Three Stars: August 5-11

3. 2013-14 USHL Protected List
(Western College Hockey Blog)

WCHB's Chris Dilks has put together the 30-player rosters and 18-player affiliate lists for each USHL franchise, which is kind of a big deal since the teams don't really go out of their way to keep everyone informed, particularly with respect to the affiliate list.

The primary takeaway from a Penn State perspective: it's verification that A.J. Greer is on the affiliate list of the Des Moines Buccaneers and not the roster. That's not shocking - anything else would have been, in fact - but since the Bucs never actually put out a formal announcement following their tryout camp and ahead of the required July 10th cutdown...

Elsewhere, Chase Berger (Tri-City), Kevin Kerr (Tri-City) and Alec Marsh (Cedar Rapids) are where they're supposed to be. Put that together with Greer's return to Kimball Union Academy, toss in BCHLers Bo Pellah (Alberni Valley) and James Robinson (Langley), and we're as certain as can be reasonably possible at this point of where all of the Nittany Lions' recruits will be playing this season.

2. Jim Delany praises Penn State
(ESPN, via the Associated Press)

Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany stopped by Penn State football's preseason practice Thursday afternoon, where the involved parties went through the usual song and dance of such appearances. PSU gave Delany a football jersey, Delany gave the media the league's highly-manufactured party line concerning the scandal and the sanctions, the media gave the public some filler copy masquerading as actual news...

...except for the part where someone asked Delany about Big Ten hockey.

Delany said he expected to announce a "robust" league media package soon for hockey.

"I think our championship will grow, and I think you'll see that growth pretty immediately," Delany said. "I'm very bullish on hockey."

Well, okay, that's filler copy masquerading as actual news too, it just happens to be about hockey instead of football. Still... "robust?" I can get with that. Hopefully that word and "soon" both turn out to be accurate.

1. 2013 Philadelphia College Hockey Faceoff Promo
(YouTube)

Know why this year's Philly Faceoff promo is better than last year's version? Because it involves footage from an NCAA hockey game that Penn State won. This year's PSU-UVM repeat, of course, will be played on October 26th at the Wells Fargo Center and tickets are on sale now.

Best of the Rest

Neil Laessig will try to beat his father, Lehigh coach Tom Laessig, on November 15th and 16th

Lehigh Announces Schedule for 2013-2014 season
(lehighsports.com)

Two more Ice Lions games are out of the bag: November 15th and 16th at ACHA Division 1 Lehigh. The obvious storyline there is that Mountain Hawks coach Tom Laessig is the father of PSU forward Neil, as well as alumnus T.J., who graduated in 2012.

The series brings the total number of known Ice Lions contests to ten, plus postseason. For a full list (other than these, obviously) check out the third star from a couple weeks ago.

Penn State Berks is also on Lehigh's schedule as an ECHA rival, with games in Bethlehem on October 5th and in Wyomissing on November 8th.

Walkom named Senior VP and Director of Officiating
(NHL)

Noted Penn State hockey dad Stephen Walkom is the NHL's new Senior Vice President and Director of Officiating, replacing the retiring Terry Gregson. He was also the NHL's old Senior Vice President and Director of Officiating, as he held the job from 2005-2009 before returning to the ice as a referee. Walkom has been with the NHL in one capacity or the other since 1990 and has worn the orange stripe for 965 regular season games, along with 139 in the playoffs, the latter number including the Stanley Cup finals in 2002, 2004, 2010 and 2011.

"We are fortunate to have someone with Stephen's on- and off-ice experience ready to step in to this position," NHL Senior Executive Vice President and Director of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell said. "From 2005 to 2009, Stephen provided tremendous direction and guidance to our team of officials as the League implemented several rule changes that brought more flow and speed to our game. That management experience, combined with the fact that he has been back on the ice as a referee for the last four years, will be of tremendous benefit to the League and the game."

“The New G-Man” to Open Thursday
(Onward State)

The new era of the G-Man is underway sans the Icers-related ownership group, leaving the Shandygaff uncontested as State College's hockey player bar.

Princeton's Jack Berger: Solid guy

PU's Berger setting example
(The Princeton Packet)

Here's a nice in-depth feature on Princeton senior captain Jack Berger, a pre-med economics major who more or less is the epitome of "student-athlete." Berger was recruited to PU by Guy Gadowsky and played for him as a freshman in 2010-2011, before Gadowsky left for PSU. Additionally, younger brother Chase (who receives a quick mention in the article and another one above in the third star) is a Nittany Lions commit for 2015.

Bazin earns contract extension at Massachusetts-Lowell through ’17-18 campaign
(USCHO)

After Norm Bazin led perennially-average UMass-Lowell (a 2013-2014 PSU opponent) to both Hockey East championships and the Frozen Four in his second season last year, why wouldn't you extend him?

New Madison USHL franchise presents positives and negatives for Badgers
(Bucky's 5th Quarter)

Madison, WI - home to UDubs, of course - has been awarded a not-yet-named USHL franchise for the 2014-2015 season. Generally speaking, people struggle to put a finger on what, exactly, a nearby junior team means for the local college program, but B5Q's Andy Johnson got into the implications of the news as well as anyone. There's good (easier recruiting and scouting, exposure of players to the area) and bad (the cheaper USHL product freely serving alcohol might chip away at the Badgers' attendance) to it, but both are probably overstated in some corners.

UNO, which is located in the same market as the storied Omaha Lancers and is more in line with the USHL's footprint than any other DI program, was fourth in the nation in attendance last season and doesn't run college hockey. Michigan tends to do well with the Ann Arbor, MI-based National Team Development Program, but they'd be doing well with high-end prospects regardless of the NTDP's physical location. So who knows? The USHL certainly won't hurt Wisconsin's recruiting efforts and certainly won't help their attendance, but it's doubtful that any effect will be noticeable to the naked eye.

Penn State isn't barren in the junior program department, with the NAHL's Johnstown Chiefs nearby and the USHL's Youngstown Phantoms about a three-hour drive away (for as long as they can keep from being kicked out of Covelli Centre, anyway).

Comparisons to Gretzky? Valid in at least one respect.

The Crosby Effect
(The Hockey Writers)

Love him or hate him, it seems clear that Sidney Crosby's popularity has been fantastic for the growth of hockey - not just in western Pennsylvania, but nationally as well.

Decision made, Sheridan promoted
(ohiobobcatshockey.com)

Replacing Dan Morris who replaced Craig McCarthy as coach of the Ohio Bobcats: Jonathon Sheridan, a 2011 graduate of Lawrence University who spent last season as Morris' assistant. Good luck bud, that's quite a bit to live up to.

