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: January 21-27

Laura Bowman (white) is part of a rapidly-growing Minnesota pipeline.

3. Weekend Recap: Spartans split with Penn State
(The Munn Minute)

I occasionally break my "no recap-ish stuff" rule for stuff from FoTYT IcersGuy and Mary Clarke, so I figured I could do it for The Munn Minute as well. Sometimes it's interesting to get an opposing perspective on your big moments, like Saturday's win at Michigan State.

Some people might call it the low point in the season, but I guess we'll have to see. You can't really sugarcoat this, MSU shouldn't lose to Penn State - even with the season the Spartans have been having this year. Heck, the Spartans won Friday without two of their three leading scorers. With that said, Penn State wasn't going to make it easy. They did beat Ohio State earlier in the year, and they rallied a couple of times this weekend to make MSU work for it. The Spartans had a 2-0 lead disappear on Friday as well as a 3-2 lead.

2. Trio Flourishing for Nittany Lions
(PSU ComMedia)

The latest in a series of outstanding Ross Insana features on the women's team - this one hits on the team's top line of Yox, Descoresie and... Gross. I need to come up with a nickname for her.

1. Lake Conference girls' hockey rivals to unite
(Minneapolis Star Tribune)

Because I missed Women's Commit Cycle last week (the latest of about 60 plans is to get it out this week, then stagger them going forward to spread out the agony of doing them), I didn't get to share this great piece on women's signees Amy Petersen, Laura Bowman and Sarah Nielsen. So I'm fixing that.

"Laura and I knew of each others' [college] options, but we came to our decision to go to Penn State on our own," Petersen said. "It was pretty cool when we told each other that we had decided to go there. We'll have the chance to make our own traditions and write our own history."

The independent decisions of Petersen and Bowman weren't lost on Nielsen.

"I had been thinking about Penn State and a few other schools, but when I heard that they committed there, I thought, 'This could be a really good thing,'" Nielsen said. "I respect them so much that I knew I wanted to be a part of it when I heard they were going there."

Best of the Rest



Bo Pellah Goal on Jan 16th 2013
(YouTube)

Speaking of Commit Cycle, this goal by 2014 defenseman Bo Pellah was mentioned in last week's men's post, but before we had the available video to go with it.

Club teams faring well against NCAA hockey this year
(Arizona Daily Wildcat)

The ACHA is a respectable 4-5-0 against the NCAA, according to this article. I'm not entirely sure that's accurate: Alabama-Huntsville beat Alabama twice, Vanderbilt once and Oklahoma twice, while PSU beat Arizona State once. So that's six NCAA-over-ACHA games right off the top of my head. Fair to include ACHA D3s in that calculation? Not really, but I didn't come up with the parameters. Regardless, ACHA hockey is good hockey, remember that kids.

Jack Ham on Tomahawks: ‘I’m glad to be involved’
(Johnstown Tribune-Democrat)

PSU football legend Jack Ham is a minority owner of the NAHL's first-year Johnstown Tomahawks (as is Shane Conlan, another product of Linebacker U). Here's a nice story on the former Pittsburgh Steeler's ties to the junior hockey team, which will honor him with a bobblehead on Thursday night.

@BattistaJoseph
(Twitter)

Joe Battista has had this Twitter account for a while, but he finally started using it this past weekend, in order, among other things, toss up a photo of himself with former Icers player and assistant coach Andrew Strasser in front of the Munn Ice Arena scoreboard.

VIDEO: Soldier Field Begins Transition to Hockey Rink
(Bucky's 5th Quarter)

Remember obsessing over a similar video taken at Citizens Bank Park about 13.5 months ago? Those were good times. The Miami-Notre Dame, Minnesota-Wisconsin doubleheader at Soldier Field will be played on February 17th.

LVC ice hockey survives the conditions, but fall to Delaware 6-2 in Outdoor Classic
(Stack the Pads)

Speaking of outdoor hockey, ACHA D1's Lebanon Valley College and Delaware took advantage of the ice installed at HersheyPark Stadium for an AHL game between Hershey and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton last week.

Williamsport minor league hockey team folds
(PennLive)

Finally, one of the more intriguing stories in Pennsylvania hockey came to a premature end as the Williamsport Outlaws of the Federal Hockey League suspended operations about six weeks before the end of their first season in the Little League capital. The "intriguing" part stems from the fact that they attempted to play all of their home games outside at Bowman Field, which usually hosts baseball's Williamsport Crosscutters. As it turned out, they made it through all but one of those games, which were frontloaded relative to the season as a whole to account for the start of baseball season.

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).

Club Sandwich: October 9th

Men

Friday box score // GoDutchmen.com Friday recap
Stack the Pads Friday recap

The ACHA Division 2 Ice Lions (3-1-1) learned a hard lesson about spotting a team early goals during Friday night's home tilt against D1 Lebanon Valley College.

In each of the first two periods, the Dutchmen scored less than 60 seconds from the opening faceoff. The first tally, by Cole Bell, forced PSU to play from behind for most of the first period, a venture that ended successfully with late goals from Joe Zitarelli and Franky Reluzco. LVC then tied the game early in the middle period off of the stick of John Hagy II, and the teams traded goals later in the second to close out the game's regulation scoring.

Penn State killed off an overtime interference penalty to Mac Winchester to survive until a shootout, but Zitarelli's skills competition tally wasn't equal to LVC's pair.

The loss was the first in the regular season for the Ice Lions in nearly a full year, dating back to last October 9th, against SIU-Edwardsville at the 2011 ACHA Showcase. PSU, however, will get a chance for revenge on the Dutchmen on November 11th at Hersheypark Arena.

