Loucks Named Captain

Following the Icers' 8-0 win over West Virginia Friday night, Guy Gadowsky named senior defenseman Dan Loucks the team's captain for the remainder of the season, ending a captain-free run of this year's 22 games. From the release:

"Dan is a Dean's List guy. He represents himself extremely well," said Gadowsky. "He's very quiet, but when he does speak, everybody listens and he's a guy I'd follow anywhere."

During the 2011-12 season, the Collegeville, Pa., native leads all Penn State defensemen with 16 points (4g, 12a) in 21 games.

"There's a lot of great leaders on this team. For coach to give me the 'C' means a lot to me," said Loucks. "Anytime you can be a leader and set a good example for others, it's something you want to do."

In 79 career games, the defensive stalwart has scored nine goals and added 35 assists. He has never had a plus/minus rating lower than plus-25 in either of his two full seasons.

Loucks follows Marek Polidor, 2010-2011's captain, in donning the third letter on a Penn State jersey.

Icers Announce 2011-2012 Roster

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Marek Polidor is an Alumnus...

...so why wouldn't he be featured in the alumni magazine, The Penn Stater? I caught this in the March/April, 2011 issue, which just hit my mailbox today. Here's the text of the write-up, since it's pretty hard to read from the scan (which is at the bottom of the post).

---

Marek Polidor

A hockey captain, born too soon for Penn State's jump to the big time.

By RYAN JONES '95 COM

Marek Polidor could have played Division I college hockey, but he came to Penn State instead. Were he a few years younger, he knows, he wouldn't have had to choose.

A senior forward and captain of the Penn State Icers, Polidor '10 Sci was good enough in high school to earn a D-I offer from the Air Force Academy. The western Pennsylvania native chose to stay closer to home. "I came to Penn State for the academics," he says. "Hockey was a bonus."

It was supposed to be, anyway: As a freshman, Polidor tried out for the Icers, one of the nation's best club programs - and got cut. "I'm still not sure how that happened," he says. Resigned, he played intramurals instead. But former Icers assistant coach Matt Bertani encouraged him to try out again, and Polidor made the team as a sophomore; he had a goal and an assist in an early season cameo against Navy, then cracked the regular rotation a month later and never left.

The reward for Polidor's perseverance came last fall, when he was named team captain. But another Penn State hockey announcement around that time got a bit more attention. "It's long overdue," Polidor says of the Nittany Lions' planned move to varsity status in 2012. "It's a great opportunity for the younger guys on the Icers, who will have a shot to play D-I. That's a goal every one of us had."

Polidor will miss that chance, but he'll hold onto his skates. He says Penn State's soon-to-be-built hockey arena "sounds incredible," and when the Icers move their annual alumni game to the new rink, it's unlikely anyone will be able to keep him off the ice.

Weekend Observations: Niagara



Collegian recap // Box score

So that's pretty much what we all wanted to see to close the semester, is it not? The Icers were flat-out dominant against an overmatched opponent. Shots were 54-16 PSU. Power plays were 11-3 PSU. Fights were 1-0 PSU. It wouldn't be a Niagara game without one of those.

That last statistic is courtesy of Marek Polidor, who didn't take too kindly to Niagara's Frank Cosentino taking a run on his goalie, Matt Madrazo. Polidor scored the quick takedown, and until the two were separated, used the opportunity to try caving Cosentino's face in, cage and all. I guess that's okay if you keep your gloves on. The captain was tagged with a game disqualification in addition to the major and will miss the spring semester opener, at Ohio on January 7th.

I don't think I talk enough about Polidor, so I'll take the opening here. While I'm sure this isn't a universal opinion I'm sure, Polidor's actions to me were just the latest captain-ish move in a long series of them - he makes as many effort plays as anyone on the team, and takes up when things need to be taken up. And in this case, not only did he have a teammate's back, but he may have jump-started the team in what was a 2-1 game at the time. The Icers didn't score on the power play from Cosentino's goalie interference, but they did on one that began 47 seconds after that one ended, with Niagara's penalty killers undoubtedly in need of some oxygen.