U.S. National Under-18 Team Roster and Schedule for 2013-14 Revealed

2013-14 U.S. National Under-17 Team Roster and Schedule Announced
(USA Hockey)

USA Hockey unveiled the rosters and schedules for its two National Team Development Program squads last week. Penn State is uninvolved, although every other Big Ten team has at least one commit on the U18 team among the league's six total (Minnesota is the school with two). Additionally the U18s, as part of their usual array of exhibitions against college teams, will battle both Michigan and Michigan State this season.

The younger team includes recruits from both Michigan (2) and Wisconsin (1).

NCAA to 'exit' business of selling school-related items
(CBS Sports)

Former Duke basketball player and present lawyer/ESPN analyst Jay Bilas - who is all kinds of awesome, by the way - discovered that on ShopNCAASports.com (a site branded as the NCAA's official online store), typing active student-athletes' names into the site's search box pulled up jerseys of the appropriate school, sport and number. The NCAA, of course, is presently busy in court defending their membership's revenue streams the noble concept of amateurism by arguing that (for example) Texas A&M football jerseys with number 2 but no name on them aren't actually Johnny Manziel jerseys, even though Manziel wears number 2 for the Aggies' football team. Ouch.

Further egg was lobbed the association's way when others discovered that merchandise involving sanctioned individuals like Joe Paterno and Reggie Bush was also available on the site. The Paterno-related items included a DVD of PSU's 2006 Orange Bowl win and a t-shirt commemorating JoePa's 400th career victory, both of which were wiped out by the NCAA penalties last summer.

Anyway, Bilas tweeted his findings last Tuesday. The story blew up from there and two days later, the NCAA announced that it was pulling out of the school- and athlete-specific merchandise business. It remains to be seen how the whole mess impacts the Ed O'Bannon lawsuit (the NCAA, for what it's worth, claims it received no revenue from ShopNCAASports.com), but given that an entity contracted by the NCAA to run its store was using player names to move product, it certainly doesn't look good.

Armchair prediction: college sports will look a lot different in the future than it does right now.

The Colonials honored Chris Kushneriuk after winning the Three Rivers Classic last year

ECHL player returning to hockey after battle with cancer
(The Score)

Saving the best news for last: Former Robert Morris captain Chris Kushneriuk, who was diagnosed with cancer last summer, is officially a survivor. Kushneriuk, who played for RMU from 2008-2011 after transferring from the dying Wayne State program, was most recently with the ECHL's Bakersfield Condors. He issued this statement through the team:

After a tough 13 month battle which has included 4 cycles of chemotherapy, 2 bone marrow transplants, 3 operations and 3 months of oral chemotherapy, I have finished all of my treatments and received the amazing news in Indianapolis today from Dr. Einhorn that everything continues to look good and I am cleared to play hockey this season! Stage 4 cancer survivor!

Three Stars: April 29-May 5

Scott Wilson, a 2011 Pittsburgh Penguins draft pick, may lead his River Hawks into the PIA in the fall

3. Ryan Patrick Named Pegula Ice Arena Hockey Director
(gopsusports.com)

Former Icer Ryan Patrick is the new Hockey Director for Pegula Ice Arena.

Patrick will oversee and implement all aspects of the community's youth, student and adult hockey programs. He will manage the facility's learn to skate and play hockey programs, the youth amateur hockey program and the student and adult hockey leagues. In addition, Patrick will coordinate and organize youth hockey tournaments and high-level independent travel teams.

Patrick, who graduated in 2003, is the son of long-time NHL executive and Miracle on Ice assistant coach Craig Patrick, the brother of former Icers captain and 1999 graduate C.J. Patrick and the cousin of Curtiss Patrick, class of 2004, another former Icer who enjoyed a five-season career in professional hockey. Carrying that family tree a little bit further, Ryan's great-grandfather was Lester Patrick, who has a major trophy named for him and formerly an NHL division as well. Craig, Lester, grandfather Lynn, and great great uncle Frank (Lester's brother) are all in the Hockey Hall of Fame, while those four in addition to great uncle Muzz Patrick (Lynn's brother) have all won the Stanley Cup in some capacity. That's... uhhh... quite a legacy.

That stuff aside, maybe the most striking element to this, at least for me, is how it drives home the idea that a Pegula Ice Arena story no longer automatically equates to a Penn State hockey story, something that initially crossed my mind when that Sara Evans skating show was announced (and the reason this news didn't get a stand-alone post). Basically, that just means that the building is closer than ever to opening.

2. Penn State Selects XOS Digital for Hockey Technology
(PRWeb)

Slow news week when the coaches' video system is your second star? Yeah, pretty much. Still, it's important, and sounds pretty damn cool to boot.

XOS Digital designed both the men’s and women’s hockey video rooms as a one-stop video production center. Once complete, the facility’s video rooms will be fully equipped with edit stations and remote control systems for capturing video directly from the camera systems installed throughout the arena. The control system enables staff to capture HD practice and game footage from these cameras directly into XOS Thunder HD editing system for in-depth analysis.

The XOS Thunder HD platform enables the Nittany Lions to access all game preparation, including video analysis, reports, diagrams and other player development applications from a single interface.

With full audiovisual integration, the Nittany Lions are able to utilize new technologies that provide workflow automation between video editing systems, content distribution and coaching tools. The entire coaching staff will now be able to easily acquire, manage, distribute and display content throughout the facility including the varsity locker rooms, conference rooms, recruiting lounge, team lounge and coaches offices.

“How well we perform is a direct correlation to how well we prepare,” said Head Coach [Guy] Gadowsky. “It’s important to have the right resources and technology to ensure our preparation is efficient and effective. Individual player development is also critical to the team’s success, and our student athletes will be able to utilize these systems to propel them toward their goal of playing in the NHL. We are excited to enlist XOS Digital’s expertise for this project.”

1. 2013 / 2014 PSU Hockey Schedule?
(Blue White Illustrated)

It's just a message board rumor right now, but if BWI poster VaNtyLion is to be believed, 2013 Hockey East Champion and Frozen Four participant UMass-Lowell will be visiting the Pegula Ice Arena this coming season - obviously an instant highlight of the schedule.

Assessing credibility... well, the guy does sound like he knows what he's talking about for the most part. At the very least, he pays close attention, as he is aware of the Three Rivers Classic, the Philadelphia College Hockey Faceoff, RIT and Army. Issues? He has Air Force making a "return trip" to PSU when that series will be in Colorado Springs after the teams played at the Ice Pavilion back in November. Also, he states that Connecticut will be in town after January's series in Storrs, but tweets from Huskies hockey voice Will Moran laying out his team's non-conference schedule (1, 2) don't include PSU. It's entirely possible that UConn will visit PSU in 2014-2015 to reciprocate, though - one thing I've learned in doing this is that leaked information is never perfect. The only people who have every piece to the puzzle are the decision makers, and I'm pretty sure VaNtyLion isn't Billy Downey.

