Penn State Joins CHA

Josh Brandwene (right) speaks at today's press conference while CHA commissioner Robert DeGregorio listens. Photo: GoPSUSports.com

Transcript (GoPSUSports.com) // Video (Big Ten Network)
Roll Up The Score recap // Associated Press recap (via PennLive)
Joe Battista interview (GoPSUTV) // Bob DeGregorio interview (GoPSUTV)
Josh Brandwene interview (GoPSUTV) // Tim Curley interview (GoPSUTV)

It was less of a press conference than it was a confirmation, but as of this afternoon PSU women's program is officially a member of College Hockey America beginning with the varsity program's inaugural season in 2012-2013. Along with that announcement comes an unstated one: Robert Morris, Mercyhurst, Niagara and Syracuse are now our biggest rivals (well, okay, Syracuse already kind of was one from the days of yore and in other sports). Penn State will play each of those schools four times (two home, two away) during the conference schedule.

Here's the full press release:

The Penn State women's ice hockey team will join College Hockey America when it begins its first season of NCAA play in 2012-13, it was announced Tuesday at a press conference held at Beaver Stadium.

The addition of the Nittany Lions will make the CHA a five-team league, with Penn State joining Mercyhurst, Niagara, Robert Morris and Syracuse.

"We're excited to join such a competitive conference in College Hockey America," said Tim Curley, Penn State Director of Athletics. "The CHA showcases elite student-athletes and teams and we look forward to developing strong in-state and regional rivalries with its members."

"We're honored and proud to be joining the CHA at this transformational time in our program's history," said Josh Brandwene, head women's ice hockey coach. "Competing right away against such quality teams is a great opportunity for us to hit the ground running and further accelerate our program's growth and development. It's an exciting time for Penn State Women's Hockey."

"We're pleased and excited with the admission of Penn State to College Hockey America," said Robert DeGregorio, CHA Commissioner. "We know because of their rich academic and athletic traditions, they will be a great addition to our league and will only make it better."

In the expanded league, each team will play a 16-game conference schedule with teams playing four games against each conference opponent. All league members will qualify for the CHA tournament, which will be held at the highest seed.

College Hockey America, which formed in 2002, has sent a representative to the NCAA tournament each year since 2005.

The event itself, in addition to the reiteration of the above quotes, offered a juicy tidbit: the CHA is actively seeking a sixth member (and the NCAA tournament autobid that comes with it). Conference leadership will accept yet another application within two weeks, with the goal of a final announcement by December 1st. The smart money, as far as I'm concerned, is on transitioning-to-DI program Lindenwood, a school pretty familiar to ACHA fans.

There's little doubt that the Penn State-CHA alliance is a mutually beneficial one at this juncture. PSU has a secure conference arrangement in a world where the Big Ten doesn't exist. Compared to the relative meat grinder facing the men, it's a conference that will allow the program time to grow into itself while spreading the brand with a large number of out-of-conference games. It's great geography, with every program located in Pennsylvania or New York. And it has a very, very obvious measuring stick in Mercyhurst. I haven't even mentioned the not-so-small matter of a fantastic web broadcast agreement that will be a boon to fans and parents (and bloggers who live in Ohio).

Meanwhile, the CHA gets a big-name, well-financed, hopefully competitive entry that will bring a state-of-the-art building in year two. In short, adding PSU is a huge step for the conference as it attempts to reclaim some of the credibility lost when the departure of Wayne State into oblivion left it with just four teams. It's also step one of two in its quest for an autobid.

