Three Stars: September 16-22

Goalie Justin Golia and the Blue Lions are 1-1-0

3. NCAA Women’s Hockey: 2013-2014 CHA Preview
(The Hockey Writers)

Milestone alert: For the first time, to the best of my knowledge, a Penn State NCAA team has been picked somewhere other than last place by someone legitimate (so, like, not me). So thanks for that, Gabriella Fundaro. Okay, it's second to last, but baby steps. Additionally, Fundaro placed Shannon Yoxheimer (first team) and Jordin Pardoski (second team) on her preseason all-CHA teams.

My only criticism is that most of PSU's projected improvement was chalked up to internal growth, without a single mention of what I think is a pretty great recruiting class. It's always tough to expect rookies to be a huge part of a team (as we know from last year), but if Kelly Seward can be an anchor on defense and the Amy Petersen-Laura Bowman combination can give the Nittany Lions two reliable scoring lines, that's going to have a huge ripple effect up and down the lineup. Someone like Yoxheimer - called a borderline game-changer in the article - will suddenly see a lot more room to breathe, and she doesn't need a ton of space to pop a water bottle.

All in all, fifth place isn't a crazy thought. But if that does end up as the result, I think it will be the sort of fifth place Lindenwood experienced last year, with the occasional win over RIT and RMU, and higher slots still very much in play late in the season. And, as Josh Brandwene likes to say, anything can happen in the playoffs.

2. Penguins-Flyers outdoor game site undetermined
(Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

Last week was an interesting one for those trying to figure out if and when Beaver Stadium will host an outdoor game between the Penguins and Flyers and/or (even better in my view) Penn State versus anyone. First up was this piece from Rob Rossi - no relation - which claims that a major sticking point in the early discussions between the NHL clubs has been figuring out which of the two will give up a home game for a neutral-siter. That's usually an easy call when the game is played in one team's city, less so when it's not. The NHL, not the designated home team, takes in the gate from the Winter Classic and other outdoor games, so it's not simply a matter of (for example) the Penguins dropping a Consol Energy Center contest and adding in one with more revenue.

Shortly after Rossi's article, the NHL announced that the Washington Capitals will host the 2015 Winter Classic (with the venue and opponent still to be determined). Since the league plays roughly 18 outdoor games per year now, that news is hardly as crippling to Penn State's chances in the short term as it would have been a couple years ago, but it certainly doesn't help.

1. @achamensd1
(Twitter)

Lately, people from across the hockey world have been noting any and all indications that the season is around the corner and attaching declarations like "HEY YOU GUYS! HOCKEY SEASON!" However, and with all due respect to the year-round preparation required to play the game at a high level, hockey season only truly begins when games take place. Well, we now have that. Congratulations to ACHA Division 1's Penn State Berks, the first PSU hockey team to play this season, and also the first to win, as the Blue Lions topped Indiana (PA) 5-4 on Friday. The next day brought a 4-1 decision for the hosting Crimson Hawks, but still, a road split is not the worst way to start a season.

Best of the Rest

Pretty please?

@rinsana11
(Twitter)

ComRadio's Ross Insana spotted jerseys at Family Clothesline in State College with a Pegula Ice Arena patch on them last week. Cool. It's important to state that these are replicas (notice that they aren't made by Nike), so it would be premature to jump to a conclusion other than "Family Clothesline is selling replica jerseys with a PIA patch on them."

Still, it would be nice to see the patches make their way on to the game jerseys for the start of the season. It won't be easy with the Big Ten and CHA logos placed in the "patch spot" on the real thing, but there are certainly options.

Trustees asked to provide financial hand to PSU sports
(PennLive)

Yeeeeeeahhhh...

Penn State is exploring a $30 million borrowing program to help tide its Athletic Department over troubled financial waters that have come with the Jerry Sandusky child sex scandal and other recent developments.

The plan is designed to help cover projected operating deficits and meet short-term capital needs at a time when the department is without football bowl revenue, home ticket sales are lagging, and the Sandusky scandal is bringing new costs.

Athletic Department expenses outstripped revenues by more than $6.1 million in 2012-13, according to university figures, which in turn has drained departmental reserves and caused a near freeze in spending on major maintenance and capital projects.

I've said it before, but hockey is pretty fortunate to have the guy behind the largest private donation in Penn State history in its corner. One has to believe that fact will help shield it from potential fallout related to the athletic department's finances.

@HockeyValley
(Twitter)

An official announcement is coming soon, but it looks like there will be a sequel to last year's successful Midnight Madness to celebrate the first full practice for the NCAA men. This year's event will be on the night of Friday, October 4th, into Saturday the 5th. And of course in the new arena, which promises to add an extra dimension to the fun.