Verdict: Thumbs up, I buy it.

Speaking of scheduling things, Union beat writer Ken Schott "fully expects" the Dutchmen's already-known series at PSU to take place over Thanksgiving weekend. Makes sense I guess, since the 2012-2013 games at Union were also over Thanksgiving weekend.

Best of the Rest

Allie Rothman, Katie Vaughan, Carly Szyszko and Mary Kate Tonetti will lead the WIHC in 2013-14

2013-14 Executive Board Elected
(psuwihc.com)

Before parting ways for the summer, the Women's Ice Hockey Club elected its 2013-2014 officers, including Allie Rothman (president), Katie Vaughan (vice president), Carly Szyszko (treasurer) and Mary Kate Tonetti (secretary). Trust me when I say that no organization on campus has a better leadership group.

Wisconsin set for 10 home series during 2013-14 men's hockey campaign
(uwbadgers.com)

Want to know for sure who Wisconsin is playing? Here you go. No dates of course, as the Big Ten's entire schedule, when ready, will likely be released as one giant ball of... something. In other words, we're probably not going to know the dates of any of PSU's conference games before they're on GoPSUSports.com.

PSU looking to extend hockey fan base into area
(Williamsport Sun-Gazette)

This is a poorly written and researched (Penn State didn't play a single home game last year? Really?) article, but leave it to Joe Battista to say something to make me include it.

Aside from the monetary gift provided from the Pegulas, Battista said that they have raised an additional $10 million in private donations.

That's a new number, at least as far as I've seen, one that meets that "additional fundraising" goal set way back when the Pegula donation was first announced. Nice.

Former Penn State assistant athletic director Mark Sherburne hired by Lock Haven University
(PennLive)

It's really old news by now (I meant to throw it in last week and forgot), but long-time Penn State athletic department lieutenant Mark Sherburne has been hired as the new athletic director at Lock Haven. Sherburne, of course, spent ten days as PSU's acting AD during the initial fallout from the Jerry Sandusky scandal in November, 2011, after his former boss, Tim Curley, went on leave while under investigation for his role in the mess. He returned to his previous post as an assistant AD once the Board of Trustees decided that one of their own - Dave Joyner, who controversially moved directly from the board to the AD office - was better for the job, and was abruptly fired a few months later for withholding documents related to Curley.

And yes, that story is still bizarre, even more than one year later.

NCAA bans hashtagged fields, having solved all other problems
(SB Nation)

While my impression is that the vast majority of you are supportive of my covering the ACHA teams at some expense to the NCAA teams (because while it's not a pure zero sum game, it's close to one - any time I spend on the ACHA teams could be spent on the NCAA teams, hypothetically), I do get the sense that at least a few wonder why I bother. Well this, combined with things like that stinkbomb at North Carolina, offers at least a partial explanation, if you needed one. Really, NCAA? Hashtag legislation? Stick to exploiting student-athletes for billions of dollars, you're better at that.

Anyway, guess we won't be getting #OneTeam in Gretzky's Office at the PIA.

Vulcans hockey is back in good standing

Cal U will begin drug testing hockey players
(Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

Cal (PA), after suspending their entire hockey program - including two men's teams and one women's team - over a massive pot bust involving two now-former players a couple weeks ago, has now restored everything back to normal, but with required drug testing for all players. Seems sensible to me.

The Vulcans' top men's team plays at the ACHA Division 3 level and in College Hockey East with Penn State-Altoona and Penn State-Behrend. The women's team, which competes in ACHA Division 2, was Penn State's first-ever opponent back in October and will join a new conference with the WIHC for next season. Both qualified for their respective ACHA national championship tournaments in 2012-2013.

Utah awarded 2015 ACHA National Championships
(universityofutahhockey.com)

At the ACHA annual meetings on Saturday in Naples, FL (which, as always, coincided with the American Hockey Coaches Association meetings), Utah was awarded the 2015 ACHA Division 2 national tournament, which will be played in Salt Lake City. Provided the Ice Lions don't win their first-ever national title this coming season, they'll win it there, book it.

The 2014 D2 tournament is likely headed to Ashburn, VA after the Northeast Region failed to produce a bid during its turn in the four-year cycle. That hasn't been officially announced, however, and is probably still subject to change.

The women's D2 tournament (as well as those for men's and women's D1) will be in Newark, DE this coming season.

News from 2013 ACHA Annual Meeting
(ouhockey.com)

Penn State is now out of the ACHA D1 game of course, but this can still be filed under "interesting to know:" the top men's division will no longer utilize the controversial coaches poll for rankings and will now rely on computers. Hooray for that.

Also, while the format of the national championships will remain the same, the scheduling will be different. The second round, which involves playing from 16 teams down to eight, will now be spread over two days, and the day off between the quarterfinals and semifinals has been eliminated. The end result is that the tournament (which will run from Thursday-Tuesday instead of Friday-Wednesday) will never have more than four games on any one day. That re-opens the possibility of hosting by facilities with only one sheet of ice, something that hadn't been possible since the tournament expanded from 12 teams to 16 in 2005.

Examining the Big Ten Network and College Hockey
(Western College Hockey Blog)

Possibly the biggest story of the last week was the report that each of the six Big Ten hockey schools will receive an extra $2 million per year from the Big Ten Network, in addition to the rather large annual haul all 12 (soon to be 14) member universities receive.

Undoubtedly, most who follow the Big Ten closely are aware of why BTN has been so profitable since its 2007 launch - its insistence on being carried on basic cable within the conference's footprint and the escalated subscriber rates in those states that make adding schools in large TV markets a smart idea. Still, this is a nice primer for those unfamiliar, and it takes things a step further by looking at the implications of the $2 million windfall (again, it should be said, if true) and even argues that we may be near the ceiling of all of this.

Time to drop college hockey's gentlemen's agreement?
(Bucky's 5th Quarter)

Should college hockey coaches back off of a potential recruit after he verbally commits elsewhere or continue to go full Urban Meyer on him? Here's one well-thought-out and discussion-provoking opinion.

Seriously, thanks again, UConn

Ex-Niagara coach MacKenzie to guide UConn women
(Buffalo News)

Chris MacKenzie will attempt to correct Connecticut's women's program after the ouster of Heather Linstad, as the Huskies have devolved into a dumpster fire over the last few years. One that proved quite beneficial for Penn State, in case you've never seen UConn transfers Nicole Paniccia, Taylor Gross and Jenna Welch play.