Related posts:
Wayne State Drops Women's Hockey
PSU Women Apply For CHA Membership
Coming to America One
Back to School
PSU Schedules Women's Press Conference

Commit Cycle: September 6

Jonathan Milley

Right Wing
Pembroke Lumber Kings (CCHL)
6'4", 215 pounds
Ottawa, ON
Class of 2012
DOB 5/8/1991


Date Opponent                Score  G   A Pts PIM
-------------------------------------------------------------
8/31 at Kemptville (ex)      W 6-3  1   1   2   6 [box score]
9/2  at North Bay (ex)       W 3-2  -   -   -   - [box score] 
9/4  vs. Carleton Place (ex) W 2-1  -   -   -   - [box score]
9/5  at Kanata (ex)          W 4-2  0   0   0   5 [box score]

Milley took a visit to PSU over the weekend, causing him to miss his team's Friday and Sunday games...the Lumber Kings rallied from an early 3-0 hole Wednesday night, with Milley contributing a pair of power play points to the comeback...despite the effort, he said he was "not too happy with [his] play," perhaps in part because of an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty at the end of the first period that helped lead to Kemptville's 3-0 goal...on Monday, Milley returned - for 1:26 of the game anyway, at which point he took a head contact major/game misconduct...the PLK crew will officially begin their CJHL title defense on Saturday when they take on Hawkesbury.

Reed Linaker

Center
St. Albert Steel (AJHL)
5'9", 165 pounds
Edmonton, AB
Class of 2012
DOB 11/4/1991


Date Opponent                Score  G   A Pts PIM
-------------------------------------------------------------
8/30 vs. Camrose (ex)        W 7-1  -   -   -   - [box score]
9/2  at Sherwood Park (ex)   W 5-0  -   -   -   - [box score]
9/3  vs. Sherwood Park (ex)  L 3-5  -   -   -   - [box score]
9/4  vs. Spruce Grove (ex)   L 3-7  -   -   -   - [box score]

The Steel got on track last Tuesday against an also-struggling Camrose club, with Linaker providing an assist on the 5-1 goal...he also go into a fight for the second consecutive week, a pretty useless skill in college hockey, but one that might indicate a grit factor...there's not really much to report for the last three games, although it's extremely likely that Linaker didn't play in at least two of them...the Steel's exhibition season is now concluded, and they begin playing games that count Friday versus the Olds Grizzlies.

Related stories:
High hopes for Steel (St. Albert Gazette)
AJHL Voices Speak...St. Albert Steel Colour Commentator Jimmy Morrison (Alberta Junior Hockey Fanatics)

David Glen

Center
Spruce Grove Saints (AJHL)
6'0", 175 pounds
Fort Saskatchewan, AB
Class of 2012
DOB 2/14/1991


Date Opponent                Score  G   A Pts PIM
-------------------------------------------------------------
8/30 vs. Sherwood Park (ex)  W 5-0  -   -   -   - [box score]
8/31 vs. Drayton Valley (ex) L 3-4  -   -   -   - [box score]
9/2  at Drayton Valley (ex)  W 7-4  -   -   -   - [box score]
9/4  at St. Albert (ex)      W 7-3  -   -   -   - [box score]

Glen had an assist on the initial goal in the Saints' shutout win Tuesday...he also, while drawing a second-period high sticking penalty, received praise for his effort both on that play and generally...much as with Reed Linaker, updates were extremely sporadic as the weekend went on, particularly on Sunday when Glen's and Linaker's teams squared off...this is a problem that should be rectified for the start of the regular season Saturday against the Grande Prairie Storm.

Kenny Brooks

Forward
Tri-City Storm (USHL)
6'0", 179 pounds
Las Vegas, NV
Class of 2012
DOB 12/11/1991


While Brooks and the Storm don't begin their exhibition season for another nine days, the PSU commit was named one of Tri-City's co-captains for this coming season...he'll wear the C during home games, while teammate Nick Lappin will carry the honor for road games...after moving to defense last season due to injuries, Brooks decided to move back to forward during the Storm's tryout camp.

Related stories:
Brooks, Lappin named Tri-City captains (theindependent.com)

Luke Juha

Defenseman
Vernon Vipers (BCHL)
5'11", 180 pounds
Mississauga, ON
Class of 2012
DOB 3/9/1993


Juha joins Brooks and the other USHLers in the "beginning of training camp" phase of the season, however he's had to sit out some of the early stages due to injury.

