Three Stars: April 15-21

3. Sara Evans to Headline Pegula Ice Arena Show
(Onward State)

I thought about writing a stand-alone post to mark the first non-hockey event scheduled for Pegula Ice Arena, but...

1. A family-themed skating show headlined by country star Sara Evans isn't really my thing, and I'd probably do a terrible job feigning interest. No offense intended if you're excited about it.
2. Penn State basketball bloggers don't write about concerts at the Bryce Jordan Center, unless one forces the team to practice in the IM Building on crooked hoops. To the best of my knowledge, Ms. Evans and the figure skaters won't go full Bon Jovi on us.
3. Onward State covered it just fine.

That said, it's nice to see the arena serve a broader purpose than hockey (cue audio of Joe Battista saying "it will be an asset not just for hockey, but for the entire community," which he says only marginally less often than "steep as code allows" in reference to the PIA's student section). Tickets for the show, called the Musselman's Apple Sauce Family Skating Tribute, go on sale September 3rd. The event is on November 3rd at 5:00 p.m. and will be broadcast on NBC November 24th at 4:00 p.m.

2. Sabres' owner keeps hockey comments brief
(Buffalo Business First)

The groundbreaking ceremony for the Terry Pegula-financed HarborCenter complex in Buffalo is old news - it was covered in last week's Three Stars - but James Fink of Buffalo Business First hit a pertinent angle unexplored by others, and his article wasn't on the TYT radar until after the previous post was up, so...

A Penn State alumni [eef... "alumni" is plural... hate that one] and major underwriter of its hockey program — including financing the construction of the Pegula Arena in State College, Pegula said he’d love to see the team play a local college at the HarborCenter’s main 1,800-seat arena or in First Niagara Center in the future.

Canisius has been in negotiations to move into HarborCenter, but hopefully I'm not alone in apathy towards the idea of a Golden Griffins-Nittany Lions matchup in an 1,800-seater. If it's all the same to TPegs, what about Cornell at the First Niagara Center? Less local, sure, but also much more compelling.

1. Penn State Hockey: Pegula Ice Arena construction looking "very good"
(PennLive)

Penn State gave a media tour of the Pegula Ice Arena on Saturday morning before football's Blue-White Game, and TYT continued its run as the only PSU hockey-credentialed entity to never once have been invited inside the facility. While I believe I deserve better, I've come to the realization that, for whatever reason, Battista and company are bothered by my existence and that I'll most likely have to adjust to life without access going forward. If that involves traveling to more road games next year, since I've never once had an issue getting a credential from an opponent (provided, of course, that PSU doesn't sabotage my application, as was attempted for the Philadelphia College Hockey Faceoff against Vermont back in January), so be it.

Anyway, as far as I've seen (as of Sunday night), the tour has only produced three puff pieces, and - based on the photos and video that were part of those - there were definitely more than three people present Saturday morning. So it's PSU's loss, I guess. I would have made it four puff pieces, and last I checked, a post to a small audience is better PR than no post to a large one.

I'm giving Greg Pickel of PennLive the "official" link, because his was the most comprehensive story, but be sure to check out the video StateCollege.com's Ben Jones took on the tour, as well as the third write-up, from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's Scott Brown. Both Pickel's and Brown's articles have attached photo galleries, and Brown presents an additional item of note:

Battista said he has received season-ticket orders for 3,000 of the 5,000 seats that will be sold to the general public.

Nice.

Best of the Rest

Former Icer Josh Daley finished fourth on Wisconsin-Stevens Point in scoring

UW-Stevens Point men's hockey announces team awards
(uwsp.edu)

Someday, when I'm done being lazy, I'll do a full update on the December post covering the players who transferred away from Penn State after not making the jump from the Icers and Lady Icers to the NCAA men's and women's teams. For now, here's some news on one such player, Pittsburgh-native forward Josh Daley, who is now at NCAA Division III Wisconsin-Stevens Point after spending 2011-2012 with the Icers.

Daley got off to a slow start this year, thanks mostly to irregular appearances in the lineup, but came on strong over the second half of the season. He finished with eight goals and 19 points for a squad that went 15-11-1 overall, a run that culminated with his recently being named Most Improved Player at the Pointers' postseason banquet. Without a doubt, the marketing major will be considered a key part of UWSP's nucleus next year, as the team returns its top five scorers, top two defensemen and starting goaltender.

Force-Waterloo series offers glimpse into Big Ten's future
(The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead)

Perceptive Fargo Force writer Chris Murphy noted the several future Big Ten rivals participating in the USHL first-round playoff series between the Force and Waterloo Black Hawks - led 2-1 by Waterloo after a game three win Sunday afternoon - including Penn State entry Eamon McAdam. Others are Fargo's Gabe Guertler (Minnesota) and Dave Gust (Ohio State), as well as Waterloo's Justin Kloos (Minnesota), Taylor Cammarata (Minnesota) and Zach Stepan (Ohio State).