MacKenzie coached the women's team at Niagara, his alma mater, from 2009 until 2011. The Purple Eagles, of course, would have been one of the Nittany Lions' conference rivals in College Hockey America had NU not chopped the program in 2012.

USA Hockey takes preemptive strike at scandal
(UPI)

USA Hockey has a shiny new zero-tolerance program for abuse, called SafeSport. And Executive Director Dave Ogrean would like you to know that...

"The catalyst for it is absolutely and admittedly a byproduct of the horror of what took place at Penn State University with the football program and Jerry Sandusky."

Is that right? You sure it wasn't something strikingly similar to that, but slightly closer to home?

On Monday January 24th, 2011 USA Hockey's Executive Director Dave Ogrean received a very disturbing email from the parent of a member describing the extremely deviant sexual behavior of Massachusetts Maple Leafs coach Anthony DeSilva. Instead of following through and contacting local law enforcement authorities, Ogrean and USA Hockey allowed a sexual predator to fall through the cracks.

I realize that Penn State is going to be cited as an example of administrative failure by too many people to count for a very long time (in fact, I recently had to write a case study on the Sandusky reaction in one of my grad school classes, which was obviously rather difficult). I accept that much as the bed made on my behalf by others. What I do not accept is a hypocritical attempt to blame the Penn State bogeyman by someone who, when presented with nearly identical circumstances, apparently did little differently.

Basically, nice try, douchebag.

Three Stars: January 14-20

3. Tess Weaver enjoying ice time at Penn State
(Daily American)

Oh hey, feature story on Tess Weaver to lead things off. I actually didn't know it existed until I went to assemble this post because it didn't get pushed through to my phone for some reason, so that was a nice surprise.

2. Ice Hockey Recap: Of Facepalms and Philadelphia
(Black Shoe Diaries)

One reason I love IcersGuy recaps: he always makes some connection that I miss. Here's the latest one:

What we learned from tonight is that Taylor Holstrom and Justin Kirchhevel like to play in the city of Brotherly Love. Both players tallied goals in the Winter Classic game against Neumann last season, and they would both light the lamp against Vermont in this game.

Didn't even think to check on that. Clearly, my mind has lost its keen edge. And clearly, TBS runs way too many Big Bang Theory commercials.

1. UAH Hockey Accepts Invite to Join WCHA
(uahchargers.com)

I normally reserve the top three slots for items directly connected to Penn State, but this is a worthy exception. Congratulations to all associated with Charger hockey on what is widely viewed as a program-saving outcome.

Worth mentioning: The PSU/Big Ten-triggered realignment still hasn't killed anyone. And it played a huge role in UAH's new lease. Chew on that, haters.

Best of the Rest

@e_scheid39 (1, 2)
(Twitter)

Know who my least favorite PSU recruit is? Eric Scheid.

Homophobic slurs? F reading and school? What a fine representative of our academic institution we've pulled. Someone inform this joke that he's not at Alaska-Anchorage anymore. We're better than this, period.

NCAA rules overhaul alters recruiting picture for college hockey coaches
(USCHO)

While not necessarily something that drastically affects the lives of you and I, for those charged with recruiting college hockey players, life has gotten a little easier. The NCAA has removed some recruiting restrictions, notably ones related to methods of communication and the number of coaches on the road at one time.

The changes come as part of a drive toward “reducing the volume of unenforceable and inconsequential rules that fail to support the NCAA’s enduring values,” according to the proposals.

College Hockey News also observed that the rules will be more restrictive in at least one way, as coaches are now prevented from scouting opponents in person unless their team is participating in the same event.

Why would "Rocky" not go to the school that offers the best chance for games in Philly?

Hard knocks pay off for Joe Gambardella in United States Hockey League
(silive.com)

Falls product Muto to attend NU
(Niagara Gazette)

Sticking with a recruiting theme, here are a couple who got away. One is Joe Gambardella, a teammate of PSU signee Zach Saar. He's headed to Lowell, which is really unfortunate, because...

Take the week after Christmas, when Gambardella, the leading scorer for the United States Hockey League's Des Moines Buccaneers, was hit in the face with a deflected puck. The disc struck him under his half-shield, broke his left cheek, sinus and orbital bones and caused a deep cut that required 22 stitches. After getting sewn back together, Gambardella went back out and finished the game.

"The way I like to look at it is, it's like a 'Rocky' story," Gambardella said of his rise in hockey world. He waited a beat, and delivered the punch line.

"And now," he cracked, "I look like Rocky."

The other is Jared Muto, who plays for Sioux Falls in the USHL and claimed a PSU offer but will attend Niagara.

“Location was a big thing for me,” Muto said. “I’ve been doing the whole traveling, dorming thing in the USHL, so I’m looking forward to moving back home. … My dad’s side of the family has never seen me play. We’re all really excited that I’m coming back.”

Never went to an Icers game.

As athletics boosters' bucks roll in, questions arise
(Philadelphia Inquirer)

An interesting both-sides-of-the-coin look at huge-money college athletics boosters, including T. Boone Pickens, Phil Knight, Kevin Plank and our very own Terry Pegula. Well, it's probably interesting, it lost me with the lede...

Just 28 months ago, ice hockey was a successful but obscure club sport at Penn State. Its players shared ice time with broomball teams and its arena held slightly more than 1,000 fans, which hardly mattered since few ever came to hockey games.

Frank Fitzpatrick: No Frank Seravalli, that's for sure.

Penn State Hockey Gear
(PSU Sports Blog by Lions Pride)

Penn State hockey gear? Penn State hockey gear.

Into the woods: After getting lost, I built a cabin
(Broad Street Hockey)

Finally, shoutout to Geoffrey Detweiler of BSH, who is hanging up his Ctrl key and retiring from doing the site's link posts. His reasons are well respected in this corner, especially in the midst of all the #HockeyIsBack ridiculousness (hockey never left, the NHL did), and worth a read.

Why am I linking it? Because BSH is literally the number three source of all-time pageviews for this site, due mostly to Detweiler. Thanks bud. And try not to go too crazy keeping up with the perpetual circus that is Chelsea FC.

Penn State Eligible For 2013 NCAA Tournament

Apologies if this is old news to some of you, as what I'm about to write was apparently reported by USCHO back in April (although, notably, even they had it wrong at first). It's definitely new to me though, and I assume to many of you as well.

