Three Stars: August 20-26

3. Change in Penn State Athletics… Hockey Can Be Our Edge in Slippery Conditions
(lions-pride.com)

Can our new men’s and women’s Ice Hockey teams help our Penn State athletic community regain its edge? I think so.

Josh Hand wrote this - it's gotta be true!

The men's assistant, and apologies for missing this until now, is providing hockey updates on the sports blog maintained by my favorite PSU clothing store. This was actually the first of his two posts so far. Here's the second, expressing his thoughts on his decision to relocate to State College a couple years ago.

2. @nseravalli_12
(Twitter)

The always-quotable Nick Seravalli tweeted this last Wednesday evening:

I’d give my left nut, chewing and actually go to all my classes if I could go back for one more year with the boys.

Heartbreaking coming from anyone, but especially in his case, as he didn't get a true senior season thanks to his chronic groin issues that flared up throughout his career.

Ten years from now, I might not remember that. What I will remember is the way he stepped up to become one of the Icers' best forwards down the stretch of the 2010-2011 season, playing some vital shifts to help make sure Penn State didn't miss the ACHA National Championship Tournament for what would have been the only time ever.

1. Two 2015 prospects on board
(Lions247)

Recent commits A.J. Greer and Conor Garland get the Andrew Dzurita treatment. Want a wow moment from the interviews? You got it. Apparently Garland (pictured above)...

...had offers from every school in Hockey East in addition to a number of ECAC schools, said Penn State was about the 15th different campus he visited, standing out from the rest.

So Boston College, Boston University, Maine and New Hampshire, among many others. You may have heard of these programs. And he chose Penn State.

Anyone still doubt that we're going to be getting after this thing for seriously within a few years?

Best of the Rest

@KPegula
(Twitter)

The Namesake's daughter tweeted the above photo last Wednesday. My only comment: she needed a ticket? Really? Thought the whole $88 million (at the time) thing would get the family comped on the $6.50 tickets.

2011-12 ACHA Community Service Awards Announced
(achahockey.org)

Congratulations to Penn State Altoona on winning the ACHA's Community Service Award at the D3 level for last season!

Men’s Division III title game planned to coincide with Philadelphia Frozen Four in 2014
(USCHO)

Everyone in agreement that playing the DIII championship on the off day* between the Frozen Four semifinals and final is an amazing idea? Good. Moving on...

* I'll open myself up to the scorn of the college hockey world at this point and admit that I don't really care about the Hobey Baker Award** or anything else that presently happens on that Friday. It's an off day in my book.

** I'll probably care when a Penn Stater wins it. Hey, we're all hypocrites at times.

Men's Ice Hockey Announces Four Additions to Class of 2016
(aicyellowjackets.com)

Here's the class of incoming freshmen for the Nittany Lions' first-ever opponent on the men's side. It's a small group of four, but it matches the number of departing seniors from last year's young AIC team.

The CHL and the CHLPA: Links, links, comments, and more links
(Over The Boards)

The latest twist in what's been a pretty interesting offseason for the major junior leagues is that CHL players have formed a union. Before you begin imagining (and that is the correct word at this point) this development's impact on the CHL-NCAA war - our primary concern, after all - make sure you get informed via OTB's excellent primer.

Leagues of Their Own: Josh Hauge
(Over The Boards)

The junior coach of freshman forward Kenny Brooks and possibly of 2014 defense commit Kevin Kerr (who was the Storm's first pick in May's USHL Futures Draft) at some point is interviewed here. Brooks' father, by the way, owns the Tri-City Storm team Hauge coaches.

By the way, have I given OTB an appropriate plug yet? I can't remember and am too lazy to check the archives, but two links in a row tells the story there, I suppose. The site's Twitter is also must-follow material.

Yost Arena Tour
(Big Man With Camera)

Here's a fantastic set of photos to update the progress of Yost's $14 million renovation. If this place isn't on your must-attend list for 2013-2014 when the Nittany Lions finally play at Michigan, there's something wrong with you.

MichiganHockey.net posted renderings of the completed project back in January, if you're interested in seeing where this is going. Looks incurably sick, particularly with all the natural lighting.

2012-13 Schedule Breakdown
(ohiobobcatshockey.com)

Ohio U. (I hear they looooove when you call them that) sees their games at the Ice Pavilion this year as a big deal.

Sun Devils Are B.C. Bound!
(sundevilhockey.com)

PSU's other two ACHA opponents (Arizona State and Oklahoma) will both head to the great northwest for a holiday tournament with the CIS' University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser, which has won the non-varsity BCIHL in three of the six years it has existed. SFU, of course, is in the process of becoming the first Canadian member of the NCAA (which has nothing to do with hockey at the present time).

