Breakout Past: A Plea For Hockey

One of my favorite things about reading The Daily Collegian has always been the slap-fights that perpetually take place in the opinion pages across several days, or even weeks, primarily using the letters to the editor. It's a little like reading most message boards, except everything - the vitriol, the ad hominem attacks, the occasionally baseless and always emotional arguments - plays out slowly. It's a perfect setup that aids one in avoiding a tap-out point that inevitably comes within five minutes on a message board, while still allowing one to follow each drama to its conclusion. And as soon as that Marcellus Shale beef plays itself out, the next one, perhaps regarding tuition or State Patty's Day, is right around the corner.

It warmed my heart to learn that this is not a recent phenomenon. It is, in fact, at least 100 years old. Witness the following item in the December 7, 1911 Penn State Collegian, which argues that hockey should be made a varsity sport.

I suppose it becomes slightly dated when it jumps to "we can't beat the big schools in football or baseball, maybe we'll have better luck elsewhere" pretty quickly, but all in all, sound points were made. Hockey's a great sport, a growing college needs an athletic program to match, and hockey brings the unique ability to raise revenue between games through charging others to skate. In fact, it doesn't sound all that much different from an argument one might have made in 2009: hockey's a great sport, a big university should include it in its athletic program, and it could be a revenue producer in part because of the large interest in renting a new facility for different purposes.

Regardless, here comes P. Edwin Thomas with the 1911 version of "you're an idiot" one week later.

So basically, we should get hockey at about the same time basketball, track and tennis go undefeated like football and pay for themselves like wrestling (which does so of course because it is "vastly interesting," as opposed to hockey, which apparently is not). Still, it too bears similarity to a 2009 argument against hockey, which might have gone along the lines of "let's make basketball not suck before we worry about hockey, and besides, how are you going to pay for all of this?"

Thomas, in the end, was right. There was no adequate place to play the game (he could have just stopped there), and it took until 1981 and the completion of the Ice Pavilion to finally have a stable facility. This exchange of letters represented the last gasp for the earliest push for hockey, highlighted by PSU's first two intercollegiate games in 1909 at Pittsburgh's Duquesne Gardens. Penn State's next intercollegiate game would also be at Duquesne Gardens, but not for another 28 years.

Coming to America One

Amidst all of the recent discussion of men's college hockey television rights, one deal has been reached that will allow for unprecedented access to Penn State's women's program - including the ability to watch all home games and conference away games.

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College Hockey America and America One have announced a three-year partnership to show every game of the league’s regular and post season on the revolutionary broadband broadcasting network. All College Hockey America home games will be seen starting with the 2011-12 regular season and throughout the playoffs.

“This is a great opportunity for College Hockey America and its members,” states Bob DeGregorio, Commissioner of College Hockey America. “We are excited to show fans, family, alumni and current students at our member institutions the game of women’s ice hockey. It is a great game and if fans, family and alumni cannot be in the arena, this gives them another avenue to be a part of their institutions program.”

“This the first regular season conference-wide broadcasting agreement for women’s ice hockey and America ONE is honored to be the broadcast solution,” said Preston Bornman. “With our ONE Vision Plus player, College Hockey America’s parents, fans and alumni can enjoy all the live and archived games online and in high-quality.”

Fans will be able to watch all College Hockey America home games on their home computer via the new ONE Vision Plus Video Player. This player provides fans the ability to switch from live game to live game, as well have video on demand access to archived games for one price. The pricing for the 2011-12 season is as follows. A day pass, which includes going back and watching games from the previous 24 hours is $8.00. A monthly pass is $30.00, while a full-season’s pass is $120.00. The purchase of a season pass gives the fan an opportunity to go back and watch every College Hockey America conference games and home non-conference games played from the start of the season.