Cue Maxine Nightingale. We're right back we we started from.
(Deadly Nuts)

Undoubtedly, Gust and Stepan joined the rest of the hockey world in being shocked at Ohio State's firing of head coach Mark Osiecki last Monday. Osiecki, almost universally considered a rising star in the coaching world, seemed to have the perpetually-underachieving Buckeyes finally moving in the right direction, as noted by many over the last week, including Deadly Nuts. Some have speculated that Osiecki was let go so that OSU can hire newly-unemployed former Denver coach George Gwozdecky... but as someone who believes that coaching careers follow a rise-peak-decline curve not unlike the athletes they mentor, I'd honestly rather have Osiecki at this point. In what looks like a boring offseason on tap (compared to the last couple years anyway), the Buckeyes' coaching search will undoubtedly be one major story to watch.

For whatever it may be worth, the change in Columbus means that Guy Gadowsky will not be the newest coach in the Big Ten during the coming season.

Yep, that's a hockey house

Cal U hockey players facing drug charges
(Cal Times)

Brothers Jesse and Steven Powell, both hockey players at California (PA), were arrested last Tuesday and charged with dealing marijuana out of the hockey house at Cal (if you're not familiar with the term "hockey house," it's pretty much what you think, see above for reference). During a raid, police discovered roughly seven pounds of herb being delivered to the brothers - I believe that falls under the statutory definition of "shitload" - as well as two more pounds and $13,000 already on the premises. A preliminary hearing for the Powells will take place on Thursday.

In what could be viewed as a knee-jerk reaction, and likely because five other players lived with the Powells at the hockey house, the university responded to the arrests by suspending the operations of all three of the Vulcans' hockey teams including, as reported by CBSSports.com, the school's ACHA Division 2 women's team. Cal's women, the first-ever opponent for Penn State's ACHA D2 women back in October, spent much of the 2012-2013 season ranked first in the East Region and qualified for the ACHA National Tournament in Ashburn, VA last month. Similarly, Cal's top men's team, which plays in ACHA D3 and in the College Hockey East conference with the squads at PSU-Altoona and PSU-Behrend, finished the season as the Atlantic Region's number one team and also qualified for its ACHA championship playoffs, held in Springfield, MO March 12th through 16th.

Basically, we're talking about a quality hockey operation, and one that's never been implicated in any wrongdoing until now. Here's hoping that any investigations find that the issue was limited to the Powells - if they are, in fact, guilty of a crime, because this is America and they are innocent until proven otherwise - and that all three teams are reinstated in time for the coming season.

...but seriously, that's a lot of pot.

All-American Teams and All-Region Teams
(achahockey.org)

Congratulations to PSU-Brandywine defenseman Joe Naselli, who was named to the ACHA Division 3 All-Atlantic Region Third Team. Naselli, a senior from Media, PA, posted 13 goals and 32 points in 28 games this past season, helping Brandywine to a 19-9-0 record and a berth in the Atlantic Region tournament.

I suppose I would be remiss if I didn't follow up the previous story by mentioning that six different Cal players appear on the All-Atlantic Region teams, including goaltender Zach Stewart, who was also a first-team All-American. Additionally, Vulcans head coach Justin Berger was the Atlantic Region's coach of the year.

Penn State 2012-13 Women's Hockey banquet video
(Facebook)

If I had it to do all over again, I'd develop an aptitude for video production like Vince Chandler, who was nice enough to share the women's team's highlight video he put together for their postseason banquet.

@MarkHorgas
(Twitter)

Last Wednesday, PSU hockey insider Mark Horgas dropped the news that the Pegula Ice Arena will not, as was planned, include a stand-alone Tim Horton's location. A Subway, of all things, will now occupy the space previously set aside for the cyber cafe, although Tim Horton's coffee will still be served at concession stands.

As someone of the opinion that Tim Horton's, while good, is only held in such high esteem by the hockey world because it bears the name of a Hockey Hall of Fame inductee, I'm going to drop a yawn on this development while saying that Dunkin has better food and Starbucks has better coffee. Come at me, bro.

Women's hockey announces its captains for the 2013-14 season; four players will serve in the leadership role
(ritatletics.com)

Forwards Celeste Brown and Lindsay Grigg will be the captains for CHA rival RIT next season, while defenders Melissa Bromley and Morgan Scoyne will don the A for the Tigers. The four take over for a triumvirate of graduating 2012-2013 captains: Kim Schlattman, Ariane Yokoyama and Tenecia Hiller.

Penn State, of course, returns all three of its letter-wearers in captain Taylor Gross and alternates (yes, alternates) Jenna Welch and Lindsay Reihl, so don't expect a similar announcement from the bowels of the Jordan Center anytime soon.

Plan to preserve Ice Zone fails
(Youngstown Vindicator)

And finally, a last-ditch effort to save the Ice Zone in Boardman, OH - a ridiculous scheme that attempted to sell 1,000 season tickets for the USHL's Youngstown Phantoms through families who use the rink - failed (try to contain your shock long enough to finish this post), and the facility will close for good between May 15th and early June.

The Ice Zone hosted the 2007 ACHA Division 1 National Tournament, which saw the Icers qualify for a record tenth straight championship game, only to be dismantled 5-1 by future ACHA hall-of-famer Will McMahon and Oakland. Earlier that season, the Ice Zone was the site of the 2006 ACHA Showcase, an event that also included Penn State. The Icers' final game of the showcase (following a loss to Oklahoma and a win over Minot State) was against a Weber State team featuring defenseman Aaron Dufford, the great grandson of former Nittany Lions varsity star John Dufford. With the elder Dufford in attendance, PSU topped the Wildcats 5-1.