Johnstown begins new hockey era
(Altoona Mirror)

The NAHL's newest entry is presently in the middle of its training camp (which runs through Friday) ahead of its first-ever regular season game on September 8th at Port Huron. These are, indeed, exciting times for Central PA hockey on many different levels.

While it is fairly light on substance, this article does include quotes from Tomahawks part-owners Jack Ham and Shane Conlan. Those two, of course, are better known as legendary Penn State linebackers.

@Billy_Downey
(Twitter)

Oh hey, what up student section?

Weekend Observations: Robert Morris

Collegian Fri. summary // Collegian Sat. summary // Collegian weekend recap and sidebar

Onward State weekend recap // Friday VFTB highlights // Saturday VFTB highlights 

Friday team press release // Saturday team press release

Friday box score // Saturday box score

Sometimes when the Icers are playing, these posts just snap together in my head. I've identified what I feel are the storylines common to the two games, I know how to connect them, all that's left is to double-check a few plays I've scribbled in my notebook to verify what I saw, and the post is up a few hours after the Saturday game ends. And with a couple minutes left in the second period of yesterday's game, this was feeling like one of those...

...then the unthinkable happened, and it completely changed the content and tone of this post.

We'll get to that in a minute, but first, let's look at where we stood as time wound down in the second. The Icers won Friday night in rather ugly fashion. Which was perfectly fine in my book - those weekends against Delaware and Rhode Island, combined with some struggles by teams near us in the poll, earned us some leeway in the style points department. PSU actually trailed 3-2 with under four left in the second. That lasted until Paul Daley corralled the puck near the blue line on the power play, gave it to Dom Morrone, went hard to the net, and got it back just in time to tie the score against a completely lost Robbie Fallick. Nick Seravalli won two consecutive draws to start that power play (the second immediately preceded the goal), just one piece of what I thought was a good weekend for him.

That goal was important on a number of levels. For starters, it ended yet another power play mini-drought - the Icers finished 1-for-7 Friday, then went 2-for-6 Saturday, so maybe that ship's getting righted. More importantly, it gave PSU momentum for a third period where goals from the two World University Games returnees and Daley (finishing a hat trick) were enough to put the game away.

None of this was all that surprising - Robert Morris had demonstrated the firepower to hang with good teams for two periods before falling apart (see Delaware in December, and PSU in January). The Icers are so good in the third period that they get articles written about it.

These two trends came to a tidy convergence on Friday - and if you had asked me, they were about to again on Saturday after a wild second period that included four goals in the first 5:46. It all started to unravel with an interference call to Daley at 16:32 (Steve Penstone's thoughts on it: "You've gotta be kidding me.") and Kory DuMond banging home a rebound at the end of what had been a mostly harmless power play to that point. Bryan Chiavetta (who had an okay weekend, I suppose) won a battle to foil a clear in the near corner, then was next seen cycling in the opposite corner of the zone, then taking the shot that generated the rebound.

The real backbreaker was the next one though. Following a George Saad turnover and some mass confusion, Luke Bennett found the puck in the high slot and beat Teddy Hume cleanly with just two seconds left. I'll spare you the details of the rest. Suffice it to say that the following period was arguably the Icers worst of the season and that the Colonials finished off a run of five straight goals.

So what went wrong? I'm still not sure, but here are a few possibilities.

• I think the decision to start Hume on Saturday was a mistake, plain and simple. I want to be diplomatic because he didn't get to 58 wins by accident - he's been one of the great Icers goaltenders. But this year, he just hasn't had it, particularly when "it" refers to the puck after the first shot. Since playing well against Ohio on October 22nd, Hume has started five games and has been pulled in three of them. He completed the November 12th game against Rhode Island (19 saves on 24 shots - nothing to brag about) and the November 20th game against Towson (three goals against versus the lowly Tigers, again...). He also had mop-up duty against Delaware on December 4th, playing well in relief of Matt Madrazo. Given all of that, I wouldn't have trusted him in a game we had to have, regardless of the opponent. Save sentimentality for Rutgers on senior night.
• The mistake was compounded by not pulling him after the second period.
• The intensity level of the weekend probably wasn't helped by people like me constantly preaching that the worst was over. I'm not the only one who felt that way - the UStream broadcasts had about half as many viewers as last weekend. I generally hate when people play the "effort" card, but you can't help but wonder if some of that thinking seeped into the room - before we make Hume and Balboni the scapegoats, let's not forget that Friday's result was less than satisfying as well.
• Also, some credit's due to that Robert Morris top line, particularly the duo of Chiavetta and Bennett. Those guys are outstanding and they produce - and not just against the scrubs. And in case you're wondering (I did):

  Chiavetta looked at Rhode Island, Robert Morris and some Division III schools when he came time for college. The choice wasn’t that hard to make.

