellow UVM assistant Joey Gasparini as well as director of hockey operations John Gobeil with him.

Worst offseason in college hockey? Has to be up there. And it's not like they were starting from a fantastic position.

Nevertheless, it could be said that UVM has already exceeded expectations this season. At 6-11-4 (3-8-4 Hockey East), the team has already matched its overall and conference win totals from last season. The two most recent of those six wins came at the Catamount Cup, the holiday tournament they host at Gutterson Field House, when Vermont took the title by defeating current No. 17 Union - an opponent in common with PSU, of course - and Princeton. Despite a current three-game losing streak, including a home sweep by UMass-Lowell last weekend, Vermont seems to be trending up, as they're 3-4-2 since November 30th.

No, it's not exactly national championship-level stuff, but it's marked improvement from last season, and decidedly against the odds.

The return of Connor Brickley from a skate laceration should add punch to UVM's offense.

Chris McCarthy, a senior, and Jacob Fallon, a sophomore who transferred from Michigan, pace the Cats with six goals apiece, although Florida Panthers draft pick Connor Brickley is arguably the the team's best forward. Brickley missed 12 games after being cut with a skate blade against Boston University on November 16th, but returned last Friday, picking up two assists over the weekend. Colin Markison was also expected to be a key contributor this season, but like Brickley has missed most of the season, finally returning to the lineup last weekend for the first time since the season opener.

Vermont carries three NHL selections in all, and the other two are defensemen, Michael Paliotta (Chicago, third round, 2011) and Nick Luukko (Philadelphia, sixth round, 2010). Luukko, who leads the team's blueliners in points with seven, is the son of Peter Luukko, the president of Comcast Spectacor and also of the Flyers. Just in case you were wondering why Penn State ended up playing Vermont in this game, instead of nearby Princeton or anyone else. Behind those guys will likely be goaltender Brody Hoffman, who has capably picked up Madore's torch to the tune of a 2.95 goals against average.

Eric Steinour has skated against UVM before.

One interesting footnote: Should Penn State senior forward Eric Steinour play on Saturday, it will actually be his second time opposing the Catamounts. As a member of the U.S. World University Games team in 2011, he and the rest of the American side (which also included former Icer Tim O'Brien, as well as then-PSU head coach Scott Balboni as an assistant coach) played UVM in a pre-tournament exhibition on December 29, 2010. Vermont won the game 7-1, with Brickley scoring twice and adding an assist - he had just been one of the final cuts from the U.S. World Junior Championships team that year, explaining some possible issues with the Team USA crest. Current captain H.T. Lenz had a goal and an assist, and Tobias Nilsson-Roos was the other still-active player to score in the game.

State and the Unions

What
NCAA Men: vs. U.S. National Team Development Program Under-18
NCAA Women: at Union

Where
NCAA Men: Greenberg Ice Pavilion, University Park, PA
NCAA Women: Messa Rink, Schenectady, NY

When
NCAA Men: Friday, January 11 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, January 12 at 7:30 p.m.
NCAA Women: Friday, January 11 at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday, January 12 at 4:00 p.m

Coverage
NCAA Men: TYT live blogs (free), Friday PSU video ($), Friday PSU audio ($), Friday PSU live stats (free), Saturday PSU video ($), Saturday PSU audio ($), Saturday PSU live stats (free)
NCAA Women: Union video ($), Union live stats (free)

J.T. Compher will return to Penn State next season, but as a Michigan Wolverine.

The men, who are now 9-12-0 in all games, 8-11-0 against NCAA competition and 6-10-0 against NCAA Division I will try to reverse their fortunes with a pair of exhibitions against the U.S. National Team Development Program Under-18 team. Since November 10th, PSU is just 3-9-0 in all games and beyond the win over Ohio State in Pittsburgh - which was outstanding, of course - has only beaten the ACHA's Arizona State and NCAA DIII Fredonia.

For those who don't know the nature of this week's opponent, the National Team Development Program is a USA Hockey initiative based in Ann Arbor, MI. Since 1996, it has attempted to identify the best American players and get them into the same organization in an attempt to enhance their development for, according to their literature "participation on U.S. National Teams and success in their future hockey careers." The NTDP, which includes both an Under-17 and an Under-18 team, plays games against college teams (generally, only the U18s play those games), against the USHL, as the NTDP is a member of the league, and in international tournaments. NTDP players have gone on to collegiate and NHL success, as famous Big Ten alumni like Ryan Kesler, Jordan Leopold, Ryan Suter and Phil Kessel are counted among their products. No fewer than 15 players from Team USA's recent gold medal team at the World Junior Championships did time with the NTDP.

