Three Stars: September 16-22

Goalie Justin Golia and the Blue Lions are 1-1-0

3. NCAA Women’s Hockey: 2013-2014 CHA Preview
(The Hockey Writers)

Milestone alert: For the first time, to the best of my knowledge, a Penn State NCAA team has been picked somewhere other than last place by someone legitimate (so, like, not me). So thanks for that, Gabriella Fundaro. Okay, it's second to last, but baby steps. Additionally, Fundaro placed Shannon Yoxheimer (first team) and Jordin Pardoski (second team) on her preseason all-CHA teams.

My only criticism is that most of PSU's projected improvement was chalked up to internal growth, without a single mention of what I think is a pretty great recruiting class. It's always tough to expect rookies to be a huge part of a team (as we know from last year), but if Kelly Seward can be an anchor on defense and the Amy Petersen-Laura Bowman combination can give the Nittany Lions two reliable scoring lines, that's going to have a huge ripple effect up and down the lineup. Someone like Yoxheimer - called a borderline game-changer in the article - will suddenly see a lot more room to breathe, and she doesn't need a ton of space to pop a water bottle.

All in all, fifth place isn't a crazy thought. But if that does end up as the result, I think it will be the sort of fifth place Lindenwood experienced last year, with the occasional win over RIT and RMU, and higher slots still very much in play late in the season. And, as Josh Brandwene likes to say, anything can happen in the playoffs.

2. Penguins-Flyers outdoor game site undetermined
(Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

Last week was an interesting one for those trying to figure out if and when Beaver Stadium will host an outdoor game between the Penguins and Flyers and/or (even better in my view) Penn State versus anyone. First up was this piece from Rob Rossi - no relation - which claims that a major sticking point in the early discussions between the NHL clubs has been figuring out which of the two will give up a home game for a neutral-siter. That's usually an easy call when the game is played in one team's city, less so when it's not. The NHL, not the designated home team, takes in the gate from the Winter Classic and other outdoor games, so it's not simply a matter of (for example) the Penguins dropping a Consol Energy Center contest and adding in one with more revenue.

Shortly after Rossi's article, the NHL announced that the Washington Capitals will host the 2015 Winter Classic (with the venue and opponent still to be determined). Since the league plays roughly 18 outdoor games per year now, that news is hardly as crippling to Penn State's chances in the short term as it would have been a couple years ago, but it certainly doesn't help.

1. @achamensd1
(Twitter)

Lately, people from across the hockey world have been noting any and all indications that the season is around the corner and attaching declarations like "HEY YOU GUYS! HOCKEY SEASON!" However, and with all due respect to the year-round preparation required to play the game at a high level, hockey season only truly begins when games take place. Well, we now have that. Congratulations to ACHA Division 1's Penn State Berks, the first PSU hockey team to play this season, and also the first to win, as the Blue Lions topped Indiana (PA) 5-4 on Friday. The next day brought a 4-1 decision for the hosting Crimson Hawks, but still, a road split is not the worst way to start a season.

Best of the Rest

Pretty please?

@rinsana11
(Twitter)

ComRadio's Ross Insana spotted jerseys at Family Clothesline in State College with a Pegula Ice Arena patch on them last week. Cool. It's important to state that these are replicas (notice that they aren't made by Nike), so it would be premature to jump to a conclusion other than "Family Clothesline is selling replica jerseys with a PIA patch on them."

Still, it would be nice to see the patches make their way on to the game jerseys for the start of the season. It won't be easy with the Big Ten and CHA logos placed in the "patch spot" on the real thing, but there are certainly options.

Trustees asked to provide financial hand to PSU sports
(PennLive)

Yeeeeeeahhhh...

Penn State is exploring a $30 million borrowing program to help tide its Athletic Department over troubled financial waters that have come with the Jerry Sandusky child sex scandal and other recent developments.

The plan is designed to help cover projected operating deficits and meet short-term capital needs at a time when the department is without football bowl revenue, home ticket sales are lagging, and the Sandusky scandal is bringing new costs.

Athletic Department expenses outstripped revenues by more than $6.1 million in 2012-13, according to university figures, which in turn has drained departmental reserves and caused a near freeze in spending on major maintenance and capital projects.

I've said it before, but hockey is pretty fortunate to have the guy behind the largest private donation in Penn State history in its corner. One has to believe that fact will help shield it from potential fallout related to the athletic department's finances.

@HockeyValley
(Twitter)

An official announcement is coming soon, but it looks like there will be a sequel to last year's successful Midnight Madness to celebrate the first full practice for the NCAA men. This year's event will be on the night of Friday, October 4th, into Saturday the 5th. And of course in the new arena, which promises to add an extra dimension to the fun.

CHA and America One to continue web broadcasts
(College Hockey America)

While the Big Ten's new television arrangement on the men's side got plenty of attention last week, the CHA and the women will have the identical setup as last season, as the league is in the final year of a three-year streaming deal with America One. Essentially, all games played in a CHA venue will be available on America One's outstanding platform, making the $125 for a season pass well worth it, in my view.

Women's Hockey Eighth In Opening USA Today Poll
(hurstathletics.com)

In the not-exactly-stunning department, CHA juggernaut Mercyhurst was eighth in the first USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine women's ranking of the year, with Minnesota - the undefeated national champions of 2012-2013 - in the top spot. Beyond the Lakers, Penn State opponents Quinnipiac (October 11th and 12th) and Ohio State (January 3rd and 4th, 2014) also appeared in the poll, among the others receiving votes.

Now it's a Penn State hockey rink

@PegulaIceArena
(Twitter)

Just in case you were wondering what became of those wall hangings that backed the seating at the Ice Pavilion...

Road wins, quality wins get boosts in changes to NCAA tournament selection criteria
(USCHO)

On Friday, the NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Committee announced fairly significant changes to its formula for selecting at-large teams for the NCAA Tournament. Out is the criterion measuring performance against "teams under consideration," or TUC, those with an RPI of .500 or greater. In are tweaks to the RPI calculation that reward both winning on the road (while also reducing the punishment for losing on the road) and winning against teams rated in the RPI top 20. Generally, reception to the changes has been positive, as using TUC added unnecessary volatility to things (if you're unfamiliar with that situation, think about what might happen when several teams have an RPI right around .500 late in the season, and the effects of their bouncing on either side of the so-called "TUC cliff" from game to game).

