The Show on the Road

Here are three things I know to be true:

1. Tickets for the inaugural season at Pegula Ice Arena are in high demand, with men's season tickets and student sales not leaving too much behind for single-game availability.
2. Penn Staters are everywhere, and sometimes "everywhere" isn't particularly convenient to State College. I, for example, live closer to eleven 2013-2014 Nittany Lions away games than I do to Hockey Valley.
3. Many people like to travel and learn about unfamiliar people, places and things.

With those in mind, I've collected as much information as I could find about tickets to PSU's away games this year. Sure, the secondary market (StubHub and eBay, most notably) is always an option - one you may have to pursue if you want to see that shimmering arena and didn't get season tickets - but why pay the markup for an away game if you can get in on the primary market?

In some ways, this post isn't ripe yet, as several schools have not announced sale dates or prices for single-game tickets. But at the same time, several others are already or about to be on sale (Robert Morris men and women, RIT women, Philadelphia College Hockey Faceoff and Big Ten Tournament), so delay would be harmful in those cases. Therefore, the plan is to update this post and re-circulate it as appropriate.

Tickets to see Matt Skoff and the men's team play at Wisconsin will be available September 24th

Men

Air Force When: Oct. 18 and 19 Where: Cadet Ice Arena; Colorado Springs, CO On-sale date: Early Oct. Athletics website: goairforcefalcons.com Ticket office phone: (719) 472-1895 Ticket office email: afa.tickets@airforceathletics.org 2012-13 attendance: 2,220 (2,470)	Vermont When: Oct. 26 Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia On-sale date: Available now Prices: $40, $25, $20, $15, $12, $10 Link to purchase Ticket office phone: (800) 298-4200 Ticket office email: customerservice@neweratickets.com 2012-13 attendance: 19,529 (19,529)
Robert Morris When: Nov. 1 Where: 84 Lumber Arena, Neville Twp. On-sale date: Available now Prices: $12, $10, $5 Link to purchase Athletics website: rmucolonials.com Ticket office phone: (412) 397-4949 Ticket office email: athleticticketing@rmu.edu 2012-13 attendance: 858 (1,100)	Wisconsin When: Dec. 6 and 7 Where: Kohl Center; Madison, WI On-sale date: Sept. 24 Prices: $24, $20 Athletics website: uwbadgers.com Ticket office phone: (800) GO BADGERS Ticket office email: tickets@uwbadgers.com 2012-13 attendance: 9,521 (15,237)
Three Rivers Classic When: Dec. 27 and 28 Where: Consol Energy Center, Pittsburgh On-sale date: Not yet announced Prices: $55-$25 (last year) Ticket office phone: (800) 745-3000 2012-13 attendance: 11,230 (18,387)	Michigan State When: Jan. 17 and 18, 2014 Where: Munn Arena; East Lansing, MI On-sale date: Oct. 1 Prices: $22, $20, $10 Athletics website: msuspartans.com Ticket office phone: (800) GO STATE Ticket office email: tickets@msu.edu 2012-13 Attendance: 5,869 (6,470)
Ohio State When: Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, 2014 Where: Value City Arena; Columbus, OH On-sale date: Not yet announced Prices: $13, $10 (last year) Athletics website: ohiostatebuckeyes.com Ticket office phone: (800) GOBUCKS Ticket office email: AthleticSales@osu.edu 2012-13 attendance: 4,004 (17,500)	Michigan When: Feb. 21 and 22, 2014 Where: Yost Ice Arena; Ann Arbor, MI On-sale date: Not yet announced Athletics website: mgoblue.com Ticket office phone: (866) 296-MTIX Ticket office email: mtickets@umich.edu 2012-13 attendance: 5,357 (6,637)
Minnesota When: Feb. 28 and Mar. 1, 2014 Where: Mariucci Arena; Minneapolis, MN On-sale date: Not yet announced Athletics website: gophersports.com Ticket office phone: (800) 846-7437 Ticket office email: fans@gopherfanrelations.com 2012-13 attendance: 9,950 (10,000)	Big Ten Tournament When: Mar. 20 through 22, 2014 Where: Xcel Energy Center; St. Paul, MN On-sale date: Available now* Prices: $160, $130, $80 (five games) Link to purchase Ticket office phone: (800) 745-3000 * all-session passes are available now, single-game availability is still TBA

On September 23rd, tickets to see Shannon Yoxheimer and the women open at Vermont go on sale