UPDATED: Lost in the Flood

Josh Daley helped UW-Stevens Point to an upset of third-ranked UW-Eau Claire on December 1st.

UPDATED 12/23, 5:15 P.M.: The original version of this post did not include former Icer Dan Meiselman, now playing at NCAA Division III Connecticut College. Special thanks to Icers great Paul Daley for pointing out the omission.

Way back in the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 seasons, a favorite pastime of bored bloggers and their friends was guessing which Icers and Lady Icers would make the jump to the inaugural NCAA teams. There were consensus picks (Tommy Olczyk, Bryce Johnson, Nate Jensen, Taylor Holstrom and Justin Kirchhevel were generally stipulated on the men's side once they were on the team) and also plenty of disagreement. But regardless of the various player assessments thrown out there, everyone seemed to be on the same page in one significant way: there would be bloodshed. Probably lots of it, with only a tiny number of players moving up and many, many more being discarded.

It didn't really play out that way, at least not to the extent envisioned. A grand total of 35 players who played for the Icers or Lady Icers between the donation announcement and the opening of the NCAA era didn't make it to senior day as a member of the highest-level team at Penn State. There are 24 players on one of the NCAA teams who played for the Icers or Lady Icers. The nature of that reality depends heavily on perspective, but I don't think anyone on the outside expected anything close to a 40 percent keeper rate. A good number of tough conversations and hurt feelings along the way were inevitable, but I think both coaching staffs deserve to be commended on their handling of the transition from a numbers perspective.

In the interest of remembering the contributions of those 35 players who did not use up their eligibility due, at least in part, to the transition process (obviously, there are differing sets of individual circumstances in each case), let's put all of their names out there.

From 2010-2011 to 2011-2012

Men: Forwards Andrew Duval, Mike Broccolo, Joe Zitarelli and Alan Clark; defensemen Mac Winchester, Ryan Erbe and Kevin Miller; goaltender Dan Ivanir.

Women: Forwards Michelle Clarke and Lindsey Shuler.

From 2011-2012 to 2012-2013

Men: Forwards Tim Acker, Josh Daley and Dan Meiselman; defensemen Ryan Seibolt, Steve Edgeworth, Forrest Dell and Brandon Russo. Additionally, goaltender Tim Carr transferred from Penn State in the middle of the 2011-2012 season.

Women: Forwards Abbey Dufoe, Kirsten Evans, Katharine Gausseres, Denise Rohlik, Sydney Sherman, Carly Szyszko; defenders Lisa Frank, Paige Harrington, Julie Horn, Allie Rothman, Ashton Schaffer and goalies Katie Vaughan, Sarah Eisenhut and Mary Kate Tonetti. Forward Christina Hurle left the team right around the time Carr did on the men's side, with forwards Sam Summers and Alex Warren-Caldwell also appearing on the roster at the beginning of the season but not at the end.

So what became of them?

It might make this post a little anticlimactic, but the majority (19 of the 35) simply elected to retire - the word they like to use - and finish their Penn State degrees while still being invited to hockey parties. Not a bad way to go out.

Most of the remaining 16 are playing for PSU's ACHA Division 2 teams, the Ice Lions and the newly-formed Women's Ice Hockey Club. Since both teams receive regular coverage here and it would be at least partly redundant for me to talk about them in any great depth, I'll just list their stats so far this season.

First up, the women, who are 4-1-1 at winter break and ranked No. 5 in ACHA WD2.

No.	Name	GP	G	A	Pts.	PP	SH	PIM
14	Carly Szyszko	6	2	1	3	1	0	2
6	Mary Kate Tonetti	6	1	2	3	0	0	4
9	Ashton Schaffer	6	0	3	3	0	0	0
20	Allie Rothman	6	0	2	2	0	0	2
18	Alex Warren-Caldwell	2	0	0	0	0	0	0

No.	Name	GP	Rec.	Min.	GAA	SO	GA	Sht.	Svs.	Sv%
1	Katie Vaughan	5	3-1-1	238.17	0.86	1	4	98	94	0.959
31	Sarah Eisenhut	3	1-0-0	70.77	0.72	0	1	19	18	0.947

Now the men, who wrapped up their fall semester 13-4-1 (5-0-0 MACHA North) and ranked No. 4 in the Southeast Region of ACHA D2.

No.	Name	GP	G	A	Pts.	PP	SH	PIM
46	Joe Zitarelli	18	9	12	21	1	2	6
3	Brandon Russo	18	7	14	21	3	0	28
24	Mac Winchester	18	8	12	20	6	0	28
73	Mike Broccolo	18	6	13	19	1	0	4
77	Forrest Dell	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

A very limited number, just four to be precise, sought to continue their hockey careers away from Penn State. Here's an update on how they're doing.

