Midnight in a Perfect World

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

Redshirt junior forward Max Gardiner

Sophomore forward David Glen

Freshman goaltender Eamon McAdam

Sophomore defenseman Connor Varley

Freshman defenseman David Thompson

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

McAdam

Freshman forward David Goodwin

Freshman defenseman Mike Williamson

Redshirt sophomore forward Eric Scheid

Men's Jersey Countdown: #27 Max Gardiner

Redshirt Junior - Forward - 6'3" - 190 pounds - Deephaven, MN

Max Gardiner gave Penn State supporters one of those "hey this is for real" moments when, after transferring in from Minnesota, he became the first NHL draft pick (2010, 3rd round/74th overall by St. Louis) to lace up for the Nittany Lions. Of course, it also didn't hurt that the brother of the Toronto Maple Leafs' Jake Gardiner had once been deemed worthy of a Gophers program that is one of the giants of college hockey. His on-ice production didn't disappoint, as he led PSU in assists, many of them originating with wall-retrieval efforts. After an early-season storyline in 2012-13 was Guy Gadowsky's struggle to find Gardiner and Casey Bailey an appropriate third linemate, the pair clicked with Taylor Holstrom at center beginning with the December 29, 2012 win over Ohio State in Pittsburgh. While Holstrom tended to get the headlines with things like his overtime goal to close the season at Wisconsin, it was Gardiner who made that bury possible with a subtle play in front to allow him a second attempt at the net.

Career Statistics (2010-11 with Minnesota):
Season	GP	G	A	Pts.	PIM	PP	SH	GW	GT
2010-11	17	1	2	3	24	0	0	0	0
2012-13	27	3	19	22	22	2	0	1	0
NCAA Career	44	4	21	25	46	2	0	1	0

One Year Later: Penn Staters Wearing NHL Logos

Last July, inspired by the NHL development camp invites received by Nittany Lions David Thompson and Tommy Olczyk, I wrote a post called "Breakout Past: Penn Staters Wearing NHL Logos." Thompson and Olczyk were included, of course, with the rest of the list filled out by grainy, low-quality black-and-whites of players like Don Coyne and Alon Eizenman scanned from ten-year-old media guides. That's not a knock on those players or the Icers, of course - Mark Scally playing in a pair of NHL exhibition games for the Penguins in 2000 is still the gold standard for "Penn State to the show" as far as I'm concerned - but it did indicate a clear dichotomy of players from PSU's most successful period of ACHA hockey around the turn of the century and the very beginnings of NCAA-level talent at the school, with remarkably little in between. It admittedly felt a bit forced.

It's staggering how far things have progressed in a year. No, it's not all the way there yet. The list doesn't include any active NHLers, and scouring the internet for a couple days just to find not-that-great photos of a couple players (thanks for nothing, Flyers) or none at all of another (thanks for literally nothing, Canucks) seems a little south of the big time. Still, things are moving forward at a fantastic rate.

Just to be thorough, let's start with Olczyk and Thompson.

The most obvious progress has been in the form of Penn State's NHL Entry Draft picks.

[Note: Max Gardiner committed to Penn State in January 2012 and had been drafted by that point, but he wasn't included in last year's post because he hadn't been photographed playing hockey in his Blues jersey.]

Mike, if you want to pop on a Canucks jersey, selfie up, and send it over, I'd be more than happy to update this post.

This month, Koudys, McAdam and Williamson all attended development camps held by the teams owning their NHL rights (Gardiner's team, the St. Louis Blues, does not hold an on-ice camp, although they do bring prospects in for off-ice instruction). They were joined by a pair of teammates invited as free agents, similar to Olczyk and Thompson last year: Matt Skoff with the Flyers and Casey Bailey with the Bruins.

Where will the Penn State-NHL connection sit one year from today? Can't wait to find out.

The Islanders' (Second) Newest Goalie

It's become something of an NHL Entry Draft tradition: posed photos of the selected players wearing their new team's jersey. And now, for the first time, a current Penn State student has taken part, as freshman goalie Eamon McAdam - the 70th overall selection on Sunday - has officially classed up the famous colors of the New York Islanders.

McAdam is the first to partake as a PSU player. But in a sense, the Nittany Lions already have a less-than-impressive history with the draft-day occurrence, as then-Minnesota Gopher Max Gardiner's try at it was called the fourth most awkward of the 2010 batch by Puck Daddy.

Nevertheless, McAdam has done a good job redeeming things, including the final photo below with Taylor Cammarata, a forward taken six spots after the first American goalie off the board. Cammarata is headed to Minnesota, where he'll be a rival, but he spent the last two seasons as McAdam's teammate on the USHL's Waterloo Black Hawks. And, if things work out as planned, they'll rejoin forces in the NHL.

UPDATE 2:46 P.M.: From the "making me look like an idiot" department and as it turns out, McAdam actually made this year's awk list on Puck Daddy. Fortunately, only because of Cammarata's height, or lack thereof.

Click any photo to enlarge.

M: Penn State 4 vs. UAH 0

Box score // GoPSUSports.com recap // UAHChargers.com recap

USCHO recap // PennLive.com recap // StateCollege.com recap

The Nittany Lion men improved to 15-15-0 in all games, 11-13-0 in NCAA games and 9-11-0 against NCAA DI with what, in hindsight, was quite a dominating win over Alabama-Huntsville in round one of the so-called Independent League MegaBowl - but one that still contained enough juice (mostly in the form of late chippiness) to set up an interesting match on Saturday. Here's the GoPSUSports.com recap, followed by the live blog.

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Freshman forward David Glen (Fort Saskatchewan, Alta.) notched the first hat trick in program history to lead the Penn State men's hockey team to a 4-0 victory against Alabama Huntsville at Greenberg Ice Pavilion Friday night. The Nittany Lions improved to 11-13-0 with the whitewash, while the Chargers fell to 3-18-1.