  “Robert Morris had a young program with a lot of potential, and I liked Pittsburgh,” he said. “I wanted to grow with the program, and I had an opportunity to make an impact as a freshman.”

  Chiavetta was talented enough to play for the Colonials’ varsity men’s ice hockey team, but he felt playing club hockey was better for him.

  “I had an opportunity to play on the varsity team, but they had a lot of seniors at the time,” Chiavetta said. “I just did what was best for me.”

Some positives that were obscured by all of this:

• The Mike McDonagh-Morrone-Daley line has fairly quickly developed great chemistry - this was perhaps never more evident than their first shift of Saturday's game, where the three combined on a spectacular passing play that was unfortunately denied by goalie Phil Salerno.
• I mentioned this already, but Nick Seravalli had a good weekend, both on (goal and an assist) and off the scoresheet.
• The 12 goals against notwithstanding, a couple members of the defense corps - the pairing of Brian Dolan and Carey Bell in particular, but also Rich O'Brien with three goals - had good weekends. Kevin Miller returned to the lineup and helped the struggling power play.

The results, however, turned us all back into scoreboard watchers, if only briefly. It all worked out in a way that means the Icers' tournament hopes are probably not in jeopardy - but we will be playing a better team in the first round than we would have otherwise. I'll get more into that tonight or tomorrow with the final Scoreboard Watching feature.

Palpable Concern

This season is definitely at a crossroads, and while I'm not going to do a Chicken Little post just yet, we're entering an absolutely crucial set of games from now through the end of the semester. Yes, it's only mid-November, and no the sky isn't falling. But it's cracked and looking kind of wonky, and could go at any time if things don't get righted quickly. Look at what we have laid out in front of us:

• Two with Towson this weekend, one with Niagara to close out the semester on December 10th. It would be an unmitigated disaster if we didn't sweep these games...
• ...sandwiched around a home weekend with No. 7 Delaware, which hasn't lost in regulation this season. This is very quickly becoming a series that might determine the way in which the season turns.
• PSU opens the spring semester at Bird Arena, which has been pretty inhospitable to the Icers over the years. Ohio has already split at the Ice Pavilion.
• Two more games each against Delaware and Rhode Island, which of course just outscored Penn State 9-1 for the weekend. Notably, both of these series happen during the World University Games, and Team USA hit Rhody hard - they'll be down their two best defensemen and two of their better forwards. The Icers will be without Tim O'Brien, Eric Steinour and possibly alternates Kevin Miller and Dan Petrick. Delaware doesn't lose anyone.
• Two more with West Chester and four with Keystone Bobby Mo. All games we should win, but then again, the Colonials had more success against URI than did the Icers.

That's it - the games that are ultimately going to be our resume to a) make the final 16 (I'm not at all suggesting the unthinkable might happen just yet) and b) hopefully not have to play Lindenwood or someone equally imposing in the first round. It almost - almost - seems like given the 2011 portion of the schedule, the Icers need to close out 2010 with at least four wins, which of course means at least a split with Delaware.

For what it's worth, many Icers players and coaches seem to agree on the problem. Start with Tim O'Brien:

"If we’re going to come together as a team this is the perfect time to do so.”

Nick Seravalli:

“Right now we’re not playing well as a team together, and some of the older guys are trying to take too much responsibility when we should be playing as a team. We can’t have that. We have to want to play for each other.”

Paul Daley:

“We need to come together and play as a team every game and we know that going in, it’s just the matter of executing it.”

Josh Hand:

“They need to be a team in every sense of the word. They need to be friends on and off the ice. They need to be working for each other on and off the ice. We need to be a hardworking team that supports each other, and I don’t think we’re there yet.”

Okay then. Now that we're on the same page, let's get after a solution, eh? Yes, it's gotten that bad, a guy who's spent his entire life in Ohio and Pennsylvania is dropping "ehs" on you. As I mentioned in the wrap-up for the URI games last weekend, I think some consistency with the forward lines might be one place to start, particularly the middle two - it's hard to develop chemistry and play together when the deck's being shuffled seemingly every game. Hand's quote is a little worrisome, as it seems to imply some personality clashes within the team. Ultimately though, it has to be a matter of taking the advice of one famous Pennsylvanian:

"We must hang together, gentlemen...else, we shall most assuredly hang separately."