CHA and America One to continue web broadcasts
(College Hockey America)

While the Big Ten's new television arrangement on the men's side got plenty of attention last week, the CHA and the women will have the identical setup as last season, as the league is in the final year of a three-year streaming deal with America One. Essentially, all games played in a CHA venue will be available on America One's outstanding platform, making the $125 for a season pass well worth it, in my view.

Women's Hockey Eighth In Opening USA Today Poll
(hurstathletics.com)

In the not-exactly-stunning department, CHA juggernaut Mercyhurst was eighth in the first USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine women's ranking of the year, with Minnesota - the undefeated national champions of 2012-2013 - in the top spot. Beyond the Lakers, Penn State opponents Quinnipiac (October 11th and 12th) and Ohio State (January 3rd and 4th, 2014) also appeared in the poll, among the others receiving votes.

Now it's a Penn State hockey rink

@PegulaIceArena
(Twitter)

Just in case you were wondering what became of those wall hangings that backed the seating at the Ice Pavilion...

Road wins, quality wins get boosts in changes to NCAA tournament selection criteria
(USCHO)

On Friday, the NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Committee announced fairly significant changes to its formula for selecting at-large teams for the NCAA Tournament. Out is the criterion measuring performance against "teams under consideration," or TUC, those with an RPI of .500 or greater. In are tweaks to the RPI calculation that reward both winning on the road (while also reducing the punishment for losing on the road) and winning against teams rated in the RPI top 20. Generally, reception to the changes has been positive, as using TUC added unnecessary volatility to things (if you're unfamiliar with that situation, think about what might happen when several teams have an RPI right around .500 late in the season, and the effects of their bouncing on either side of the so-called "TUC cliff" from game to game).

Here's hoping we have a reason to care about all of that sooner, rather than later.

A Who’s Who from West to East in NCAA Men’s Division-I Hockey (Part 3 of 6): Big Ten Hockey Begins
(Chief Maj's Blog)

Random Big Ten preview? Sure. On Penn State:

The program is still in its infancy, but I believe the team will be in the top half of the standings come February, and could even challenge the more structured teams such as Minnesota or Wisconsin.

Okay.

Minnesota Leads Big Ten Recruiting Class
(College Hockey News)

Good: CHN called Penn State's recruiting class for this year "noteworthy." Bad: "Noteworthy" is the worst label given to any of the Big Ten programs.

USHL Alumni Voices: Tommy Olczyk
(USHL)

The captain dropped a couple minutes worth of video on the USHL experience, watching his brothers play and helping to lay the foundation at Penn State for the league's website - and more or less demonstrated why he's the Nittany Lions' captain.

Matt Skoff: Flyers prospect?

Ranking the Flyers’ prospects: Goaltenders
(Flyers Faithful)

While not a Flyers prospect, Matt Skoff got a mention here under "other names to watch," since he attended the team's development camp in July. Of course, the guy who wrote the story is Penn State alumnus Tom Zulewski, so there may be a bit of a bias in play.

Still, Skoff is certainly a guy with pro potential, and Philly's taken more of a look at him than anyone else, so why not?

2013-2014 ACHA Men's D1 Pre-Season Ranking
(achahockey.org)

An ACHA section is part of Three Stars this week, led by the ACHA Division 1 preseason poll. Not a Penn State story anymore, just interesting to know. Defending champ Minot State is number one, with notables Arizona State (2), Ohio (5), Oklahoma (6), Illinois (7), Delaware (11), Rhode Island (18), Lebanon Valley (23) and West Chester (25) also appearing.

The Rise of ACHA Division I Hockey
(The Hockey Writers)

Arizona coach Sean Hogan, who is doing some really nice work on his rebuild in Tucson, wrote this article outlining factors explaining ACHA D1's rise over the last decade. And he's 100 percent on the money. While I'm biased as a big-school alumnus, I'm not sure that I see the benefit to playing NCAA Division III over ACHA D1, particularly now that the top ACHA programs have most of the "extras" in place like institutional support and great coaching. And, in recent years, it's begun to look like people who aren't terrible at hockey feel that way too.

Playing shorthanded: How club hockey works
(Daily Illini)

The Illinois student paper delivered a bit of an ACHA primer for the uninformed, although one that reinforced why I still like talking about it a full three years after Penn State announced that its top teams would be leaving.

