Midnight in a Perfect World

Here are a few photos from the midnight practice held by the Nittany Lion men Friday night/Saturday morning at Pegula Ice Arena to officially get the season underway. All are by and courtesy of Steve Hass. Click on any one to open the gallery view.

Redshirt junior forward Max Gardiner

Sophomore forward David Glen

Freshman goaltender Eamon McAdam

Sophomore defenseman Connor Varley

Freshman defenseman David Thompson

The remainder are posed shots from the public skate that followed practice.

McAdam

Freshman forward David Goodwin

Freshman defenseman Mike Williamson

Redshirt sophomore forward Eric Scheid

Men's Jersey Countdown: #22 David Thompson

Freshman - Defenseman - 6'2" - 200 pounds - Glen Mills, PA

David Thompson is one of Guy Gadowsky's most important newcomers for this season, for the simple reason that he immediately addresses a handful of the Nittany Lions' biggest weaknesses in 2012-13: he's great on the power play, while also adding depth, size and physicality to PSU's blueliners. Continuing trends prevalent in the program's recruiting, he is an experienced player as a 21-year-old and a three-year BCHL vet, and is also a former captain with his junior team - both traits in key players like David Glen, Kenny Brooks and Tommy Olczyk have undoubtedly helped smooth the NCAA transition to this point. Prior to his time in the northwestern part of the continent, Thompson was a long-time player in the noted Philadelphia Jr. Flyers organization. In his final season there (2009-10), he teamed up with fellow freshman Ricky DeRosa on the Atlantic League's 18U champs and, after also winning the Atlantic District title, the runners-up at nationals.

Career Statistics (with BCHL Quesnel Millionaires/Chilliwack Chiefs):
Season	GP	G	A	Pts.	PIM	PP	SH	GW	GT
2010-11	60	5	9	14	43	1	0	0	0
2011-12	60	9	21	30	67	2	0	1	0
2012-13	53	6	21	27	68	3	1	2	0
BCHL Career	173	20	51	71	178	6	1	3	0

Hockey Valley Homecoming

If tweets from Penn State hockey players arriving on campus for fall semester don't get your blood pumping, you may be an empty, red seat and should probably head over to Columbus. Enjoy.

You may be wondering about Jordin Pardoski at this point - after all, I used her photo at the top. Well, she gets her own category.

Let's get 'er going.

Breakout Past: Penn Staters Wearing NHL Logos

Two weeks ago, Tommy Olczyk became the first Penn Stater to participate in an NHL development camp, and he was joined in that distinction this week by 2013 commit Dave Thompson with the Philadelphia Flyers. In their honor, here are the notable occasions when PSU hockey players have donned jerseys of teams in the world's best hockey league. I ranked them, because ranking things is fun.

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2013 defense commit Dave Thompson and fellow camp invitee Justin Hamonic wait to get in on a drill while 16-year NHL defenseman Derian Hatcher (windsuit) observes. Photo: Wes Fieldcamp

6. Dave Thompson
Philadelphia Flyers, 2012

Thompson - a Flyers fan and a Glen Mills, PA native - is presently at Philly's prospect camp, which began Monday and runs through Sunday in Voorhees, NJ. He'll rejoin the BCHL's Chilliwack Chiefs this coming season, then begin with the Nittany Lions in the 2013-2014 season that will also feature the debut of both the Pegula Ice Arena and the Big Ten.

It's really nothing on Thompson that he's sixth here, because it's no stretch to say that he'll end up as the best player of the bunch. It's nothing on the Flyers either (put down your knives), because if I was going on how much I like the teams, I'd definitely put Carolina last (I was a Whalers fan as a kid until they moved). Thompson's sixth simply because, unlike the others in this post, he has yet to play a game at PSU.

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5. Alon Eizenman
Pittsburgh Penguins, 2001

Eizenman's look at Penguins camp was a precursor to a successful pro career, although not in North America. From 2001 through 2007, he played for Tours and Courbevoie in France (where he was a point-per-game player) and Bat Yam and Haifa in Israel. The highlight of his pro career, however, was when he led Israel to the IIHF Division II World Championships gold medal in 2005 while skating on a line with brothers Oren and Erez. Eizenman received his J.D. in 2007 and is now a practicing attorney in his hometown of Toronto. He became one of just nine people ever voted to the ACHA Hall of Fame in April.