Obviously, since the U18s are the team playing Penn State, I'll speak exclusively about them from this point, using "NTDP" or "Team USA" as shorthand.

There's sort of a misconception many have of these games, at least some of the people with whom I've spoken, who view these as pointless walkovers, which really couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, Penn State will be the less talented team on the ice this weekend. That's not a slam on the Nittany Lions. The NTDPers, as mentioned, are among the best American players out there in their age group and as such, they out-talent just about every college team they play, with edges in experience and physical maturity going to the collegians (a senior who aged out of junior hockey is generally six years older than an U18 player).

The games Team USA has played against NCAA opponents bear that out, with wins over Michigan, Merrimack and Alabama-Huntsville. They also boast impressive draws with Minnesota, Notre Dame and New Hampshire, presently three of the top four teams in the country. Most of the NTDP's action comes against USHL competition, and (combined with the U17 team in this case), they're 6-18-3 in those games.

As one might surmise, NTDP players are some of the most sought-after recruits in the country. Nineteen players opposing PSU this weekend are committed to colleges, including future Big Ten opponents J.T. Compher, Evan Allen and Tyler Motte (Michigan), as well as Hudson Fasching (Minnesota). While Penn State has yet to pull an NTDP recruit, getting players of their caliber on campus certainly can't hurt in that process. Motte, Compher, Allen and Fasching, along with leading scorer Tyler Kelleher (committed to New Hampshire) represent a few of a lethal group of forwards that will really test a thin PSU blueline that hopes to receive Mark Yanis back this weekend but has now lost Luke Juha to an undisclosed injury.

Shenae Lundberg is an elite stopper - and owes some of that to PSU's Casey McCullion.

For the women (7-12-1, 1-8-1 CHA), this weekend represents a chance to continue the momentum generated from last weekend's shellacking of an overmatched and shorthanded NCAA Division III Chatham team. The Nittany Lions will seek to chip off a second and a third major-conference win at Union (5-11-3, 0-7-3 ECAC).

Since joining the Division I ranks to join their male counterparts in 2003-2004, the Dutchwomen haven't been particularly successful, never posting more than five wins or better than a 0.176 win percentage in any season. In that sense, this year has been a breakout of sorts with that zenith for victories already matched and Connecticut, Maine, RPI and Syracuse, PSU's College Hockey America rival, among Union's victims.

The team's undisputed star is goaltender Shenae Lundberg. The sophomore boasts a 3.09 goals against average and a 0.902 save percentage - outstanding numbers on a losing team. She has a boatload of USA Hockey recognition to prove her talents, including her status as a member of the 2011 world champion U.S. U18 team. Lundberg is also a four-time USA Hockey Player Development Camp selection and a two-time selection to the Warren Strelow National Team Goaltending Camp. She's played in four of Union's five wins, and has been called on to make at least 30 saves each time without ever allowing more than three goals.

In short, Lundberg is good.

Oh, by the way, the New Hampshire native is an alumna of Deerfield Academy, where she played for - you guessed it - PSU assistant Casey McCullion, who was an assistant there in 2007-2008.

With Nicole Paniccia expected back between the pipes after playing only 20 minutes in the sweep of Chatham, combined with Lundberg and Union's anemic offense that scores just 1.42 times per game, it probably isn't out of line to expect a pair of low-scoring games. When the Dutchwomen do receive offense, it tends to come from a large number of sources. Sophomore Christine Valente leads the team with five goals, but the team's 27 this season have come from 12 different players.

It would serve the Nittany Lions well to put everything out there in the pursuit of two wins - next weekend is the last one off for the team this season before jumping back into the fray with a trip to Syracuse on January 25th and 26th.

Commonwealth Clash

What: Penn State-Behrend at Penn State-Altoona

Where: Galactic Ice, Altoona, PA

When: Saturday, January 12 at 3:50 p.m.

Tom Lantz is in charge of the Altoona bench.

“The deeper I go into myself the more I realize that I am my own enemy.” - Floriano Martins

You don't have to go very deep to see how Penn State can be its own enemy - the school is playing against itself in an ACHA Division 3 hockey game in a couple days.