Freshman netminder Matthew Skoff (McKees Rocks, Pa.) corralled 23 shots for his second shutout of the season, while sophomore forward Max Gardiner (Deephaven, Minn.) added a power-play marker. Freshman forward Kenny Brooks (Las Vegas, Nev.) collected a career-best two assists, and junior Taylor Holstrom (Yorba Linda, Calif.) extended his point-scoring streak to seven games with an assist on Glen's second goal.

After a scoreless first period, Glen opened the scoring just 1:41 into the second before Gardiner tallied for the first time since Oct. 27 with 4:29 left in the frame. The Nittany Lions added a pair of goals within a 3:30 span in the third period as they skated to the 4-0 lead. Glen added his second of the game at 11:20 of the period before completing the hat trick with 5:10 left in the game.

Penn State out shot the Chargers by a 43-23 margin and went 1-for-6 on the power play, while Alabama Huntsville finished 0-for-4 with the man advantage. Charger netminder John Griggs made 39 saves.

The two teams will conclude their weekend series Saturday, Feb. 9 with a 7:30 p.m. faceoff.

After a scoreless first period, Glen put Penn State on the board less than two minutes into the frame. Griggs stopped a dump-in behind the net, but Brooks won the battle to the puck and sent a diagonal pass from behind the goal line to Glen at the left circle, where he fired the puck past Griggs.

While on the power-play, Gardiner collected his third marker of the season at 15:31. From the left hash marks, Casey Bailey (Anchorage, Alaska) passed to Holstrom in the slot, where he one-touched it to Yanis at the point. The defenseman unleashed a slap shot that Gardiner redirected past Griggs from the top of the crease.

Glen gave the Nittany Lions a 3-0 advantage with 8:40 left in the third period. Brooks sent the puck to Peter Sweetland (Newtown, Pa.) at the blue line, where he fed Glen at the top of the left circle. With a defenseman draped over him, Glen roofed a turnaround shot for the goal.

With 5:10 left in the game, Glen added his third of the game and team-leading 15th goal of the season. Glen won the offensive zone faceoff back to junior Michael McDonagh (Winchester, Mass.), whose shot from the right circle was stopped by Griggs. Glen located the rebound and it slid it to the back of the net to account for the 4-0 final.

M: Penn State 5 vs. Ohio State 4

 

Box score // GoPSUSports.com recap // OhioStateBuckeyes.com recap
Victory Bell Rings recap // Daily Collegian recap // Daily Collegian sidebar
Centre Daily Times recap // Columbus Dispatch recap

On October 19th, Penn State endured arguably its lowest point of the season, in an even-uglier-than-the-score 3-0 loss at NCAA Division III Buffalo State. The next day, the Nittany Lions rebounded for arguably their most significant win of the NCAA era at the time, 3-2 at RIT's homecoming in front of 10,556 orange-clad fans at Rochester, NY's Blue Cross Arena.

On December 28th and 29th, Penn State (9-10-0 all games, 8-9-0 NCAA, 6-8-0 NCAA DI) went even bigger. Or B1Gger, if you prefer. Just 24 hours after being blasted by Robert Morris 6-0 in their first game at the inaugural Three Rivers Classic, PSU delivered a stunning and historic 5-4 win over future Big Ten rival Ohio State (7-8-5, 6-3-3 CCHA) in the consolation game Saturday afternoon before a crowd of 10,797 at Pittsburgh's CONSOL Energy Center.

The history, of course, is due mostly to the fact that the Nittany Lions won in a first try against a future conference opponent. It shouldn't, however, be overlooked that it was also PSU's first victory over any major-conference opponent after beating Atlantic Hockey schools AIC, RIT, Army, Sacred Heart and Air Force in this season's other DI wins. "Stunning" also stands as an accurate descriptor, given the previous day's result and the fact that PSU was just 2-7-0 in all games since beating Air Force on November 10th, with the wins coming against an ACHA team and an NCAA DIII team.

In delivering the historic stunner (yeah, let's play that one out), the line of Casey Bailey (two goals, two assists), Taylor Holstrom (two goals) and Max Gardiner (three assists) led the way for the Nittany Lions, while OSU's Ryan Dzingel was magnificent in defeat with a hat trick on six shots. Former Ohio State signee Matt Skoff made 36 saves to help PSU survive a late Buckeye rally from a three-goal third-period deficit.

Dzingel dueled with Nittany Lion defenseman Nate Jensen all game long, and won the first battle on a nice give-and-go play with Clark Cristofoli where he worked around the Mercyhurst transfer and backhanded past Skoff 3:56 into the game. It would be the last time Penn State would trail.

After PSU struggled with organizing its breakout early on, the Buckeyes began to have problems at the 7:45 mark when an errant pass went right to Gardiner just inside the OSU line. The big Minnesotan fed Curtis Loik down low to finish, just seconds after having his previous attempt denied by Collin Olson, who made 32 saves. Ten minutes later, Holstrom gave Guy Gadowsky's troops the lead when he generated a turnover from Al McLean behind Olson and got the puck out to Bailey. The initial attempt was foiled, but Holstrom circled back out front to put home the rebound.

The Nittany Lions added a rare power play goal before the first period horn when Bailey - who would go on to make the all-tournament team - finished a nice passing play started by Gardiner winning a battle on the boards and including Luke Juha during a 5-on-3 with 1:17 to go. It was PSU's first goal on the advantage against a DI opponent since Jonathan Milley's effort against Army on October 26th, as the Nittany Lions rank 56th in DI with an 8.7 percent conversion rate.

The favored Buckeyes, Dzingel in particular, did not fade away. The Ottawa Senators draft pick cut PSU's lead to one 2:39 into the second period when he made a takeaway on Holstrom along the wall in the Penn State zone, walked to the middle and fired it behind Skoff. However, after surviving Tanner Fritz's attempted tying snipe off of the crossbar, the Nittany Lions received a crucial (and game-winning) response with goals just before the second period expired and just after the third period started. On the first, Bailey potted a second goal by deflecting Juha's point blast with just nine seconds remaining. Holstrom added his second of the game off of a brilliant drop pass in front following up on Connor Varley's shot in.