Josh Daley

Forward // 6'2", 185 pounds
Pittsburgh, PA

At Penn State: Daley looked to be one of the stars of the 2011 recruiting class, but never really got consistent ice time during his season with the Icers, playing in just 11 games (and often as a spare forward). He scored twice in a season-opening 12-1 rout of Lebanon Valley on October 7th, 2011, but was rarely heard from after that, putting up just four points over the rest of the season. When he was left off of this season's NCAA roster, he elected to transfer to NCAA Division III Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

After Penn State: At UWSP this season, Daley has played in seven of 13 team games - although he's become a lineup regular of late by playing in the last six after participating just once in the first seven. He has a goal, two assists and ten penalty minutes in all, with the goal and one assist coming in the first period of an 8-0 rout of Wisconsin-Stout on December 7th. As a team, the Pointers are 7-5-1 (4-3-1 WIAC), with the undisputed season highlight coming on December 1st via a 4-3 overtime win against UW-Eau Claire, the third-ranked team in the nation.

Tim Carr

Goaltender // 5'10", 170 pounds
Pine Bush, NY

At Penn State: Along with Jake Friedman, Carr was considered one of the first two "NCAA" recruits, since the pair were the first to commit to play for PSU following the NCAA transition announcement - meaning, of course, that they were the first to come in specifically to take a shot at playing for the DI team. However, he quickly fell behind P.J. Musico and Matt Madrazo on the goaltending depth chart, and departed for NCAA DIII Western New England during the semester break of the 2011-2012 season. Carr played in just three games as an Icer - a 6-2 win at Rhode Island on October 28, 2011, a 9-0 blanking of Rutgers on December 3, 2011 and a 4-3 loss at Liberty on December 9, 2011.

After Penn State: At ECAC Northeast-leading WNE (4-1-0 conference record, part of a 6-5-0 overall mark), Carr has blossomed into a very solid goaltender and is one half of a 50-50 rotation the Golden Bears deploy, with Eric Sorenson picking up the remaining minutes. On the year, Carr is 4-2-0 with a 3.06 goals against average and a 0.915 save percentage. His save percentage ranks first among all ECAC Northeast goaltenders, while his goals against average is fourth. In Carr's two conference games so far, his numbers are even better: 1.50 and 0.958, both tops in the league. He was named the ECAC Northeast's goaltender of the week on November 20th after a 41-save effort in a 2-1 win over Salve Regina on November 17th.

Over the second half of last season after transferring, Carr posted a 2.49 goals against average in five starts and went 2-2-1 for a team that finished 14-12-1.

Tim Carr is now one of the DIII ECAC Northeast's best goaltenders at Western New England.

Paige Harrington

Defender // 5'11"
Mansfield, MA

At Penn State: Harrington was part of a huge 13-player freshman class for the Lady Icers last season, and unlike Daley and Carr, she was an every-game player at PSU, appearing in 26 contests. While the extremely well-liked and sturdy defender only scored one goal during the season, it was a spectacular end-to-end rush that stood up as the winner against Vermont on February 19th and helped clinch the ECWHL regular season championship. Despite those heroics, she was omitted from the inaugural NCAA women's roster and transferred back home to Massachusetts.

After Penn State: Now with ACHA Women's Division 1's UMass, a one-time ECWHL nemesis of the Lady Icers, Harrington has clicked to the tune of a goal and five assists in nine games. This time around, her goal was in defeat (5-4 at Liberty on November 9th), although Harrington hasn't done a ton of losing this season. UMass is ranked No. 7 in ACHA WD1, thanks to a 8-3-1 record that includes a pair of wins over the University of New England, a first-year NCAA DIII program. In the ACHA, UMass rallied from two goals down to tie No. 5 Northeastern 2-2 on November 30th. One week later, they beat No. 1 Rhode Island 2-0, with Harrington assisting on a shorthanded goal to open the scoring.

Dan Meiselman

Forward // 6'2", 205 pounds
Winnetka, IL

At Penn State: The big forward was part of the gigantic 2011 recruiting class, via the EJHL's Capital District Selects. In 14 games as an Icer in 2011-2012, he put up six goals and six assists. Two of those goals were the first scores in a 3-0 win at Oklahoma on January 7th that was pretty important to getting the season back on track after PSU lost two in a row (the Citizens Bank Park game against NCAA DIII Neumann and a shootout stunner against Central Oklahoma) to begin the spring semester. He also had a pair in a 13-2 rout of Rutgers on December 2, 2011, and goal-assist efforts in a win over West Virginia on January 20th and a loss at Delaware on November 18, 2011. Like Daley and Carr, Meiselman took the DIII route after missing on a shot at playing DI, winding up at Connecticut College.

After Penn State: At the New London, CT school, Meiselman has appeared in just one game this season, a 3-2 overtime loss at Williams on December 1st. The Camels, clearly suffering the effects of not having former women's player Jess Desorcie (who, of course, pulled a reverse Meiselman, going from CC to PSU) around anymore, are just 2-5-1 (1-4-1 NESCAC), although they did manage a road tie with 12th-ranked Middlebury on November 30th.

Three Stars: November 26-December 2

3. Penn State at Mercyhurst // Exhibition Game
(collegehockeystats.net)

Something I learned this past weekend: the first game in the history of Mercyhurst women's hockey was played against the Lady Icers on October 9, 1999. Unfortunately, I think the Collegian passed on covering it to run one of 38,000 PSU-Iowa football articles that week (fall break didn't help either), so this box score might be the only online trace of it. That's just as well - it wasn't really a pretty result for us.