Senior defenseman Mike Evans said the Illini players are responsible for generating awareness throughout the community for Illini home games, where they make their primary source of funding through ticket sales, while the remaining bills get passed down to the team’s players and coaches.

...and, as tends to happen a lot with Illinois, there was one of those quotes:

"Illinois is a hockey state and there are a lot of great youth hockey players here that have to leave the state in order to play Division I hockey elsewhere," [head coach Nick] Fabbrini said. "The Big Ten Conference is going to be great for college hockey, and hopefully at some point the University takes a look at getting involved."

By the way, "college hockey directory" CollegeHockey.info, which hasn't done much correctly since jumping on the credibility-enhancing Twitter handle @USCollegeHockey, did notice that quote in case you were wondering. If you forgot (and how could you), CollegeHockey.info is the entity that blew up the hockey world for one evening in July by claiming that a DI announcement was imminent for the Illini.

Tommy Vannelli leaves Minnesota program
(Western College Hockey Blog)

Just as quickly as he arrived, freshman Minnesota defenseman Tommy Vannelli is now gone. A statement from head coach Don Lucia said that Vannelli struggled to balance athletics and academics, but really, he was sweating Penn State. We know that.

Speaking of PSU... Vannelli was a second-round pick of the St. Louis Blues back in June. His departure makes him the second consecutive Blues draftee to leave the Gophers early, following Max Gardiner.

JoeBa and HeidiBa shut 'er down

@BattistaJoseph
(Twitter)

JoeBa wrapped up what seemed like a recurring series of people saying their farewells to the Ice Pavilion on Sunday night:

The "last skate" at PSU's Greenberg Ice Pavilion. First skated here in Jan.1981. Great memories!

Great memories, indeed.

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!

Seeding Tournaments: 3RC vs. Pegula Challenge

Construction is underway at HARBORcenter, adjacent to the Sabres' First Niagara Center

Last Friday, Buffalo sports blog Two in the Box (which happens to be written by ACHA Director of Public Relations Chris Ostrander) presented an idea for an in-season tournament called the Pegula Challenge (a working title). It's an interesting concept, using the Terry Pegula/Sabres-funded HARBORcenter as a tool to heighten the city's profile in college hockey through a four-team showcase played at the neighboring First Niagara Center. And, as you may have guessed, Penn State is one of 2ITB's proposed guests thanks to the Pegula connection, along with Buffalo-area schools Canisius and Niagara. Canisius, of course, will call HARBORcenter home beginning next season.

So what of the Three Rivers Classic, the Pittsburgh-based holiday tournament that has hosted PSU in each of the Nittany Lions' first two varsity seasons? It needs to be pointed out that with Penn State having 14 out-of-conference slots available until more Big Ten schools jump to NCAA Division I, there is room for both tournaments on the schedule. Boston College, just to cite one example, will play in both the Three Rivers Classic and the Beanpot this season, navigating much less breathing room to do so.

But hypothetically, because it's August, and because I don't write enough pure opinion pieces, what if both are played over the holidays and it has to be one or the other? Which do you choose?

Facility

Consol Energy Center and First Niagara Center are both, obviously, NHL facilities. Both are less than 20 years old and therefore meet some arbitrary standard of niceness (with a slight edge there going to the CEC, which is 14 years newer and possibly the best arena in the NHL right now). What swings this category for the Pegula Challenge, though, is HARBORcenter. While it wouldn't be the site of the Pegula Challenge games, I have to think that the intelligent people running the show up there would be smart enough to integrate the rink/restaurant/hotel/retail colossus as much as possible. Fan events like a skate with the players could be a part of things, or maybe even a parallel tournament involving youth teams from Buffalo (and one from PA, of course). The only limit is the imagination.

Advantage: Pegula Challenge

2013 Atlantic Hockey tournament champ Canisius is a program on the rise

Opponent Lineup

In this brave new world (for Penn State) of the PairWise Rankings, there's not really a ton of room for scheduling charity. If you want an NCAA Tournament at-large bid, you need to rack up quality wins, period. One of my bigger concerns with the Pegula Challenge, then, is that two of PSU's three possible opponents would be locked-in Atlantic Hockey teams, with the third possibly a Big Ten that the Nittany Lions would be playing anyway. Beyond its attractiveness to a school like Penn State, I'm skeptical of the Pegula Challenge's ability to grab a major PWR (and ticket) mover for that fourth team, even assuming that PSU is established as a force by the time things get going. That's not intended to be a slam on Canisius and Niagara, as both are programs with sincere aspirations and both may be on the way after making the NCAA Tournament last year. But Robert Morris also deserves to be in that category, and until those aspirations are fulfilled by one or more of the AHA teams, I'm going to side with the proven flexibility that has already landed national powers Miami and Boston College.