Seriously, though... Penn State vs. Penn State. How do you choose up sides for something like that? Let's look a little bit more closely at the teams from Behrend and Altoona that will be opening their spring semester schedules against each other on Saturday. First of all, here are the standings of College Hockey East, the conference both call home.

North Division	W	L	OT	T	Pts.	GF	GA
Robert Morris	7	1	0	0	14	48	20
California (PA)	5	2	0	0	10	43	26
Fredonia State	4	5	0	0	8	42	42
Penn State-Behrend	2	5	0	0	4	21	48

South Division	W	L	OT	T	Pts.	GF	GA
Pitt-Johnstown	6	4	0	0	12	58	42
Saint Vincent	3	4	1	0	7	28	45
Penn State-Altoona	1	6	0	0	2	22	39

The situation is pretty evident: both teams need wins. The good news is that both will have plenty of chances to get them, as both finish up with five CHE games in six total.

Altoona, coached by Tom Lantz, has struggled to a 4-8-1 overall record with a young team even by the (for the most part) freshman-and-sophomores-only standards of commonwealth campuses, although it's decidedly improved from last season's 3-16-0 squad. The team has good firepower on their side, with Conlan Sodrosky (who has a 7-10-17 scoring line), Ben Kinch (6-6-12), Charles Dunton (4-6-10) and James DiBerardinis (3-7-10) leading the way. On the other hand, an average goals against of 5.57 per game in the conference will need to be addressed if Altoona is going to climb back into contention, with a three-headed goaltending monster of Zach Sheriko (the minutes leader), David Winegarden and Jacob Ullom attempting to help lock things down.

Both teams have coaching connections with University Park's ACHA Division 2 team, the Ice Lions. For Altoona, Patrick Kinch (who started his collegiate career down I-99 from State College) assists Lantz after scoring ten goals for last year's MACHA champions and ACHA tournament participant. At Behrend, head coach Ed Maras and assistant Brendan Conlon run the show, and both played for the Ice Lions from 2006 though 2010.

Kevin Backoefer is Behrend's leading scorer.

Maras' team, which is 7-10-1 overall, also presents as an improved (4-17-1 last year) team that plays in some high scoring games as they attempt to turn the corner. Kevin Backoefer (11-12-23), Jared Bagnato (12-10-22) and Robert Banks (7-4-11 in just six games) lead the way offensively - with Banks and Bagnato both listed as defensemen. The type of outscore-the-opponent style also seen at Altoona was perhaps never more evident than in November 16th's 7-5 win over Saint Vincent, a game in which Behrend trailed 5-2 early in the third period before rattling off five unanswered. Banks had a hat trick with an assist in the comeback, while Jacob Grumski put up a four-point night as well.

It's probably important to note that the teams have already met in Erie this year, with Behrend topping the visitors 3-2 in overtime on October 21st. Bagnato potted the winner after Altoona had rallied from a 2-0 second-period deficit with goals from Matthew Torello and Kyle Lees.

In the end, it's clear that there's not too much separating the two. Which makes sense, given that they're both Penn State.

The Grind Returns

What
NCAA Men: at Connecticut
NCAA Women: vs. Chatham (NCAA DIII)

Where
NCAA Men: Freitas Ice Forum, Storrs, CT
NCAA Women: Greenberg Ice Pavilion, University Park, PA

When
NCAA Men: Friday, January 4 at 7:05 p.m. and Saturday, January 5 at 7:05 p.m.
NCAA Women: Friday, January 4 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, January 5 at 7:00 p.m

Coverage
NCAA Men: UConn video ($), Friday PSU audio ($), Saturday PSU audio ($), UConn audio (free), Friday live stats (free), Saturday live stats (free)
NCAA Women: PSU video ($), TYT live blogs (free), Friday live stats (free), Saturday live stats (free)

UConn relies heavily on goalie Garrett Bartus.

The Penn State men (9-10-0 all games, 8-9-0 NCAA, 6-8-0 NCAA DI) have proven that they can beat one of their soon-to-be-rivals from the almost-here Big Ten. Now they need to prove that they can sustain that level of quality on the week-in, week-out basis that is the hallmark of good teams.

The first round of that test will come this weekend at Connecticut, the Nittany Lions' eighth different Atlantic Hockey opponent of the season. For what it's worth, PSU is 5-6-0 against AHA opposition, a mark that would be good for seventh in the 12-team conference.