Related stories:
Vipers Open Training Camp Today (vipersdiehardfan blog)

Icers Announce 2011-2012 Roster

Following months of guessing, hand-wringing and projection by fans and observers (and more importantly last week's tryouts), the Icers have released the names of the players who will participate in the final season of ACHA competition.

Before we go any further, let's take a moment to acknowledge those Icers who were squeezed out by what's purely a numbers game brought about by a situation that couldn't have been foreseen by anyone not named Battista or Pegula at the time they decided on a college. They deserved a better fate than to have to light up Ice Lions tryouts next week to continue to play hockey at PSU. They are Mac Winchester, Andrew Duval, Ryan Erbe, Kevin Miller, Mike Broccolo, Joe Zitarelli, Alan Clark and Dan Ivanir. Some played a lot, some didn't, some left before tryouts, some simply didn't make the cut, but those things are beyond the point. They wore blue and white with distinction and honor. Mark Polidor is also on that list, although he's a little bit of a special case as someone who took his senior bow (a year early), then decided to come back, then changed his mind.

Credit is due the coaching staff as well. They didn't have to keep a 30-man roster, but to the benefit of a couple returning Icers, they did.

The other noteworthy, and perhaps more surprising, development is the exclusion of a couple of the players recruited for this season before Guy Gadowsky, Keith Fisher and Matt Lindsay came to town. Creek Lewis and Matt Venoit, we hardly knew you. We do know that Venoit was injured (I've heard with a broken leg) and never really had a chance. Lewis, presumably, was healthy and just didn't live up to the promise of his torrid numbers in the Atlantic Junior Hockey League.

The rest of the roster - which includes 12 freshmen, and six each of sophomores, juniors and seniors - features all of the recruited players and NCAA Division I transfers for 2011 other than the two mentioned above, as well as 15 returning Icers from last year, including Chris Cerutti, who was parked for tryouts with a wonky MCL.

Along with the roster from the Icers side, GoPSUSports.com put out sort of an oddly-timed release today referring to the four transfers as "the first members of the men's ice hockey team." If you're not familiar, it's standard fare for those sort of things. Biographicals, quote from the coach, et cetera. The interesting thing to me is the singling out of those four at this time, although it could be related to scholarship offers, which would make sense for established DI players.

In any case, this roster, combined with what we've already seen (and will see) from our 2012 and 2013 recruiting, really adds a lot of clarity to the direction of the program during the transition to NCAA status in that the guesswork of a major variable is now out of the picture. But that all still seems like a long way off - for now, we have a Blue-White Game 25 days from today, followed by the opener against Washington & Jefferson in 32.

Defensemen (9)     Yr.   Ht.   Wgt.  Hometown
Brian Dolan        Jr.   6'1"  175   Havertown, PA
Steven Edgeworth   Fr.   6'0"  180   Phoenix, AZ
Nate Jensen        So.   6'0"  185   Shorewood, MN
Dan Loucks         Sr.   6'2"  205   Collegeville, PA
Rich O'Brien       Jr.   5'10" 180   Furlong, PA
Dan Petrick        Sr.   6'1"  180   State College, PA
Brandon Russo      Fr.   5'8"  163   Fairfield, CT
Ryan Seibolt       So.   6'3"  220   Westlake, OH
Peter Sweetland    Fr.   6'2"  205   Newtown, PA