As a second facet to this category, the Three Rivers Classic seems to better lend itself to becoming a long-standing tradition. Last year's inaugural field was sort of an Ohio vs. Pennsylvania Beanpot, played in a major city fairly close to the border. While 2013's group has departed from that idea with BC's inclusion, there's definite potential for a connection lasting past however long Pegula owns the Sabres.

Advantage: Three Rivers Classic

10,797 tickets were sold for the 2012 Three Rivers Classic's PSU-OSU consolation game

Fan Support/Revenue

The Three Rivers Classic is a known quantity. Using a one ticket per day setup, last season's inaugural event moved 11,663 seats on day one (PSU-Robert Morris and Ohio State-Miami) followed by 10,797 on day two (PSU-OSU, RMU-MU). Root Sports Pittsburgh also gave the consolation and championship games two separate tape-delayed airings. It should be said, however, that Bowling Green and Boston College are unlikely to offer the same drawing power to 2013's edition as the RedHawks and Buckeyes did last season, and that another pair of five-figure crowds would be a pleasant surprise.

As 2ITB mentions, Buffalo previously hosted the Punch Imlach College Hockey Showcase from 1997-2003. It took on a few different formats, but generally involved both Niagara and Canisius along with a pair of "outside" teams. Occasionally, it pulled respectable crowds, as with November 11, 2000's 6,671 for a Niagara-Western Michigan, Mercyhurst-Canisius doubleheader. Most of the time though, it did not. Two years later, the Punch Imlach landed megateams North Dakota and Michigan, but only 2,981 wanted to see how the Griffs and Purps fared against the measuring sticks. A pairing of the two local schools drew 4,314 on January 11, 2002, but things bottomed out in the showcase's final year with a paltry 1,911 for Canisius and UMass-Lowell.

Buffalo is certainly an outstanding hockey market well beyond the size of the city (as is Pittsburgh), but it does have something to prove in terms of college hockey crowds, even when local schools and name programs are involved.

Advantage: Three Rivers Classic

City

As a Rust Belt native, I'm not going to say a bad word about either Buffalo or Pittsburgh. They're both my kind of place, inhabited by my kind of people. Both are underrated nationally, generally dismissed as "the hilly place with yinzers, the Steelers, the Penguins and french fry-topped sandwiches" or "the place with the wings, the snow and underachieving sports teams by Niagara Falls." But I'm not copping out with "push," that's not my style.

I'm not sure that there's a significant program exposure/recruiting edge to be gained from one site versus the other. As mentioned, both markets churn out players at impressive rates but both are already well within PSU's footprint (I suppose it's reasonable to toss a few bonus points Buffalo's way due to their being out of state though).

In terms of the fan experience, I think HARBORcenter gives Buffalo an advantage within the arena's immediate area, but the rub there is that the one "hockey-themed, upscale restaurant and bar" or even the one Marriott hotel are unlikely to be enough to accommodate everyone. That forces people out into the larger city and, in Pittsburgh's case, one of America's still-undiscovered gems. The Strip, Oakland, South Side and Station Square? All worthy destinations during the day before the games, or postgame as well. And don't forget to go up Mt. Washington and snap one of these:

Yes, this is actually my photo from when I did just that last season

Advantage: Three Rivers Classic

Extras

Terry and Kim Pegula donated $102 million to Penn State hockey to finance an arena and allow the school to jump to NCAA Division I. While Pittsburgh has more than its fair share of PSU fans and boosters, nobody from the city has donated $102 million to Penn State hockey.

Advantage: Pegula Challenge

Final Tally

The incumbent Three Rivers Classic hangs on by a 3-2 count. But then again, that last category probably counts for double or triple if push comes to shove, no?

Three Rivers Classic: The Media Experience

Because TYT doesn't employ a professional sports photographer (Steve Hass is nice enough to help out with women's home games, but he's not available at my beck and call to run to Pittsburgh), and in an attempt to provide worthwhile content, I thought it would be a good idea to give an insider's look at the media experience for the Three Rivers Classic. It was my second time in the press area of a major league venue (following Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park for the outdoor game last season), but my first time in an NHL arena. Since I'm guessing most of you aren't professional media members, hopefully you find this interesting.

Click on any of the photos to enlarge and open a gallery view.

---

First off, some touristy stuff. On Friday, I missed the exit for CONSOL Energy Center and ended up at the top of Mount Washington, where I caught an unreal view of Pittsburgh. I was running late then, but came back early on Saturday to make sure I got a picture.