Here's hoping we have a reason to care about all of that sooner, rather than later.

A Who’s Who from West to East in NCAA Men’s Division-I Hockey (Part 3 of 6): Big Ten Hockey Begins
(Chief Maj's Blog)

Random Big Ten preview? Sure. On Penn State:

The program is still in its infancy, but I believe the team will be in the top half of the standings come February, and could even challenge the more structured teams such as Minnesota or Wisconsin.

Okay.

Minnesota Leads Big Ten Recruiting Class
(College Hockey News)

Good: CHN called Penn State's recruiting class for this year "noteworthy." Bad: "Noteworthy" is the worst label given to any of the Big Ten programs.

USHL Alumni Voices: Tommy Olczyk
(USHL)

The captain dropped a couple minutes worth of video on the USHL experience, watching his brothers play and helping to lay the foundation at Penn State for the league's website - and more or less demonstrated why he's the Nittany Lions' captain.

Matt Skoff: Flyers prospect?

Ranking the Flyers’ prospects: Goaltenders
(Flyers Faithful)

While not a Flyers prospect, Matt Skoff got a mention here under "other names to watch," since he attended the team's development camp in July. Of course, the guy who wrote the story is Penn State alumnus Tom Zulewski, so there may be a bit of a bias in play.

Still, Skoff is certainly a guy with pro potential, and Philly's taken more of a look at him than anyone else, so why not?

2013-2014 ACHA Men's D1 Pre-Season Ranking
(achahockey.org)

An ACHA section is part of Three Stars this week, led by the ACHA Division 1 preseason poll. Not a Penn State story anymore, just interesting to know. Defending champ Minot State is number one, with notables Arizona State (2), Ohio (5), Oklahoma (6), Illinois (7), Delaware (11), Rhode Island (18), Lebanon Valley (23) and West Chester (25) also appearing.

The Rise of ACHA Division I Hockey
(The Hockey Writers)

Arizona coach Sean Hogan, who is doing some really nice work on his rebuild in Tucson, wrote this article outlining factors explaining ACHA D1's rise over the last decade. And he's 100 percent on the money. While I'm biased as a big-school alumnus, I'm not sure that I see the benefit to playing NCAA Division III over ACHA D1, particularly now that the top ACHA programs have most of the "extras" in place like institutional support and great coaching. And, in recent years, it's begun to look like people who aren't terrible at hockey feel that way too.

Playing shorthanded: How club hockey works
(Daily Illini)

The Illinois student paper delivered a bit of an ACHA primer for the uninformed, although one that reinforced why I still like talking about it a full three years after Penn State announced that its top teams would be leaving.

Senior defenseman Mike Evans said the Illini players are responsible for generating awareness throughout the community for Illini home games, where they make their primary source of funding through ticket sales, while the remaining bills get passed down to the team’s players and coaches.

...and, as tends to happen a lot with Illinois, there was one of those quotes:

"Illinois is a hockey state and there are a lot of great youth hockey players here that have to leave the state in order to play Division I hockey elsewhere," [head coach Nick] Fabbrini said. "The Big Ten Conference is going to be great for college hockey, and hopefully at some point the University takes a look at getting involved."

By the way, "college hockey directory" CollegeHockey.info, which hasn't done much correctly since jumping on the credibility-enhancing Twitter handle @USCollegeHockey, did notice that quote in case you were wondering. If you forgot (and how could you), CollegeHockey.info is the entity that blew up the hockey world for one evening in July by claiming that a DI announcement was imminent for the Illini.

Tommy Vannelli leaves Minnesota program
(Western College Hockey Blog)

Just as quickly as he arrived, freshman Minnesota defenseman Tommy Vannelli is now gone. A statement from head coach Don Lucia said that Vannelli struggled to balance athletics and academics, but really, he was sweating Penn State. We know that.

Speaking of PSU... Vannelli was a second-round pick of the St. Louis Blues back in June. His departure makes him the second consecutive Blues draftee to leave the Gophers early, following Max Gardiner.

JoeBa and HeidiBa shut 'er down

@BattistaJoseph
(Twitter)

JoeBa wrapped up what seemed like a recurring series of people saying their farewells to the Ice Pavilion on Sunday night:

The "last skate" at PSU's Greenberg Ice Pavilion. First skated here in Jan.1981. Great memories!

Great memories, indeed.

Three Stars: July 29-August 4

3. The Pipeline Show - Season #9 Clips
(The Pipeline Show)

Much as once-and-again teammate David Glen did a couple weeks ago, freshman defenseman and Vancouver Canucks draft pick Mike Williamson was in studio with TPS for a hour on Saturday (show 1, August 3rd at the link).

2. Using HARBORcenter to attract college hockey’s best
(Two in the Box)

Buffalo sports blog Two in the Box has an interesting idea for an in-season tournament hosted by the First Niagara Center/HARBORcenter complex - and Penn State is included through its Pegula connection, along with Canisius, Niagara and a rotating fourth team (preferably from PSU's league to make the thing an Atlantic Hockey-Big Ten showdown of sorts).

My initial instinct was to say that there's no way that the Nittany Lions would do both the Three Rivers Classic and the Pegula Challenge, but as long as we have roughly 64 non-con slots to play with, why not? And if it has to be one or the other, I have a hard time believing that PSU could say no to the $102 Million Man.

1. christivetter8 (1,2)
(Instagram)

@Cmen12
(Twitter)

It was a popular week for Pegula Ice Arena visits by current players and recruits, including junior women's forward Cara Mendelson and her brother Matt, an uncommitted forward with the USHL's Muskegon Lumberjacks (top photo). Christi Vetter, who is scheduled to hit campus next fall, also joined the party - both solo and with her sisters.

Best of the Rest

84 Lumber Arena will host the PSU men and women three times in 2013-2014

Men's and Women's Hockey Tickets Now on Sale
(rmucolonials.com)

Heads up for Pittsburgh-area Nittany Lions, or anyone who likes a good roadie: single-game tickets for the men's trip to Robert Morris on November 1st, as well as for the women's series there on February 21st and 22nd, are now on sale. I have no reason to think that the men's game won't be packed pretty tightly at the Ice Pavilion-sized 84 Lumber Arena, so you might want to jump on that now.