Penn State's athletic department has confirmed that the men's and women's hockey teams will immediately be eligible for the NCAA tournament upon joining Division I this season. The programs are the beneficiary of the following NCAA bylaw interpretation:

An active Division I member institution that adds a new sport is not subject to the two-year conformity requirement prior to being eligible to enter a team or individual in an NCAA Championship, inasmuch as the requirement is intended to apply only to a member institution that is in the Division I reclassification process. [References: NCAA Bylaws 18.4.2.2 (championships - eligibility) and NCAA Bylaw 3.2.4.4.1 (intent to sponsor varsity sport)]

NCAA Bylaw 18.4.2.2 states that an institution must establish compliance with all freshman and transfer eligibility and financial aid requirements for a two-year period prior to being allowed in an NCAA championship tournament. The fact that last season's Icers allowed transfers Bryce Johnson, Justin Kirchhevel, Nate Jensen and Taylor Holstrom to compete without putting in a year in residence (the "sit-out" year) is one example of non-compliance that would have meant that the two-year clock could not have started prior to this season. Bylaw 3.2.4.5.1 (which I believe was the intended reference, not 3.2.4.4.1) applies NCAA recruiting regulations to a sport from the time an institution demonstrates an intent to sponsor it on a varsity level.

Those two bylaws (mostly the first one) led to confusion among the message board set - and with yours truly, to be completely honest - as to PSU's eligibility. That was compounded when Guy Gadowsky, citing a different rule, told The Pipeline Show last month that "we are eligible for the NCAA tournament because we play over 20 NCAA [Division I] games."

Thanks to the NCAA's saying that the bylaws in question weren't meant to apply to a long-established Division I institution like Penn State adding a new sport, consider the question definitively answered.

The interpretation probably benefits the men's team more than the women, as College Hockey America won't have an autobid to the tournament for two years, and no team other than national power Mercyhurst has proven able to wrangle an at-large bid among CHA teams - even tournament champ Robert Morris had to sit at home last year. By the time the women's program has a shot at an autobid, the interpretation will be moot. The men, on the other hand, will likely have several shots at Teams Under Consideration (which are vital the the PairWise Rankings used to determine at-large bids in hockey...I'll save the full explanation for when it's necessary) this year, possibly including Union, Air Force, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Miami, Ohio State and RIT. And of course, there's the matter of 20 games against established Goliaths in the Big Ten in 2013-2014.

I suppose it's worth mentioning that the 2013 Frozen Four for men is in Pittsburgh, while the championship moves across the commonwealth to Philadelphia in 2014. Should PSU stun the hockey world and make the NCAA interpretation matter (and it would be stunning, make no mistake about that), that fact will certainly be a part of a potentially incredible storyline.

Theoretically, it can be done. All that's left is to actually do it, which is admittedly the slightly harder part.

Three Stars: July 30-August 5

3. 'PegulaVille' to offer campout for hockey games
(The Daily Collegian)

Of course, the Collegian runs something on PegulaVille - the new, hockey version of Nittanyville - right after I put up last week's Three Stars. So this is old news for many of you, but I'm not being thorough if I don't include it. Oh hey, Connor Varley quote:

“This would be another way that we can come together as a university, and this would benefit the entire school,” said Varley. “We as a team see that support will really motivate us to do well for the fans.”

This is a worthy effort that I hope all of you students get behind. I've said all along that I feel like our student section will immediately be one of the finest in the nation (I am admittedly worried about the 5,000 grown-up seats at the PIA), so get out there and do it.

2. Several rules proposals gain approval
(ncaa.com)

Not much to see here, as the Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved everything the Ice Hockey Rules Committee proposed back in June. Among the changes: hand passes in all zones are now outlawed, and "distinct kicking motion" and "net off the pegs" rules when making a goal/no goal determination will more closely follow the NHL after being much more limiting before (just ask Michigan State). I ran everything down in more detail when the proposals were first released, so I'll pass on doing it again here.

1. David Goodwin Still Solid On Penn State Hockey Program
(Creve Coeur Patch)

To me, this is less about the headline - there was no reason to think that wasn't the case - and more about the quick glimpse into how the staff is working on the current commits (and probably the potential ones as well).

After the sanctions were handed down, Goodwin said he was assured by Penn State Hockey Head Coach Guy Gadowsky that the sanctions would be limited "in finances and support," to the football program.

Along the lines of support, Goodwin said he was also assured that the hockey program's chief benefactor, Terry Pegula, owner of the NHL's Buffalo Sabres and a Penn State alum, was still on board.

Best of the Rest

More from Sunday's Hockey Game
(Seldom Seen)

I stumbled on this blog last week, which contains amazing photography, including some of the Icers last season. Here are the other posts with hockey stuff:

Sunday's Hockey Game #1
Pre-game Warm-ups
Action Shot
Crowd and Player
Hockey Faces

Seldom Seen is definitely worth looking over for its other content as well, though. I highly recommend the "Penn State" tag.

Leagues of Their Own: Nick Ellis (Providence)
(Over The Boards)

There's not a direct PSU connection here, but hey, interesting stuff is interesting stuff. Make sure you bookmark OTB, as they're looking to close a few of the light-years* between football/basketball recruiting media and hockey recruiting media.

Also, because I'm never one to pass on a compliment:

On a side-note, isn’t it awesome that Penn State already has such a thorough and dedicated blogging staff before their first season? Things like that are what make me love college hockey.

Yeah, "staff." I'll be sure to pass that along to "them." But in all seriousness, thank you!

* One light-year is 5,865,696,000,000 miles. That's like 1500 miles for every single dollar to Terry Pegula's name. Hockey recruiting media isn't that far behind football and basketball. I will no longer be so flippant in using the term "light-years."

Kevin Roy commits to Northeastern
(The Mack Report)

A few weeks ago, I called Vermont the definitive low-hanging fruit, in terms of Penn State pulling off a major conference win this year. One thing that could have changed that? If recent Brown decommit Kevin Roy, who shredded the USHL for 54 goals last year became a Catamount (along with brother Derick, who also decommitted from Brown), that would have added some instant cred to UVM. But hey, good news, he's going to a school we're not playing.

It really has not been a very good offseason for Vermont. And I represent Penn State, which I think gives that statement a decent amount of credibility.

Simon Fraser, ironically, doesn't have varsity hockey. But their non-varsity team has
won the British Columbia Intercollegiate Hockey League in three of the six seasons
it has been around. Ben Van Lare (pictured) is a Texas native and former Des Moines
Buccaneer who will help lead the Clan into 2012-2013.

NCAA opens door for Canadian school to be member
(Yahoo!)