Women

Vermont When: Oct. 4 and 5 Where: Gutterson Fieldhouse; Burlington, VT On-sale date: Sept. 23 Prices: $5, $3, free (2 and under) Athletics website: uvmathletics.com Ticket office phone: (802) 656-4410 Ticket office email: athletic.tickets@uvm.edu 2012-13 attendance: 348 (4,035)	Quinnipiac When: Oct. 11 and 12 Where: TD Bank Center; Hamden, CT On-sale date: Oct. 1 Athletics website: quinnipiacbobcats.com Ticket office phone: (203) 582-3905 Ticket office email: tickets@quinnipiac.edu 2012-13 attendance: 310 (3,084)
RIT When: Nov. 15 and 16 Where: Ritter Arena; Henrietta, NY On-sale date: Aug. 20 Prices: $5, $3, free (5 and under) Link to purchase Athletics website: ritathletics.com Ticket office phone: (585) 475-4121 Ticket office email: jazgfh@rit.edu 2012-13 attendance: 650 (2,100)	Lindenwood When: Nov. 22 and 23 Where: LU Ice Arena; Wentzville, MO Prices: $5, $3 Tickets only available at the door on game day Athletics website: lindenwoodlions.com 2012-13 attendance: 113 (1,000)
Mercyhurst When: Dec. 6 and 7 Where: Mercyhurst Ice Arena, Erie Prices: $5, $3 Tickets only available at the door on game day Athletics website: hurstathletics.com 2012-13 attendance: 574 (1,300)	Ohio State When: Jan. 3 and 4, 2014 Where: OSU Ice Rink; Columbus, OH Free admission Athletics website: ohiostatebuckeyes.com 2012-13 attendance: 326 (1,200)
Syracuse When: Jan. 24 and 25, 2014 Where: Tennity Ice Skating Pavilion; Syracuse, NY Free admission Athletics website: suathletics.com 2012-13 attendance: 164 (350)	Princeton When: Jan. 28th, 2014 Where: Hobey Baker Rink; Princeton, NJ Free admission Athletics website: goprincetontigers.com 2012-13 attendance: 167 (2,100)
Robert Morris When: Feb. 21 and 22, 2014 Where: 84 Lumber Arena, Neville Twp. On-sale date: Available now Prices: $10, $5 Link to purchase Athletics website: rmucolonials.com Ticket office phone: (412) 397-4949 Ticket office email: athleticticketing@rmu.edu 2012-13 attendance: 170 (1,100)

Three Stars: July 22-28

3. Southeast Schedules and What They Mean for 2013-14
(Twisted Thoughts)

While the ACHA Division 2 Ice Lions have yet to release a 2013-2014 schedule, several opponents - MACHA rivals Delaware, Virginia Tech and Liberty most recently - have. Here's what we now know of PSU's upcoming slate as a result:

October 26, 2013 - vs. Delaware
November 2, 2013 - at Delaware
December 8, 2013 - vs. Maryland-Baltimore County
January 10, 2014 - at Liberty
January 11, 2014 - at Virginia Tech
February 1, 2014 - at Maryland-Baltimore County
February 7-8, 2014 - at Navy Crab Pot (D1 Navy, D1 Towson, Maryland)
February 14-16, 2014 - at MACHA Playoffs
February 23-24, 2014 - at Southeast Regionals
March 21-25, 2014 - at ACHA National Tournament (Marlborough, MA)

The second-year Women's Ice Hockey Club, which is joining the new College Hockey East women's league with California (PA), West Chester and Delaware for 2013-2014, also has a few games out there, thanks to the schedule releases of both the Blue Hens and Michigan State.

October 19, 2013 - vs. Michigan State
October 20, 2013 - vs. Michigan State
November 16, 2013 - at Delaware
November 17, 2013 - at Delaware
December 7, 2013 - vs. Delaware
December 8, 2013 - vs. Delaware
February 21-22, 2014 - at CHE Playoffs (York, PA)
March 13-16, 2014 - at ACHA National Tournament (Newark, DE)

Notably, the December 8th Delaware game will be played at Galactic Ice in Altoona. Guess PIA isn't solving everyone's ice time issues after all.

2. The debate: players discuss CHL vs. NCAA
(The Daily Collegian)

Tackling something like a CHL vs. NCAA article is a tough task, because it's been done so often that it's difficult to find a fresh angle to bring to the table. But Matt Nestor has pulled it off by writing for a general Penn State audience that might not be familiar with The Choice while also bringing in quotes from guys like Luke Juha and Guy Gadowsky, both Canadians who played or are playing NCAA hockey.

Juha is a particularly insightful source as a guy who was once considered a potential late-round pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. Electing for college over major junior probably hurt his stock in the short term, and he went undrafted. But Juha seems to believe that he'll ultimately be a better player because of college hockey, with a better shot of making it as a pro. And I believe that he's right.

1. Head Coach Morris to step down
(ohiobobcatshockey.com)

Andrew Largeman, Zach Braff's character in the movie Garden State, memorably said:

"You know that point in your life when you realize the house you grew up in isn't really your home anymore? All of a sudden even though you have some place where you put your shit, that idea of home is gone... You'll see one day when you move out it just sort of happens one day and it's gone. You feel like you can never get it back. It's like you feel homesick for a place that doesn't even exist. Maybe it's like this rite of passage, you know. You won't ever have this feeling again until you create a new idea of home for yourself, you know, for your kids, for the family you start."

That's how I'm starting to feel about ACHA Division 1. Maybe the process is a bit more gradual and less traumatic than it was for Largeman, but it's there nevertheless, because the simple fact is that after you remove yourself from a place, it still continues to evolve without you.

The ACHA will look a lot less like it did when we left without legendary Ohio coach Dan Morris, who is stepping down after 12 seasons, 344 wins and the 2004 national championship. Given that he also played for the Bobcats between 1993 and 1997 (winning three more national championships during those years) and then was an assistant coach under Craig McCarthy between graduation and taking over as the head guy, it's a no-brainer to call Morris one of the most important figures in the history of one of the ACHA's most important programs. Of course, he was also the Icers' archnemesis for all but the final one of those years on the wrong side of the greatest rivalry in ACHA history - including the 2004 title game win over PSU that ended Joe Battista's dynasty of four straight and five in six years.