RIT coach Wayne Wilson receives contract extension
(Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)

Speaking of Atlantic Hockey opponents, RIT coach Wayne Wilson has received a well-earned contract extension, through 2017. Wilson, in 15 years, has led the Tigers from Division III power to one of Division I's most respected mid-majors - including a Frozen Four appearance in 2010 that helped net him the Spencer Penrose Award as DI coach of the year.

Penn State athletic department loses two officials in Greg Myford and Brian Siegrist
(The Daily Collegian)

PSU lost two long-time athletic department employees on Friday in Greg Myford, the associate athletic director for marketing and communications and Brian Siegrist, who primarily was in charge of communications for men's basketball. Myford is leaving for a vice president position with marketing company IMG College, while Siegrist is headed to the University of South Florida to be their associate athletic director for communications.

From a hockey standpoint, Myford is the more notable of the two departures due to the department-wide scope of his job. It's likely that, as one of his last acts affecting hockey, he played a role in the decision to not retain broadcaster Steve Penstone for the 2013-2014 season.

How NHL owners can help grow the NCAA game
(The Hockey News)

It seems a bit wasteful to write an entire column when "give out money" is the essence of Ryan Kennedy's suggestion to NHL owners to help grow the NCAA game, but here you go. Of obvious interest: potential Big Ten connections between the Blackhawks and Illinois and the Capitals and Maryland are explored.

Pegula Ice Arena, July 2013
(Penn State News)

Random good-quality PIA bowl photo? Sure, why not (the version at the link is better than the one presented here, by the way)?

Penn State racks up first draft picks, and McAdam, Williamson await Big Ten baptism
(USCHO)

While this is not the best thing ever written about Eamon McAdam and Mike Williamson - their quotes are taken from a transcript of PSU's media event two days after they were drafted - it's what you're getting from what, generally, is the slowest period of the offseason if you don't have any pro signings, major junior defections or World Junior camp invites. No, I'm not in sales, why do you ask?

AU Hockey to join NCHA in 2014-2015
(aurora.edu)

It's not exactly the Fighting Illini, but Aurora University (based in the Illinois city of the same name) will be joining NCAA Division III and the NCHA for the 2014-2015 season. AU started its hockey program last year at the ACHA Division 3 level with the stated goal of NCAA status.

And yep, in case you're wondering, @USCollegeHockey had it all the way.

Jooris leaving Union for Calgary Flames
(Schenectady Daily Gazette)

Penn State's games against Union on November 30th and December 1st are now slightly less daunting thanks to the departure of Josh Jooris, who has forfeited his senior year with the Dutchmen to sign a two-way entry-level deal with the Calgary Flames. He registered 88 points in 117 collegiate games and had recently attended the Flames' development camp, apparently doing pretty well there. Jooris follows star goalie Troy Grosenick, who similarly departed Union with a year on the table to sign with the San Jose Sharks on April 8th.

Union got back on the horse a day later by announcing their solid 2013 recruiting class.

Group photo of Wisconsin's 2013 entering class

College Hockey Recruiting: Wisconsin
(Over The Boards)

OTB's look at the recruiting efforts of the various NCAA Division I programs continued last week, with the spotlight on the Badgers. UW's incoming group is headlined by Grant Besse, a forward from Benilde-St. Margaret's (MN) who was drafted by the Anaheim Ducks in the fifth round back in June.

Here's a link to catch up on the whole series, which has also included Penn State, Boston College and Minnesota.

Big Ten hockey teams draw well
(Minneapolis Star Tribune)

Minnesota (2nd, 9,950 fans per game), Wisconsin (3rd, 9,521), Michigan State (8th, 5,869) and Michigan (10th, 5,357) were all among the nation's top ten in attendance last season. Given where the bar is set and what we know about ticket sales at Pegula Ice Arena, don't be surprised to see Penn State crack the list for the coming season.

Megastar Sidney Crosby's sister helps women's hockey
(BBC)

Canadian goalie Taylor Crosby - sister of Sid, as the headline says - recently went over to the UK as part of a camp bringing players and coaches from 18 different countries together as part of an effort to grow women's hockey outside of traditional powers Canada, the U.S., Finland and Sweden. The women's game has frequently faced criticism for its lack of depth worldwide and is at risk of being kicked out of the Olympic lineup if things don't improve.

Crosby, because of her last name, got a good deal of press over the camp... but she is a remarkably mature 17-year-old who has a good shot of Cheryl Miller-ing big brother by establishing herself as a superstar in her own right. After looking it up, I see that Cheryl Miller is older than Reggie Miller. Whatever, you get my point.

End begins for North Dakota's old Ralph Engelstad Arena
(Duluth News Tribune)

Demolition of the original Ralph Engelstad Arena, home to the North Dakota Fighting Sioux from 1972-2001, is finally underway. And no, it's not at all dusty to leave a vacant ice arena sitting in the middle of your campus for 12 years, just ask UND I guess.

Three Stars: July 22-28

3. Southeast Schedules and What They Mean for 2013-14
(Twisted Thoughts)

While the ACHA Division 2 Ice Lions have yet to release a 2013-2014 schedule, several opponents - MACHA rivals Delaware, Virginia Tech and Liberty most recently - have. Here's what we now know of PSU's upcoming slate as a result:

October 26, 2013 - vs. Delaware
November 2, 2013 - at Delaware
December 8, 2013 - vs. Maryland-Baltimore County
January 10, 2014 - at Liberty
January 11, 2014 - at Virginia Tech
February 1, 2014 - at Maryland-Baltimore County
February 7-8, 2014 - at Navy Crab Pot (D1 Navy, D1 Towson, Maryland)
February 14-16, 2014 - at MACHA Playoffs
February 23-24, 2014 - at Southeast Regionals
March 21-25, 2014 - at ACHA National Tournament (Marlborough, MA)

The second-year Women's Ice Hockey Club, which is joining the new College Hockey East women's league with California (PA), West Chester and Delaware for 2013-2014, also has a few games out there, thanks to the schedule releases of both the Blue Hens and Michigan State.

October 19, 2013 - vs. Michigan State
October 20, 2013 - vs. Michigan State
November 16, 2013 - at Delaware
November 17, 2013 - at Delaware
December 7, 2013 - vs. Delaware
December 8, 2013 - vs. Delaware
February 21-22, 2014 - at CHE Playoffs (York, PA)
March 13-16, 2014 - at ACHA National Tournament (Newark, DE)

Notably, the December 8th Delaware game will be played at Galactic Ice in Altoona. Guess PIA isn't solving everyone's ice time issues after all.