Once again, OSU would threaten the security of the lead, and once again it was through Dzingel, who joined Bailey on the all-tournament team, but not until after undressing Varley and then Skoff with some greasy mitts. Tyler Lundey and Curtis Gedig received assists on the the goal, but it was largely a solo effort. With Olson pulled for an extra skater following Gadowsky's use of his timeout and with 2:28 remaining, Alex Szczechura made it a one-goal game by taking advantage of chaos in front of Skoff with a stealthy wraparound. The goalie from nearby McKees Rocks, however, stood tall through a barrage the rest of the way, including one last prime attempt with Dzingel with 12.6 seconds left.

Penn State will attempt to follow the stirring win with a couple more when it travels to Storrs, CT for a series against Connecticut on January 4th and 5th. The team makes its Ice Pavilion return the following weekend against the U.S. National Team Development Program U18 team.

M: Penn State 0 vs. Robert Morris 6

Box score // GoPSUSports.com recap // RMUColonials.com recap

Daily Collegian recap // Daily Collegian sidebar // StateCollege.com recap

Guest recapper Ross Insana of Penn State ComRadio has the details on the Nittany Lions' disappointing 6-0 loss to Robert Morris to open the Three Rivers Classic Friday afternoon at the CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh. RMU climbs to 8-4-2 (4-3-1 Atlantic Hockey) and will play Miami - which won 1-0 over Ohio State in Friday's second game - for the tournament championship Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. PSU drops to 8-10-0 in all games, 7-9-0 in NCAA games and 5-8-0 against NCAA Division I competition and will face the Buckeyes in the consolation game Saturday at 4:30 p.m.

The completed live blog is beneath Ross' recap.

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Early on it looked like Penn State would get on the board quick and early as the David Glen line, flanked by Casey Bailey and Max Gardiner on his wings, buzzed in the Robert Morris zone less than a minute into the game to create two early opportunities on RMU netminder Adam Levine. Glen was able to grab a turnover to the left of Levine and almost put Penn State up 1-0. But from then on out the first period, and for that matter the rest of the game, was all Robert Morris and there we not many bright spots for Guy Gadowsky and Company.

Just 1:49 into the first, Robert Morris’ Andrew Blazek, a junior from the Pittsburgh area in Upper Saint Clair, was able to create his own opportunity by getting up ice quickly and used his speed to his advantage to beat Peter Sweetland and eventually beat Musico short side for his fourth of the season on Robert Morris’ first shot of the game.

On Robert Morris’ first powerplay opportunity of the game, a David Glen tripping penalty 4:21 into the first, the Nittany Lions did a good job keeping the Colonials to the outside, mucking it out down low, and getting in shooting lanes with three blocked shots. Robert Morris was only able to get one good look at Musico late in the powerplay with a scrum around the net the end the Robert Morris’ charge.

At the 8:50 mark, Robert Morris’ Brendan Jamison went off for tripping the fast-moving Casey Bailey through the Robert Morris zone to give Penn State their first powerplay opportunity of the game, which coming into today was clicking at only a 8.3% success rate (5-for-60). The Nittany Lions first unit of Glen, Bailey and Gardiner saw most of the time on the powerplay chance with a lot of quick puck moving and four shots thrown at Levine but no goal to boot.

David Glen had perhaps the Nittany Lions' best scoring chance of the game on a first-period breakaway, but would later get five and a game for a hit on Andrew Blazek. Photo: Steve Manuel/GoPSUSports.com

Minutes later Glen found an open seam through the Colonials defense in what was probably the Nittany Lions best opportunity of the game. He was able to get in all alone on Levine but did not manage to find the back of the net to get Penn State on the board. A few seconds later Musico was able to make a dazzling glove hand save on Robert Morris’ David Friedmann to keep the score at 1-0 with a little over seven minutes left in the first.

After what was a close game for most of the first, the Red Sea was parted for Robert Morris as their leader in points, Adam Brace, grabbed his sixth goal of the season with 4:07 left. Literally 28 seconds later, Cody Wydo made it 3-0 Robert Morris picking up the garbage (insert Mighty Ducks movie reference) off a Musico rebound in front. Wydo then struck again for his second of the game with 37 seconds left in the first, beating Musico in transition through the five-hole from the left faceoff circle. The sophomore winger finished the game with an impressive plus four for the Colonials.

“You’re not going to win many games not scoring any goals, but certainly we put ourselves in a deep hole. We score that and a couple of them stay out it’s a different ballgame, but that’s ifs and buts. Bottom line is we put ourselves in a hole and we couldn’t come out of it,” said Gadowsky post-game.

To start the second, Head Coach Guy Gadowsky made the bold but not surprising move to go with hometown guy and McKees Rocks’ own Matt Skoff between the pipes for the 2nd period.

“We had predetermined that he [Skoff] will get the start tomorrow. Unfortunately, he had to come in today, but he was strong when he came in,” said Gadowsky.

For most of the early portion of the second, Penn State controlled the time of possession in the offensive zone, but the story for the majority of the period was the number of penalties and activity after the whistle by both teams. About six minutes in, David Glen came down the left hand side with Casey Bailey subsequently driving to Levine and the Colonials net and was able to draw a slashing penalty on Robert Morris’ Jeff Jones to put Penn State on their second powerplay chance. Their best look at the net developed with a shot from the right point by alternate captain Nate Jensen with Gardiner screening Levine as Bailey went untouched right on the doorstep and was not able to finish.