The Huskies (5-8-2, 4-6-1 AHA) are tied for eighth in that league, although that's an incomplete view of the program. UConn, long ridiculed as a school uncommitted to its hockey program, will be stepping things up by joining major-conference Hockey East for the 2014-2015 season. In that transition, they'll be ramping up their scholarship count from zero to the maximum of 18. In addition, their plan for Hockey East games is to use Hartford's 15,635-seat XL Center (the former home of the NHL's Whalers) while exploring a renovation and expansion of their existing 2,000-seat rink or even possibly constructing a new facility altogether.

So in a weird way, the two blue-and-white clad programs will be growing up together, coming from decidedly different backgrounds but attempting to compete regularly with college hockey's big boys within a season of each other in the future. PSU took a step towards that end in beating Ohio State last Saturday, but UConn took a similar step in winning 3-1 at future HEA rival Merrimack on November 10th, a win that joins an impressive 2-2 tie against Union, a team presently ranked 13th in the country.

The Merrimack win came just five days after 25-year head coach Bruce Marshall announced an indefinite medical leave of absence, temporarily handing the reins to assistant David Berard. In that light, it's been a decidedly up-and-down season for the boys from the Nutmeg State's flagship.

It seems fair to say that power play goals will be at a premium this weekend, as the Huskies are one of only three teams ranked behind PSU in conversion rate while on the advantage, with five goals in 60 tries compared to the Nittany Lions' six in 69. That stat underscores a general lack of UConn offense this season, as their 1.93 goals per game are also ranked in the nation's bottom five. Senior Sean Ambrosie and sophomores Trevor Gerling and Cody Sharib lead a balanced attack with four goals apiece, although Connecticut's 29 goals this season have been scored by 12 different players.

When a team's offense is struggling, the defense and goaltending is forced to step up, and luckily for the Huskies, they have a stud goalie in the form of senior Garrett Bartus. The workhorse is part of the 24th best scoring defense in DI, thanks to a 0.917 save percentage and a 2.54 goals against average. The defense tandem of senior Alex Gerke and freshman Tyler Cooke (a teammate of PSU's Jake Friedman with the EJHL's South Shore Kings in 2010-2011) is a big part of the effort as well.

Despite 16 shots on Chatham goalie Megan Buchanan last season, Tess Weaver was unable to score - but she'll have another shot at putting one past Buchanan this weekend.

After a fairly brutal schedule to close the fall semester (Robert Morris, Lindenwood, Mercyhurst, St. Lawrence) the women get a bit of a reprieve to open the spring with NCAA Division III Chatham.

In the Cougars (1-7-0, 0-6-0 ECAC West), Penn State (5-12-1, 1-8-1 CHA) has an opponent that has won exactly one NCAA hockey game since February 20, 2010 - November 17th's 5-2 win at Buffalo State.

CU, a women's school of 2,300 undergraduates, has an 11-179-5 NCAA record in ten-plus seasons of varsity hockey and usually fills out portions of its schedule with ACHA opponents. That included the Lady Icers last season on November 4th and 5th, 2011, with the two teams skating to a pair of draws. The first was scoreless, with Katie Vaughan earning a 33-save shutout, while the second ended 2-2 thanks to Denise Rohlik and Elizabeth Denis goals. Present NCAA team members combined for an assist (by Lindsay Reihl), 32 shots (16 by Tess Weaver) and 12 penalty minutes (eight by Katie Murphy) in the the two games.

Cougars head coach Jason Evans is someone familiar to Penn State hockey as the former coach of Robert Morris' ACHA program, back when the Colonials were good. His tenure at RMU included a meeting with the Icers at the 2007 ACHA national tournament in which heavily-favored PSU was pushed to overtime. Morgan Becer leads Chatham's nine rostered forwards with two goals and four points, while besieged goalie Megan Buchanan faces an average of 47 shots per 60 minutes between the pipes. Sophomore blueliner Gina Abrego is another Cougar to watch.

The weekend and its anticipated blowouts should provide a soft landing back in the season's grind. The team that has been out of action since a 4-2 loss at St. Lawrence on December 8th that saw the Nittany Lions claw within one through Hannah Hoenshell's goal with eight minutes left only to surrender a late power play goal for the final margin.

Things get considerably tougher after this weekend, with Josh Brandwene's gang heading to Union on January 11th and 12th, followed by a trip to CHA rival Syracuse on January 25th and 26th.