Counting that LVC game and heading into Saturday's ACHA Showcase tilt with Miami in Rockville, MD, the Ice Lions had lost just four times since the beginning of 2011-2012. Two of the four (the Dutchmen and Lindenwood on October 8, 2011) were against D1 opposition, and none of the four included a margin of more than two goals.

In light of that data, the RedHawks' blowout win qualifies as stunning. A wild first period saw Chris Lewis score both first and last to keep the game even after 20 minutes. From there, however, it was all Miami in a chippy match.

The Ice Lions, who surprisingly and suddenly find themselves at an early turning point in their schedule, play just once this weekend, on Saturday evening at MACHA rival Delaware.

Women

California recap // Sunday box score

The women's ACHA Division 2 team (0-1-1) began its first season of play by being swept at California (PA).

Since it's all we have on Saturday's game, the first in team history, here's an excerpt from the recap on the Vulcans' site.

The Vulcans managed to get off to a great start in their opening game of the season. Just five minutes into the contest Angelica Smith scored the first goal of the season to give the Vulcans a 1-0 lead.

The scoring would come to a halt after Smith’s goal all the way until the 7:36 mark of the third period when Penn State tied the game at 1-1. As regulation play finished out neither team was able to break the tie as the game headed towards a five minute sudden death overtime period.

In the overtime Margo Laboon found the back of the net at the 2:04 mark to give the Vulcans their first ever win over Penn State.

Cal goalie Maria Sciacca made 24 saves in Saturday's game, then added another 34 and a shutout on Sunday. Katie Vaughan was great in the opposite crease in turning away 26 of 28 in the second game, but goals from Kelsey DeNardo and Alli Paratore proved the difference.

PSU will travel to Michigan State to battle the ACHA D2 version of the Spartans this weekend.

Three Stars: September 10-16

3. Meet #25 Katie Murphy
(YouTube)

I debated whether to headline Murphy on this week's entry reserved for the women's YouTube countdown since I also popped her in below for something else, but I couldn't help it, because we have something very important in common. Third question, if you really need to know (it violates a self-imposed TYT rule to directly say it).

Also this week: Birdie Shaw, Jenna Welch, Sarah Wilkie and Emily Laurenzi.

2. Penn State sports facilities projects on hold
(Centre Daily Times)

In a somewhat under-the-radar story, intercollegiate athletics pulled $25 million from plans to upgrade the extremely-dated McCoy Natatorium and add to the tennis facilities. The student-run committee responsible for spending the facilities fee charged to each University Park student quickly responded by removing their $30 million from the equation as well. The stated reason for the athletic department's move was, in fact, the NCAA sanctions.

This situation illustrates precisely why I'm still keeping my eyes and ears open for potential impacts of the sanctions on hockey despite the party line, which is to point out that the consent decree with the NCAA doesn't allow cuts from non-football sports. The athletic department in this case isn't chipping directly at the swimming and diving teams' budgets, but at the facilities budget, so it's not a violation. I'm fairly certain that those teams aren't particularly happy about this news, though - it surely hurts them from a competitive standpoint, as McCoy is already well below par compared with peer institutions. The bottom line, the reason I included this, is that this illustrates how the consent decree is not ironclad protection for non-revenue sports.

It's interesting...if you had asked me before all of this whether I'd rather have $102 million for hockey from one guy or $102 million for hockey from, say, 50 guys, I would have taken the second option every single time. It's not that I'm not grateful to the Pegula family, of course I am. This blog is named after my gratitude. Terry Pegula, while I don't know him personally, seems as if he has a sincere desire to use his vast fortune to grow the sport of hockey for the right reasons (obviously, there's plenty of evidence of that well beyond State College). He's engaged in the fruits of his generosity, but only as a matter of interest - I don't see him as a micromanager, the type of donor who would call up Joe Battista to demand that someone be fired. I'm just generally wary of being indebted for life to one single guy who, as a result, has largely unchecked power over the program, regardless of that guy's identity.

That said, I've now come around to thinking it's beneficial to have that one guy, at least at this particular moment in history. While the power that Pegula holds can very easily be detrimental under a different set of circumstances, it's reality that just about every athletics and facilities expenditure is under intense scrutiny right now. In that climate, I think it's vital that hockey has an extremely high-profile (largest private donation in Penn State history, celebrity stemming from his ownership of the Buffalo Sabres) backer capable of scaring Dave Joyner and cronies away from harming hockey in a way not possible from fifty $2 million donors - who are also not of one mind and would likely be split on something like repurposing their donations from "hockey only" to "general" if asked. It's not off-the-map crazy to suggest that a hypothetical involving more evenly-distributed donations would have resulted in abandonment of NCAA hockey at Penn State shortly after last November.

1. Penn State Hockey 2012-13 Season- Enemies
(YouTube)

PSU law student Aaron Griffin, who immortalized himself as the sixth person to ever buy student tickets for NCAA hockey at Penn State, assembled this unreal primer on the opposition this season. I'm going to eventually type a lot of words about these teams, but if a picture is worth a thousand words, then a five-minute video is worth...I don't know, probably more words than I'll have for you.

Best of the Rest

Is that Toaster? I don't think I've ever used Toaster. I like Sutro and X-Pro best.

kpegula
(Instagram)

Hey, remember that time Terry and Kim Pegula donated $88 million (at the time) to Penn State to build an arena and endow scholarships so that the men's and women's ACHA programs could elevate to NCAA Division I? Of course you do, especially since I've already discussed it in this post. Remember how they were given customized Icers jerseys at the press conference on September 17, 2010?