2. The debate: players discuss CHL vs. NCAA
(The Daily Collegian)

Tackling something like a CHL vs. NCAA article is a tough task, because it's been done so often that it's difficult to find a fresh angle to bring to the table. But Matt Nestor has pulled it off by writing for a general Penn State audience that might not be familiar with The Choice while also bringing in quotes from guys like Luke Juha and Guy Gadowsky, both Canadians who played or are playing NCAA hockey.

Juha is a particularly insightful source as a guy who was once considered a potential late-round pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. Electing for college over major junior probably hurt his stock in the short term, and he went undrafted. But Juha seems to believe that he'll ultimately be a better player because of college hockey, with a better shot of making it as a pro. And I believe that he's right.

1. Head Coach Morris to step down
(ohiobobcatshockey.com)

Andrew Largeman, Zach Braff's character in the movie Garden State, memorably said:

"You know that point in your life when you realize the house you grew up in isn't really your home anymore? All of a sudden even though you have some place where you put your shit, that idea of home is gone... You'll see one day when you move out it just sort of happens one day and it's gone. You feel like you can never get it back. It's like you feel homesick for a place that doesn't even exist. Maybe it's like this rite of passage, you know. You won't ever have this feeling again until you create a new idea of home for yourself, you know, for your kids, for the family you start."

That's how I'm starting to feel about ACHA Division 1. Maybe the process is a bit more gradual and less traumatic than it was for Largeman, but it's there nevertheless, because the simple fact is that after you remove yourself from a place, it still continues to evolve without you.

The ACHA will look a lot less like it did when we left without legendary Ohio coach Dan Morris, who is stepping down after 12 seasons, 344 wins and the 2004 national championship. Given that he also played for the Bobcats between 1993 and 1997 (winning three more national championships during those years) and then was an assistant coach under Craig McCarthy between graduation and taking over as the head guy, it's a no-brainer to call Morris one of the most important figures in the history of one of the ACHA's most important programs. Of course, he was also the Icers' archnemesis for all but the final one of those years on the wrong side of the greatest rivalry in ACHA history - including the 2004 title game win over PSU that ended Joe Battista's dynasty of four straight and five in six years.

No Dan Morris, Illinois' Chad Cassel departed a year ago, Minot State apparently wins the Murdoch Cup now... it doesn't feel like home anymore. And to be honest, neither does NCAA Division I and the Big Ten just yet, but it will. We have to evolve too, after all.

Best of the Rest

Eddie Quagliata and Matt Welch model Illinois' new jerseys...who says there's no "I" in "team?"

Just a year in, head coach Fabbrini hires another assistant
(The Daily Illini)

Let's stick with the ACHA for a minute, because it was quite a week for IllinoisWatch.

First, last Monday, the school's student paper published a write-up on new Illini assistant coach Blake Sorensen, who seems to believe that the program would consider going DI, and claims that belief was part of the reason he took the job: "Maybe I’m thinking out of the box, but I’m thinking the U of I would be the next school having the aspiration of going to the next level. So I said, ‘Why not?’ It was a very easy decision." That's either your garden-variety pipe dream or he knows something, take your pick, but I don't remember Billy Downey saying anything like that when he was hired as an Icers assistant in 2008.

That, by itself, is interesting but hardly A Thing. However, mostly-spam Twitter account @USCollegeHockey fanned the flames three days later: "May we have BREAKING NEWS soon? We were 1st to report Penn St.'s ascent to D1. Is another top ACHA team making the jump? Details soon..." They didn't specify that they were referring to Illinois, which is a pretty effective technique in the world of rumor mongering (PS. Someone will die of heart disease today. Because I can see the future.)

For the record, I don't know if @USCollegeHockey was first on Penn State in August and September of 2010. And I don't care. You know who I credit as being first? The Harrisburg Patriot-News' David Jones, who noted Terry Pegula's windfall from the Royal Dutch Shell sale in May 2010 and connected it to the idea of Penn State hockey a few days later. Accuracy and fresh insight over unchecked speed, every time.

Anyway, "soon," evidently, was Saturday evening, when @USCollegeHockey jumped back in with "Remember that BREAKING NEWS we mentioned on Thursday?" and attached a screengrab of a Facebook status (since deleted).

From there, the predictable played out. People overreacted, some commented on how it would be a great idea (it would be), Let's Play Hockey patted themselves on the back over the Jimmy John's rumor they advanced a couple years ago, and real journalists like Matt Slovin and Chris Peters got to work, ultimately taking about 90 minutes to confirm that the Facebook post had to do with the sale of the team's new jerseys.

There's an important lesson, which should have been learned from Penn State, that also needs to be applied here. PSU's process took five years from the initial Battista-Pegula dinner. Along the way, people talk, toes are dipped in the various pools and feasibility studies are conducted. And any one of those occurrences, which repeat themselves many, many times throughout those five years, has the potential to become an "OMG IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN!!!" tweet. Just as a rumor doesn't mean something is imminent, the short-term dismissal of a rumor doesn't mean that the information wasn't a legitimate hint, just applied incorrectly or prematurely. Illinois probably has explored the idea of NCAA hockey, and they probably will have an NCAA program someday. There's been an awful lot of smoke, and it's increased in volume recently. But I'm fairly sure that when it does happen, @USCollegeHockey won't be the first to tell us.

Portland, ME's newly-renovated Cumberland County Civic Center will host the 2015 Ice Breaker

@Chris_MJH
(Twitter)

Last week, Notre Dame was awarded the 2014 Ice Breaker (a season-opening four-team tournament presented by College Hockey Inc.) while Maine grabbed the 2015 version. And almost immediately, the rumor mill fired up.

Hearing Michigan, Michigan St., Penn St & BC are possible teams to take part in '15 IceBreaker.

Just as a reminder, since this seems like an appropriate spot: way back in January 2012, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported that the Nittany Lions had signed on for the 2014 Brice Alaska Goal Rush. The Goal Rush is another season-opening tournament, hosted by Alaska and always including their dumpster fire of a neighbor in Anchorage. This year's field - Denver and Western Michigan are the two "outside schools" - was announced on November 16, 2012, so we might hear confirmation on that one relatively soon.