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Three years, of course, means two years where PSU is a likely CHA member. With no Big Ten women's hockey in the immediate future, Big Ten Network's involvement with the women's game will probably remain pretty minimal, underscoring the importance of this agreement. While pay-per-view webcasts aren't necessarily ideal, they're roughly infinity times better than the Lady Icers' present broadcast arrangement and should be tremendous for fans (not to mention TYT's coverage).

One other quick and unrelated CHA observation, although not one that qualifies as news just yet. Lindenwood has released its 2011-2012 schedule, and it contains ten CHA games - just two fewer than full conference members, and including the full allotment against conference members Robert Morris and Mercyhurst. Numerous scenarios to re-populate the current four-team league have been kicked around, including one where Ohio State moves from the WCHA to CHA with Lindenwood sliding into the empty WCHA slot. But the schedules indicate a slightly different story. Could the Lady Lions be trying out for CHA membership starting in 2013-2014 when full NCAA membership is anticipated following a two-season provisional period?

Can I get an upgrade?

The Icers announced late Monday night that the home-and-home series against Lebanon Valley College, scheduled for February 17th and 18th, 2012, has been cancelled. In its place are two new home games, one against Duquesne on the 17th and the other against Kent State a week later on the 24th (that following weekend had previously been tagged as "TBD" on the Icers website).

While the idea of a possible trip to Hersheypark Arena was exciting, it's probably just as well that the rapidly-becoming-unglued LVC program was jettisoned. Some background on the Dutchmen: they made the NCAA Division III tournament in 2001, but dropped to non-varsity status following back-to-back winless seasons from 2008-2010. In their first ACHA Division 1 season last year, LVC went 21-6-0 - although their schedule included a healthy dose of D2 schools and not a single team that played in the D1 national tournament last year. The Dutchmen are also working on their fourth coach in roughly a year and a half, a sure sign of turmoil within an organization. Don Parsons was hired last month, replacing Tony Horacek (who resigned in April), who himself replaced Brandon Herr, who filled in following the January 2010 resignation of Ted Russell.

So it's probably a fair statement that the two new opponents represent a slightly stiffer challenge. The Dukes and Golden Flashes have a combined eight appearances at the ACHA National Tournament since 2005, although neither made it to Delaware last season.

Still, it seems like there was an opportunity lost in this transaction, namely a shot at a pair of NCAA Division I games. While most programs are pretty well locked as far as dates and the game limit at this juncture (and certainly not willing to drastically shake things up to play what's still an ACHA program), there is one notable exception. Yep, I'm talking about Alabama-Huntsville, DI's only independent. Not only are the Chargers under 34 games, but they have the February 17th-18th weekend off. I'm willing to wager that cash-strapped UAH would turn down two home games at about the same time TYT turns down inclusion in Black Shoe Diaries' Success with Hyperlinking.

From a Penn State perspective, yes, it involves a lengthy road trip during a time of year when the plan wasn't to go any further than Hershey. But at the same time, it's a ready-made opportunity to beef up a schedule that's drawn heavy criticism (as unjustified as it may be) and to dip our toes into DI just before making it official. Giving a helping hand to college hockey's cause celebre would also win back some goodwill from those who blame PSU for evils in the world ranging from the National Collegiate Hockey Conference to the U.S.'s AA+ credit rating.

To be fair, I'm not privy to any of the talks that may have taken place, and I'm sure there's a roadblock I haven't considered.

In any case, the LVC for Duquesne and Kent State swap becomes the latest in a string of changes since the initial schedule was announced in early April. The Neumann game on November 4th was moved to January 4th, possibly so that it can be played on the Winter Classic ice at Citizens Bank Park. The first half of the Oklahoma trip, January 4th at Central Oklahoma and January 5th at Oklahoma, was cancelled to accommodate the Neumann game. More recently, the November 10th game at West Chester and December 16th home game against Niagara were wiped off the schedule with no replacement games likely.

Here's the full schedule, as it now stands.