Well, the white one is in good hands, those of Terry's and Kim's daughter Kelly. I wonder if Jessie has the blue one.

Penn State Unveils New Look
(The Pipeline Show)

I'm not going to link every opinion out there concerning the new jerseys, but this one was more detailed than most, and also provides counterpoint to my own opinion.

The TPS guys, before you get too mad at them over this, have been absolutely fantastic to the Penn State program so far, including an hour-long studio appearance by Guy Gadowsky in July and previous interviews of both Gadowsky and freshman forward Reed Linaker. This post still counts as good publicity as well.

College Hockey Roundup: Penn State’s New Threads, NBCSN Schedule, Culture at BU
(The United States of Hockey)

This jersey opinion from Chris Peters generally reflects the non-PSU consensus in my observation: simple, sharp and classy, although maybe a little boring. He did toss in a couple of curious comments, though.

The one deviation from traditional hockey jerseys is the smaller numbering resting a little higher than normal on the shoulders, which is an interesting look. We’ll see how that shows up on the broadcast (As a part-time broadcaster, shoulder/sleeve numbers are crucial to identify unfamiliar players).

The placement of the so-called "TV numbers" is due to the structure of Nike hockey jerseys - one would think that Peters would have noticed that as a guy blogging about Nike-outfitted USA Hockey. Observe:

Clockwise from top left: the Nikewear of Penn State, USA Hockey, Michigan State and Hockey Canada.

As you can see, there's sort of a wedge-shaped area right at the shoulder junction which, due to the way the jerseys are put together, is the best, most convenient place for those numbers. It also limits their size to the space between the top and bottom seams (looking at the edges of the numbers in relation to those seams above, PSU's numbers may be smaller than others, but not by much at all if that's even the case). These weren't design choices made by Penn State out of the blue, and the placement is certainly something Peters should have seen before in his part-time broadcast work (you can almost see him huffing his own fumes as he dropped that parenthetical in, because FastHockey is just like NBC).

While the “We Are Still Penn State” signs might make you (and me) a little squeamish...

Wait, hold up Chris...I thought we were talking about hockey jerseys, not what you ridiculously labeled the "Sandusky-Paterno" scandal and your uninformed opinion of our reaction to it. Stick to fluffing NTDPers and Ryan Kesler while receiving entirely too much credit for it bud. Actually, you can keep being a hack if you want, that's ultimately not my concern, but at the very least, maybe you should try digging a little deeper into the hack toolbox than "express disapproval of Penn State in an unrelated story to try to win over the audience and generate clicks...and make sure you sneak the name 'Paterno' in as well." That one's been dulled from overuse.

Both of those...views are wrong.

Well, they're opinions, so they can't really be wrong...but yeah, yours are anyway.*

Oh, almost forgot...

Hope you puke.

* Yes, I know that last quote is well out of context. In fact, it's from an entirely different subsection of the post.

@t_wea36
(Twitter)

The women's team enjoys conditioning sessions enough to pose for team photos to commemorate them. Really nothing not to like about this group.

katie_murphie
(Instagram)

Speaking of the Lady Icers Nittany Lions women, Katie Murphy and Lindsay Reihl had a little skate baking party Thursday night (for those who don't know, baking new skates helps break them in so that they fit better, and look good, feel good, play good). Of course, skate baking parties are a lot more fun when you're working with these:

Aligning D-III men’s title game with Frozen Four has pros, cons
(USCHO)

Understandably, the powers that be in Division III are concerned with the lengthening of the season required to play their national championship game on the Friday of the Division I Frozen Four weekend. That said, figure it out, because the proposal, which would be effective with the 2014 event in Philadelphia, is a fantastic idea.

Outlook’s NCAA 2012-13 Preseason Women’s Hockey Awards
(outlookhockey.com)

There's probably no need to click through, as PSU gets completely skunked on the preseason CHA awards here. Well, unless you want to learn about some of the top players elsewhere in the league I guess.

LVC ice hockey preview: Goalie Matt Turner
(Stack the Pads)

Matt Turner will bring his sick mask to the Ice Pavilion on October 5th to face the ACHA's Ice Lions. And Derek Meluzio will bring his sick goalie previews to Penn State in the near future to give us a first look at what the troika on the Nittany Lions roster will be wearing.

Pegula Ice Arena Sneak Peak 9/14/12
(Big Froggy 101)

I struggled with the decision to share this because of how completely amateurish they make my PIA photos appear, but holding it back would have only cubed my amateurishness factor, right? Oh well, some country station gets access to the site that I don't for whatever reason. I'll survive. Here's a taste of what the link offers:

Three Stars: June 11-17

3. Black Hawks accept invite to Junior World Cup
(wcfcourier.com)

2013 G Eamon McAdam's team will represent the U.S. in the second-ever Junior World Cup August 18-26 in Omsk, Russia. The tournament, won by Krasnaya Armiya of Moscow last year, features teams from ten countries split into two groups, with the top two following an intra-group round robin advancing to the semifinals. Canada, incidentally, will be represented at the World Cup by the OHL's Sudbury Wolves. Unfortunately, they're not in Waterloo's pool, meaning that somewhere, USHL commissioner Skip Prince is considering human sacrifice to get both teams to the semifinals.

On a more serious note, it should be a nice opportunity to get an early look at McAdam (who is the most experienced returning goalie for the Black Hawks) against top-shelf competition.