By the way, that's two consecutive women's opponents mentioning their history with the Lady Icers in their game notes, if you're scoring at home. Just saying.

2. Ice Hockey Recap: The First Ranked Opponent
(Black Shoe Diaries)

Penn State Hockey: Weekend Roundup #4
(Victory Bell Rings)

Because of the out-of-sync timing between my posts and theirs, I never get enough of a chance to toss some love to the other great PSU hockey bloggers out there, including IcersGuy and Mary Clarke of BSD and VBR, respectively. Because of the aforementioned timing issue (their recaps go up later in the week), these posts are actually their thoughts on the Nittany Lions' weekend at then-No. 8 Union November 24th and 25th. Know what though? That one was better anyway.

Get to know their stuff, and follow them on Twitter too (@hey_pono for IcersGuy, @marycclarke for Mary Clarke). Because you're not a fully-informed fan if you're only listening to one voice.

1. Philadelphia College Hockey Faceoff Promo
(YouTube)

Yep, it's a commercial for Penn State's game with Vermont in Philly on January 19th. Cheeseball? Sure. But in a fun way. And the Nittany Lion does the ear thing he does right at the end, so it's all good.

Best of the Rest

Welsh Signs with the Mississauga Steelheads of the OHL
(The Hockey Writers)

Even though he didn't move directly from Penn State's commit list to major junior, I suppose Thomas Welsh can be considered our first CHL defection. I've largely gotten over his decommitment after he wasn't able to "come to terms" (his awkward choice of words that may or may not indicate that he wasn't looking at PSU for the 'right' reasons) with the school. I fully expect this to be the last time I ever mention him now that he's officially gone for good. However, because Welsh's relatives continue to email me articles, as if I have any interest whatsoever in promoting him at this point...

...here's a photo of Welsh getting scored on by Team USA at the World Junior A Challenge last month. I'm not sure which of the nine goals scored by Eamon McAdam's teammates in the game is represented here, sorry.

Sooners face big second half of the season
(Hockey in the Heartland)

Now that the ACHA has our attention, here's how future opponent Oklahoma (February 15th and 16th) is looking for the spring semester. The Sooners' trip to the Ice Pavilion will actually be their second NCAA DI series of the season, as they play Alabama-Huntsville on January 11th and 12th. So basically, the Icers could never get any DI games, and as soon as they depart the ACHA, teams start getting four per season.

David Glen records a hat trick in Penn State's big win Friday night but Joe D'Elia and ASU get revenge on Saturday
(Stack the Pads)

Remember when PSU was unbeaten against the ACHA as an NCAA program? Those were good times. StP has some evidence in support of that, including video of four of the Nittany Lions' eight goals Friday night.

Women's Ice Hockey Signs Seven to Letters of Intent
(quinnipiacbobcats.com)

Former PSU women's target Mika Nervick, a Minnesota high schooler - man, do we hit Minnesota hard on the women's side - signed with Quinnipiac.

Allentown Arena - yeah, that name will stick here in the 21st century - will host the AHL in 2014.

Ground breaks on new Allentown arena, expected to be Phantoms home in 2014
(Broad Street Hockey)

Yay, Pennsylvania hockey!

I do have to say that it's a great testament to the hockey fans of Glens Falls, NY that the team draws more than six people per game (3,514 so far this year, well below the AHL average of 5,313), given that they've basically been used as a place to stash the team for five years while this project gets done.

HockeyTown: Princeton, New Jersey
(New York Hockey Journal)

Guy Gadowsky is quoted heavily in this article, mostly dealing with the development of minor hockey in his former location. Undoubtedly, he's trying to build the same sort of depth of organization in Central PA.

Picture Gary Bettman on the couch of a fighter/shrink...
(Toronto Globe and Mail)

Speaking of Princeton-era Gadowsky, here's a great feature on Kings enforcer Kevin Westgarth, one of the players he coached at PU. It's so bizarre to me that between Westgarth and George Parros (who was a Tiger pre-Gadowsky), Princeton generates not only a couple of the NHL's most intelligent players, but guys who also happen to be able to throw hands.

Bockmann's overtime-winner hands league-leader first loss
(uwsp.edu)

Former Icer Josh Daley and his teammates at UW-Stevens Point took down UW-Eau Claire, the third-ranked team in NCAA Division III, in overtime Saturday night. The Pointers are 5-5-1 so far, with Daley playing in five of those games and posting an assist.

Lebanon Valley College Moving to ESCHL IN 2013-2014
(achahockey.org)

Next season, the Icers' old conference will feature Delaware, Rhode Island, Rutgers, Stony Brook, West Chester, and now LVC. It's great to see the league develop a little bit of depth after PSU's final ESCHL season (2010-2011) saw only UD and URI join the Icers as solid programs, with complete wastes of ACHA D1 status Robert Morris and WCU holding down the other two spots (but not doing much else of value).

Daley Transferring to DIII Stevens Point

Photo: Mark Selders/Penn State Athletics

Sources close to former Icers forward Josh Daley have informed TYT that he has elected to transfer to Division III Wisconsin-Stevens Point for the 2012-2013 season.