It's kind of bizarre knowing that The Igloo used to be in that big, empty area. The photo was taken from the South Parking Lot, which is north of CONSOL Energy Center but south of the arena that stood when it received its name.

They kind of like Mario Lemieux in this area.

The most photographed side of the CONSOL Energy Center - probably because it reflects the downtown skyline.

The media entrance is through the Penguins' administrative offices, near the corner of Washington and 5th, right next to ticket windows and near a major gate. For the 4:30 p.m. starts of the Three Rivers Classic, the door opened at 2:30.

Just inside that door is a table for credential distribution. As you can see, there was a good deal of media interest in the tournament. Many notable figures from Pittsburgh sports media were on the list (Mark Madden of 105.9 FM and Rob Rossi of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review were the two I seemed to run into every 20 seconds), as was ESPN's John Buccigross (although he didn't show).

From there, an elevator goes up to the first floor, the event level - since everything in Pittsburgh is on a hill, the media entrance is actually below the ice surface. Notably, for media folks, the event level is home to the media room. A huge buffet was set up before the games on both days. And as you might be able to figure out from the right side of the photo, we'll be back later.

A closer look at the food - this was only about half of what was available, as a salad station and a dessert table are off camera.

When exiting the media room and exploring the event level, it's not surprising to see the Nittany Lions warming up in the hallway...

...because the event level also contains the locker rooms...

...including the one used by the Penguins. I wasn't allowed in here, but then again, neither is Sidney Crosby right now.

When finally proceeding up to the press box, a different elevator from the first one must be located, which isn't particularly easy to do. Getting there involves walking past the zamboni entrance.

That elevator lets media off on the seventh floor, most of which looks something like this. The walls are lined with photos and news clippings of great moments from Penguins history.

And yes, there's more food up here, in case you didn't eat enough rigatoni and roast beef back in the media room. This is why sports media members are disproportionately fat. Interestingly, CONSOL Energy Center does not stock Coke. Or Pepsi. Nope, they roll with RC Cola. Immediately behind me as I took this photo were game notes and line charts for each team, as well as a big clock synchonized with the scoreboard.

Once past the snack nook, the floor is basically a long hallway. On the left-hand side are doors for the broadcast media booths, as well as the press-box coaches and video review people. There are also a series of black curtains (one set of those is the third thing down the left wall below) that guard small flights of stairs down to the print media's area.

Here's the room set aside for PSU's coaching staff.

As I mentioned, those booths are just above and behind the non-broadcast people, a group that included a certain Penn State hockey blogger. The table was cramped, but I actually thought the area was kind of neat. You can see that there's a shelf for non-essentials, which helps with the space crunch. Monitors are stationed at frequent intervals right in front of us and those speakers on the back wall, in addition to the PA, transmit the postgame press conferences.

This never gets old. Each station has two electrical outlets as well as a port for those choosing to get their internet connection through a wire.

Here's how all of that looks to the rest of you - the table in the previous photo is just above the row of ads with the black background.

As you might imagine, the view isn't too great, although sometimes the bird's eye is quite helpful. Here's the opening faceoff from the Penn State-Robert Morris game.

From there, everyone sort of does their own thing. I, as I'm sure you know, frantically type into a live blog during the game. More traditional people gradually build their game recaps as things proceed and jot down questions. Bloggers and newspapermen alike tend to have Twitter open on their laptops. Broadcasters broadcast, of course. Some have no specific obligations and just watch the game for free because they can. Sometimes that game goes poorly, such as the one above. But sometimes, you get to witness something special that makes doing this worthwhile.

When the game ends, it's a bit of a rat race to get back downstairs to get that perfect seat for the postgame press conferences. The tables from the buffet have been moved out by this point, with several rows of chairs in their place.

Once the postgame is complete, most hurry back upstairs to finalize a recap of some kind with the quotes they didn't have before, or complete other work. Certainly, I would have rather seen Penn State play for the championship on Saturday, but the early time slot was quite beneficial in allowing for more postgame work time (it has to be said that Miami's media received the same game results from the weekend without the benefit of that extra time on either day). Surprisingly few people stayed through the entire two games on each day. And obviously, when done working, everyone heads back down the elevator, then down the other elevator, then out the door they came in.

Breakout Past: Penn Staters Wearing NHL Logos

Two weeks ago, Tommy Olczyk became the first Penn Stater to participate in an NHL development camp, and he was joined in that distinction this week by 2013 commit Dave Thompson with the Philadelphia Flyers. In their honor, here are the notable occasions when PSU hockey players have donned jerseys of teams in the world's best hockey league. I ranked them, because ranking things is fun.