2. Pine Creek grad assumes big leadership role at Penn State
(Paisley Hockey)

Women's captain Taylor Gross gets some nice run from veteran college hockey scribe Joe Paisley. And she sounds ready to run show on the CHA.

“Even if I was not captain, I would still need to be a leader because of my Division I experience on a team with a lot of freshmen,” [Gross] said. “But, I think we will surprise some people. We will be better than most people will expect.”

1. The Jersey Thread
(Pride of Pegula)

If you think about it, the revealing of Penn State's NCAA jerseys is really the only big thing left unannounced to this point, so why not hit the boards and engage in some pointless and ultimately futile (but fun) speculation about it?

The picture leading this post is the official TYT endorsement for the jersey design. For the home and away, I kept the lettering and numbering basic (because we are Penn State) and the striping single to mirror PSU's iconic football helmets, which hockey borrows as well. I didn't include the chipmunk anywhere, because I concluded that "PENN STATE" lettering has been more significant as an element of historic PSU hockey jerseys and adding a chipmunk would clutter things. That said, I would be open to using it as a shoulder patch or even in place of the front numbers, similar to the current jerseys. Or, you could even remove the last names and place a small chipmunk in that space, which would be pretty solid. Anyway the alternates, of course, are a nod to the jerseys of the first varsity team in 1940-1941:

Special thanks to PoP proprietor Aaron Griffin, who really deserves credit for the idea on the alternates, by the way.

If you want a better look, click here (after allowing me to remind you that I'm some random guy in Ohio with zero influence on the jersey design process). If you think you can do better, well that's what the thread is for.

Best of the Rest

Pegula Ice Arena Construction Photo Gallery
(statecollege.com)

Friend of TYT Ben Jones took some time off from covering the Jerry Sandusky trial to snap some PIA site pictures. He stole my thunder on that a little, but I'm not at all mad - I avoid Sandusky coverage as much as I possibly can (unfortunately - in this case - staying on top of PSU hockey news means I have to keep up with "general" PSU news outlets, so...), I can only imagine what it's like, for someone who cares at all about Penn State, to have to take a front-row seat to it as a job requirement. Taking a break to give some time to a positive story, yeah, I get that.

Anyway, they're from last Wednesday. And looking quite good.

Lions, and Dutchmen, and Bears! Oh my!
(Stack the Pads)

Be on the lookout for some great PSU coverage from StP, with special attention given to the goaltenders. I think it's axiomatic in the hockey world that non-goalies don't truly get goalies, so I'm looking forward to the insight.

Coaching veteran Guy Gadowsky to speak at Hockey Coaches Conference‏
(The Coaches Site)

I mentioned this in a Three Stars a couple weeks ago, but since the hosts actually sent me the press release, I'll give them one more go. I have no idea how they even know of TYT, but I'm honored to be considered that legitimate. Here's the canned quote on Gadowsky:

"Guy Gadowsky is one of the top amateur coaches in North America. He built both the University of Alaska Fairbanks and Princeton University Mens’ programs into National contenders; however, it’s his track record of developing his players on the ice and in the classroom which sets him apart." said Aaron Wilbur, managing director of the Coaches Site. "His contributions to grass roots hockey are immeasurable and we are excited to have him represent the NCAA and Penn State University."

@TheoFleury14
(Twitter)

Correction: Tim Curley, Gary Schultz and Graham Spanier allegedly (for the time being, that word still needs to be in there) tried to cover this up to protect there [sic] 51 million dollar a year profitable football program. I've never done 28 tons of blow over a decade and a half, but not surprisingly, it apparently affects your cognitive abilities.

I try to stay out of the whole thing as much as possible unless it touches the hockey program in some way (AD changes, Terry Pegula reaffirming his donation, etc.) and like I just mentioned, I don't envy those who don't have a choice in the matter. But a hockey hall of famer guy who could have been a hockey hall of famer, had he not trashed his career, tweeting about it is noteworthy, I guess.

Ohio State men's hockey schedule coming together for last CCHA season
(examiner.com)

Included for the fact that an Ohio State guy semi-admits to his program's weakness. There's something that doesn't happen very often. Well, it doesn't in football, but maybe it does it hockey. Going to have to play the "I'm still new here" card on that.

The format [for the Pittsburgh College Hockey Invitational] has not been decided but if it’s one where the winners advance to the title game then Robert Morris would likely select OSU for its first game based on Miami’s better record the past few seasons.

It’s unlikely the Buckeyes and Miami would want to face each other in a nonconference game unless some hardware was at stake.

So...RMU wouldn't pick Miami because OSU sucks more. They wouldn't pick PSU - which, it has to be said, sucks more than everyone as a new program until otherwise proven - because OSU would throw a hissyfit about playing Miami in a non-conference game. Hey, here's an idea: pick Miami anyway and give us PSU-OSU, RMU-Miami. Because pairwise credit is fun and everyone gets two games regardless. And because it's the best draw of any of the arrangements. And because RMU plays both PSU and OSU in December.

Wait, that's what the Target Center looks like?

NCHC believes its on target with tournament site
(Omaha World-Herald)

Since the NCHC hitting the Target Center in Minneapolis for their tournament (opposite the Big Ten in St. Paul) is old news now, I searched for, and found, an article with something more interesting than the typical write-up.

"I’m sure the Target Center is willing to go head-to-head with the Big Ten, based on the teams," [Nebraska-Omaha coach Dean] Blais said. "Obviously if Minnesota is playing (in St. Paul), they’ll sell it out. But if fans can’t get tickets to that, or — nothing against Penn State or Michigan or Michigan State or the Big Ten — if those teams are playing, I think they’ll want to see our tournament."