Daley, a Pittsburgh native, arrived at Penn State last season after a successful Canadian Junior A career that included 23 goals with the SJHL's Battlefords North Stars in 2009-2010 and 31 more in a 2010-2011 season split between the MJHL's Dauphin Kings and Waywayseecappo Wolverines. With a highlight reel like this, he was definitely one of the more anticipated recruits for 2011:



He started off well enough, with a pair of goals in PSU's season-opening destruction of Lebanon Valley College. Then...not a whole lot. He played in 10 games after that, none of which were at the ACHA National Tournament, scoring two more times and adding two assists. Even within those 11 total games, he was largely used as a fourth-liner or a spare forward. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, he was left off of the list of Icers making the jump to the DI team in April. I suppose it could be said that of the 11 who will be on the Nittany Lions this fall, only four (Matt Madrazo, Jake Friedman, Mike McDonagh and Pete Sweetland) were not Guy Gadowsky recruits or rising seniors, so perhaps the odds were against Daley from day one.

His new school, Stevens Point, was once the dominant program in DIII, winning four national championships in five seasons from 1988-1993 and adding runner-up finishes in 1992 and 1998. While the Pointers haven't come close to those heights in recent seasons, second year coach Chris Brooks put a stop to UWSP's first streak of consecutive losing seasons since the mid-1980s in 2011-2012. He'll look to 19 returning players (including forward Kyle Heck, who scored 23 percent of the team's goals last year) - and one notable new one - to continue to rebuild the program.

Daley joins goaltender Tim Carr in departing from PSU to a Division III program. Carr joined Western New England in the middle of last season and put up team-leading goals against (2.49) and save percentage (0.928) numbers over his seven games. Forwards Tim Acker, Dan Meiselman, Dominic Morrone and Forrest Dell as well as defensemen Ryan Seibolt, Steve Edgeworth and Brandon Russo remain among the 2011-2012 Icers with unknown plans for next year.

Three Stars: April 2-8

3. An unscientific sampling of fan opinions about college hockey realignment
(USCHO)

This just in: some people are rather displeased about Penn State's very existence in their precious realm. Here's one opinion taken from the article which, by the way, very accurately captures the range I've observed.

Chris, a Minnesota fan: “It’s [expletive removed]. Look, we have years and years of alignments. We’ve got teams that we’ve played, teams that are rivals, teams that are together. Minnesota is all of a sudden the most western team and at least four hours away from its closest rival and [now will travel] all the way to Pennsylvania? Penn State decided that all of a sudden they want a team? No. Look, be in Hockey East. I don’t care. It’s very simple.”

I think Boston College just scored again. I guess maybe we should go to Hockey East if we want to compete with the best.

2. Gadowsky chooses 11 Icers for Division I squad
(The Daily Collegian)

Christine Newby does her usual fantastic work in providing the most depth of anyone out there regarding the selection of 11 Icers to next season's roster. To be specific, she got quotes from one of the cuts (Josh Daley, who sounds like he's headed elsewhere) and examined the Title IX implications of the roster's size.

1. Boston College Wins Third Title in Five Years
(College Hockey News)

Helped by Pittsburgh native and Most Outstanding Player Parker Milner, BC (yawn) won yet another national championship. Other takeaway: the last NCAA Division I season without Penn State is now complete.

Best of the Rest

Campus Athletics Announces New Head Coach for Ice Hockey A Team
(lehighsports.com)

Congratulations are in order to Tom Laessig - father of Ice Lions T.J. and Neil - on his new gig as the boss of Lehigh's ACHA Division 1 hockey team.

Men's Hockey Season Tickets
(gopsusports.com)

Guess what? They're taking down names of those interested in season tickets for the inaugural season at Pegula Ice Arena. If that doesn't blow your mind, I'm not sure what will.

Click to view.

Where Do D1 Hockey Players Come From?
(sixteenwins.com)

This is brilliant. And as I've been saying all along, Pennsylvania rates extremely well - perhaps second behind Illinois - when looking at player production per major-conference program.

Fight on State
(ESPN)

I'm sure most people associated with Penn State have read this article by now, but if you haven't, it underscores - in thick, black Sharpie - how little regard Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett has for PSU, or even morality and common decency. Why do I bring this up? Well, if you're not aware...

Corbett's leading donors are Terrence and Kim Pegula, who have given $280,000.

I realize that the Pegulas don't owe me anything, and they're certainly free to support whichever politicians they prefer for whatever reasons matter to them. At the same time though, I would like to see some evidence that Corbett's treatment of PSU (not to mention his other shortcomings) bothers them more than they value his protection of hydrofracking. That said, I'm not going to hold my breath waiting. If it didn't happen when Corbett tried to slash the school's appropriation in half (that's $88 million times two per year if you're keeping score), it certainly won't happen over the ouster of a coach TPegs evidently didn't care for anyway (at the very least, he didn't hesitate to throw Joe Paterno under the bus in an ill-conceived interview with TSN while simultaneously trying to bury his own skeletons).

M.F. Schurman named ACHA D1 National Coach of the Year
(delaware.goalline.ca)

A little late on this, but Delaware's Schurman took home well-deserved coach-of-the-year honors. He's UD's first with the accolade since...Josh Brandwene.