150 Miles for a Cure...
(Bike MS)

Coming up on September 28th and 29th, women's assistant Casey McCullion will once again go on a bike ride to raise money to fight multiple sclerosis. Please consider supporting her and the cause if you're able. And yes, I'll remind you again.

Pro New York Sports Exclusive: Eamon McAdam
(Pro New York Sports)

Know what I like seeing in a player? This, from Eamon McAdam:

I want to help the team progress as fast as possible and by my second or third year I want to give the team here a chance to go for a National Championship. This may seem like a lofty goal but the age old expression of championships are won with goaltending is true in my eyes and if I put in enough work I am hopeful I can give the team a chance no matter who we’re playing.

Check Gadowsky's track record, especially with a Princeton program that had/has a lot less behind it than what's in place at Penn State. Kid ain't crazy.

New York Islanders 2013 draft review
(Hockey's Future)

Your second dose of Big Mac comes through a roundup of Garth Snow's 2013 draft picks. If you're like me and are now trying to follow the Isles a little bit, it's probably good to check things like this out once in a while.

Ohio State's dumping of Mark Osiecki has continued to prove costly

Magyar chooses Kitchener Rangers over Ohio State
(Western College Hockey Blog)

Ohio State's firing of coach Mark Osiecki back in April... yep, still an absolutely terrible decision. The latest evidence: Ohio native and Cleveland Barons product Nick Magyar, a Buckeye commit who played for Sioux City and the National Team Development Program in the USHL last season, has signed with the OHL's Kitchener Rangers and blowtorched his college eligibility. Magyar is just the latest in a growing line of Osiecki recruits to flee, including Nolan Valeau, Cliff Watson and Zach Stepan.

U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2013 Unveiled
(USA Hockey)

This year's U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame class lacks the direct Penn State connection of the 2012 group featuring Eddie Olczyk, but it's still a robust collection headlined (for our purposes) by Ron Mason. Mason coached at Lake Superior State (1967-1973), Bowling Green (1974-1979) and Michigan State (1980-2002), won the 1986 national title with the Spartans, and was the winningest coach in college history (924 victories) until he was passed by Jerry York last season. He was also among the hockey giants surveyed for quotes distributed to the press on September 17, 2010, for whatever that's worth:

“I think it’s wonderful that Penn State will have Division I hockey. I’ve long thought that if Penn State ever decided to elevate its program that it would be a school that would challenge for championships. This is a good move for the school and for college hockey.”

Jake Gardiner, a Maple Leafs defenseman and Max's brother, is among the U.S. Olympic hopefuls

Men's National Team Orientation Camp Roster Set
(USA Hockey)

Arguably the biggest story in the hockey world last week was the release of Olympic team camp rosters by most of the countries expected to contend in Sochi, Russia next year. Team USA's version includes a pair of Penn State siblings in Maple Leafs defenseman Jake Gardiner and Blackhawks forward Brandon Saad, and yes, we're going to keep living vicariously through those guys until there are Nittany Lions in the show.

The 48-man camp roster will eventually be cut to 25, so Saad and Gardiner certainly aren't home yet, although both are strong contenders for selection.

Glen Gulutzan happy to return 'home' with Canucks
(Vancouver Sun)

Glen Gulutzan, one of the more prominent members of the Guy Gadowsky coaching tree (Gadowsky coached Gulutzan with the WCHL's Fresno Falcons in 1996-1997 and 1998-1999), has joined John Tortorella's Vancouver Canucks staff. Gulutzan, last time we checked in on him, was being fired as head coach of the Dallas Stars after two seasons, so it's nice to see him land on his feet.

@BillRiga
@KeeferJ_
(Twitter)

The leading Twitterdrama last Tuesday: assistant coaches acting butthurt for really, really stupid reasons. First, there's the case of Quinnipiac's Bill Riga, subtweeting QU blog From the NIP to the Bank for having the audacity to predict the Bobcats' lineup for the coming season (forwards, defense/goalies).

Love people who have our line-up and freshmen predicted. I don't even know and I've seen them all play a lot. #smarterthani

Someone needs to look up the definitions of "prediction" and "know" and note the differences.

Jerry Keefe of Northeastern skipped snark and went straight to fury. His target? The Providence Journal's Mark Divver, whose horrific crime was tweeting that new Providence College commit Spenser Young, a defenseman at Phillips Exeter Academy, held an offer from Keefe's Huskies. Time to rumble.

Divver wisely bowed out at that point, but in Keefe's estimation, Twitter still wasn't safe - after all, there were people making innocuous "don't see that every day" comments about the Keefe-Divver exchange to straighten out.

@smclaughlin9 @MarkDivver don't like when people tweet false info to make a hockey program look bad. We all work to hard for that.

Yeah, you (may have) lost out on a highly-sought-after (heavy hitters Boston College, Yale and New Hampshire also whiffed on Young, according to Divver) recruit. Brutal. Your program looks absolutely horrible now. But no worries, you're well on the way back, because you don't spread rumors about the media.

@smclaughlin9 @MarkDivver I don't report false info on twitter about you guys and your jobs so don't do about hockey programs and our jobs

Also, don't tell Keefe he's in an argument...

@smclaughlin9 @MarkDivver it's not an argument it's a point I feel strongly about.

...or that he melted down.

@FearTheTriangle @TheBUHockeyBlog no meltdowns here!

I beg to differ. The best summation is brought to you by Boston University "blog/Twitter combo without the blog" BurntBoats.

Moving On
(From the NIP to the Bank)

Finally, best wishes in blogger retirement to Luke Devoe, who is stepping aside from his aforementioned work on Quinnipiac.

I don't feel a true kinship with too many bloggers out there (which isn't to say that I don't respect and enjoy their work or like them as human beings). The SB Nation guys have 800 different writers and 20 billion pageviews a month. Other blogs are run by professional journalists as a side project or as part of the coverage of their beat. TYT isn't any of those things, and I don't really identify much with their realities. Devoe was different. Much like him, I'm just a guy who loves hockey, loves his school, and enjoys the artificial level of closeness allowed by doing this. That's why I find his reasons for stopping heartbreaking.