In a move that could certainly impact hockey down the road, Burnaby, BC's Simon Fraser University is a President's Council vote away from joining NCAA Division II as a full member (they were already a provisional member). We're still a long, long, long way off from a flood of schools now in the CIS starting NCAA Division I hockey programs, but it's still interesting to think about. And hey, maybe it'll force a rules change that would allow the scheduling of ACHA teams as exhibitions.

Dallas to Host U.S. Hockey Hall Induction
(usahockey.com)

Eddie Olczyk, already announced as a 2012 U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame inductee, will be formally enshrined in Dallas on October 15th. Tommy, presumably, will make the trip down after playing in PSU's first two NCAA games on the 12th and 13th, before coming back up for a road trip to Buffalo and Rochester, NY on the 19th and 20th. Busy week.

Colgate adds former Niagara coach Sciba as new assistant coach
(USCHO)

It's always good to see a coach who had his program chopped land on his feet.

NCAA, Big Ten Sanction Penn State

NCAA president Mark Emmert and PSU president Rodney Erickson bypassed the NCAA Committee on Infractions and the Penn State Board of Trustees, respectively, in acting. Concentrated power, indeed.

This morning, the NCAA announced sanctions for the Penn State football program related to The Scandal. The most noteworthy of these are:

• A four-year bowl and postseason ban.
• Scholarship restrictions to 15 per year (from 25) over the next four years and a total of 65 (from 85).
• Immediate eligibility for football players wishing to transfer.
• All wins from 1998-2011 vacated.
• A five-year probation period.
• A $60 million fine, which can be paid over five years.

Reportedly, the university worked with the NCAA to help design this punishment, and PSU president Rodney Erickson has signed a consent agreement and stated that he accepts the penalties. Basically, don't expect an appeal or a lawsuit.

Let it first be said that I could not disagree more with the NCAA's intrusion in this matter. It would have been more appropriately left to the criminal and civil courts, instead of some seemingly unilateral (or bilateral if you count Erickson, who probably just sat at the conference table with his head down most of the time) process that didn't involve an independent investigation of any sort. It relied instead on the Louis Freeh Report, biases, flaws - yes, there are many of both - and all, and on the wave of public opinion it inspired, mostly from people who read Freeh's conclusions without critical examination of the evidence used to support those conclusions.

In doing so, it handed down a punishment that harms numerous people who had nothing to do with any of this. I don't believe the punishment even has much of a deterrent effect, as the ringer PSU has and will continue to be put through from other corners is more than sufficient in that regard. It certainly won't change the "sports is king" culture prevalent at universities nationwide.

I'll leave it to the "overall" Penn State blogs to lace into the NCAA further, though. Hockey is why you're here, so let's get into some analysis of that end of things.

In my judgment, the most significant hockey-centric news came not from the NCAA, but from the Big Ten, which piled on a couple hours later with:

• Official censure.
• Conference probation during the five-year term of the agreement.
• Ineligibility for the Big Ten championship game for the term of the NCAA's bowl ban.
• Forfeiture of its share of the Big Ten's bowl revenue cut during the period of the bowl ban, estimated to be $13 million total.

If that represents the total of the Big Ten's punishment, crisis averted. I've maintained all along that the only punishment from this that would truly cripple Penn State hockey would be expulsion from the conference. Right now, it doesn't look like that is going to happen and Big Ten hockey will march forward as planned. Sorry about your luck, rest of the world (at least one media personality has called hockey a major reason why PSU didn't face that fate). Taking the broad view of things, it appears that the league has accepted the NCAA's punishment as appropriate and has more or less developed their sanctions to fit the spirit of the NCAA version.

College Hockey News may end up as the only entity outside of this blog (beyond fan forums, Twitter, etc. of course) offering analysis strictly from a hockey point of view. Here's part of what they had to say about NCAA sanctions, a hypothetical at the time the piece was written:

[It] would be a hit on the athletic department that could have trickle down ramifications for hockey, in terms of budget and recruiting, and so on.

I agree with that position, contingent on the appearance of the word "could."

The bottom line is this: we don't know. About any of that. The athletic department has been stashing away large surpluses for a while (including just south of $15 million 2010-2011), so it seems as if PSU is capable of taking what amounts to a direct hit of $14.6 million per year for five years without too much suffering. The longer-term concern, of course, is the continued profitability of the football program in light of the sanctions, which largely depends on their ability to remain competitive in spite of the scholarship limitations and possible coming transfers (I don't think the bowl ban will have a significant impact on whether people show up on Saturdays in October - the hard reality is that most bowls are meaningless, and I believe most people realize that). Football alone accounted for about $43 million of PSU's $116 million in revenue in 2010-2011, and that doesn't count items like Nittany Lion Club donations (the second biggest contributor at $18.5 million) that are largely based on football. A lot of non-revenue sports, if not in panic mode just yet, should at least be on notice.

Terry Pegula believes in the dream and in those guys to his left. He's not going to let either be hurt if it came down to it. So, uh, thanks again Terry.

But flipping back to hockey, the stated goal of administration is for it to be self-sufficient. That may or may not happen. Certainly, a paid-off arena and a boatload of endowed scholarships help on that front. If it's not self-sufficient, it becomes dependent on the athletic department's finances to some extent. If it is, administration could attempt to cut costs in order to turn that zero balance into a profit if things get tight enough. But as I've mentioned before, the average Big Ten men's hockey program costs $2.5 million year to run, and Penn State certainly has a guy capable of footing that bill in the absolute worst-case scenario. Terry Pegula won't let Penn State hockey face significant financial harm, I think that's more or less obvious to all.

Recruiting? Short of asking a representative sample of PSU targets how they feel, that's going to be a tough one to assess (I don't plan on doing that - I have no interest in calling uncommitted high schoolers at dinnertime to get a top five, then charging you to read the answer). Sure, we know of at least one case where it's been an issue, but if recruiting lags in the coming years, how much of it is this and how much is "new and (possibly) uncompetitive program?" We just don't have much of a track record from which to develop an intelligent opinion. In any case, Guy Gadowsky didn't seem overly concerned about it recently:

"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."

I don't really believe the technicality of NCAA and Big Ten sanctions in place significantly changes anything. This has been in the news cycle more or less constantly since last November, and people have already made up their minds on whether to see Penn State as something larger than The Scandal.

Football is certainly the most visible part of Penn State, and has been for a long time. It can even be argued that, despite everything the school has going for it in terms of programs and research, football was the single largest contributor to PSU's academic reputation as well. If you accept that assumption - and I think most do - the school's institution-wide reputation has taken a major blow, regardless of women's volleyball, THON, or whatever "more than football" examples you want to throw out there. Sure we, as Penn Staters, know better, the world at large does not. Unfortunately, the world at large is going to be vital for the hockey programs in many regards, perhaps most importantly in recruiting, but also in terms of things like sponsorships.