Perhaps I'll change my opinion if Ohio ends up torching our PK in that Friday game without Polidor's efforts in that department, but for now, it was great for the team.

Speaking of the power play, am I worried? Taylor Cera's goal on the power play after the power play was Penn State's first in 12 attempts. Two more followed. The second came after 4:08 of consecutive power play time, 1:31 of which was 5-on-3. The third - Mac Winchester's first PSU goal, congratulations on that - was on the 11th man advantage at the end of a blowout game. I'm not trying to sound dismissive of successes, just realistic about the circumstances. All in all, the Icers are three for the last 18 (16.67 percent).

The old adage says that your goalie has to be your best penalty killer, and Dane Wakefield certainly was that for Niagara. I've seen a good number of goalies on underdog teams come into the Ice Pavilion and play well under adverse circumstances over the years, and despite the eight against, Wakefield's on that list. I'm not trying to sound dismissive of failures, just realistic about the circumstances. To me, the puck movement was there, the chances were there, Wakefield just stopped them. Tip of the hat to the kid. Worried? No. But definitely something to watch going into the spring - you can't play the "hot goalie" card every single time, after all.

And how about that puck movement (I am on with my transitions today)? An inordinate number of Icers goals came off of outstanding passing plays., many of which involved the top line of Chris Cerutti-Tim O'Brien-Paul Daley. A couple of those worth highlighting:

• On the first goal of the game, Tim O'Brien showed great patience while heading towards the corner and waiting for his linemates to get to the front of the next. His pass found Paul Daley's stick through a mess of traffic, and Daley deflected it home.
• The final goal in a barrage of three goals in 5:28 made the score 5-1. This time, it was O'Brien finishing on a one-timer from the circle on a give-and-go with Cerutti that spanned about 140 feet by 55 feet of the ice surface.
• Giving another line some attention, Kurt Collins made a great pass from the wall to find Dominic Morrone, who sniped it from the high slot.

Defense and goaltending? Not really a ton to talk about there, thanks to that 54-16 on the shot counter. I picked on Kevin Miller last week, so I should point out that he did a couple nice things to keep the play alive on the Morrone goal I just talked about. That seemed pretty typical of this game - little plays to feed the offense that don't result in scoresheet credit (other than Winchester's goal, and a Rich O'Brien assist, of course). They also did an effective job keeping Madrazo clean for the most part.

Madrazo got his third straight start, so it's obvious his status as starter wasn't affected by last Saturday. The freshman was flawless, other than a deflection on a Niagara power play that he couldn't do much with, and played the puck out of trouble several times. Wandering goalies always make me nervous, but hey, Madrazo doesn't seem to have nerves, so why should I?

Your quick status check: the Icers are 13-5-0, ranked No. 11 (with another ranking due out next Friday), and face a brutal January schedule. For my part, I'll continue with my regular series (Payday Memorabilia and Head Coach Candidate) through the break, as well as update the first semesters for the Lady Icers, the Ice Lions, and some of the commonwealth campus teams. And there's always those WUG tune-ups, including the tilt with Vermont.

Weekend Observations: Rhode Island

Collegian weekend recap
Friday box score
Saturday box score

First off, tip of the hat and a hearty thank you to Steve and Barb Penstone for the work they do on the UStream broadcasts, something that I hope nobody who follows the team from afar takes for granted.

A little bit of a confession: I knew that Rhode Island broadcasts their home games on FastHockey.com. Partially from curiosity, partially from wanting a opposing perspective on things, I watched that broadcast when I sat down to review the games. That lasted exactly 11:18 of game time, until I tried to analyze the first Rhode Island goal, and what I wanted to see was out of frame. I viewed that as pretty much the last straw for the bouncing, blurry video narrated by a kid who occasionally interjected to say "icing Penn State" and similar. I'm spoiled, I guess. Unfortunately, some technical issues forced me to stick with the URI broadcast through most of Friday's game, but rest assured, I jumped to UStream as soon as I was able.