No Dan Morris, Illinois' Chad Cassel departed a year ago, Minot State apparently wins the Murdoch Cup now... it doesn't feel like home anymore. And to be honest, neither does NCAA Division I and the Big Ten just yet, but it will. We have to evolve too, after all.

Best of the Rest

Eddie Quagliata and Matt Welch model Illinois' new jerseys...who says there's no "I" in "team?"

Just a year in, head coach Fabbrini hires another assistant
(The Daily Illini)

Let's stick with the ACHA for a minute, because it was quite a week for IllinoisWatch.

First, last Monday, the school's student paper published a write-up on new Illini assistant coach Blake Sorensen, who seems to believe that the program would consider going DI, and claims that belief was part of the reason he took the job: "Maybe I’m thinking out of the box, but I’m thinking the U of I would be the next school having the aspiration of going to the next level. So I said, ‘Why not?’ It was a very easy decision." That's either your garden-variety pipe dream or he knows something, take your pick, but I don't remember Billy Downey saying anything like that when he was hired as an Icers assistant in 2008.

That, by itself, is interesting but hardly A Thing. However, mostly-spam Twitter account @USCollegeHockey fanned the flames three days later: "May we have BREAKING NEWS soon? We were 1st to report Penn St.'s ascent to D1. Is another top ACHA team making the jump? Details soon..." They didn't specify that they were referring to Illinois, which is a pretty effective technique in the world of rumor mongering (PS. Someone will die of heart disease today. Because I can see the future.)

For the record, I don't know if @USCollegeHockey was first on Penn State in August and September of 2010. And I don't care. You know who I credit as being first? The Harrisburg Patriot-News' David Jones, who noted Terry Pegula's windfall from the Royal Dutch Shell sale in May 2010 and connected it to the idea of Penn State hockey a few days later. Accuracy and fresh insight over unchecked speed, every time.

Anyway, "soon," evidently, was Saturday evening, when @USCollegeHockey jumped back in with "Remember that BREAKING NEWS we mentioned on Thursday?" and attached a screengrab of a Facebook status (since deleted).

From there, the predictable played out. People overreacted, some commented on how it would be a great idea (it would be), Let's Play Hockey patted themselves on the back over the Jimmy John's rumor they advanced a couple years ago, and real journalists like Matt Slovin and Chris Peters got to work, ultimately taking about 90 minutes to confirm that the Facebook post had to do with the sale of the team's new jerseys.

There's an important lesson, which should have been learned from Penn State, that also needs to be applied here. PSU's process took five years from the initial Battista-Pegula dinner. Along the way, people talk, toes are dipped in the various pools and feasibility studies are conducted. And any one of those occurrences, which repeat themselves many, many times throughout those five years, has the potential to become an "OMG IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN!!!" tweet. Just as a rumor doesn't mean something is imminent, the short-term dismissal of a rumor doesn't mean that the information wasn't a legitimate hint, just applied incorrectly or prematurely. Illinois probably has explored the idea of NCAA hockey, and they probably will have an NCAA program someday. There's been an awful lot of smoke, and it's increased in volume recently. But I'm fairly sure that when it does happen, @USCollegeHockey won't be the first to tell us.

Portland, ME's newly-renovated Cumberland County Civic Center will host the 2015 Ice Breaker

@Chris_MJH
(Twitter)

Last week, Notre Dame was awarded the 2014 Ice Breaker (a season-opening four-team tournament presented by College Hockey Inc.) while Maine grabbed the 2015 version. And almost immediately, the rumor mill fired up.

Hearing Michigan, Michigan St., Penn St & BC are possible teams to take part in '15 IceBreaker.

Just as a reminder, since this seems like an appropriate spot: way back in January 2012, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported that the Nittany Lions had signed on for the 2014 Brice Alaska Goal Rush. The Goal Rush is another season-opening tournament, hosted by Alaska and always including their dumpster fire of a neighbor in Anchorage. This year's field - Denver and Western Michigan are the two "outside schools" - was announced on November 16, 2012, so we might hear confirmation on that one relatively soon.

150 Miles for a Cure...
(Bike MS)

Coming up on September 28th and 29th, women's assistant Casey McCullion will once again go on a bike ride to raise money to fight multiple sclerosis. Please consider supporting her and the cause if you're able. And yes, I'll remind you again.

Pro New York Sports Exclusive: Eamon McAdam
(Pro New York Sports)

Know what I like seeing in a player? This, from Eamon McAdam:

I want to help the team progress as fast as possible and by my second or third year I want to give the team here a chance to go for a National Championship. This may seem like a lofty goal but the age old expression of championships are won with goaltending is true in my eyes and if I put in enough work I am hopeful I can give the team a chance no matter who we’re playing.

Check Gadowsky's track record, especially with a Princeton program that had/has a lot less behind it than what's in place at Penn State. Kid ain't crazy.