After another shot from the point by Jensen, Gardiner and Robert Morris’ Evan Renwick got into a lot of extra-curricular activity with after the whistle that compelled the referee to send both to the box officially for coincidental “hitting after the whistle” minor penalties. The rest of the second period was mostly back and forth action with good shifts consecutively by the Loik/Holstrom/Brooks line and the Longo/McDonough/Olczyk line for Penn State despite the score still at 4-0 Robert Morris. The big moment came with 34 seconds left in the second as Glen nailed Blazek behind the Robert Morris cage and was called for a five minute major for contact to the head and given a ten minute game misconduct. No further suspension for Glen has been announced as of yet.

Just before the Glen major ended, Robert Morris cashed in to make it 5-0 in the third as Greg Gibson came down the left side and found Zac Lynch in the slot where his shot off Skoff found the stick of Matt Cope in front for his first of the season. The Colonials then capped off their dominant performance with a nice feed by Blazek on the point to his partner Tyler Hinds for his second of the season to make it 6-0 with 4:08 left in the third.

Penn State continued their lack of success on the power play in today’s game going 0-for-6, despite getting 15 shots on Levine. They now sit at 5-for-66 (7.5 percent rate) on the power play for the season.

Some positives, if any, to take out of the 6-0 loss was the Bailey-Glen-Gardiner line consistently generated chances and showed energy during their shifts. For those who weren’t in attendance at Consol Energy Center, the contingency of Penn State fans did make their voice heard on a few occasions with a big “We Are” chant being one of the highlights of the second period.

11/10 Postgame: Guy Gadowsky, Matt Skoff, Max Gardiner, Frank Serratore

Comments from head coach Guy Gadowsky, freshman goaltender Matt Skoff (on the left in the video), sophomore forward Max Gardiner and Air Force head coach Frank Serratore following the Nittany Lions' 5-1 win over the Falcons Saturday night.

M: Penn State 5 vs. Air Force 1

Box score // GoPSUSports.com recap // GoAirForceFalcons.com recap

USCHO recap // StateCollege.com recap // Centre Daily Times recap

Matt Skoff made 31 saves in his best college outing to date and Max Gardiner notched three assists to help Penn State (6-3-0, 5-2-0 NCAA DI) to a 5-1 stunner over Air Force (3-4-3, 2-1-1 Atlantic Hockey).

Then again, maybe it's not so stunning coming from a team that continues to exceed expectations on a weekly basis. After all, none of Penn State's six wins can accurately be called "fluky."

The Nittany Lions, especially for a first-year NCAA program, have tremendous balance - PSU received goals from five different players for the third time this season on Saturday night, and after the game Guy Gadowsky praised the play of all six of his defensemen. Penn State also has a big-game penalty kill - against Air Force, just as in the October 20th RIT game (which has probably now been unseated as the team's signature win), the opponent was blanked on the advantage. In short, PSU is competing and frequently winning games just like <gasp> a good team. And then there's the goaltending, which is pretty important in a sport that Falcons coach Frank Serratore says could be called "goalie" instead of "hockey" a lot of the time. Skoff demonstrated a subtle brilliance against the Falcons that comes from superbly reading plays and seeing the puck.

Goals, of course, matter too, and Casey Bailey scored the game's first late in the opening period when the Alaskan sniper squeezed a shot through Jason Torf from the left wing circle. Gardiner, who laid it over for Bailey, collected his first assist on the play. The Minnesota transfer's second came when Juha blasted home his first career goal through traffic for a 2-0 PSU lead after scooping up Bailey's blocked shot.

The single most important shift of the game may have been cashed in by David Glen, Curtis Loik, Kenny Brooks, Connor Varley and Brian Dolan halfway through the third period. The Nittany Lions carried what felt - based largely on Skoff's play - like a comfortable 2-0 lead entering the frame, but Casey Kleisinger cut the lead in half just 2:41 in. For several minutes following the goal, it's probably fair to say that the Falcons had PSU on the ropes a little bit. On stepped the Glen line and suddenly, the action transported entirely to the corners behind Torf's net. Momentum flipped. That group did more than dictate the flow of the game though, as their stint on the ice ended when Loik found Varley up high. Glen then cruised to the slot just in time to deflect Varley's wrister past Torf. 3-1 Penn State.

Air Force wasn't done, of course, and continued to press through one last power play from a Justin Kirchhevel penalty with 4:49 left, and then as they pulled Torf just before Kirchhevel exited the box. Mike McDonagh and Varley responded by bombing the empty net from range to seal the win.

M: Penn State 6 at Sacred Heart 3

First off, I want to thank each of you for your support, or at least understanding, of my absence for Saturday evening's men's win over Sacred Heart. Suffice it to say, I'm a little bit of a hothead and needed to take a step back from things for a few hours. Simple as that.

The issue, for those who don't follow me on Twitter, is that there was a media tour given of the Pegula Ice Arena site yesterday (I'm sure you've seen some of the photos and videos that resulted from that already, they're pretty amazing - one photo is above, of course, and one video is linked below). Despite carrying a full-season credential for Penn State hockey, I was not invited. Last night, I was given the explanation that the tour was designed to take advantage of the "national and regional" media in town for the Penn State-Ohio State football game and who don't cover PSU hockey on a regular basis. I'd be a hypocrite if I took any great issue with that idea, as I've expressed concern over the interest of the wider Penn State community before, and the growth of the programs should always come ahead of this blog and my ego.

However, that explanation doesn't account for the fact that among others Rob Greissinger, one of the Daily Collegian's hockey writers, was on the tour. So was Ben Jones, who regularly covers hockey for StateCollege.com. So was Greg Pickel, whose hockey stuff can be read on several different outlets. All three of them do a fantastic job, and this isn't meant to imply otherwise, but their presence would seem to contradict the reasons given for my exclusion. Student papers and websites named for Penn State's home borough are not "regional" or "national," and as stated, there has been no shortage of great hockey coverage from those outlets. All three of them are fully credentialed for hockey as well and at every men's home game and even some away games. In short, their inclusion was not growing Penn State hockey's coverage footprint in any way.