Left to right: Eizenmans Erez, Oren and Alon

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4. Ed Bursich, Mike Pietrangelo and Don Coyne
Pittsburgh Penguins, 1999

This trio was a vital chunk of the 1997-1998 PSU team that ended a string of near misses with an ACHA national championship and subsequently followed Rob Keegan (below) as invitees to Penguins camp. All three survived for the full two weeks, but afterwards Coyne and Bursich were assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's AHL camp while Pietrangelo was released in spite of his sharing a last name with Pens legend Frank Pietrangelo. He and Coyne ended up spending a couple seasons each in the AA-level minors.

Interestingly, the trio had a reunion of sorts with the doomed Valley Forge Freedom in the doomed MAHL in 2007-2008. Coyne and Pietrangelo (as well as former Icers Chris Puscian and Tom Westfall) were part of the Freedom's last-ever win, 8-4 over Wooster on February 2nd, 2008. Bursich teamed up with Westfall (the one PSU mainstay on that team) and played in a 14-4 loss to Indiana on December 29, 2007 in which former Icers Justin Depretis and Teague Willits-Kelley opposed him. Depretis had four goals and three assists in that one, by the way.

I guess I need to drop the Coyne-Jaromir Jagr photo in here too. Not the last mention Jagr gets in this post, by the way.

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3. Rob Keegan
Pittsburgh Penguins, 1996

Keegan, who scored 274 points as an Icer, won the Bob Johnson Award (formerly given to the ACHA player who "demonstrates exceptional hockey abilitiy and achievement, leadership, sportsmanship, and enthusiasm for the game") as a senior and became the first Icer ever invited to an NHL training camp. From the Icers' 1996-1997 program:

In his first intrasquad game he was lined up against NHL all-star Jaromir Jagr for most of the game. "You can't get caught watching him," Keegan said. "He's tough to cover and you've just got to do the best you can with him." ... When asked about his experience at training camp, Rob responded, "This is a dream come true for anyone who has ever played the game. Regardless of where I end up playing, it was a great learning experience and I had a lot of fun."

"Where I end up playing" turned out to be a very brief career with the CHL's Macon Whoopee in 1996-1997.

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2. Tommy Olczyk
Carolina Hurricanes, 2012

Olczyk, a PSU sophomore who attended Carolina's conditioning camp last week, is set apart by his involvement with a non-Pennsylvania team. The Penguins campers on this list, ostensibly at least (since I don't have any insider knowledge), were helped by Joe Battista's strong connection to the organization. Sure, being an Olczyk probably helps get your foot in the door in most places, but don't tell that to Hurricanes coach Kirk Muller, who was impressed with the demeanor of both Olczyk and brother Eddie, a UMass senior who was also at the camp.

“There’s a maturity level there that they’ve been used to and knowing the pro hockey mentality – they’ve been around it probably since they were kids in the dressing rooms,” [he] said ... "It’s familiar to them – they know how to train, how to be a professional – you watch them on the ice – you can see that from the experience that they’ve had.”

Olczyk (along with Thompson) is also notable for the fact that his story isn't finished yet, a fact not lost on Olczyk.

“I just want to put myself on the radar,” [he] stated. “Just coming in here and making an impression, that’s my biggest goal here."

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Mark Scally receives congratulations from former Penguins defenseman Darius Kasparitis following
Pittsburgh's 3-2 preseason win over Columbus on September 15, 2000.

1. Mark Scally
Pittsburgh Penguins, 2000

Until further notice, Scally holds the title based on his playing in actual, for realsies NHL exhibition games. That came about largely because of the bizarre state of Pens goaltending at the time. Long-time netminder Tom Barrasso had begun to falter and was shipped off at the 2000 trade deadline. Jean-Sebastien Aubin, the apparent successor, held out during that training camp (for the now-quaint amount of $700,000, as it turned out). A series of injuries to other contenders left Sebastien Caron as the most accomplished goalie in camp and opened the door for guys like Scally and former RPI star Joel Laing to make an impact.

I ran down Scally's pair of preseason games in more depth almost exactly one year ago, but the short version is that he stopped 16 of 17 in relief against the then-new Columbus Blue Jackets, earning credit for a 3-2 win on September 15th. On September 23rd Scally started, but was beat by Milan Hejduk, Ray Bourque and Adam Deadmarsh on the power play before giving way to Laing halfway through an eventual 5-2 loss to Colorado in Hershey. He was sent down before that game even ended, but followed that setback with a six-season pro career.

Here's the best/only action shot of Scally in net for the Pens. Unfortunately, it's tiny. And it might be of his goal against in the Columbus game.