New York Islanders 2013 draft review
(Hockey's Future)

Your second dose of Big Mac comes through a roundup of Garth Snow's 2013 draft picks. If you're like me and are now trying to follow the Isles a little bit, it's probably good to check things like this out once in a while.

Ohio State's dumping of Mark Osiecki has continued to prove costly

Magyar chooses Kitchener Rangers over Ohio State
(Western College Hockey Blog)

Ohio State's firing of coach Mark Osiecki back in April... yep, still an absolutely terrible decision. The latest evidence: Ohio native and Cleveland Barons product Nick Magyar, a Buckeye commit who played for Sioux City and the National Team Development Program in the USHL last season, has signed with the OHL's Kitchener Rangers and blowtorched his college eligibility. Magyar is just the latest in a growing line of Osiecki recruits to flee, including Nolan Valeau, Cliff Watson and Zach Stepan.

U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2013 Unveiled
(USA Hockey)

This year's U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame class lacks the direct Penn State connection of the 2012 group featuring Eddie Olczyk, but it's still a robust collection headlined (for our purposes) by Ron Mason. Mason coached at Lake Superior State (1967-1973), Bowling Green (1974-1979) and Michigan State (1980-2002), won the 1986 national title with the Spartans, and was the winningest coach in college history (924 victories) until he was passed by Jerry York last season. He was also among the hockey giants surveyed for quotes distributed to the press on September 17, 2010, for whatever that's worth:

“I think it’s wonderful that Penn State will have Division I hockey. I’ve long thought that if Penn State ever decided to elevate its program that it would be a school that would challenge for championships. This is a good move for the school and for college hockey.”

Jake Gardiner, a Maple Leafs defenseman and Max's brother, is among the U.S. Olympic hopefuls

Men's National Team Orientation Camp Roster Set
(USA Hockey)

Arguably the biggest story in the hockey world last week was the release of Olympic team camp rosters by most of the countries expected to contend in Sochi, Russia next year. Team USA's version includes a pair of Penn State siblings in Maple Leafs defenseman Jake Gardiner and Blackhawks forward Brandon Saad, and yes, we're going to keep living vicariously through those guys until there are Nittany Lions in the show.

The 48-man camp roster will eventually be cut to 25, so Saad and Gardiner certainly aren't home yet, although both are strong contenders for selection.

Glen Gulutzan happy to return 'home' with Canucks
(Vancouver Sun)

Glen Gulutzan, one of the more prominent members of the Guy Gadowsky coaching tree (Gadowsky coached Gulutzan with the WCHL's Fresno Falcons in 1996-1997 and 1998-1999), has joined John Tortorella's Vancouver Canucks staff. Gulutzan, last time we checked in on him, was being fired as head coach of the Dallas Stars after two seasons, so it's nice to see him land on his feet.

@BillRiga
@KeeferJ_
(Twitter)

The leading Twitterdrama last Tuesday: assistant coaches acting butthurt for really, really stupid reasons. First, there's the case of Quinnipiac's Bill Riga, subtweeting QU blog From the NIP to the Bank for having the audacity to predict the Bobcats' lineup for the coming season (forwards, defense/goalies).

Love people who have our line-up and freshmen predicted. I don't even know and I've seen them all play a lot. #smarterthani

Someone needs to look up the definitions of "prediction" and "know" and note the differences.

Jerry Keefe of Northeastern skipped snark and went straight to fury. His target? The Providence Journal's Mark Divver, whose horrific crime was tweeting that new Providence College commit Spenser Young, a defenseman at Phillips Exeter Academy, held an offer from Keefe's Huskies. Time to rumble.

Divver wisely bowed out at that point, but in Keefe's estimation, Twitter still wasn't safe - after all, there were people making innocuous "don't see that every day" comments about the Keefe-Divver exchange to straighten out.

@smclaughlin9 @MarkDivver don't like when people tweet false info to make a hockey program look bad. We all work to hard for that.

Yeah, you (may have) lost out on a highly-sought-after (heavy hitters Boston College, Yale and New Hampshire also whiffed on Young, according to Divver) recruit. Brutal. Your program looks absolutely horrible now. But no worries, you're well on the way back, because you don't spread rumors about the media.

@smclaughlin9 @MarkDivver I don't report false info on twitter about you guys and your jobs so don't do about hockey programs and our jobs

Also, don't tell Keefe he's in an argument...

@smclaughlin9 @MarkDivver it's not an argument it's a point I feel strongly about.

...or that he melted down.

@FearTheTriangle @TheBUHockeyBlog no meltdowns here!

I beg to differ. The best summation is brought to you by Boston University "blog/Twitter combo without the blog" BurntBoats.

Moving On
(From the NIP to the Bank)

Finally, best wishes in blogger retirement to Luke Devoe, who is stepping aside from his aforementioned work on Quinnipiac.

I don't feel a true kinship with too many bloggers out there (which isn't to say that I don't respect and enjoy their work or like them as human beings). The SB Nation guys have 800 different writers and 20 billion pageviews a month. Other blogs are run by professional journalists as a side project or as part of the coverage of their beat. TYT isn't any of those things, and I don't really identify much with their realities. Devoe was different. Much like him, I'm just a guy who loves hockey, loves his school, and enjoys the artificial level of closeness allowed by doing this. That's why I find his reasons for stopping heartbreaking.