Two can play at that game, Deano. If North Dakota's out of the NCHC tournament, you're left with a choice of: a) two branch campuses, b) two MAC schools (and I love the MAC as a current student at a member school), c) two schools 900+ miles away and d) St. Cloud State in e) a facility that's almost universally seen as second-rate for hockey compared to the Big Ten's Xcel Energy Center. So good luck with that. The Big Ten, without Minnesota, still offers three all-time top ten men's hockey programs and five schools with universal brand recognition. And (including Minnesota again) the main campuses of two NCHC schools, although Nebraska doesn't sponsor hockey yet.

Actually, it is worth pointing out that the Big Ten's entire tournament will be played in St. Paul (or Detroit, in alternating years). In other words, Minnesota will have at least one game at the Xcel Energy Center every single year the tournament is there. North Dakota, on the other hand, will have to get through a best-of-three campus site first round to make it to Minny. They probably will most of the time, but hey, no guarantees when you've recruited the eight best hockey programs in the country into one conference.

Quick break while I finish laughing from typing that last sentence...

ND vote lets school scrap Fighting Sioux nickname
(Yahoo!)

I'm. So. Pumped. And no, it has nothing to do with my opinion of Native American mascots, the NCAA's rule on them or the larger social and political issues involved. I just hate North Dakota, so things that make them sad make me happy, simple as that. All of that said, this is The Story That Will Never Die (TM), so I'm not throwing the party until what's apparently a minority of the state's residents are unsuccessful in their next avenue of appeal, an attempt at a constitutional amendment.

Back at ya, buddy.

NCAA Sends North Dakota State's Championship Banner To Rival UND
(SB Nation Minnesota)

This isn't a hockey story, but it's hilarious. Fun fact: North Dakota State has more hockey national championships than North Dakota. 8-7.

Ice Hockey Will Host Delaware in Outdoor Game
(godutchmen.com)

Lebanon Valley College is taking on the defending ACHA national champs at Hersheypark Stadium on January 22nd, following an AHL outdoor game between Hershey and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on the 20th. If LVC gets their team up to standard, it should be a great event.

M: Penn State 12 vs. Lebanon Valley 1

Collegian recap // CDT recap // GoDutchmen.com recap // Box score

Pregame:

It feels really weird to be gearing up this early for a home game. While we weren't quite Kentucky with their legendary midnight games, those 9:00 Friday starts had kind of a cool, underground feel to them.

The legendary Rodney Martin just checked the PA. It works. This is exciting to me.

Starters just announced via @HockeyValley on Twitter: Paul Daley centering Kurt Collins and George Saad up front, Rich O'Brien and Dan Loucks on D, Matt Madrazo in net. The sophomore beats out Tim Carr and P.J. Musico for the opening night gig in an all-returnee lineup.

Steve Penstone is on the air, opening with the kick-ass past/present/future video!

"We're not caring about the opponent right now." - Guy Gadowsky in a pregame interview. Understatement of the year.

More lines: Michael Longo-Mike McDonagh-Eric Steinour, Jake Friedman-Bryce Johnson-Dominic Morrone, Tommy Olczyk-Taylor Holstrom-Justin Kirchhevel

More D: Nate Jensen-Steve Edgeworth, Brian Dolan-Pete Sweetland. Musico will be the backup goalie. Thanks Steve - that saved me a decent chunk of the first period.

Notably not in the lineup: Tim Acker, Forrest Dell, Dan Meiselman, Ryan Seibolt and Nick Seravalli. Chris Cerutti, Dan Petrick and Brandon Russo are hurt of course. Not to say that someone else in that group isn't, those are just the public knowledge ones.

I'm trying and failing to get the game on my phone - 3WZ may be blacking out streaming during games. Oh well, it was a nice thought I had for 18 hours there.

Teams are on the ice. It's happening!

John Cappelletti drops the puck wearing an Icers jersey with his name and number. To the surprise of nobody, Daley wins it. Thanks again for the jersey for the Ace of Cakes, Balboni. /sarcasm

First Period:

19:15 - First shift on and off, in the zone the whole time...line two up with more of the same.

17:59 - Whatever Madrazo gives up with his aggressiveness, he makes up with his ability to start a rush...moments later Johnson opens his PSU account 2:01 in from Friedman and Morrone. Speed kills.

17:05 - It's Kur-CAVE-uhl. I feel vindicated.

15:51 - Dolan picks up right where he left off last season - a sneaky wrister from the point makes it 2-0. Sweetland with his first PSU point.

15:27 - Kevin Jaeger in attendance at the game. Jaeger-meister! <clap, clap, clap clap clap>

12:50 - The scrimmage continues...

11:46 - Not that it's the easiest thing to judge in this type of game, but I'm loving the chemistry of the Holstrom line so far. Some nice work leads to a quality shot from Kirchhevel.

10:11 - McDonagh shanks a prime rebound opportunity off of a Jensen shot. Still 2-0.

8:43 - Kirchhevel and Holstrom once again work together to generate a scoring chance. This one came from the latter but was deflected out.

8:15 - Holstrom sent off for a slash. Penn State is using a number of people on the PK with a generally high level of success.

6:32 - ...and just as I type that, Nick Schultz scores for LVC on the power play off a nice feed from Cole Bell. 2-1 PSU...