Thompson to Attend Flyers Development Camp

Chilliwack Chiefs (BCHL) defenseman David Thompson, a 2013 Penn State commit, was one of 43 players invited to the Philadelphia Flyers' 2012 Prospect Camp. The camp will run from July 9th through 15th at the Flyers Skate Zone in Voorhees, NJ and is open to the public. Since that's undoubtedly in proximity to at least one Penn State hockey fan, the on-ice times are:

Monday, July 9: 9:00 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
Tuesday, July 10: 9:00 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
Thursday, July 12: 9:00 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
Friday, July 13: 9:00 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
Saturday, July 14: 9:00 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
Sunday, July 15: Camp Scrimmage - 9:00 a.m.

Special events on Wednesday, July 11th will take place in Stone Harbor, NJ - here is a schedule for the day.

Thompson, who will play one more year with the Chiefs before joining the Nittany Lions for 2013-2014, had a solid year for Chilliwack in 2011-2012. He more than doubled his point total from 2010-2011 (14 to 30) and helped his team to a playoff berth, while also maintaining a physical presence on the blue line - which makes sense for a guy who patterns his game after Scott Stevens and Chris Pronger.

"I try to let my play do the talking for me and I try to be smart about what I’m doing, but you’ve got to play mean and tough or people are just going to roll over you," Thompson said last year. "It’s just a matter of doing it intelligently."

The Glen Mills, PA native is a confirmed Flyers fan, so this should certainly qualify as an unreal experience for him. He actually has playing history with teams named the Philadelphia Flyers as well, as he was a member of the Jr. Flyers' U18 2009-2010 Atlanic District championship team that took home the silver medal at nationals. After not making the USHL's Muskegon Lumberjacks in 2010-2011, he relocated to the BCHL and played for the Quesnel Millionaires that season, then followed the organization through their 2011 relocation to Chilliwack.

For more on Thompson, here's the TYT post from his PSU commitment in December.

He follows sophomore forward Tommy Olczyk, who attended Carolina Hurricanes conditioning camp last week, to become the second-ever player with Penn State ties to attend an NHL development camp.

Multi-Dimensional Thompson Commits For 2013

Thompson attempts to shut down an offensive attempt as a Quesnel Millionaire last season.

Chilliwack Chiefs defenseman David Thompson has accepted a scholarship to Penn State in 2013, according to a team release.

David Thompson

Defenseman
Chilliwack Chiefs (BCHL)
6'2", 187 pounds
Glen Mills, PA
DOB 5/19/1992

EliteProspects.com

Season   Team                   Lge    GP    G    A  Pts  PIM
-------------------------------------------------------------
2010-11  Quesnel Millionaires   BCHL   60    5    9   14   43
2011-12  Chilliwack Chiefs      BCHL   31    4   12   16   29

Here's the release quote from Chiefs head coach Harvey Smyl:

"He's just settling in to become a nasty player to play against with all kinds of ability. He's very deserving of this scholarship. It's nice to see him rewarded for all his hard work."

PSU's defensive recruiting so far has been a nice mix of puck movers and guys with some snarl. And given that Thompson cites Chris Pronger ("he’s mean and he can control a game all by himself," said Thompson) and Scott Stevens ("he was just an animal out there and I definitely try to model myself after him") as two of his favorite players, it might be tempting to pigeonhole him as the latter. He can certainly take care of himself when punches get thrown (1:26 in, and no, I'm not sure why I continue to post fight videos when this is a college hockey blog).



But that would be ignoring the righty's place as the leading scorer among defensemen on a Chiefs team in the Interior Conference, just two points off of the second-place pace set by Merritt (but well behind Curtis Loik's juggernaut Penticton team).

Last year with the Quesnel Millionaires, Thompson won the team's final rookie of the year award (the Millionaires relocated and became the Chiefs during the offseason). Two of his five goals came in the same game, and an assist also helped him take home first-star honors in a 7-4 win over Prince George on November 30, 2010. That victory was one of only 13 for Quesnel in its final season, and a mercifully quick departure from the inclusive BCHL playoff bracket followed.

Before relocating to Canada, Thompson came up largely with the Philadelphia Jr. Flyers, where his midget major 18U team was the 2010 Atlantic District champions. Thompson scored once and added two assists during the Jr. Flyers' run at nationals, which didn't ended until a championship game loss and a silver-medal finish. Captain of that team? Thomas Seravalli, Icer Nick's cousin. Small world, this hockey thing.

I'll leave this post with a link to a great Thompson article in the Chilliwack Progress that I couldn't incorporate into this post as much as I would have liked. Don't let my limitations as a blogger limit your knowledge.