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2013 defense commit Dave Thompson and fellow camp invitee Justin Hamonic wait to get in on a drill while 16-year NHL defenseman Derian Hatcher (windsuit) observes. Photo: Wes Fieldcamp

6. Dave Thompson
Philadelphia Flyers, 2012

Thompson - a Flyers fan and a Glen Mills, PA native - is presently at Philly's prospect camp, which began Monday and runs through Sunday in Voorhees, NJ. He'll rejoin the BCHL's Chilliwack Chiefs this coming season, then begin with the Nittany Lions in the 2013-2014 season that will also feature the debut of both the Pegula Ice Arena and the Big Ten.

It's really nothing on Thompson that he's sixth here, because it's no stretch to say that he'll end up as the best player of the bunch. It's nothing on the Flyers either (put down your knives), because if I was going on how much I like the teams, I'd definitely put Carolina last (I was a Whalers fan as a kid until they moved). Thompson's sixth simply because, unlike the others in this post, he has yet to play a game at PSU.

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5. Alon Eizenman
Pittsburgh Penguins, 2001

Eizenman's look at Penguins camp was a precursor to a successful pro career, although not in North America. From 2001 through 2007, he played for Tours and Courbevoie in France (where he was a point-per-game player) and Bat Yam and Haifa in Israel. The highlight of his pro career, however, was when he led Israel to the IIHF Division II World Championships gold medal in 2005 while skating on a line with brothers Oren and Erez. Eizenman received his J.D. in 2007 and is now a practicing attorney in his hometown of Toronto. He became one of just nine people ever voted to the ACHA Hall of Fame in April.

Left to right: Eizenmans Erez, Oren and Alon

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4. Ed Bursich, Mike Pietrangelo and Don Coyne
Pittsburgh Penguins, 1999

This trio was a vital chunk of the 1997-1998 PSU team that ended a string of near misses with an ACHA national championship and subsequently followed Rob Keegan (below) as invitees to Penguins camp. All three survived for the full two weeks, but afterwards Coyne and Bursich were assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's AHL camp while Pietrangelo was released in spite of his sharing a last name with Pens legend Frank Pietrangelo. He and Coyne ended up spending a couple seasons each in the AA-level minors.

Interestingly, the trio had a reunion of sorts with the doomed Valley Forge Freedom in the doomed MAHL in 2007-2008. Coyne and Pietrangelo (as well as former Icers Chris Puscian and Tom Westfall) were part of the Freedom's last-ever win, 8-4 over Wooster on February 2nd, 2008. Bursich teamed up with Westfall (the one PSU mainstay on that team) and played in a 14-4 loss to Indiana on December 29, 2007 in which former Icers Justin Depretis and Teague Willits-Kelley opposed him. Depretis had four goals and three assists in that one, by the way.

I guess I need to drop the Coyne-Jaromir Jagr photo in here too. Not the last mention Jagr gets in this post, by the way.

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3. Rob Keegan
Pittsburgh Penguins, 1996

Keegan, who scored 274 points as an Icer, won the Bob Johnson Award (formerly given to the ACHA player who "demonstrates exceptional hockey abilitiy and achievement, leadership, sportsmanship, and enthusiasm for the game") as a senior and became the first Icer ever invited to an NHL training camp. From the Icers' 1996-1997 program:

In his first intrasquad game he was lined up against NHL all-star Jaromir Jagr for most of the game. "You can't get caught watching him," Keegan said. "He's tough to cover and you've just got to do the best you can with him." ... When asked about his experience at training camp, Rob responded, "This is a dream come true for anyone who has ever played the game. Regardless of where I end up playing, it was a great learning experience and I had a lot of fun."

"Where I end up playing" turned out to be a very brief career with the CHL's Macon Whoopee in 1996-1997.

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2. Tommy Olczyk
Carolina Hurricanes, 2012

Olczyk, a PSU sophomore who attended Carolina's conditioning camp last week, is set apart by his involvement with a non-Pennsylvania team. The Penguins campers on this list, ostensibly at least (since I don't have any insider knowledge), were helped by Joe Battista's strong connection to the organization. Sure, being an Olczyk probably helps get your foot in the door in most places, but don't tell that to Hurricanes coach Kirk Muller, who was impressed with the demeanor of both Olczyk and brother Eddie, a UMass senior who was also at the camp.