More than anything, I think this and a lot of things simply boil down to "we just don't like (or respect or both) you, and aren't going to include you if we don't absolutely have to." There's a larger conversation in there about whether I should be media (which involves dancing a certain dance in exchange for less access than they give themselves) or a blog (which doesn't have to follow rules, but gets no access), but I'll save that for some other time. In general, my feeling that I'm sort of awkwardly caught between those two things.

Before moving on, I do want to reiterate one thing: my love of Penn State hockey. It's why I've paid thousands of dollars for the privilege to do this. And honestly, it's what makes my continued struggles in certain areas so perplexing to me, because I believe that I've demonstrated - both through this blog and otherwise - my support for the programs.

Anyway, on to the business of the day...

Box score // GoPSUSports.com recap // SacredHeartPioneers.com recap

StateCollege.com recap and PIA tour video

GoPSUsports.com Guy Gadowsky postgame comments

I probably need to give some thought to how I handle away games with no available video (sort of a new reality this season) and when I'm not in attendance. The cruel truth is that I don't have any great insight regarding those games - how can anyone without the ability to see it? - and simply post about those by cobbling together the available recap stories, the box score and maybe a couple tweets. I'll try to interpret what can be interpreted and offer some context.

Is the result a worthwhile product? Does it add anything to the conversation? Does it assume facts not in evidence? I'm not sure. Maybe I'm offering something unique and making the best of a bad situation. Or maybe I'm offering an inferior product just in the name of not taking the easy way out.

This time around, and in consideration of the fact that I was even less plugged in than normal for a "blind" game (see above), I'm simply going to re-publish Penn State's game release here. Actual media outlets do this all the time and get to be called actual media outlets, so maybe they're on to something. As with anything I do here, I'm accepting feedback on which approach you'd prefer. Naturally, if I'm in attendance or if streaming video is available (which will be most of the time), I'll continue with the usual live blog/recap approach.

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Junior defenseman Nate Jensen scored his first goal of the season to help PSU pull away in the third.

Six Different Lions Score in 6-3 Win Vs. SHU

MILFORD, Conn. - Six different Nittany Lions scored as the Penn State men's hockey team skated to a 6-3 victory against Sacred Heart at Milford Ice Pavilion Saturday evening. The Nittany Lions improved to 4-2-0 with their third straight win.

Senior forward Michael Longo (Allison Park, Pa.) and junior defenseman Nate Jensen (Shorewood, Minn.) notched their first goals of the season, and junior forward Michael McDonagh (Wilmington, Mass.) tallied a game-high three assists. Sophomore Max Gardiner (Deephaven, Minn.) and freshmen Curtis Loik (North Vancouver, B.C.), Jonathan Milley (Gatineau, Que.) and Mark Yanis (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.) also scored.

The Nittany Lions fell behind, 1-0, early in the first period before scoring three goals in a 5:06 span to take a 3-1 lead. The Pioneers tallied later in the frame before the teams traded goals in the second period as Penn State skated to a 4-3 second-period advantage. The Nittany Lions added a pair of goals in the final stanza as they defeated their fourth Atlantic Hockey opponent of the season.

Penn State outshot the Pioneers by a 31-19 margin. The Nittany Lions were 0-for-5 on the power play, while Sacred Heart finished 0-for-4 with the man advantage. Sophomore goaltender PJ Musico (Orange, Calif.) improved to 4-0-0 with 16 saves, while Sacred Heart netminder Andrew Bodnarchuk turned aside 25 shots.

Penn State found itself down 1-0 just 5:03 into the game before the Nittany Lions responded with their three-goal run. Following Josh Phillips' marker, Longo knotted the game at 1-1 with his first career tally just 32 seconds later. McDonagh passed to freshman defenseman Joseph Lordo (St. Louis. Mo.), who fired a shot from the blue line that Longo tipped in for the goal.

Gardiner gave Penn State a 2-1 advantage 1:07 later. Freshman defenseman Luke Juha (Mississauga, Ont.) sent a pass across the blue line to classmate Yanis, who found Gardiner near the edge of the crease. The Deephaven, Minn., native's first attempt was stopped before he took the puck around the cage and slipped it to the back of the net.

With 9:19 left in the period, Milley extended the Penn State lead to 3-1. Freshman defenseman Connor Varley (Lansdale, Pa.) passed to classmate Casey Bailey (Anchorage, Alaska), who recorded a point in his third straight game, along the half boards. The Anchorage, Alaska, native found Milley near the bottom of the left circle, where he put a shot toward the goal that went past Bodnarchuk.

Sacred Heart closed the gap to 3-2 with 2:24 left in the opening frame. The Pioneers skated through the neutral zone on an odd-man rush before Brian Sheehan wristed a shot that was caught in Musico's pads before trickling in for the goal.

Both teams scored once in the second period as Penn State secured a 4-3 lead. With 11:51 left in the frame, Jensen gave the Nittany Lions a 4-2 advantage. Lordo passed up the boards to McDonagh, who raced down the right-wing boards before sending a backdoor pass to Jensen for the goal.

Drew George tallied for the Pioneers with 7:27 left in the period to make it a 4-3 game. George received a pass from Eric Delong and finished the tic-tac-toe play for the marker.

In the third period, Yanis extended the Penn State lead to 5-3 with his second goal of the season. McDonagh passed to Yanis at the blue line, where the defenseman rifled a slap shot high to the blocker side. Senior forward Eric Steinour (Carlisle, Pa.) also recorded his first assist of the season.

Loik added his goal 1:15 later. Freshman David Glen (Fort Saskatchewan, Alta.) passed to Jensen, who took the puck into the slot. Loik then batted the puck out of mid-air and into the back of the net. Glen extended his point-scoring streak to three games with the helper.

Penn State will return to action Tuesday, Oct. 30 when it visits Fredonia State. Opening faceoff is set at 7 p.m.