I became blacklisted to a certain extent because, well, I was a little too opinionated during a rough stretch of play. I accepted this, altered my approach, and went on covering the team I love. Recently, a small but similar event occurred. While it would be easy to shrug it off and file it under the "can't make them all happy" category, I simply can't.

Back when things weren't exactly gravy and FTNTTB wasn't on the best of terms with the brass at the Q it was tough receiving sideways stares walking into a venue that I held, and still hold, so near and dear. It was even harder when those stares were coming from some people whose opinion mattered. The labor of love turned into a exhausting game of second guessing and self-censoring, even at times when I truly felt I was right. I just don't feel like doing it again. I concede.

Shame on you, Bill Riga and anyone else who may have contributed to his struggles.

Three Stars: June 17-23

3. Detroit plans for new downtown arena
(detroitredwings.com)

Plans are moving forward for a new arena in Detroit that would replace Joe Louis Arena as the home of the NHL's Red Wings. Olympia Development (a company owned by Wings owners Mike and Marian Ilitch), the city's Downtown Development Authority and Wayne County announced a memorandum of understanding last Thursday, essentially a non-binding document indicating that all parties are interested in heading down the road together. Previous reports indicated that construction could begin by the end of the year (I assume everything would have to click perfectly for that to happen), with the project taking roughly two years to complete.

So what's this have to do with Penn State? Easy. The Big Ten has committed to holding its tournament in Detroit in 2015 and 2017, and at the moment, it seems conceivable that by the time 2017 rolls around, Joe Louis Arena - redundant if a new building goes up - will be rubble. A sparkling new facility could also influence the awarding of the Big Ten championships beyond 2017.

2. Eamon McAdam
(The Hockey News)

By the time, the next Three Stars hits, Eamon McAdam's rights will (probably/hopefully) be the property of an NHL team, through this coming Sunday's NHL Entry Draft. So as you might expect, he got a fair deal of exposure this week, including the nice profile by THN's Ryan Kennedy leading this entry. McAdam also penned his final blog post for The Pipeline Show while also appearing on the show on Saturday.

In addition to all of the usual hockey firsts for PSU's program, McAdam has also crushed out a couple unique to this day and age: 1. First NCAA-era Penn State player with a Wikipedia entry, and 2. First Penn State player, to the best of my knowledge, with a parody Twitter account (language advisory on that one).

1. @TaylorCVincent
(Twitter)

Ice Lion Taylor Vincent and his teammates toured Pegula Ice Arena last week... so obviously, we'll pop a photo in.

Best of the Rest

@mikebroc23
(Twitter)

From new Icers and Ice Lions alumnus Mike Broccolo:

My mom just informed me that one of her student's name was seven

The Seinfeld episode where George Costanza shared his preferred baby name (after New York Yankees legend Mickey Mantle's jersey number) originally aired on February 1, 1996. Therefore, "Seven" is more or less in play for anyone 17 years old or younger. So there you go.

Junior A gems: NHL Draft prospects from OJHL, AJHL, BCHL, and beyond
(Hockey Now)

While McAdam is the only Penn Stater more likely than not to be scooped up by the NHL on Sunday, guys like Mark Yanis, Mike Williamson and 2014 commit Bo Pellah have a chance at getting a late-round look. Here, Williamson gets a mention (literally just that) in an article listing Canadian Junior A products with draftability.

Ten members of the class of 2017 will join RIT women's hockey for 2013-14 season
(ritathletics.com)

CHA rival RIT unveiled a large and mostly Canadian freshman class, then made a routine announcement super awks by retweeting this on their official team account:

As much as I complain about Penn State's ultra-buttoned up approach to things, it could be worse I guess.

Local hockey player’s University future up in the air
(globalnews.ca)

Reed Linaker has continued to make the media rounds to share his unfortunate story. This latest news report (including video) comes from Dean Millard, who doubles as a co-host of The Pipeline Show.

National Champion Hockey Coach Interviews for UAH Job
(WHNT)

George Gwozdecky still in limbo
(Wisconsin State Journal)

Over a couple days last week, college hockey circles exploded with the news that two-time national championship coach George Gwozdecky (let go by Denver after this past season) interviewed for the vacant job at Alabama-Huntsville. Then they exploded again with the news that he withdrew from consideration.

Opinion nobody asked for: Gwozdecky has had a legendary career. However, I believe that much like athletes, coaching careers have a rise, peak and decline, and I also believe that Gwozdecky is more of a name than a great coach at this point. Still very good, of course, just not to the level of his reputation. Now, UAH could do worse than "a name" given what they've been through - and maybe the credibility coming from that name would have been a huge boost - but hopefully Gwoz passing on the job allows the Chargers to get a guy who ultimately becomes a name through his accomplishments in Alabama.

@BobcatsHockey
(Twitter)

Former Ohio forward Tyler Pilmore, who just ended his outstanding career as a Bobcat in March, has signed with the ECHL's Toledo Walleye for 2013-2014. In 2012-2013 and following the conclusion of the ACHA season, Pilmore played eight games with the Walleye and the Wheeling Nailers.

While a Penn Stater will do even better than the ECHL soon enough, I have to admit that I'm a bit jealous, as (to the best of my memory, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) the last surviving Icers playing in professional hockey were Curtiss Patrick (who kicked around the minor leagues from 2004-2009) and Justin Depretis (2006-2009).

The work of former ACHA assistant Spiros Anastas helped Tomas Tatar and the Griffins to a title

Grand Rapids Griffins win the Calder Cup thanks to late goal by Brennan Evans
(MLive)

I'm obviously a sucker for a good ACHA-to-the-show story, especially one with ties to Pennsylvania, and Grand Rapids winning the AHL title last week offered one in the form of Griffins assistant coach Spiros Anastas. Anastas, a Toronto native, played for Lebanon Valley College from 2006 through 2010, when the Dutchmen were an NCAA Division III program. He stepped directly from the ice to the bench in the middle of his senior season when LVC head coach Ted Russell abruptly resigned. Anastas stayed on as an assistant in 2010-2011, the program's successful (21-4-2) ACHA Division 1 debut following a 3-95-2 stretch over the last four DIII seasons (yikes). He then left to become a volunteer video coach at Western Michigan in 2011-2012 before moving on to the Griffins under head coach Jeff Blashill (who also hired him at WMU), where he's responsible for advance scouting and statistical analysis.