Here's an unexpected surprise, from the display of all NCAA Division I jerseys that appears annually at the Frozen Four. I didn't expect PSU's inclusion due to not actually participating in this NCAA season, but I'll take it. Courtesy of former Delaware forward Dave Lombardi's locked Twitter account. 

UAH will be seeking conference affiliation while serving as NCAA Frozen Four host
(al.com)

Alternate headline: other than the whole "the program was killed, then un-killed thing, nothing's really changed in Huntsville."

M: Penn State 13 vs. Kent State 1

Collegian recap // Black Shoe Diaries recap

Official site recap // Box score

The last Icers game at the Ice Pavilion ended the same way as numerous others - with Penn State (27-3-1) on the right end of a lopsided score against an overmatched opponent. The victims this time around were the Kent State Golden Flashes, and it's probably fair to say that this affair was even less competitive than the score. PSU's 13 goals trumped KSU's 12 shots, with Justin Kirchhevel, Bryce Johnson and Tommy Olczyk each scoring twice. Kirchhevel and Mike McDonagh tied for the team lead with five points each and in all, 17 of the 19 dressed skaters notched points (only the defensive pairing of Rich O'Brien and Dan Loucks was shut out).

In 562 games at the Greenberg Ice Pavilion since its opening on January 16, 1981, the Icers went 466-65-18-13, a record that includes wins in the last 21 games. PSU will now hope that neutral ice is equally friendly, as the ACHA national championship tournament in Strongsville, OH March 2nd through 7th is all that remains of the season and the Icers era.

Three Stars: February 13-19

3. Blasting to begin at new ice arena site; disturbance to be minimal
(Penn State Live)

I'm starting to regret my life choices now that I know there are people out there who create explosions for the purpose of setting up an ice arena's foundation. Regardless, blasting began today and will continue for approximately six weeks.

2. Kerr Commits to Penn State
(College Hockey Inc.)

The biggest casualty of my breaking the TYT hard drive after an Ice Lions game on February 11th was the usual commit post on Team Comcast d-man Kevin Kerr. Fortunately, Paul Kelly's someone else's gang picked me up in that department. Kerr, who looks to join the program in 2014, is one of the bigger scores to date for Guy Gadowsky and his staff.

1. @VinnieChant
(Twitter)

I could have gone a lot of different routes in handing THON first star this week - the fantastic routines of both the men's and women's teams at Saturday night's pep rally, your garden-variety photo of a colorfully packed Bryce Jordan Center or, of course, the eye-popping final count of $10,686,924.83. Sometimes, though, the smaller moments have more impact - like when Icers forward Josh Daley played catch with Colton, the team's THON child.

Best of the Rest

@TYTBlog
(Twitter)

In terms of promotional impact, getting on the local telecast of a Lake Erie Monsters-Rochester Americans AHL game isn't really the pinnacle of...well, anything. Still, it's pretty cool.

PSU Hockey Eligibility Matrix
(Google Documents)

Friend of TYT Andrew Dzurita (of Lions 247 fame) has attempted to put together an eligibility matrix for the men's program, including current players and recruits entering in 2012, 2013 and 2014. Spoiler alert: things are getting packed quite tightly, with surely more players to follow.

Building has started on Penn State hockey rink
(philly.com)

A well-done article by an outlet with a large readership means some nice publicity. Works for me.

Mercyhurst senior Jill Szandzik, a refugee from Wayne State's defunct program, scored the first two goals in the Lakers' 3-0 win over Robert Morris to clinch first place in the CHA.

Mercyhurst women clinch 10th straight CHA regular-season title
(goerie.com)

The Lakers held off a strong challenge from Robert Morris and have now stood as the CHA's hegemon for an entire decade. MU will try to match that regular season run with a tenth consecutive tournament title on March 2nd and 3rd at RMU.

Time running short for MSUM hockey decision
(WDAY)

Minnesota State-Moorhead is still trying to start a DI hockey program and still doesn't have enough money to do so. A completely meaningless, self-imposed deadline will likely pass at the end of the month, at which time MSUM will either give up or create a new fake deadline. Enthralling, yes?

Should Kansas Add Division One Ice Hockey?
(Rock Chalk Talk)

No. Stop it.

M: Penn State 6 vs. West Virginia 1

Collegian recap // Black Shoe Diaries recap

Official site recap // Box score

The Icers finished off West Virginia without a loss (this weekend or ever) Saturday afternoon. The following is from the Collegian. I'm ignoring the usual blockquote style due to length.

---

No. 1 Penn State (19-3-1) completed its sweep of No. 23 West Virginia (13-14-0) with a decisive 6-1 victory Friday evening.

It was the fifth straight win for the Icers and extended the team’s home win streak this season to 13 in-a-row.

After an impressive 8-0 win Friday night, he start of the game didn’t go according to plan. West Virginia’s Tod Camara scored on the first shot of the game for either team, beating Penn State goalie Matt Madrazo on a breakaway.

From that point on the Icers were in control. Penn State scored six straight goals and outshot West Virginia 36-20.

The Icers didn’t get out of the game unscathed with senior captain Dan Loucks suffering a hip contusion during the second period. Loucks skated back to the bench under his own power, but needed assistance getting back to the locker room for the intermission.