Forwards (18)      Yr.   Ht.   Wgt.  Hometown
Tim Acker          Fr.   6'0"  188   Apex, NC
Chris Cerutti      Sr.   5'10" 170   Export, PA
Kurt Collins       Sr.   6'2"  195   Port Matilda, PA
Paul Daley         Sr.   6'2"  190   Toms River, NJ
Josh Daley         Fr.   6'0"  185   Pittsburgh, PA
Forrest Dell       Fr.   5'11" 185   Evergreen, CO
Jacob Friedman     Fr.   5'10" 170   West Bloomfield, MI
Taylor Holstrom    So.   5'9"  165   Yorba Linda, CA
Bryce Johnson      Fr.   5'9"  165   Grimes, IA
Justin Kirchhevel  So.   5'10" 190   Brookings, SD
Michael Longo      Jr.   6'1"  180   Allison Park, PA
Michael McDonagh   So.   6'1"  180   Wilmington, MA
Dan Meiselman      Fr.   6'2"  205   Winnetka, IL
Dominic Morrone    Jr.   5'11" 195   Sewell, NJ
Tommy Olczyk       Fr.   5'8"  184   Long Grove, IL
George Saad        Jr.   6'2"  200   Gibsonia, PA
Nick Seravalli     Sr.   5'8"  175   Ivyland, PA
Eric Steinour      Jr.   6'3"  195   Carlisle, PA

Goaltenders (3)    Yr.   Ht.   Wgt.  Hometown
Tim Carr           Fr.   5'10" 170   Pine Bush, NY
Matt Madrazo       So.   5'10" 165   Sea Cliff, NY
P.J. Musico        Fr.   6'2"  185   Orange, CA

Three Stars: August 29-September 4

3. Penn State Women's Ice Hockey - Gina Kearns Interview
(YouTube)

My first offseason of doing this blog wasn't really worthy of the dread I felt in approaching it. Conference realignment, recruiting and a general overreaction to the smallest, most inconseqential detail kept me pretty occupied. Until this week, which was a pretty decent facsimilie of what I had feared.

So, in addition to this post being shorter than usual, I decided to go a little unconventional and give all three slots to the GoPSUSports interviews with the women's coaching staff. First up is Kearns, a particularly savvy hire in light of the fact that she's been there before, as a player on Boston University's first women's team.

2. Penn State Women's Ice Hockey - Mo Stroemel Interview
(YouTube)

Stroemel is truly one of the unsung heroes in Penn State hockey, so it's pretty satisfying to watch him get a short song (haha get it?) as he talks a little about where he's been recruiting, the changes going from club to varsity and what this all means to him personally.

1. Penn State Women's Ice Hockey - Josh Brandwene Interview
(YouTube)

Brandwene is a lot like Guy Gadowsky in that you can't listen to him talk without being excited about the program he coaches. One thing that crossed my mind while watching this: was he considered for the Icers job when Joe Battista stepped aside? That would've thrown quite a wrench into the course of history, like if Marty McFly bagged his mom.

Best of the Rest

Family Time
(View From the Booth)

Steve Penstone chronicles a golf trip to Ireland and Scotland by several former Icers (including current Icer Rich O'Brien's father Rick). Someday I'll get to the bottom of hockey's inextricable connection with golf.

Letter From Coach Hand
(psuicelions.com)

The ACHA Division 2 Ice Lions finally have a website worthy of the program, and Josh Hand helps to introduce it with a little bit of a personal mission statement. Especially when considering the possibility of familar faces on the roster, the Ice Lions will be getting a boost in recognition from this corner this season.

Cataruzolo Joins Harvard as Director of Hockey Operations
(ecachockey.com)

Bill Downey's replacement carries a nice track record from his time at NCAA Division III Trinity College.

[David] Cataruzolo guided Trinity to a high level of success over 14 years, including the last four as head coach. He led the Bantams to a 58-39-8 overall record, four consecutive postseason bids and an NCAA Division III quarterfinal appearance in 2008. Prior to taking over as head coach, he served six seasons as associate head coach and three more as recruiting coordinator and graduate fellow.

Since joining the men’s hockey staff in 1998, Cataruzolo helped Trinity qualify for 11 consecutive New England Small College Athletic Conference Tournaments, two league titles, three trips to the NCAA Division III tournament and an NCAA semifinal appearance in 2005. Three Trinity players were named to the American Hockey Coaches Association Division III All-America team in Cataruzolo’s final six years in Hartford.