October
7 vs. Washington & Jefferson, 7:00 p.m.
14 @ Illinois, 8:30 p.m.
15 @ Illinois, 8:30 p.m.
21 vs. Ohio, 7:00 p.m.
22 vs. Ohio, 3:30 p.m.
28 @ Rhode Island, 7:00 p.m.
29 @ Rhode Island, 7:00 p.m.

November
5 vs. SUNY-Fredonia (NCAA DIII), 7:00 p.m.
6 vs. Pittsburgh, 1:00 p.m.
11 vs. West Chester, 7:00 p.m.
18 @ Delaware, 7:00 p.m.
19 vs. Delaware, 8:00 p.m.

December
2 vs. Rutgers, 7:00 p.m.
3 vs. Rutgers, 3:30 p.m.
9 @ Liberty, 7:30 p.m.
10 @ Liberty, 4:00 p.m.

January
4 @ Neumann (NCAA DIII), TBD
6 @ Central Oklahoma, 8:30 p.m.
7 @ Oklahoma, 5:00 p.m.
13 vs. Rhode Island, 7:00 p.m.
14 vs. Rhode Island, 3:30 p.m.
20 vs. West Virginia, 7:00 p.m.
21 vs. West Virginia, 3:30 p.m.
27 @ Ohio, 7:00 p.m.
28 @ Ohio, 7:00 p.m.

February
3 vs. Oklahoma, 7:00 p.m.
4 vs. Oklahoma, 3:30 p.m.
10 vs. Mercyhurst, 7:00 p.m.
11 vs. Mercyhurst, 3:30 p.m.
17 vs. Duquesne, 7:00 p.m.
24 vs. Kent State, 7:00 p.m.

March
3-7 @ ACHA National Tournament - Strongsville, OH

A Coach in Hand is Worth Two in the Bush

HockeyYall.com, which covers southern-based ACHA organizations, is reporting that assistant coach Josh Hand - whose position with the program had been in limbo for months - has been retained on Guy Gadowsky's staff as a goaltending coach. In addition, he will serve as the head coach of Penn State's ACHA Division 2 squad.

Hand joined Scott Balboni's Icers staff for the 2010-2011 season, where his broad responsibilities included recruiting, video analysis and practice development. He also took over head coaching duties while Balboni was in Turkey for the World University Games. The Reading-area native guided the Icers to a 4-1-1 record during that period, including a split at Delaware and a three-point home weekend against Rhode Island - a stretch that more or less ensured that PSU made the ACHA National Tournament for an unmatched 20th straight year. As the season wore on, it also appeared as if he superseded the head coach (who resigned May 27th) as the team's media spokesperson. A quick survey of Steve Penstone's blog shows seven 2011 in-season interviews with Hand, compared with zero for Balboni.

Hand played an integral role in recruiting a large portion of the 2011 class, no minor feat considering the uncertain identity of the coaching staff at the time most committed - including doubt whether Hand would even be a part of it. Those fears (yes "fears," I'm an unapologetic fan) are now passe, obviously.

His new responsibilities include coaching up returning goalies Matt Madrazo and Dan Ivanir (who combined for 13 wins and a 2.48 goals against average last season) as well as incoming recruits Tim Carr and P.J. Musico.

Penn State's D2 job had been open since early April, when Ryan Behnken departed for the head coach position with the Philadelphia Revolution's Tier III Jr. B Continental Hockey Association team after just one season. The Ice Lions were 15-8-5 last season and advanced to the finals of the regional tournament before falling to perennial D2 power UMBC. Behnken did predict big things for Hand upon leaving, even if he didn't know who his successor would be at the time. Presumably, he did know that the team will have as many as 26 returning players, plus the possibility of adding D1-caliber players who don't make the D1 team this season due to the unique circumstances in play right now.

“Next year’s team looks like it will be very strong. Whoever gets to coach the team will be really lucky.”

Hand explained a little about his strategy for the Ice Lions to HockeyYall.com.