I became blacklisted to a certain extent because, well, I was a little too opinionated during a rough stretch of play. I accepted this, altered my approach, and went on covering the team I love. Recently, a small but similar event occurred. While it would be easy to shrug it off and file it under the "can't make them all happy" category, I simply can't.

Back when things weren't exactly gravy and FTNTTB wasn't on the best of terms with the brass at the Q it was tough receiving sideways stares walking into a venue that I held, and still hold, so near and dear. It was even harder when those stares were coming from some people whose opinion mattered. The labor of love turned into a exhausting game of second guessing and self-censoring, even at times when I truly felt I was right. I just don't feel like doing it again. I concede.

Shame on you, Bill Riga and anyone else who may have contributed to his struggles.

Stacked NCAA Women's Schedule Announced

Hannah Hoenshell and the Nittany Lions once again host Mercyhurst on February 15th and 16th, 2014

Penn State has officially announced its second-ever NCAA women's slate, and the first at the Pegula Ice Arena. Without further delay, here it is (* denotes College Hockey America games):

Date	Time	Opponent	Location
Fri. Oct. 4	7:00 p.m.	at Vermont	Gutterson Fieldhouse // Burlington, VT
Sat. Oct. 5	3:00 p.m.	at Vermont	Gutterson Fieldhouse // Burlington, VT
Fri. Oct. 11	TBA	at Quinnipiac	TD Bank Sports Center // Hamden, CT
Sat. Oct. 12	TBA	at Quinnipiac	TD Bank Sports Center // Hamden, CT
Fri. Oct. 18	7:00 p.m.	Union	Pegula Ice Arena // University Park, PA
Sat. Oct. 19	2:00 p.m.	Union	Pegula Ice Arena // University Park, PA
Sat. Oct. 26	7:00 p.m.	New Hampshire	Pegula Ice Arena // University Park, PA
Sun. Oct. 27	2:00 p.m.	New Hampshire	Pegula Ice Arena // University Park, PA
Thu. Oct. 31	7:00 p.m.	Robert Morris*	Pegula Ice Arena // University Park, PA
Fri. Nov. 1	4:00 p.m.	Robert Morris*	Pegula Ice Arena // University Park, PA
Sat. Nov. 9	2:00 p.m.	Syracuse*	Pegula Ice Arena // University Park, PA
Sun. Nov. 10	2:00 p.m.	Syracuse*	Pegula Ice Arena // University Park, PA
Fri. Nov. 15	7:00 p.m.	at RIT*	Ritter Ice Arena // Henrietta, NY
Sat. Nov. 16	7:00 p.m.	at RIT*	Ritter Ice Arena // Henrietta, NY
Fri. Nov. 22	TBA	at Lindenwood*	Lindenwood Ice Arena // St. Charles, MO
Sat. Nov. 23	TBA	at Lindenwood*	Lindenwood Ice Arena // St. Charles, MO
Sat. Nov. 30	2:00 p.m.	Maine	Pegula Ice Arena // University Park, PA
Fri. Dec. 6	3:00 p.m.	at Mercyhurst*	Mercyhurst Ice Center // Erie, PA
Sat. Dec. 7	2:00 p.m.	at Mercyhurst*	Mercyhurst Ice Center // Erie, PA
Fri. Jan. 3	7:00 p.m.	at Ohio State	OSU Ice Rink // Columbus, OH
Sat. Jan. 4	7:00 p.m.	at Ohio State	OSU Ice Rink // Columbus, OH
Fri. Jan. 10	7:00 p.m.	Colgate	Pegula Ice Arena // University Park, PA
Sat. Jan. 11	2:00 p.m.	Colgate	Pegula Ice Arena // University Park, PA
Fri. Jan. 24	TBA	at Syracuse*	Tennity Ice Pavilion // Syracuse, NY
Sat. Jan. 25	TBA	at Syracuse*	Tennity Ice Pavilion // Syracuse, NY
Tue. Jan. 28	7:00 p.m.	at Princeton	Hobey Baker Memorial Rink // Princeton, NJ
Fri. Jan. 31	7:00 p.m.	RIT*	Pegula Ice Arena // University Park, PA
Sat. Feb. 1	2:00 p.m.	RIT*	Pegula Ice Arena // University Park, PA
Sat. Feb. 8	2:00 p.m.	Lindenwood*	Pegula Ice Arena // University Park, PA
Sun. Feb. 9	2:00 p.m.	Lindenwood*	Pegula Ice Arena // University Park, PA
Sat. Feb. 15	2:00 p.m.	Mercyhurst*	Pegula Ice Arena // University Park, PA
Sun. Feb. 16	1:00 p.m.	Mercyhurst*	Pegula Ice Arena // University Park, PA
Fri. Feb. 21	TBA	at Robert Morris*	Island Sports Center // Neville Twp., PA
Sat. Feb. 22	TBA	at Robert Morris*	Island Sports Center // Neville Twp., PA

The CHA Tournament, once again, will be played entirely at campus sites. The sixth-place team and the fifth-place team will travel, respectively, to play the teams finishing third and fourth in the standings for a pair of best-of-three series over the February 28th through March 2nd weekend. The winners then will travel to the home of the CHA regular-season champion to meet the top two seeds for the semifinals (March 6th) and championship game (March 8th).