5:13 - Olczyk restores the two-goal lead with his first, from Holstrom and Kirchhevel. At least I look smart sometimes. I totally missed it due to the obnoxious ads on UStream though. Some background there: 30-second ads are played at intervals, but at the bottom of the screen, it counts down the time until the next ad, giving you the option to play it now, or wait until the end of the countdown. I tried to time it with a break in the action. I chose poorly.

3:40 - Johnson with a nifty takeaway in the neutral zone leads to a chance for Morrone.

2:32 - The early PSU clinic has slowed down significantly as both teams take turns getting bogged down in the neutral zone.

0:00 - First period ends at 3-1 Icers. Shots were 22-3, I believe. One more quick thought on this one: I've been critical of Morrone at times, but he looks great on a line with an NCAA guy and a guy who tied for 7th in the EJHL in scoring last year.

Still 0:00 - Since Jaeger's at the game, here's my Jaeger/HMA story. We used to do player profiles for the program inserts, where we basically asked the same inane questions, then wrote it up in about half of a page. One of the questions was "what three people, living or dead, would you want to have dinner with?" I don't remember his first two, but the third was "Britney Spears, because I wouldn't mind punishing her for dessert." I printed it. That didn't end well for me, as I spent the whole pregame with a big, black marker.

Yeah, that happened. I suppose letting him write his own was my first mistake.

Second Period:

The broadcast is off air to begin the second period, my apologies. I did briefly see that the Icers went up 4-1 early in the period though. Longo was the goal scorer.

15:30 - It's now 5-1 off the stick of Loucks. The broadcast is back up, but with the picture choppy beyond the point of usefulness. Most observations from this point will be relayed from Penstone in a sense.

13:56 - Steinour and Paul Daley with some tremendous PK work behind the net as the Icers kill one off to cut LVC's PP to 1/2 (I did see that one myself)...moments later, Josh Daley makes it 6-1. Steinour and McDonagh with apples. Shots on goal right now? 34-4. Wow.

12:00 - Another quality shift from the Holstrom line.

10:59 - Since I haven't talked about defensemen much (have I needed to?), Jensen and Edgeworth add an element in back that PSU hasn't had since Steve Thurston.

8:02 - Gotta give some credit to this Colin Catherman kid, a freshman in net for LVC. He's getting flat-out blitzed and holding up okay. On the other end, I feel bad for Madrazo, it's going to take a lot for his stat line to not suck thanks to the one goal.

6:40 - Holstrom puts back an Olczyk rebound for his first at PSU. That line continues to dominate and get a disproportionate amount of ice time. However, Olczyk is now off on a boarding call shortly after.

4:00 - The Icers seemed to take that LVC power play goal personally, as they've been in lockdown mode on the last two Dutchmen chances.

2:30 - Josh Daley started the game as the extra forward, but he's started to get worked in. He was on that last PK and was skating with Holstrom on his subsequent shift.

0:00 - That's it for the second. 7-1 PSU, shots are 48-6. I'd say we're in for some experimentation come the third period.

...and some happy fans, given the face-melting performance of the home side.

Third Period:

17:30 - P.J. Musico is in the game for the 3rd period. I get burned again by the whole "you have to refresh to see the next period" thing.

16:10 - This roster is oozing with talent, but it's just a click or two off sometimes as people are still wearing their metaphorical "Hi, my name is" stickers. Johnson and Jensen misconnect on a pass, but moments later, Morrone to Johnson leads to a scoring chance.

14:28 - Jensen goes Bobby Orr in a two-man play with Paul Daley for a pretty goal. Yeah, he's pretty good. But don't sell Edgeworth short either, he's maybe not quite as dynamic, but he's sturdy. 8-1.

14:07 - Penstone continues his Longo mancrush. Nothing wrong with that at all.

12:51 - Friedman finds a parked-in-front Josh Daley. Morrone with second assist. We're officially in gongshow mode.

11:40 - Tensies. Loucks from up high gets in on the stat padding, may have been tipped. Kirchhevel and Olczyk with assist.

8:50 - One thing I like about Loucks: he's great at getting a heavy shot low and on target. Just caused a mild scramble.

7:58 - Speaking of shooting defensemen, Edgeworth now on the board as an Icer. 11-1. Cheese count: broken. Collins breaks it more moments later. Everyone scores tonight. Rodman leads a "we are Penn State" after each of the last two goals. New thing?

6:07 - Jensen with a bad turnover at the blue line, leads to a scoring chance by Schultz, but Musico answers the call.

3:40 - Their point made, the game decided long ago, the Icers seem content to let this one bleed out.

0:00 - Hey, we're 1-0! Thanks for reading! Check back later for a picture of Jaeger's player profile.

Pass the Dutchie

Matt Kisiday, a senior from Massachusetts, has scored a hat trick against Penn State...Berks.

I realize that sometimes when I do these posts, I have a tendency to talk up an overmatched opponent, like I'm trying to sell tickets to the game or something. This will not be one of those times, as the Icers open their final schedule against the Lebanon Valley College Dutchmen Friday night at 7:00 p.m. in the Ice Pavilion.

LVC's hockey program, and indeed the university as well, is more or less a direct antithesis of Penn State's. One is a research behemoth with roughly 45,000 students at its main campus, one has roughly as many enrolled as my high school. One is moving up to the ranks of NCAA programs, one just slid backwards from that group. One is building a brand-new state-of-the-art facility, one plays in an ancient hand-me-down from a previous tenant that no longer found it useful - ten years ago (don't get me wrong, I love Hersheypark Arena, but I had to play up the contrast). One prides itself on winning and coaching stability, one recently went two seasons without winning a game (2008-2010), went a combined 12-135-2 in their last six years of NCAA Division III play (2004-2010) and has had four coaches in the last two years.