While Hand said he will coach to his players’ abilities and experience, he favors an uptempo game. “I think we’ll be very good. We’ll push the guys and an uptempo style of hockey.

“I think I bring a lot of experience from playing and being part of the DI team here. My hope is for us to be back where we were . . . And any coach’s goal is to win a national championship.”

Hand, who will conduct a training camp after the DI [Icers] hold theirs, is still in the process of building his team’s schedule.

Before coming to the Icers, Hand lived a typically-nomadic hockey life, including playing stops with the Atlantic Junior Hockey League's prestigious Boston Bulldogs organization (whose alumni include Icers Eric Steinour and Creek Lewis) and as a four-year goalie at NCAA Division III Concordia College in Moorhead, MN. Following graduation in 2008, he relocated to College Station, TX where he served as an assistant with Texas A&M's ACHA Division 2 program and as director of hockey at the Arctic Wolf Ice Center. Despite a brief history in a non-traditional area, the Aggies finished No. 10 in the West Region and made the regional playoffs for the first time ever in 2008-2009.

Ack to School

Westminster School (Simsbury, CT) head coach Tim Joncas has confirmed to TYT that forward Tim Acker will be joining Penn State hockey this fall.

Tim Acker

Forward
Westminster School (Prep)
6'0", 188 pounds
Apex, NC
DOB 3/7/1992

Westminster School boys' hockey page

Season   Team                   Lge    GP    G    A  Pts  PIM
-------------------------------------------------------------
2008-09  Westminster School     Prep   --    0    5    5   --
2009-10  Westminster School     Prep   --    4    5    9   --
2010-11  Westminster School     Prep   28    9   19   28   --

Last season was supposed to be a rebuilding year for Westminster, as their top six scorers departed. However, Joncas retooled around a team-oriented defensive style, and as you can see Acker was one of a group of guys who stepped up his productivity in a big way. The result? Westminster actually improved their record to 22-6-2. That wasn't all.

In December, Westminster won the prestigious Flood-Marr championship, with Acker garnering all-tournament team honors thanks to a four-point weekend. A January slump (5-4-1 during the month) kept the Martlets from the open (overall) New England prep tournament. From the blog Westminster All The Way:

According to [freshman forward] Tristan [Rai] they were far from satisfied. They knew they had a team that could win the entire Elite 8, but did not get it done earlier in the season.

Westminster bounced back though, winning nine of its last ten regular season games. In March, Acker and his teammates finished the surge with the large-school prep championship in the Martin-Earl tourney. In the final against Governor's Academy, Acker contributed a goal and an assist - not to mention a touch of versatility according to Joncas.

"He is a big strong forward who can play either the middle or wing," he said. "He skates very well, using his size to his advantage and has a knack for scoring timely goals."

One other season highlight for Westminster was playing in an outdoor game at East Hartford's Rentschler Field in February as part of the inaugural Whalers Hockey Fest. The Martlets beat Choate Rosemary Hall 3-2 on February 12th, which I suppose makes Acker Penn State's Ty Conklin, should the Citizens Bank Park game take place (Conklin started in the first three NHL regular season outdoor games, the 2003 Heritage Classic as well as the 2008 and 2009 Winter Classics).

Joncas calls Acker a "quiet, confident kid" and says he was a mainstay on both the power play and penalty kill units. "We will miss Timmy a lot not just for his ability on the ice but also for the kind of person he is," he added.

Westminster has already produced one North Carolina native who's done okay at hockey - Ben Smith, now a Chicago Blackhawk, but in 2010 the most outstanding player of the Frozen Four with Boston College. In fact, BC defenseman Tommy Cross made it two former Martlet players on the champs of two years ago (Cross will also serve as the Eagles' captain this year). From last year's Westminster team, blueliner Jake Bolton is bound for Holy Cross in 2012, while goalie Patrick Spano is headed to Yale in 2013.