In a nice touch, a video was produced with head coach Josh Brandwene's comments concerning the schedule, so let's work that in here. Seriously, it's 3:16 long, not the usual throwaway for an occasion like this, so get on it.



The schedule takes on a decidedly streaky flavor, with an early eight-game homestand between October 18th and November 10th followed immediately by a run of eight away games in nine overall between November 15th and January 4th. The Nittany Lions will also play 60 percent of their CHA home games during a late-season stretch at the Pegula Ice Arena between January 31st and February 16th.

The 14 out-of-conference games show that, once and for all, the kid gloves are off - the likes of Division III Chatham and Division I (kind of) Sacred Heart have been replaced by a solid collection of Hockey East and ECAC schools like Quinnipiac, New Hampshire, Maine and Colgate. QU's women, much like their male counterparts, have enjoyed a rather quick ascendancy under head coach Rick Seeley. The Bobcats won just three times in 2008-2009, but haven't won fewer than 19 since then. A big part of that success has been senior forward Kelly Babstock, who scored 28 goals among her 55 points last season, good for 8th and 11th in the nation. New Hampshire finished an uncharacteristic 14-16-4 last season, but the 1998 AWCHA national champs remain a traditional power and feature sophomore defender Alexis Crossley, an all-Hockey East selection last season and a gold medalist with Team Canada at the 2012 Women's U18 World Championships.

Other Hockey East (Vermont) and ECAC (Union, Princeton) opponents will reprise their slots on last year's schedule. The Nittany Lions went 1-4-0 against that collection of teams in 2012-2013, with the win a historic 5-3 triumph at UVM last October 6th in the program's first NCAA game behind two Micayla Catanzariti goals. Union is also a notable opponent for the presence of star goalie Shenae Lundberg who, like Crossley, owns a gold medal from the Women's U18 World Championships (2011, Team USA) and who also played for PSU assistant Casey McCullion at Deerfield Academy in 2007-2008.

In her second straight season opener at UVM, Micayla Catanzariti will aim for a repeat of last year's win

Ohio State will become the first-ever WCHA opponent for the Nittany Lions, and of course is an exciting addition for that university's status as Penn State's biggest rival over the last couple decades. The Buckeyes - who interestingly enough, have been rumored to join the CHA off and on in the past - finished 19-15-3 last year and are decidedly on the rise under former Robert Morris coach Nate Handrahan. Perhaps even more impressively than any of their wins, OSU managed to hang within two goals of Minnesota on February 9th. The Gophers were undefeated (41-0-0) national champions last season, and featured Patty Kazmeier Award winner Amanda Kessel, so yeah, that's actually kind of good. Ohio State did register wins over titans Wisconsin (3-1 on November 17th) and North Dakota (5-3 on October 12th) and will certainly be one of the Nittany Lions' biggest tests to date.

CHA contests, of course, remain the bulk of the schedule, and after seeing the five league opponents for the first time last year, it's pretty safe to say that the conference is stronger than its ever been as it looks to gain an NCAA Tournament autobid for 2014-2015. Mercyhurst re-asserted itself as the dominant team by winning both the regular season and conference championships and adding their usual NCAA appearance in 2012-2013 after Robert Morris stunned the Lakers to win the CHA Tournament two seasons ago. Syracuse emerged as a top-tier team, finishing second in both the standings and the playoffs. Along with Penn State, RIT and Lindenwood joined up as part of their transitions to NCAA Division I and were both highly competitive. The Lions were particularly notable in that regard, as they suddenly started chipping off big victories over the second half of the season (a sweep of RMU and a win at Syracuse to name three) after a 10-44-1 start to their time in DI that included only three wins against DI competition.

Beyond the schedule, Penn State also reiterated ticket information for the inaugural Pegula Ice Arena season:

Tickets for the inaugural Pegula Ice Arena season can be purchased in a season ticket package ($50) for all 17 games or on a game day basis of $5 by calling 1-800-NITTANY (648-8269) or visiting the Bryce Jordan Center ticket office.

Seating at Pegula Ice Arena will be general admission in the lower bowl. A Nittany Lion Club donation is not required for season tickets. Students will be free to all regular-season games, while men's hockey premium season ticket holders in the loge, club and suite levels will receive complimentary women's hockey season tickets.

I'll go ahead and say it: $50 for a front row seat (if you get there early enough, see the general admission thing) to Penn State's home schedule might be the best deal in sports.

Yale Wins NCAA DI National Championship

Yale coach Keith Allain and the Bulldogs' seniors with the national championship trophy

The Yale University Bulldogs won the first NCAA Division I men's national championship of Penn State's NCAA DI era with a surprisingly decisive 4-0 win over Quinnipiac Saturday night at Pittsburgh's Consol Energy Center.