Both schools wear blue and white uniforms, but that's about it.

The Dutchmen, now in their second ACHA season after last year's 21-6-0 mark against a weak schedule, carry a roster of 18 skaters and three goalies. There aren't really many advantages to having so little depth, but one is that every single player can get a mention in a tidy season preview from the team's official site.

Offensively, the Dutchmen bring back four of their top five point-scorers from a year ago, led by Nick Schultz (26 g, 12 a) and Matt Conroy (21 g, 10 a), along with Matt Kisiday (16 g, 14 a) and Kyle Stewardson (16 g, 14 a). Also back is Shaun Stamm, who had 12 goals and 11 assists last year, Alex Sweeney added an assist.

Schultz led LVC in goals, including six power-play tallies, while Conroy's 21 goals was second on the team and he led the Dutchmen, along with Stewardson, with eight man-advantage scores. Overall, LVC returns 75% of its power-play scoring.

Three freshmen will join LVC up front, including Benjamin Hoerner, Dylan Kapp, and Cody Lloyd, along with junior Wesley Landsem.

LVC brings back almost its entire defense, led by blueliner Tyler Skroski, who led LVC defensemen with six goals and 13 assists as a freshman. Nick Averona also held down the defense with 10 goals and eight assists. Chris Asroff (1 g, 3 a), Keith Lear (5 a), Eric Martin (1 a), and Timothy Bodenheimer (1 a) also made contributions on defense last year. Freshman Daniel Willey and junior Cole Bell will join the Dutchmen on defense as well.

Goaltending will be the main question mark for LVC, with experienced back-ups Matt Turner and Daniel Ramirez returning the spot of Rich Drazin '11, who started 22 games last year. Turner had a 4-0 record last year, posting a 1.91 GAA and .940 save percentage, while Ramirez made three appearances, going 1-0 with a 1.36 GAA and .940 save percentage. A freshman, Colin Catherman, will also be in the goaltending mix.

Got all that? Good. While it's the season-opener for the Icers, this group already has three games under its belt. On September 25th, they fell to Indiana (PA) 4-3 in a shootout before being drilled twice by No. 19 Canton last weekend by a combined 16-1 count. Of the newcomers Bell, a transfer from NCAA Division III Becker, has proven a solid addition, and Catherman started LVC's last game and played pretty well despite the score (45 saves in 53 shots, including stopping all 21 in the first period). Otherwise, it seems as if their top players from last year remain their top players this year.

Coaching-wise, the LVC program has seen plenty of turmoil, as mentioned at the top. Ted Russell resigned in February 2010, when the varsity program was on its last legs. Since then, Tony Horacek and Brandon Herr passed through (as did, notably, alumnus and former assistant coach Spiros Anastas, now with NCAA Western Michigan) on the way to current coach Don Parsons who, to his credit, seems to want to get the ship righted. The former UMass-Lowell player and minor-league hockey's all-time leading goal scorer (682, 50 of which were with the Johnstown Chiefs) recently spoke to the ACHA's website.

"I live here full time and would love to coach this program for many years.

"I don’t think my goal-scoring record will help me build a successful program as much as my hockey experience will. I played 17 years of pro hockey, four years of NCAA Division I hockey, and grew up with the sport in my veins. I have always wanted to be a coach. I took bits and pieces from each and every coach I ever played for, good and bad.

"No matter how good you are or how good your record is, there is always something to improve. Michael Jordan didn’t stop going to practice because he was the best player in the NBA. He was the best player in the NBA because he worked the hardest to get there and continued to learn the game and work on skills to stay on top of the game."

Almost as interesting as the coaching carousel: the saga of LVC on the Icers schedule. Initially, they were a home-and-home on February 17th and 18th. Then they were dropped. Then they were added back on, but as this Friday-only engagement, and in place of Washington & Jefferson, an even bigger mess than LVC right now.

It could fill in...the game doesn't start for 13:06.

Gone in that whole transaction? A chance to play in one of the truly historic barns in all of hockey. That's not something lost on Penn State history buffs either - the then-Hershey Sports Arena was the centerpiece of the Pennsylvania Intercollegiate Hockey League, which PSU called home in 1939-1940. In all, Hershey was home to at least 16 games played by the original varsity squad.

What's left is your standard Ice Pavilion trouncing - likely one of several this year, but possibly the most decisive of the bunch.

Three Stars: September 26-October 2

The guy on the other side of the table just questioned JoeBa's pun-making ability.

3. It's official: Flyers-Rangers in Winter Classic
(philly.com)

Brother of Nick Seravalli is the writer of record for all things Philly as far as TYT is concerned, so here's his piece on the Winter Classic's finally being announced. Of course, more to the point of why we're here:

The Winter Classic will not be only a 1-day event. The AHL's Phantoms will battle Hershey on Jan. 6 at CBP. Penn State's men's hockey team, transitioning to Division I, will face off against Aston's Division III Neumann University, tentatively scheduled for Jan. 4.

This is newsworthy in the sense that last we knew, the official word was simply "Penn State at Neumann January 4th, time TBD." Now a respected reporter is calling it tentatively scheduled for Citizens Bank Park. Maybe a fine line, but hey, that's what I do. Of course, we all know what the situation is, and the Winter Classic announcement hopefully makes it one step closer to reality.

2. New Coaches Bring Fresh Faces Division I
(achahockey.org)

No, I didn't transcribe that headline incorrectly. Total pro as always, ACHA. Other than that, this one's notable for its inclusion of (and quotes from) Guy Gadowsky, but also Friday opponent Lebanon Valley College coach Don Parsons.