“There’s a maturity level there that they’ve been used to and knowing the pro hockey mentality – they’ve been around it probably since they were kids in the dressing rooms,” [he] said ... "It’s familiar to them – they know how to train, how to be a professional – you watch them on the ice – you can see that from the experience that they’ve had.”

Olczyk (along with Thompson) is also notable for the fact that his story isn't finished yet, a fact not lost on Olczyk.

“I just want to put myself on the radar,” [he] stated. “Just coming in here and making an impression, that’s my biggest goal here."

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Mark Scally receives congratulations from former Penguins defenseman Darius Kasparitis following
Pittsburgh's 3-2 preseason win over Columbus on September 15, 2000.

1. Mark Scally
Pittsburgh Penguins, 2000

Until further notice, Scally holds the title based on his playing in actual, for realsies NHL exhibition games. That came about largely because of the bizarre state of Pens goaltending at the time. Long-time netminder Tom Barrasso had begun to falter and was shipped off at the 2000 trade deadline. Jean-Sebastien Aubin, the apparent successor, held out during that training camp (for the now-quaint amount of $700,000, as it turned out). A series of injuries to other contenders left Sebastien Caron as the most accomplished goalie in camp and opened the door for guys like Scally and former RPI star Joel Laing to make an impact.

I ran down Scally's pair of preseason games in more depth almost exactly one year ago, but the short version is that he stopped 16 of 17 in relief against the then-new Columbus Blue Jackets, earning credit for a 3-2 win on September 15th. On September 23rd Scally started, but was beat by Milan Hejduk, Ray Bourque and Adam Deadmarsh on the power play before giving way to Laing halfway through an eventual 5-2 loss to Colorado in Hershey. He was sent down before that game even ended, but followed that setback with a six-season pro career.

Here's the best/only action shot of Scally in net for the Pens. Unfortunately, it's tiny. And it might be of his goal against in the Columbus game.

Pittsburgh College Hockey Invitational Finalized

As Penn State moves into Division I, we're going to have to get used to several differences from the ACHA era. There might be a certain loss of intimacy as PSU moves into a larger arena and gains a larger following. The losses per season will no longer be capped around five. But for me, the toughest adjustment might be the fact that the Nittany Lions won't (more or less, despite the drama of 2011) automatically compete in a tournament to determine a national champion at the end of the season.

The coming season, in particular, will be tough in that regard. Not only is the NCAA Tournament off the table, but there won't even be a Big Ten tournament with a theoretical shot at NCAA participation built in. The season will just sort of awkwardly conclude, probably after the late February series at Wisconsin.

PSU seems to have found the next best thing, however: a holiday tournament at Pittsburgh's Consol Energy Center that will feature up-and-coming Robert Morris, future Big Ten rival Ohio State and perennial national power Miami. The long-rumored event has finally been confirmed for December 28th and 29th by Sam Werner of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. There's more, though.

The long-term goal for the tournament is to have Robert Morris and Penn State play every year, and bring in different high-caliber teams to round out the field. Schooley said Boston College, the defending NCAA champion, has expressed an interest in playing in the future.

"It's going to be really neat because we're going to have the opportunity to bring in some very high-level teams over the next few years," [RMU coach Derek] Schooley said.

[Consol Energy Center GM Jay] Roberts said Robert Morris has been heavily involved in planning the tournament, and Penn State will take on more from a planning perspective as the program continues to grow.

Is there anything not to love here? From a Penn State perspective, it's a showcase in a vital market, one with a growing talent base, a potentially large fan base, and with the possibility of involving top teams from around the nation. It has a chance to become a staple of Nittany Lion schedules for a long time. And hey, from a Robert Morris perspective, good on them - they're certainly not interested in punching bags to help themselves look good in their home tournament.

If the tournament's participation stabilizes at some point - I'd be thrilled with PSU, RMU, OSU, Miami every single year to be honest - it could even become the Ohio/Pennsylvania version of the Beanpot, the annual Boston-area college tournament that locals and alumni place on a level right next to the NCAA and conference tournaments.

The programs need no introduction. Miami, under Enrico Blasi, has become one of the top five or ten programs in the country in the last decade. Ohio State, despite an up and down history, certainly has name recognition and may finally be hitting their stride as a program (and as Doc Emrick can tell you, they've produced several notable NHLers over the years like Ryan Kesler, Rod Pelley, Dave Steckel and R.J. Umberger). The Colonials...well, you might not be quite as familiar with them (go here if you're not), but believe me when I say that they've proven that they won't be out of their pay grade against some of these programs, despite their newness and conference affiliation.