It would take an entire post to fully explore the unlikeliness of Yale ending as the last team standing of the 59 in DI. But start with the usual restrictions on Ivy League teams - admissions, academics, scholarships and scheduling - that only Cornell and Harvard have successfully navigated in the history of college hockey. Continue through a long history of fairly limited success that only began to change when head coach Keith Allain took over in 2006 and a solid-but-unspectacular 2012-2013 record of 18-12-3 as of the point Union and Quinnipiac dumped the Bulldogs from the ECAC Tournament by a combined 8-0 score. Yale needed Michigan to lose to Notre Dame in the CCHA championship game just to qualify for the NCAA Tournament as the 15th seed of 16 teams. They then had to battle three top seeds, a second seed, and a 23-year streak of conference failure at the NCAAs that prompted detractors to label the collection of 12 proud institutions as the "EZAC."

Yale conquered all of it. In the West Region's semifinal on March 29th, Jesse Root, a Pittsburgh native who played with former Ice Lions captain Jim Recupero on the Pittsburgh Hornets, buried Minnesota and their 15 NHL draft picks just nine seconds into overtime. That 3-2 result, combined with Lowell's blowout of Wisconsin shortly after, saw all qualifying members of the coming Big Ten eliminated within the first two games of the tournament. Against North Dakota, which boasts 14 NHL selections of their own (Yale, by the way, has four), Josh Balch, Root, Stu Wilson and Kenny Agostino supplied a four-goal third-period barrage to definitively flip the Fighting Sioux's 1-0 lead after 40 minutes and propel the Bulldogs to the Frozen Four. In the national semifinals, Yale posted another 3-2 overtime win, this time over Hockey East champion UMass-Lowell and with captain Andrew Miller providing the heroics.

That set up a championship tilt with Quinnipiac, another Connecticut-based ECAC team, one located just 7.9 miles down Whitney Avenue from New Haven in Hamden. QU - largely a commuter school into the 1990s and one that has only had DI hockey since 1999 - behind goaltender Eric Hartzell, a Hobey Baker finalist, and a strong senior class, was a surprise top-ranked team in the country for much of the season and the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. Giant slayer Yale, however, went blow for blow with the Bobcats during an incredible first 40 minutes that caused no less of an authority than PSU captain Tommy Olczyk's brother Eddie, a graduating forward at Massachusetts, to declare the contest "maybe the best hockey game I've ever seen, period."

Hartzell faltered with just 3.5 seconds remaining in the second period when he allowed Clinton Bourbonais' redirection of a Gus Young shot from the bottom of the circle to slip through for a 1-0 Yale lead. Early in the third, Bourbonais found Charles Orzetti streaking down left wing. Orzetti's initial shot from range was turned aside, but the freshman tracked down his rebound and fired five hole from an extremely tight angle to make it 2-0. After that second fairly weak goal the Bobcats, which had arguably been the better team to that point, deflated some, allowing Miller's breakaway goal off a feed from Agostino and Root's empty netter to render much of the final period disappointingly academic. Bulldog goaltender Jeff Malcolm was spectuclar in making 36 saves to earn the game's first star on his 24th birthday.

What does it all mean for Penn State? Perhaps most significantly, Yale's win (along with Quinnipiac's high seed and advancement to the championship game, itself a great story that shouldn't be lost in defeat) may indicate a new era of parity in college hockey. After Harvard's 1989 championship - the last for the ECAC until now - and Lake Superior State's brief rise to prominence under Frank Anzalone and Jeff Jackson, every single national title from 1995 through 2010 was taken home by one of the blue bloods: Boston University, Boston College, Michigan, Michigan State, North Dakota, Maine, Minnesota, Denver or Wisconsin. In 2011, Minnesota-Duluth broke the string, emerging from years of mediocrity to win a first title. Last season's NCAA Tournament, despite BC ultimately taking it, was noted for the presence of Cinderellas Ferris State and Union in the Frozen Four. This season's semifinals doubled that with all four programs (St. Cloud State and UMass-Lowell joined Yale and QU) seeking a first-ever national title.

In short, NCAA Division I hockey has arguably never been more ripe for unlikely programs to find success. And that's a good thing if your program just completed its first season at the DI level. Put that trend together with a blue-and-white clad team winning every single championship since PSU entered the fray (okay, that one's a little more tenuous), and the future looks promising for the Nittany Lions.

Empty seats at the Consol Energy Center were prominent during Thursday's semifinals

Another storyline with some relation with PSU was Pittsburgh's role as host of the Frozen Four, which received mostly positive reviews from observers on the heels of numerous articles written about the city's emergence as a hockey market in the buildup to the event. The major negative: Although ticket sales represented near-sellouts of 17,428 (semifinals) and 18,184 (championship game), it was the worst-attended Frozen Four since 2006's championships in Milwaukee, and overwhelming numbers of empty seats visible during Thursday's semifinals presented an ugly backdrop to the games. Fortunately, the crowd for Saturday's final went a long way towards redeeming things, with a full house of much-more-involved patrons including a sturdy presence of Penn State fans, according to eyewitness reports.

Philadelphia will host next year's Frozen Four, and will undoubtedly seek to one-up their cross-commonwealth archrivals. Penn State's second chance to compete for a close-to-home national championship begins just 180 days from now, against Army on October 11th at the nearly-complete Pegula Ice Arena.