10/20 Postgame: Gadowsky, Gardiner, Musico

Comments from head coach Guy Gadowsky, sophomore forward Max Gardiner and sophomore goaltender P.J. Musico following the Nittany Lions' 3-2 win over RIT Saturday night.

M: Penn State 3 at RIT 2

Box score // GoPSUSports.com recap // RITAthletics.com recap

Rochester Democrat & Chronicle recap // Rochester Democrat & Chronicle photos
USCHO recap // Daily Collegian recap

Shortly after Penn State (2-2-0) stunned RIT (1-2-0, 0-0-0 Atlantic Hockey) at Rochester's Blue Cross Arena before a homecoming crowd of 10,556, Guy Gadowsky cracked a joke: "well, we split, didn't we?"

That one-liner, of course, references the fact that the Nittany Lions were expected by most to handily beat Division III Buffalo State on Friday night but lose to RIT when things, shockingly, ended up going the other way around. PSU certainly isn't the first team to follow an unexpected loss with an unexpected win, although they may have set some sort of record for distance covered between the two games. Buff State is a middling DIII program. RIT went to the Frozen Four in 2010 and won in Ann Arbor last weekend. Considering all factors and on paper, the weekend opener was one of the ten easiest games on PSU's schedule, while Saturday night was easily one of the ten most difficult.

Of all the differences - toss the team's play, the opponent's compete level and the officiating in there too, naturally - maybe the most significant is the feeling one got following the final horn on each night. After Buffalo State, the Nittany Lions could lose any game, maybe even including those against ACHA teams. After RIT, all things seem possible. Union? Air Force? Michigan State? Wisconsin? Sure, why not?

I'll leave the finer points of the match's events to the recaps above and the live blog below, but suffice it to say that October 20, 2012, the Nittany Lions arrived as an NCAA Division I team. Emphasis not just on "Division I," but on "team" as well - from P.J. Musico and his 40 saves, to Nate Jensen and his denial (in my judgment) of two goals with timely blocks and stick jams, to the continued grit from David Glen and his linemates, to the necessary offense from Max Gardiner and Casey Bailey, to everyone who stepped on the ice during the last 4:13 of the game when PSU had to kill a George Saad checking from behind major while clinging to a one-goal advantage - the entire roster contributed to this in some important way.

No, it wasn't PSU's DI debut, and it wasn't even the first win. But this feels different. Somehow more legitimate. Few programs in DI would have any issue with AIC at home (or a de facto home). RIT, on the other hand, gives most reason for concern, including Michigan last week, St. Lawrence and Cornell in previous homecoming games, and Denver and New Hampshire in the 2010 NCAA Tournament. Beating RIT, simply put, is a quality win by any program's measure. Here's to many more.

Men's Media Day: Gardiner, Dolan, Steinour, Yanis

Interviews with sophomore forward Max Gardiner, senior defenseman Brian Dolan, senior forward Eric Steinour and freshman defenseman Mark Yanis at men's media day Monday afternoon.

Jersey Day Interviews

Here are videos of the VIPs speaking at Tuesday afternoon's jersey unveiling.

This first one is sort of a highlight reel, and comes from Penn State Athletic Communications. It was sent out as part of their media package, so I uploaded it for all of you to enjoy. It's about 55 seconds of men's coach Guy Gadowsky, 32 seconds of women's coach Josh Brandwene, and 20 seconds of the players posing for photos. Suffice it to say that they're working with better equipment than a Samsung Galaxy SII.



The rest are my recordings from the media scrums.

Men's head coach Guy Gadowsky:



Sophomore forwards Max Gardiner and Tommy Olczyk:



Women's head coach Josh Brandwene:



Senior defender Lindsay Reihl and junior forward Taylor Gross:

Jersey Day Photos

First off, there are a couple external galleries out there, from GoPSUSports and Onward State. Additionally, the women's team's Facebook page added several photos of players not at the ceremony wearing the new duds.

Here are a few TYT-exclusive photos - these are shown at less than full size, so click on any of them for the gallery and a slightly larger look.

 

 

These last four photos were sent out as part of the media release for the event, and are actually different than those in the GoPSUSports photo gallery. They're also less than full size, by the way, so feel free to click them.

Mark Selders/Penn State Athletic Communications

Mark Selders/Penn State Athletic Communications

Mark Selders/Penn State Athletic Communications

Mark Selders/Penn State Athletic Communications

Gadowsky Pipes Up

Guy Gadowsky, who was in Edmonton to watch his son Mac play in the Brick Invitational (a highly-regarded tournament for squirt-aged players played in a mall, which is awesome and reminds me of the Hartford Whalers), popped into the studio for the first hour of The Pipeline Show Saturday afternoon.

The Pipeline Show is a radio program broadcast on TEAM 1260 in Alberta's capital, but because of its depth, quality, and content is go-to listening for junior and college hockey aficionados across North America.

The full audio of Gadowsky's appearance is available here: Part 1 // Part 2 // Part 3 (all links are directly to MP3 files).

If you don't want to listen to the whole thing, I've transcribed some highlights below. Since this post is heavily based on third-party quotes, I'll do you guys a favor and skip overuse of the usual indent/italicize thing and instead set up Gadowsky's quotes with my comments, which are in italics for differentiation purposes.

Mac, by the way, went 1-2-3 - a W-L-T record, not me counting something - as a forward on the Connecticut Yankees and missed out on the Brick Invitational's playoff rounds. He scored a power play goal to open the scoring in one of those three ties, 2-2 against the BC Junior Canucks. And just because everyone loves kids playing hockey, here's Mac in his team's Habs-inspired unis:

Anyway, here are some of Mac's dad's significant quotes.

It didn't take long for TPS host Guy Flaming to ask about The Scandal. I didn't transcribe Flaming's questions in most cases, but felt it was important to here: 'Has everything that’s transpired over the last year with the football program affected what you do with the hockey program?'