At the same time, I think it's important to remember that each sport at a university has its own niche following and is perfectly capable of building a juggernaut program, and the larger following that goes with it, with or without football. Boston University does okay for itself in hockey without a football program, as one example. Several other highly-successful hockey programs operate at schools with an irrelevant football program or without one at all - in fact, it's pretty hard to find Big Football schools that even have DI hockey outside of the Big Ten. Seemingly, the only major impact in cases where football is diminished in some way is that hockey becomes more, not less, important. Sure, people like all teams associated with the school, but at the end of the day, they do compete for time, attention and dollars. And there are really only four college sports capable of enough interest to stand on their own merits (two of those, baseball and hockey, are largely regional, of course).

Penn Staters, most of whom share my opinion on these sanctions - I'll admit to unscientific sampling there - might also react in a way unanticipated by the NCAA: by increasing their support in an act of defiance. That may or may not include football, but it almost definitely would include basketball, wrestling, volleyball and yes, hockey. Certainly, this sign outside of Beaver Stadium over the weekend might represent some indication of that sentiment.

Penn State vs. The World? Fine by me. Fine by most of us, I think, and that's sort of my point.

Despite the unknowns, and there are many, I continue to believe that Penn State hockey can survive and thrive, in spite of these sanctions. In fact, I believe Penn State football will ultimately be okay too once the pound of flesh has been taken, but that's for a different blog.

Three Stars: June 18-24

3. New York Islanders Business Directory
(newyorkislanders.com)

Unfortunately, I was unable to find a press release on this, but...

Matt Bertani, who served as an Icers assistant from 2005-2008, is the new video coach for the New York Islanders. Quite an impressive career track, to say the least. He left PSU to assist with the Islanders' AHL team, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, where he remained until now (surviving a head coaching change in the process, which shows a good deal of organizational faith). He's a dyed-in-the-wool ACHA guy, as he played with Mercyhurst's club team and he also developed some pretty diverse experience as a youth hockey coach prior to coming to PSU.

Actually, it's a meteoric rise and a great comeback story - you may recall that Bertani was nearly killed in a men's league game last year while suffering a broken neck in a collision. Congratulations Matt!

2. Gadowsky adds a pair of forwards
(Lions247)

Meet Alec Marsh and Chase Berger - at the moment, PSU's entire 2015 recruiting class.

1. Jerry Sandusky guilty on 45 of 48 counts
(The Daily Collegian)

I hope that this isn't taken as minimizing the trauma of those who came into physical contact with Jerry Sandusky and who then stood as his accusers, but we were all his victims. The justice system has done what it could with him - he'll likely spend the rest of his life as the worst type of person one can be in prison - and for that I'm glad. I just wish it could give us back what we've lost in transit to this point.

This story will likely fade from the national media's consciousness now, although the appeals, the civil suits, the Freeh report that already smells like a sham designed to pin this all on "football culture" (whatever that means), the hopeful unmasking of all in Penn State administration who kept what I suspect was a "well-known secret" at the highest levels of university governance...all of those things make this an awkward sort of semi-closure. They will keep picking at the scabs and delaying the already imperfect healing process. The good news? We are Penn State. Emphasis on "we," because Penn Staters, collectively, are what makes Penn State great. Keep excelling at whatever it is you do in life. Live the last verse of the alma mater. Do it while wearing a PSU shirt, if possible. Take the hits you'll undoubtedly receive for doing so, but keep moving forward.

We are Penn State, and we will eventually take our university back.

PS. I'm absolutely stunned that more people haven't pointed out that Sandusky is one of the jokers in the unlicensed Penn State Football Heroes playing card decks sold at PSU retail outlets for several years. The actual cards simply have footballs in the top left and bottom right corners, so I took some artistic license there.

Best of the Rest

Pride of Pegula Store
(cafepress.com)

Dooooo itttttttt.... you know you're going to want to white something out at a hockey game at some point. Pictured: my likely first purchase.

Penn State back in play for Army hockey
(recordonline.com)

The October 26th game at Army is one of my favorites this year. The Black Knights are one of just three currently-active Division I programs played by Penn State's original 1940-1947 varsity team, and the only one on this year's schedule (Cornell and Colgate are the others). I'm glad that fact hasn't gotten lost.

Penn State will play on Oct. 26 at Tate Rink, the first visit by the Nittany Lions to West Point since 1947. The school dropped varsity hockey after that season and has competed as a club program in recent years. Penn State will compete as a Division I independent this season and join the new Big Ten conference in 2013-14.

"Recent years?" Makes it sound as if the Icers started up in 2004. Oh well, nobody's perfect.

Penn State, Jerry Sandusky, NCAA Sanctions and the “Death Penalty”
(Victory Bell Rings)

Included because it brings up an interesting idea, forwarded mostly by people who hate Penn State: could the NCAA sanction PSU to the stone age? While anything is possible, I don't believe they will, because the simple fact is that none of what happened affected the on-field product in any way. When the NCAA speaks of "lack of institutional control," it's in the context of breaking NCAA rules, which are in place (generally) to ensure fairness in the realm of athletics (that's what the first "A" is for, after all). I question whether the NCAA has the jurisdiction to punish PSU for this. I also question why this story gets coverage from ESPN, but that's a different rant.

Even if the NCAA wants to bring penalties on Penn State athletics, where do they begin? As I said, this is not a football crime, regardless of how it has been portrayed. If a penalty comes, it has to be big. It has to be everybody from women’s basketball, to wrestling to baseball and fencing. A hockey team that doesn’t yet exist would be penalized. Will the NCAA punish hundreds of athletes because of the wrong-doings of an administration? Has there ever been an NCAA punishment that didn’t involve a single athlete committing a single infraction?

Yeah, basically.

Click to enlarge.

Under Construction for the Pegula Ice Arena!
(I admit)

An updated PIA photo from a likely, yet not, source - a PSU Undergraduate Admissions blog.

Penn State Ice Pavilion Tickets
(StubHub)

Every once in a while, I come across a little reminder of big-time status that blows my mind. This is one of those, even though there aren't any tickets up yet.

Western Pennsylvania nets notable status in hockey world
RMU hockey basks in ’Burgh spotlight
(Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

With the NHL Entry Draft in the Steel City Friday and Saturday, local media did not disappoint with the easily-predicted "yay Pittsburgh hockey!" articles. But hey, good PA hockey is good for Penn State. And Robert Morris. So yay, indeed.

Signs point to Federal league in Williamsport
(Shooting for the Show)

Closer to the other end of the commonwealth, it looks as if Williamsport might be getting a taste of our favorite sport.