It looks like "history" is the word of the day, and not in a good context. I'm struggling to find a worse weekend for the Icers - one goal scored, two losses by a total of eight goals (okay, two empty net goals on Saturday, but they still count). Sweeps happen occasionally, sure, some games tighter than others, but my best guess for the last time anything quite this bad has happened? October 1996, 15-0 and 3-1 losses to Alabama-Huntsville, then the defending NCAA Division II national champions. I believe that to be the last time we've been held to one goal for the weekend or lost by eight goals combined. Your guess is as good as mine as far as whether an ACHA team has ever done that to us.

The other little bit of history: the Icers, at 2-2-0 since dropping to No. 8, are poised to possibly leave the top 10 altogether when the next ACHA rankings come out Friday. I sincerely wonder if that's ever happened since the formation of the ACHA in 1991.

Maybe the most frustrating thing about it was the fact that the Icers weren't playing their worst since 1996. PSU was dominant for stretches on Friday, especially early on.

However, the tone of Friday's game, to me, was set by the first two power plays, one each way. Penn State's came first and led to about three tremendous scoring chances on the first wave, but Rams goalie Paul Kenny was up to each, and after changing the power play unit midway through the advantage, the Icers were unable to get established in the URI zone.

About five minutes after that penalty ended, Kevin Miller tripped Kyle Krannich, who had position while driving the slot (in other words, not the worst penalty to take), and Penn State went to the kill.  Shortly after, Dan Petrick and Carey Bell lost a 2-on-1 battle in the corner and the Rams' Dan Lassik made it 1-0. And shortly after that, 30 seconds to be exact, David Macalino finished a beautiful pass from Sean O'Neal to make it 2-0, a play that started with a great one-on-one E.J. Astarita denial of Chris Cerutti on the other end. It's foolish to declare a game, let alone a weekend, over at 2-0, but I dare anyone to tell me that sequence wasn't a microcosm of the whole two games.

Special teams reared its ugly head again when the Icers turned in a putrid two minutes on the advantage bridging the first and second periods with a chance to get back in the game. As an aside, I always hate having power plays broken up by intermission, because to me, any advantage gained from clean ice is negated by a break in momentum, the chance for the PK to catch their wind, and even the faceoff outside of the zone. On the other side, the Rams continued to punish Penn State for taking penalties, with a second powerplay goal and a converted penalty shot polishing off the win in the third period.

On Friday morning, I compared Penn State's goaltending situation to Rhode Island's. On Friday night, I learned that I was dead wrong - there really is no situation at URI, just a pair of great goalies splitting the minutes. The Icers' situation, on the other hand, went from muddled to murky - assuming murky is worse than muddled - when Teddy Hume gave up five goals on 24 shots Friday night and Matt Madrazo turned in what's quickly turning into a trademark solid performance Saturday. In fact, "solid" doesn't really do it justice, Madrazo was tremendous and kept PSU in a game we probably deserved to be in less than the game on Friday. I love the kid's moxie, he has a little of that Patrick Roy swagger in him, and his puckhandling abilities are capable of jump-starting the offense, something one can appreciate in the middle of a one-goal weekend.

I hate doing the thing where you examine each goal to assign blame - goalie, defenseman, backchecker - something that's usually done to irrationally exonerate a goalie, so I'm not going to do that with Hume. I'll just restate my belief that Hume can get his game together and be the guy come March. In a sense, I think he needs to be that guy. But at the same time, it's becoming more and more evident that he's not going to have eternity to piece things together, not with how Madrazo (along with Ivanir and Jay when they're in) has been playing.

Along with the goalie switch, Saturday brought new linemates for Dominic Morrone, yet again. Even though it's not an obvious culprit, I can't help but think that our inability to piece together a consistent second line behind Paul Daley-Tim O'Brien-Cerutti has been part of our struggles. In my opinion, Morrone is the clear anchor to that line, he just needs to develop chemistry with someone. There are certainly candidates - Marek Polidor was the Icers' offense on the weekend, on a goal that showed off his wheels as he blew by the Rams' defense. George Saad whenever he comes back. Nick Seravalli has looked better each game back. Michael Longo adds a two-way presence.

I might as well close with a positive (sort of): the URI white out boarding the failboat. Guess that FastHockey feed was good for something after all.


Try blue next time, to match the bleachers.