"No. I think there’s questions – as soon as it broke, there certainly were questions, and rightly so, parents called and had questions about it. Once it was established – Mr. Pegula was great. He came out and said, ‘look, I believe 100 percent in Penn State and what they do, and I am more committed than ever to have the best college hockey facility, I’m committed to that.’ In fact, he stepped up and added more money, and his commitment is fantastic. And I think once that was made public, nothing else was brought up."

They moved on to discussion of the highlights of the 2012-2013 schedule. Gadowsky, not surprisingly, singled out the Big Ten opponents.

"We are eligible for the NCAA tournament because we play over 20 NCAA [Division I] games. We play a couple of Big Ten schools. We go to Michigan State, we go to Wisconsin, so that’s going to be a tremendous experience for our young team and what it’s going to be like in the Big Ten…we’re [also] going around the state to a bunch of neutral site games to expand the brand."

Speaking of the Big Ten...

"I know for sure there’s been three other Big Ten schools that have contacted our administration and are very curious as to how [the transition to NCAA hockey] happened and what they needed to do. The reality is that the prerequisite to that is that you get a Mr. Pegula or Pegula family that’s going to give 100-odd million dollars. Those guys aren’t hanging off trees. So that’s the prerequisite and that’s hard to find. But I do think there’s a lot of interest – if they can get it done, I know there are Big Ten schools that would love to be a part of it."

Another schedule highlight is the Pittsburgh College Hockey Invitational. The future of the first-year tournament was touched on, and included a name drop of a certain current national champion interested in future participation.

"This is something, I think it’s going to be an annual event. I don’t know if Ohio State’s going to be in it every year, I don’t know that, or if Miami of Ohio is. I think that they want to celebrate hockey in the area, obviously right now with Penn State coming in, and in the future I think Boston College wants to come down, so I think they are going to switch a few teams. But we’re looking at making it an annual event."

Unfortunately, he didn't let the pairings for this year's tournament slip. He reviewed several players on the first PSU NCAA team, including what I believe are his first public comments on a couple of the incoming players beyond the standard one-line press release quotes. First, Reed Linaker:

"[He] was with St. Albert for a while before he got traded to Brooks. I think he put up 81 points as an 18-year-old in the AJ[HL], and had a lot of interest from a lot of other schools, including other Big Ten schools. He had a very good year, and had a knee injury, and he’s had a tough year this year but still, Brooks thought enough of him that they tried to do everything they could to get him for the push at the end. So he’s a guy that puts up points, he plays a gritty game. He’s not the biggest guy, but he plays a gritty game and has a great head. He’s got a great offensive mind."

Nobody has said even an average word about David Glen, according to Gadowsky.

David Glen:

"David Glen, captain of probably the most successful AJ team of the past few years, he’s just a heart and soul guy. Everybody you talk to that knows this guy, they love him. Nobody’s said a bad word about him. Nobody’s said an average word about him. It’s always been what a tremendous character guy [he is], you watch him play, he’s got skills, he’s a good hockey player, but he just has that intangible. You just look at him, you know he’s going to do whatever it takes to win, and that’s what he’s all about."

Tommy Olczyk:

"He’s a guy who loves Penn State, knows what it’s about, wants to play in the Big Ten and realized it was a great opportunity to get in the first year on the ground floor to establish himself, and he did exactly that…he had a great year [last year]. He shoots the puck really well obviously. He’s pretty cerebral in the game, obviously his dad’s a great hockey guy, and he certainly has that mind. He scored a lot of goals at the club level, I’m hoping it translates, but I don’t know, I’ll find out along with you. But I do know he’s a great kid, he’s a 4.0 student, he’s a leader, he does things the right way, and he’s fantastic for our program."

Max Gardiner:

"College hockey is very strong…the pace of the game, the size of the men, you have guys that go to college at 20 years old, so they’re 24-year-old men that have been lifting weights for four years with great strength coaches. It’s a league [where] it’s not so easy to jump in right away, and I think he went right out of high school to Minnesota, and probably wasn’t ready. That’s not a knock on him, that happens to a lot of people, and he’s a third-round NHL draft choice. But he went back to the USHL, matured a little bit, had a good year, and we expect big things out of him. I think he’s got great legs for a big guy and has a good head."

He called the goaltending situation a three-way battle at this point and talked about two of those three, Matt Skoff and P.J. Musico, in greater detail.

"It’s a battle. We expect one of the guys – the freshman coming in is Matt Skoff, and he played for Sioux City. I think he had the most wins in the past three years in the USHL of anybody…he’s a guy with a ton of experience. He’s a Pennsylvania guy, he loves Penn State, we expect big things out of him. You can YouTube him, he’s gotten the odd brawl. I love the guy. He’s a great guy, he’s an excellent student, and I think he’s going to do a great job for us."

"I like guys like [Musico]. He’s an older guy, he’s traveled around a bit. He played on the east coast, he played a little bit in the USHL, he played up in Flin Flon, he’s a weathered guy, I like goaltenders like that. And he’s a heck of an athlete. He’s a great surfer, great at whatever he does."

Gadowsky touched on the differences between recruiting at Penn State and at Princeton a couple times, and I've combined those quotes here.

"Every program has their positives and negatives, and I think you have to look at that and sell that, so every time you move, you’re sort of recruiting a different athlete. Obviously, Princeton had extreme academic standards that we had to abide by. Penn State’s a great school, it’s an excellent academic institution as well, but we’re probably going for maybe a little different – a guy that doesn’t need the SAT scores that we needed at Princeton."

"We did have [competition with major junior] at Alaska, and probably less so at Princeton, because the athletes that come to Princeton are committed to going to the very top academic institutions to begin with. And we’ve already seen [CHL competition] at Penn State…it’s two great options for hockey players, and they figure out which one’s best for them."

Princeton's academic standards didn't stop Gadowsky and staff from getting guys like Taylor Fedun
on campus...no pressure though.