NHL watches as colleges wage war with Canadian junior hockey
(The Sporting News)

The latest "best piece ever written on the NCAA-CHL war" takes a particular focus on the allegations of under-the-table payments to potential major junior prospects using the NHL's money.

New blog title under consideration: "Skip Prince is a Boss."

An Open Letter From the USHL
(The Pipeline Show)

Count USHL President/Commissioner Skip Prince among those who is tired of taking shots from up north and elected to give a few back. This one's a must-read, no excuses, and I don't say that very often.

Linkorama
(Western College Hockey Blog)

Chris Dilks at WCHB does the same sort of link dump post that I'm doing right now, except his is way better and more focused. For this one, he gathered all the principals in the NCAA/USHL/CHL battle royale this week, in case you're interested in more reading on the issue.

WCHA is sport's 'caretaker'
(PucKato)

Minnesota State writer Shane Frederick observes that even though the conference realignment is, for the most part, settled, some vital questions are still hanging out there.

PSU Schedules Women's Press Conference (and men's tryout updates)

USCHO is reporting that Penn State has scheduled a press conference for a "major announcement" related to the women's program. The event will take place Tuesday, September 6th at 1:15 p.m. in the Beaver Stadium Media Room.

According to a press release, the following people will be in attendance for the press conference: PSU associate athletic director Joe Battista, Penn State women’s head coach Josh Brandwene, College Hockey America commissioner Robert DeGregorio and Niagara director of athletics Ed McLaughlin.

Guess I'm not big time enough or tight enough with sports information to get the CC on those press releases. Probably because I rip on them three times a week. Oh well.

Anyway, it's pretty safe to assume that this press conference is to announce that the Penn State women have officially joined College Hockey America. As you'll recall, PSU applied for CHA membership back in early July. Just last week, a CHA contingent including - you guessed it - commissioner Robert DeGregorio and Niagara AD Ed McLaughlin visited campus as part of the application process, and things seemed to go pretty well.

Since Wayne State dropped its program following last season, the CHA presently consists of Syracuse, Niagara, Robert Morris and Mercyhurst, with the Lakers winning every possible conference championship since its 2002 inception. Penn State would be the fifth team, and rumors abound as to the identity of a potential sixth team to get the conference back into autobid territory (transitioning-into-DI Lindenwood and Ohio State are the two most commonly-mentioned names). The CHA recently reached a three-year agreement with America One to webcast all conference games and out-of-conference home games.
....................

Meanwhile on the men's side, tryouts are presently underway. Mark Horgas has been on hand to watch, and had the following to report - with specific attention given to new players.

Justin Kirchhevel: Good speed and vision, courteous and mature.

Tommy Olczyk: Demonstrated good chemistry with Kirchhevel. Makes sense to me, as both strike me as "do whatever it takes" types.

Eric Steinour: Also clicked while skating with Kirchhevel on Thursday. Steinour's another guy I'll put in a category with the UAA transfer and Olczyk. I watched every Icers goal scored last season multiple times and am willing to bet that he led the team in "little plays that lead to goals but don't count as assists."

Forrest Dell/Bryce Johnson: After looking impressive in the first Icers practice, both were shut down on the first full day of tryouts Wednesday. Dell is the best of the old regime's recruits for this season.

Nate Jensen: Steady on defense...the best new d-man.

Taylor Holstrom: A shify forward.

Dan Petrick/Kurt Collins: Both did well on Thursday.

Chris Cerutti/Matt Venoit: Both injured and not skating. Cerutti was common knowledge, Venoit was not. Once again, it's tough to figure out exactly how this affects things. Cerutti has a track record of big-time production at Penn State, while Venoit was a pre-Guy Gadowsky recruit who (obviously) does not. That could spell some trouble for the latter.

Defensemen: Above average in size and played very well on Wednesday.

Tryouts wrap up tomorrow, and the coaching staff will decide on a roster over the weekend, with release of said roster anticipated next week (after all, the Blue-White Game is just four weeks from Friday). One thing I can promise: there will be at least a couple surprises with respect to the final roster.