The Icers had a bit of history - sort of - in the tournament's previous incarnation as a single-day showcase. On January 8, 2010 at the Pittsburgh Hockey Classic, PSU was scheduled to play RMU's ACHA team in between games by the varsity Colonials' men and women. Because of a scoreboard issue at the late Mellon Arena (and a subsequent issue with the crane used to fix the scoreboard), the Icers were squeezed into a two-period exhibition, which they won 3-2. Schooley's troops upset Miami 3-1 that day, and the RMU women (now a CHA rival of the PSU women, of course) opened the event with a 4-2 loss to Connecticut.

On January 3, 2003, before RMU began its program, Penn State played in what was dubbed the Pittsburgh College Hockey Showcase. In a doubleheader event, NCAA programs Ohio State and Princeton tangled (incidentally, Pelley, Umberger and Steckel all recorded points in the 4-1 Buckeye win, although Guy Gadowsky was a year and a half away from showing up at Princeton, in case you were wondering about that) before the Icers thumped Washington & Jefferson in the nightcap.

PS. I've updated the M 2012-2013 Schedule page with this news.

Three Stars: April 9-15

3. Brooks Bandits win first AJHL Championship
(juniorhockey.com)

2012 forward Reed Linaker's team took home the Enerflex Cup with a six-game finals win over the Fort McMurray Oil Barons (Enerflex, if you're wondering, sells products and services to the oil industry, which is obviously huge in western Canada...I had it between that and something sold at GNC, go me). The Bandits will now play 2012 forward Curtis Loik and the Penticton Vees, the BCHL champs, in the Doyle Cup beginning Friday. The winner of that series advances to the RBC Cup, Canada's Junior A national championship.

I downplayed the Bandits relative to the Vees and their solo-post status for an obvious reason: Linaker didn't play very much. Following a mid-season trade from bottom-feeding St. Albert (where he spent three and a half seasons), Linaker busted his knee 8:46 into his first game with Brooks on December 3rd and didn't play again until the first two games of the championship series. Hopefully a healthy Linaker can be a bigger part of two more Bandit accomplishments this season.

2. Pride of Pegula
(forumotion.com)

Hey look, it's a message board. Devoted entirely to Penn State hockey. Get after it.

1.Penn State Hockey- We will show them who we are
(YouTube)

Hey look, it's a YouTube pump-up video. Devoted entirely to Penn State hockey. Get after it.

Best of the Rest

IceDogs Sign 2011 2nd Round Draft Pick Anthony DiFruscia
(niagaraicedogs.net)

I think a reasonable argument can be made that Penn State isn't really an NCAA DI program until a recruit or player bails for major junior. DiFruscia doesn't technically count towards that - he wasn't a commit, he only had an offer - but still, it's a first taste of the frustration top programs experience more or less all the time. I don't like it.



Inside Pegula Ice Arena - Applied Research Laboratory CAVE Model
(YouTube)

I put this one later in the post simply because I assume that at least 68 percent of the free world has seen it by now. If not, it's pretty freaking cool and you should take this 808th chance to watch it. Although I imagine that the arena would cost about $78 million instead of $89 million without dropping some Disclosure-looking stuff on us. (Correction: I'm told that this pile of niceness has been on the house to this point.)

Okay, the technology's improved a little since 199whatever. Also, evil Demi Moore is evil.

Penn State Coaches Caravan To Hit The Road This Spring
(gopsusports.com)

The Nittany Lion Club and the Penn State Alumni Association will team up to provide fans the chance to meet and hear from some of the leaders of Penn State Athletics this spring when the Penn State Coaches Caravan hits the road for destinations across Nittany Nation, encompassing seven states and Washington, D.C.

Long story short and of interest to us: both Guy Gadowsky and Josh Brandwene will be at the Buffalo, NY stop at 6:00 p.m. on May 16th. Brandwene will also be in Pittsburgh at 6:00 p.m. on May 14th. The events cost $40 for alumni association members and $55 for non-members.

Gadowsky, program looking forward
(Lions247)

Worth a read, especially if you like Gadowsky or (in this cut/paste) Taylor Holstrom telling you you're awesome.

“The fan support was really growing too that was the coolest part about it. I started seeing hockey stuff pop up in the stores and seeing people wearing it around campus. The entire year almost every game was sold out, that was really impressive.”

Hastings Named New Minnesota State Coach
(College Hockey News)

In the only real news from elsewhere worthy of this post from last week, Minnesota State poached UNO assistant Mike Hastings to replace Troy Jutting.

@CoachBrandwene
(Twitter)

Speaking as one of those myself, I completely agree. Know who isn't a neutral observer?

#trollsohard