Anastas actually didn't go directly from Western Michigan to Grand Rapids, by the way. From August 23, 2012 until October 29, 2012, he was the general manager of the BCHL's Alberni Valley Bulldogs. On October 31, 2012, the Bulldogs acquired Bo Pellah from the Langley Rivermen. Either Anastas is a big fan of Pellah who started negotiations before taking the Griffins job, or he was standing in the way of the trade being finalized. Your call.

Matt Thomas named head hockey coach
(goseawolves.com)

After one of the messiest coaching searches in college hockey history (fourth entry from the bottom), Alaska-Anchorage finally got their guy in Matt Thomas, who will join the Seawolves program after a long run as an ECHL coach. He also played for RIT back in the 1990s (when the Tigers were an NCAA Division III program) and served as an assistant at Maine from 2000-2002. I'm still not sure why anyone would want the UAA job, but regardless, best of luck to him.

In other Anchorage news, charges will not be pursued against the guy Thomas replaced, Dave Shyiak, over an alleged stick-swinging incident at a practice in 2011. So other than any blowups to come from discarded former athletic director Steve Cobb, it seems as if things might finally be getting back to semi-normal at Alaska's second-best hockey program.

Former Maine coach Tim Whitehead to be new hockey coach at Kimball Union Academy
(Western College Hockey Blog)

Fired Maine coach Tim Whitehead, who spent 12 years in Orono (and therefore one with Thomas), will coach PSU commit A.J. Greer's prep school team. Nice pull for the KUA Wildcats.

#AskTCR Mailbag: The Hockey Pipe Dream
(The Champaign Room)

Illinois: still not about to add NCAA hockey, if you needed that.

@LetsPlay_Hockey
(Twitter)

It won't be at Penn State, but the Big Ten could see at least one outdoor game this season:

The U of M is in talks with Intersport on hosting an outdoor hockey game vs. Ohio State at TCF Bank Stadium on @HockeyDayMN 2014.

Let me guess: both teams will receive $2 million for their participation (yes, I'm still upset about being burned by that).

Three Stars: May 13-19

Billy Downey (left) and Guy Gadowsky (right) both earned stars this week. But not Bryce Johnson.

3. @Billy_Downey
(Twitter)

It wouldn't be Director of Hockey Ops Billy Downey's Twitter account if it wasn't dropping some nice insider photos on everyone with exciting regularity. Linked above: Pegula Ice Arena's RapidShot Training System (more or less exactly what you think it is - a way to practice shooting off the ice and with the aid of high-tech gadgetry), which was installed last week.

Another recent Downey tweet showed off the arena's scoreboard, which was lowered on Friday so that speakers could be installed.

2. 2013 Draft Blog: Eamon McAdam Pt.4
2013 ISS Draft Rankings: May
(The Pipeline Show)

Eamon McAdam (now that the incoming freshmen have all been formally introduced, I'm going to stop slapping "2013 recruit" in front of them) continues to be all systems go for the NHL Entry Draft in June. He's retained his number three ranking among draft-eligible goaltenders from ISS, and also penned a fourth blog entry for TPS in which he recaps the end of his junior career with the Waterloo Black Hawks while also looking ahead to his schedule over the next few weeks - the draft combine, tryouts for next year's World Junior Championships team and of course, the start of summer classes at Penn State.

1. Q&A with Guy Gadowsky
(Lions 247)

I'd encourage everyone to read Andrew Dzurita's interview with Guy Gadowsky, but it's behind a pay wall. So... what to do?

I've seen people reference rules related to copy/pasting excerpts of pay articles that permit doing it on a limited basis, but am ignorant as to any commonly-accepted specifics concerning word counts, percentages or content. Also, I subscribed to Lions 247 for the sole purpose of reading this one article (and as someone who knows myself well, I probably won't cancel until I'm broke). So with those two things in mind, I don't think I'm committing some gross blogger ethical violation in sharing three of the 13 questions Dzurita asked. I'll even toss in a plug: I think Lions 247 is easily the best of the major-network un-free Penn State sites, so if you're going to pay for one, make it that one. Particularly since the others never have much of anything about hockey.

Of course, I didn't select the three questions at random, I picked those that involve Gadowsky saying things you may not have heard him say before (in other words, I deliberately skipped queries related to PSU's fan support, the Big Ten's toughness and whether last season met expectations). Is that crossing a line? Probably. Oh well.

---

Lions247: What's been the biggest challenge for you going out and recruiting?

Guy Gadowsky: I think it's the unknown. We're going up against programs who have a long-standing tradition of not only college success but alumni success in the NHL and so on. We're unknown. You can talk about the league, but it hasn't happened yet. You can talk about the arena, but we haven't seen it yet.

Lions247: You're getting some quality recruits, but on the whole have kids you've talked to been skeptical of trying to build a program from the ground up?

Guy Gadowsky: Some recruits are really hungry to be a part of building something, and I understand that very well. I think our captain Tommy Olczyk had a really good idea of the big picture of the pride it takes to build this program. Then there are other recruits who have the mindset of wanting to go into a program who already has the tradition in place. We have to get the right person for sure.

Lions247: I know you can't speak specifically on non-conference opponents before all the contracts are signed, but in general what is your scheduling philosophy?

Guy Gadowsky: I think you never really know, to be honest. A school like U-Mass Lowell wasn't a team who consistently gets to the Frozen Four and last year they did. So I think it also depends on the year, but our goal is to play great Division I opponents. We're listening to everybody and trying to provide the best Division I experience.

---

Does that last answer all but confirm that PSU is playing Lowell this year? I'm pretty satisfied that there's a critical mass of smoke there, but feel free to make your own call - between this and the message board rumor, you know everything I do about it.

Best of the Rest

SI Delves Into Penn State's Athletic Medical Staff
(Black Shoe Diaries)

In case you're one of the two Penn Staters who hasn't heard yet, Sports Illustrated took a giant dump on Athletic Director Dave Joyner in their latest issue (on newsstands now!), so I'm probably not doing my fake, unpaid job if I don't link something about it. I picked BSD because I thought it did a good job of overview, discussing both the initial story and PSU's response, while also taking a much-appreciated neutral stance and refraining from the blind Joyner/Board of Trustees bashing or #OneTeam/move forward flag waving that dominates so many discussions in the Penn State community these days.