With the Icers top scoring line of Taylor Holstrom, Justin Kirchhevel and Tommy Olczyk, getting a day off, Penn State brought a balanced attack. Different players scored all six of Penn State’s goals.

On special teams the Icers dominated their opposition, killing the only penalty they faced and scoring on all three power play opportunities. Kurt Collins, Josh Daley and Dan Petrick all scored when the Icers had the man advantage.

Back to School

School's back in full force, and so is the Collegian (which can apparently be a mixed bag, as we've seen). And the Icers aren't wasting any time either.

After receiving about three emails throughout the summer from [Guy] Gadowsky, the team will meet with their coach for the first time this semester [Monday] to discuss the new coaching aspects and systems they would like to install.

That initial meeting was followed by what's been described as both an "up-tempo" and an "icebreaker" practice Tuesday. Mark Horgas watched it and had the following observations via Twitter.

As mentioned by Horgas and confirmed by official reports, 34 skaters and four goalies took part. A quick tally of Icers with remaining eligibility plus known recruits comes out to 37 and four, lending some possible credibility to the rumors that a couple of Icers have withdrawn from consideration for this year's team - because, really, as competitive as tryouts are expected to be, who's going to skip even an optional session?

Further reaction from Gadowsky and Daleys Paul and Josh was scooped up by Steve Penstone, over on View From the Booth. That, and a quick survey of Icers on Twitter shows none of the colorfulness or complaining exhibited by the football team when their practices started (remember, "icebreaker"), but give new defenseman Steve Edgeworth credit for tweet of the day.

First day of pracy in the books. Felt like Lidstrom out there minus the gap control, skating ability, and hockey sense. #PennStateHockey

Meanwhile, on the women's side of things, the team held a "captain's practice" Tuesday. But more importantly to the big picture, College Hockey America took a site visit at PSU as part of the application process. Niagara AD Ed McLaughlin was part of the CHA contingent and gave us some Twitter updates.

Arrived in State College PA 4 site visit w/ #PennState Women's hockey. Mtg w/staff and #CHA commish #BobDeGregorio tmrw.

Gr8 day of mtgs w/ #PennState folks, including AD #TimCurley and President #GrahamSpanier. They r getting ready for Div. I hockey.

We felt the #earthquake while mtg w/new Women's hockey coaches about #PegulaArena. I guess #Mr.Pegula really can make the earth move.

Unless that earthquake was a sign of the apocalypse, I feel confident expecting official CHA approval in short order.

The Daley Show

Chris Heisenberg's site is reporting yet another addition to Penn State's class of 2011.

Josh

Daley

Forward

Waywayseecappo Wolverines (MJHL)

6'0", 185 pounds

Pittsburgh, PA

Eliteprospects.com Player Page

Season   Team                   Lge    GP    G    A  Pts  PIM
-------------------------------------------------------------
2008-09  Owatonna Express       NAHL   18    4    3    7    6
2009-10  Battlefords N. Stars   SJHL   55   23   27   50   23
2010-11  Battlefords N. Stars   SJHL    6    0    3    3    4
2010-11  Dauphin Kings          MJHL   32   17   12   29   12
2010-11  Waywayseepappo Wlvrnes MJHL   20   14    4   18   14

After a fantastic career at Bishop Canevin High School (89 goals, 71 assists in 76 games) and piling up even more points with his AAA team, Daley had quite a decision to make, with a ton of high-end junior offers.

He had offers from 4 other NAHL teams but decided on Owatonna because of it's closeness to many major NCAA Division 1 hockey schools. Josh also has offers on the table from Saginaw in the Ontario Hockey League, and Waterloo and Des Moines in the United States Hockey League.

OHL? I'm sure as time goes on, I'll learn to despise the Canadian major junior leagues, but for now, I'm pretty wide-eyed about the fact that a future Penn State hockey player got a look. Oh wait, there's more:

Bishop Canevin's Josh Daley has been compared to the Pittsburgh Penguins' Jordan Staal.

He has the same kind of height as the Penguins' third line center (6-foot-3) and the same kind of build (as of now, he is at 170 pounds).

On the ice, Daley also has the undeniable reach with the stick that other hockey players wish they had.

And Shjon Podein, who won the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2001, has watched Daley play. Podein, who is Daley's advisor, believes the 17-year-old can be in the NHL by his early-20s.

"He believes he has the talent to do it," said Daley's dad, Walt.

An endorsement from Shjon Podein (recently named the head coach at Minnesota's St. Louis Park High School)? Comparisons to Jordan Staal? Scouted by the Canadiens (not in the article, but that's what I hear)? What? I'm sure some Wisconsin fan is reading this and laughing at me. But considering that our entire NHL exposure to this point has amounted to a couple exhibition games thanks to a bevy of injuries and holdouts, along with a couple tryouts (all, not coincidentally, with the Penguins), this is pretty heady stuff at Penn State.

After just 18 games with Owatonna in 2008-2009, Daley moved up north to the Battlefords North Stars and the SJHL, where he tore off an all-star season in 2009-2010. And despite bouncing around to three different teams in two different leagues last season, he didn't lose his scoring touch in transit. But don't take my word for it - watch and love his highlight video. Or listen to Wayway's GM get a little gushy after acquiring him.



Finally, just as importantly, he likes roast beef and mashed potatoes.