In a conversation about former Wisconsin one-and-done Kyle Turris, Gadowsky was asked if players who jump ship before graduation are bad for college hockey.

"I don’t think so. I think any time you get a year of education for an individual is a lot better than none. Obviously for the individual programs, they’d love to have a player like Kyle there for four years. But we understand that that’s not always going to happen. We still want to have great people – if they’re great people and great players, we want them in our program. If they can be as successful as Kyle in the NHL, I think that’s a positive."

There's something else that's a little different from Princeton, I suppose. Gadowsky's time on the air ended with a question about how he'll measure success this season.

“We’re really still trying to build a foundation, and the things that we hold important to us – in terms of how we represent ourselves, how we are in the weight room, and what kind of feeling we get, not only results, but how we’re committed to the classroom. One of the things you go to college hockey for is not just for hockey. [It’s] to expand yourself as a person, not only in academics, but as a person as a whole. If we can build a foundation where we have that environment that people want to come to our program, to graduate really quality people, you’re going to have a great education, a great hockey experience, you’re going to be developed as an athlete in the weight room…if we can establish a foundation for those things, we’re going to be a success.”

Previous to that though, he did call the Big Ten games this season a measuring stick.

"[Putting the Big Ten teams towards the end of the schedule] was a change. I think our first one was initially going to be in November, I didn’t think that was fair, so I’m glad to have them at the end. It will tell us where we’re at. Regardless, we have a ton of work to do, but it’ll give us an idea of where we’re at right now."

Three Stars: April 16-22

3. Penn State breaks ground on $102 million Pegula Ice Arena
(The Daily Collegian)

The Collegian got the short end in the groundbreaking roundup post due to its publication schedule, so I'm rectifying that here.

2. O'Brien, Chambers, Washington and Gadowsky Headline Seven-State Penn State Coaches Caravan In Early May
(gopsusports.com)

This one flew under the radar with all of the groundbreaking stuff going on, but...

Penn State men's hockey coach Guy Gadowsky is joining the bus tour for all six events during the third week of the Coaches Caravan, with stops in Altoona and Pittsburgh (May 14), Youngstown and Cleveland (May 15) and Erie and Buffalo (May 16).

Previously, Gadowsky was only scheduled for the Buffalo stop. It should be a great chance to meet him, and I'll probably be at my local stop (Cleveland, if you're too lazy to check the right-hand column) now.

1. Postseason Suspensions (Part 1, Part 2)
(Off The Crossbar)

Outgoing Lady Icer senior Abby Miller started a blog last week, and it looks like great reading so far, so check her out. The biggest story of the Stanley Cup Playoffs so far, without a doubt, is the number of incidents worthy of supplemental discipline. Here's Miller's take on several of them.

Best of the Rest



Former Penn State hockey star turns false prophet
(YouTube)

Okay, so I got a Google Alert hit on this, for obvious reasons and was bored that day, so bear with me. From the not-so-subtle dedication in the video, it's established that we're talking about former Brandywine player Chad Thomas, a defenseman from 2006-2011 and an ACHA Division 3 Academic All-American in his senior year. What was his transgression?

Chad Thomas formerly operated a ministry called "The Salvation Movement" and was promptly kicked out when it was discovered he was living with his girlfriend. A hasty shotgun wedding tried to patch up the ministry but it was not to be. Chad never repented of his fornication to his followers.

Now Chad is hearing voices and is being told events are going to happen. These events ALWAYS fail and yet he claims the voice he heard was God and he continues to make videos about his false dreams and visions and posts them on youtube on a daily basis. This is not the first time he has made false prophecies. In all of Chad's videos he appears agitated and frantic. He does not have the peace of God in him. He is not saved and only wants to escape the tribulation without having to obey Jesus.

One of Thomas' YouTube videos was called "POSSIBLE EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI OR SIGNIFICANT EVENT BY LAST DAY OF PASSOVER??", which particularly rubbed the uploaders of the lead video the wrong way (basically that entire account exists to attack Thomas). I particularly like the claim throughout that Thomas "misses the fame and celebrity status that being a college athlete brought him." Yeah, he's just like Claude Giroux in Southeast PA.

High drama. Aren't you glad you know about it now?

PS. It's the offseason. Get used to it.

Blues Prospects Trending Up, Apr. 22, 2012
(St. Louis Game Time)

Know what's cool? When a blog covering an NHL team rates one of your school's commits as one of their prospects that is "trending up" for the past week. That's new, eh?

Tuesdays With Jerry: An Old Man, A Young Man, And A College Hockey Dynasty's Greatest Lessons (Part 3) 
(BC Interruption)

The post is good in and of itself, but I'm particularly interested in one of the comments.

I’d especially love to see some football/hockey weekends with schools like Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Penn State, Minnesota, etc. with a hockey game on Friday night and football game on Saturday. Of course, this would require the football program to schedule someone besides Perkins School for the Blind as a non-conf opponent, so I’m not getting my hopes up.

It would be tough to pull off for a non-Big Ten team on the football end, with the schedules set so far ahead and with the conference becoming increasingly insular (see: the eventual jump to nine conference games). Still, I'm game.

Former Mercyhurst Laker Meghan Agosta had three points in the IIHF World Championship gold medal game.

Three Former Lakers Help Team Canada Win World Championship
(chawomenshockey.com)

For the ill-informed, since this is kind of old news (the gold medal game was on the 15th)...

Former Mercyhurst women's hockey stars Meghan Agosta, Vicki Bendus, and Bailey Bram helped Team Canada capture the gold medal at the 2012 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Women's World Championship late Saturday night at the Gutterson Fieldhouse on the University of Vermont's campus...Canada defeated the United States 5-4 in overtime to capture the country's first world title since 2007 in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Agosta tied the game late in regulation, then assisted on the overtime winner. Someday, a Penn Stater will be doing that instead. Preferably for, instead of against, Amurrica.