The story has nothing to do with hockey, just the guy in charge of hockey and the rest of the athletic department and his decisions related to medical coverage for football. And it will probably blow over shortly, if it hasn't already, because there's not any firm evidence of wrongdoing by the university. Just a lot of in-fighting.

Brett Larson Joins OSU Staff as Associate Head Coach
(ohiostatebuckeyes.com)

This one goes a bit beyond the typical "update the masses on a Big Ten coaching staff addition" entry, because new Ohio State Associate Head Coach Brett Larson's previous job was as the head coach and general manager of the USHL's Sioux City Musketeers. While there, he tutored PSU goalie Matt Skoff and forward David Goodwin. As Larson started with the Muskies in 2011-2012, he just missed Tommy Olczyk (who was with the Icers that season), but I'll make an insane leap and guess that there's some familiarity there as well. Prior to the two USHL seasons, Larson assisted at Minnesota-Duluth for three, a stint that involved working with new OSU head coach Steve Rohlik. In case you needed the connection.

NHL 14 cover vote: Wayne Simmonds saves us all, beats Evgeni Malkin
(Broad Street Hockey)

Had Penn State football not re-set the bar on "bad offseason" for all eternity not too long ago, Cal Vulcans hockey would have a credible case for it. If you read these posts, you already know about the massive pot bust of now-former players Jesse and Steven Powell on April 16th, which resulted in the entire program's suspension, subsequently lifted a couple weeks ago.

Now we have the tale of former Cal player Corey Briggs. Last week, Briggs reacted to the Flyers' Wayne Simmonds - who is black, if you didn't know - eliminating the Penguins' Evgeni Malkin in an online vote-based tournament to determine the player on the cover of the next video game in EA's NHL series by tweeting that "if that [f-ing] [racial slur beginning with "c"] is on the cover in [sic] selling my equipment." Then he was decidedly less than remorseful when called out as the racist idiot that he is. As things turned out, Briggs left school and the Vulcans' program in December, but given that...

1. ...he was still listed on the roster at the time,
2. his Twitter avatar was (he deleted his account) a photo of him in a Cal jersey,
3. his father works for the team, helping to coordinate its recruiting and scouting efforts, and
4. the whole thing was publicized by a pretty well-read website...

...it still caused plenty of embarrassment for a program that was probably hoping to lay low for a while.

Your 2013-14 Illinois Big Ten Hockey Schedule
(The Champaign Room)

On a lighter note and elsewhere in the SB Nation network, here are Illinois' thoughts on the release of the Big Ten schedule a couple weeks ago.

And remember kids, no matter what a stripper tells you, there's no sex in The Champaign Room.

Johnstown continues to embrace hockey
(Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

The wave of good press for the NAHL's Johnstown Tomahawks in the wake of their first season in central Pennsylvania is still going strong.

Dallas Stars relieve Glen Gulutzan and Paul Jerrard of coaching duties
(dallasstars.com)

The Dallas Stars' firing of Glen Gulutzan last week severed (at least temporarily) one of the more prominent limbs of the Guy Gadowsky coaching tree. Gadowsky coached him with the defunct Fresno Falcons of the defunct WCHL in 1996-1997 and in 1998-1999 before moving into the college ranks with Alaska. It wasn't an insignificant pair of seasons for Gulutzan - in an interview after being hired by the Stars in 2011, he cited Gadowsky as one of his coaching influences.

Justin Kirchhevel was at UAA when an alleged incident involving former coach Dave Shyiak occurred

UAA coach accused of hitting player with hockey stick
(Anchorage Daily News)

I don't think I've done a thorough enough job discussing the utter clusterstorm that is Alaska-Anchorage hockey right now, so starting at the beginning...

1. UAA coach Dave Shyiak was fired in late March after a four-win season and seven mostly-terrible ones preceding it. In addition to lots and lots of losing, several players transferred out, including two (Justin Kirchhevel and Eric Scheid) who wound up at Penn State.
2. A committee to find Shyiak's replacement was formed and by mid-April four finalists were determined. Receptions were set up for Seawolves hockey alumni and the general public to meet the finalists, ask questions and register opinions. I had never heard of such events, but was told that it's not uncommon after jokingly asking the number to text in a vote and when the results show was to air. Penn State, apparently, can still go further on the whole "transparency" thing.
3. Almost immediately, the Alaska State Hockey Association and the UAA hockey alumni issued separate votes of no confidence in athletic director Steve Cobb. Both groups, more or less, were concerned with the state of the program and upset that they didn't have more say in the coaching search.
4. Despite being near the finish line, the entire coaching search process was started over on May 7th, with a new committee that included (surprise!) more UAA hockey alumni. The application period this second time around just closed on Friday.
5. The second committee will develop a list of finalists, who will then be added to the finalists from the first group. A combination of both committees will then come up with a recommendation for Cobb, who hopes to have the new coach in place by June 15th. What could possibly go wrong there? For whatever it's worth, three of the original four finalists have said they remain interested, while the fourth - Michigan Tech assistant Damon Whitten - has apparently pulled out. I'm going to go ahead and call Whitten the smartest of the four.

Which brings us up to the news at hand: former Seawolves forward Mickey Spencer, corroborated by two anonymous former teammates, alleges that Shyiak went Mike Rice on forward Nick Haddad during a practice on January 11, 2011.

"He tomahawked, lumber-jacked -- whatever you want to call it -- him across the thigh on his (hockey) pants,'' Spencer said. "We knew this wasn't a small deal, it's kind of a big deal. I've seen a coach break a stick over a goalpost or the glass because he's pissed about something, but I've never seen one take out his anger on a player.''

Spencer also claims that Shyiak later instructed the team to keep quiet about the incident.

The coach, through his attorney, does not deny contacting Haddad with a stick but disputes the nature and force of it, saying he was simply trying to get the player's attention. Haddad, for his part, seems to fall somewhere between Shyiak and Spencer in his recollection, saying that the act crossed the line, but that he and Shyiak made up shortly after and he considered it a dead issue at that point. A criminal investigation has been opened, but the guess here is that it gets about as far as the internal investigation conducted at the time of the incident. I mean, the alleged victim thinks it's "ridiculous," so...

Kirchhevel, by the way, was a member of the Seawolves during 2010-2011. Wonder what he thinks or knows about it.