Connecticut jumping to Hockey East, to 18 scholarships for 2014-15 season
(USCHO)

The headline more or less says it all. Hockey East finally has their 12th team, and hopefully UConn will prove worthy of it because a successful big school in a big conference is good for college hockey. They're adding the full 18 scholarships (up from zero) and will play home conference games at the XL Center, formerly the Hartford Civic Center, also formerly the home of the Hartford Whalers. So yeah, I'm dropping some Pat Verbeek on you.

And just because I haven't done this in a while, here's how the conferences stack up, beginning in 2014. The only change from 2013 to 2014 will be the Huskies' arrival in Hockey East from Atlantic Hockey.

Big Ten (6): Penn State, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, Wisconsin.

NCHC (8): Colorado College, Denver, Miami, Minnesota-Duluth, Nebraska-Omaha, North Dakota, St. Cloud State, Western Michigan.

Hockey East (12): Boston College, Boston University, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Massachusetts-Lowell, Merrimack, New Hampshire, Northeastern, Notre Dame, Providence, Vermont.

ECAC (12): Brown, Clarkson, Colgate, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, Quinnipiac, RPI, St. Lawrence, Union, Yale.

WCHA (9): Alaska, Alaska-Anchorage, Bemidji State, Bowling Green, Ferris State, Lake Superior State, Michigan Tech, Minnesota State, Northern Michigan

Atlantic Hockey (11): Air Force, American International, Army, Bentley, Canisius, Holy Cross, Mercyhurst, Niagara, RIT, Robert Morris, Sacred Heart.

Still Screwed, But Hoping the WCHA Has Mercy (1): Alabama-Huntsville.

Don't bother memorizing it, I'm sure it will change before 2014 in some way.

Just Three Proposals for Prime Canalside Site
(Buffalo Rising)

Sounds like TPegs might finally be looking to shut Canisius up. Yeah, I thought their begging for a handout was a little gauche - and before you accuse me of hypocrisy, Pegula actually has a connection to Penn State and initiated the discussion with the school. So there. Anyway...

Sources said the Sabres are proposing a multi-rink facility, with a themed sports bar/restaurant to be developed by Delaware North Cos. for the block. The rinks would be used as a practice facility for the team as well as the home base for some of the area's collegiate hockey teams. It would also host amateur and youth tournaments.

According to Business First, the Sabres/Delaware North project also includes a hotel component, parking for 1,000 cars, and retail along both Main and Perry streets. There would be two rinks, one with spectator seating for a couple of hundred, the other with up to 1,500.

That's actually smaller than the rink of Division III Buffalo State, where the Griffs currently play. Then again, they drew 626 fans per game last year, fourth worst in DI, so I think they'll be okay.

Title IX at 40
(Philadelphia Inquirer)

Finally, happy birthday to Title IX - a landmark not only for female athletes, but for everyone who believes in equality.

NCAA Rules Committee Recommends Ways to Avoid Being an English Pig with No Brains

Today, the NCAA announced the resolutions of its Ice Hockey Rules Committee, which met this week, as they do every other offseason to propose tweaks to the rules of the game we all love. First up, the most discussed topic, face shields.

The NCAA Ice Hockey Rules Committee plans to establish a collaborative process with the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports to collect data and fully explore the possibility of allowing men’s players to wear three-quarter visors.

Current rules require a full face shield to be worn.

The ice hockey committee did not make a formal proposal but focused more on continuing the process of a full review and data collection effort in the review of current technology. Committee representatives will meet with the competitive-safeguards committee next week to review a wider package of potential enhancements that can be made to enhance student-athlete safety. The committee hopes that a partnership with the competitive-safeguards committee and other hockey organizations (for example, National Hockey League, USA Hockey, United States Hockey League) will lead to the use of visors.

Zzzzzz...huh? What? I'm awake! Before we continue, here's Chris Dilks of Western College Hockey Blog with some of his typically brilliant crankiness:

Protip: If you're worried about head trauma, don't use language and syntax that makes someone want to beat his head against the wall until his nose bleeds.

Zing! So basically, no half shields and no three-quarter shields yet, which is quite a letdown after a brief moment of excitement Thursday night. But they'll study it and get back to us in two years. Enthralling.

The thing that really amazes me is how it's virtually impossible to find a player or coach against the move (the NCAA release cites a survey saying that 83 percent of players and "the overwhelming majority" of coaches are in favor, I feel like that may be conservative), but the NCAA is still finding a way to bureaucracy it to death. Don't believe me? Look at what the rules committee decided in 2010:

To work with the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sport to research and study the use of half shield facial protection and the potential impact on NCAA competition.

So in two years, we've gone from "work with" to "a collaborative process." And we're talking about three-quarter shields instead of halfies. Alrighty. I suppose the insurance companies are happy, although with lower premiums and a (possibly) heightened risk of injury, maybe they shouldn't be.

Moving on from that non-change, there were proposals of more immediate concern, each of which has to pass through the NCAA's Playing Rules Oversight Panel next month in order to go into effect for the 2012-2013 season.

• To give conferences and schools the option to play an NHL-style four-on-four overtime in the regular season, although absent a conference rule or agreement between non-conference opponents, five-on-five will still be the default. I suppose as Penn Staters, we begrudgingly have to get re-acclimated to ties (with shootouts in the ACHA, the Icers' last draw was November 4th, 2005 at Rhode Island), but it's nice to know that the NCAA is at least taking steps to reduce them - another 2010 change involved having goalies switch ends for the overtime period, creating the long change for OT.
• To outlaw hand passes in all zones, including the defensive zone. No issue here, "conditional" rules always bother me - and yes, that includes icing on the penalty kill as well. As punishment for breaking a rule...you get to break another rule? Huh? Okay, back on topic.
• To move to the NHL rule in cases of goals scored while the net is dislodged, which allows for movement of the goal as long as it's still touching the pins. It's too bad they couldn't come up with this one last time, right Michigan State?

• To add clarity to the "distinct kicking motion" rule, which will allow most goals off of a player's skate.
• To require two referees and two linesmen for men's hockey, although two referees and one linesman is still an option for women's hockey. Additionally, it is recommended that goal judges no longer be required, just "recommended." Why take it that far? They're useless appendages.
• To allow video review of disqualifications after the game. Good move, as accuracy is paramount when you're talking about parking players.
• This isn't really a recommendation, but Michigan State coach Tom Anastos will be the new chair of the committee, effective September 1st. Go Big Ten.

Know what the best part of all of this is? It's something in NCAA hockey that isn't any newer to Penn State than it is to anyone else. We're getting there.