1. Next Stop, Indiana…To Get a Taste of Irish Ice
(statecollege.com)

A Joe Battista column entirely about hockey? Yes, please. And yeah, "Irish Ice" is what inspired the caption at the top, even though it took me about four days to get it.

Best of the Rest

Captains Announced for 2011-12 Season
(psuicelions.com)

I'm going to try and reserve this space for a quick weekly update on the ACHA D2 Ice Lions. First off, congratulations to new captain Jim Recupero, as well as alternates Joe Zitarelli (a former Icer, of course) and Steve Aloia.

Josh Hand's charges are off to a great start at 4-0-0 (20-1 vs. Susquehanna, 6-2 vs. Rider, 7-2 vs. Pitt-Johnstown and 5-1 at Montclair State) and will head to the ACHA D2 Showcase in St. Louis this weekend, where they'll take on DePaul, Minnesota-Crookston and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.

Of note to Icers followers: Joe Zitarelli (two goals, eight assists) and Chris Lewis (five goals, four assists) are the team's two leading scorers so far. Mac Winchester has three assists, while Matt Venoit remains injured.

Jason Kalinowski verbally commits to New Hampshire ice hockey
(Stamford Advocate)

The best kind of recruiting losses are ones you didn't know you were in on in the first place. Such is the case with Kalinowski, who chose New Hampshire over Penn State, Quinnipiac and Cornell. The good news? He plays at Salisbury Prep with Thomas Welsh and the 16-year-old isn't college-bound until 2015. Get to work, kid.

Joe Battista Part 3
(YouTube)

The completion of the Penstone-Battista trilogy (Part 1 / Part 2)...this actually turned out to be my favorite segment because of how you can see Battista wrestling with the question that I remember discussing with my best friend Tim some years ago. Specifically, I'm talking about the certain loss of intimacy that comes with going big time and the memorializing of something great (without which there would be no big time). I have no doubt that both facets are in good hands.

Oh, did I forget the View From the Booth post with color pictures of on-campus hockey played on makeshift rinks in the front yard of a frat house from the 40s and an interview with Bill Downey? Shame on me. But here you go.

Recruiting stars aren't aligned for Gophers football team in 2012
(St. Paul Pioneer Press)

Here's a juicy little nugget, buried deep in this article's bowels:

The buzz in hockey circles is that Don Lucia could be offered the Big Ten hockey conference commissioner job when the league opens in 2013.

If true, he'd have to be pretty stupid to say no, especially considering the temperature of the chair in his current office at Minnesota. In fact, the idea of Lucia getting fired got me to do a Head Coach Candidate post on him back in March. Although I believe the same guy who made me think he might be fired wrote this (some background: Lucia's not fired). But...

...here's the problem. What people in "hockey circles" (repeatedly) don't seem to understand is that there are these things called "all-sports conferences." They often sponsor football, basketball and numerous other sports - all at the same time! So when one of these (say, the Big Ten), adds a sport (say, men's hockey), it doesn't mean it needs a commissioner. Because it already has one. His name is Jim Delaney.

Once again, there's no such thing as the "Big Ten Hockey Conference." It's just the same Big Ten that already exists. Maybe you've heard of it. That's not to say that Lucia isn't in line for a league job to oversee hockey in some capacity, it just won't be the capacity of commissioner.

Colonials honor McLaughlin with arena banner
(USCHO)

Weidner new assistant coach with Niagara women
(USCHO)

Two stories from the CHA this week - Allysen Weidner, a former four-year RPI player and one-year coach at Division III Hamilton College is now on Niagara's staff. Also, Robert Morris legend/assistant coach Brianne McLaughlin now has something in common with 2008 Capital One Mascot of the Year Zippy: a banner somewhere on the other side of "tastefully understated."

2011–2012 Women’s D-I Season Preview
(USCHO)

Speaking of, here's a little get-to-know-you on our future conference rivals (and the rest of women's DI as well). And yes, Mercyhurst is predicted to roll the CHA, as is their custom.

MSUM would spend $1 million a year on coaching expenses if it gets D-I hockey
(inforum.com)

Remember Minnesota State-Moorhead? If you don't: back in July, they announced their intention to start an NCAA Division I hockey program, and that they had raised $15 million of the $37 million that they thought they needed. As it turns out, that press conference was a miserable failure because, according the school, they now have...$15 million (but hey, they made a lot of cold calls and even know what they'll pay their head coach).

NCHC: Staying At 8; Sets Stage for Notre Dame to Hockey East
(College Hockey News)

Yesterday afternoon, the NCHC announced seemingly out of the blue that it will start Year One of Armageddon (2013-2014) with eight teams - the ones they already have. So no Notre Dame. The best guess is that ND-NCHC talks reached an unbreakable impasse over television rights, and the NCHC wanted to steal all of the thunder, own the story, spin it in a way favorable to them, however you want to say it.

With the Domers already ruling out independence, it appears they may be headed to Hockey East with seemingly no other options left on the table - in fact they'll "likely" have a Wednesday announcement, presumably for that reason. Which starts a whole new series of questions: Will HEA add another school to get back to an even number? Who? And what will the ECAC (the likely target) do in reaction? Finally, and most importantly, will this ever stop? (College Hockey News answers these questions yes, RPI, add RIT and yes, respectively).

2011 9th Annual Men's Division 1 Showcase
(achahockey.org)

I'm really glad Penn State isn't in the D1 showcase this year. Participation might have meant me having to look at this logo again.