The Penn Stater's Guide to the NCAA Tournament III

Welcome to TYT's third annual "I'm a Penn State fan. Who should I root for in the NCAA Tournament?" post. To reiterate the rules: this post is not about prediction, serious analysis, or even personal preference (although that does creep into play on occasion). It's simply an attempt to rank the four schools in each of the four NCAA Tournament regions in terms of their relationship to PSU. Sometimes it involves past events, sometimes it involves future implications. Sometimes there's not a ton to go on, and I'll usually drop those schools somewhere in the middle. But if Penn State is your only concern, this is how I think your rooting interests should play out.

Until Penn State has a direct reason (ie. participation) to care about the NCAA Tournament, I'll defer to others for the hardcore stuff. Western College Hockey Blog, for example, has fantastic previews of each region (East, Northeast, Midwest, West), and I encourage you to go over there for further reading.

The winners of each region, of course, will congregate at the Frozen Four, hosted this year by Pittsburgh's CONSOL Energy Center and Robert Morris University on April 11th (semifinals) and 13th (championship game). It's actually the first of consecutive Frozen Fours to be held in the Keystone State, as 2014's edition will head across the commonwealth to Philadelphia.

Finally, before we get started, here are the tournament brackets (interactive and PDF) from NCAA.com.

East Region (Providence, RI)

1. Quinnipiac vs. 4. Canisius, Saturday 5:30 p.m., ESPN3
2. Boston College vs. 3. Union, Saturday 9:00 p.m., ESPNU
Regional Final, Sunday 6:30 p.m., ESPNU


1. Union. It seems almost crazy now, given what happened subsequently, but I was absolutely pumped by PSU's competitive losses in Schenectady back in November (2-0 and 4-1, with empty-netters in both games). That was at a time when I didn't honestly see a major-conference win coming in NCAA Year One, and suffice it to say, I think Penn State would have a shot at being more than "competitive" today. In last year's version of this post, while discussing the Dutchmen, I said: "It would be pretty cool if the Dutchmen carried something like a Frozen Four appearance from this season into next season's games with the Nittany Lions." And yes, it was. With Union rumored to be making a trip to Pegula Ice Arena next season, I'm saying it again.

2. Canisius. The two Atlantic Hockey teams in the tournament this year both get a bump due to the fact that Penn State was an honorary member of the conference in 2012-2013, going 5-8-0 against AIC, RIT, Air Force, Sacred Heart, Army, Holy Cross, Robert Morris and Connecticut - there's nothing at all wrong with wanting to see the champion of the AHA tournament do well under those circumstances, even if they are up against it with an opening game against top overall seed Quinnipiac. The Golden Griffins also get points for a previous series with the Icers, back when the school played in NCAA Division III. PSU went 2-6-0 in those games, spanning from 1981 until 1995.

3. Quinnipiac. In a weaker region for Penn State interests (see: Midwest), the Bobcats may very well have been number one, due to my new blood bias (hey, we're new blood too, after all). For the little it may be worth now, QU's home TD Bank Sports Center was part of the legendary "get ideas for the PIA" arena tour taken by Penn State leadership, and is generally credited with influencing the "steep as code allows" (finish your drink!) nature of our nearly-complete student section.

4. Boston College. Eef. If you really want to see Boston College win anything (again), go away. If you're still here, it does need to be said that BC's one saving grace is the Eagles' three Pittsburgh natives: starting goalie Parker Milner, stud defenseman Patrick Wey, and freshman blueliner Travis Jeke. Diminutive superstar Johnny Gaudreau, the leading scorer both for BC and for Team USA's gold medal winning entry at this year's World Junior Championships, gets an honorable mention as a Philadelphia-area New Jersey native who played for Team Comcast. The three PA natives are tied with UMass-Lowell's batch as a tournament high.

Northeast Region (Manchester, NH)

1. UMass-Lowell vs. 4. Wisconsin, Friday 4:30 p.m., ESPN3
2. New Hampshire vs. 3. Denver, Friday 8:00 p.m., ESPNU
Regional Final, Saturday 6:30 p.m., ESPNU


1. Wisconsin. Do I really need to explain this one?

In its first NCAA season, Penn State beat a team that is participating in the NCAA Tournament. The fact that the Badgers are also a Big Ten school, and yeah, "rah-rah, go conference," almost seems like an afterthought next to that. Feel free to extrapolate and call UW the overall top seed - I'll be rooting for them against anyone in the field. Could you imagine if Penn State ended up beating the eventual national champions?

2. UMass-Lowell. Things significantly drop off from a Penn State standpoint after the obvious Wisconsin call, but the aforementioned three Pennsylvanians (defenseman Joe Houk of Richboro, goaltender Brian Robbins of Scotrun, forward Terrance Wallin of Yardley) and the new blood factor give the River Hawks the edge over UNH. Lowell, a former Division II superpower that elevated to DI in 1984, has been thoroughly average since then, but has now made consecutive NCAA tournament appearances and won its first Hockey East tournament title on Saturday by ending Jack Parker's legendary career at Boston University. New blood is fun until it gets annoying (see Union, with Quinnipiac setting a land speed record on the way there), and Lowell isn't annoying yet.

3. New Hampshire. If the Wildcats were to take the whole thing, I wouldn't complain. The school, quite accurately dubbed the University of No Hardware by detractors, is always there - UNH has been to 18 of the last 22 NCAA Tournaments and a streak of ten consecutive was snapped last year - but never wins, and is quite possibly the most storied program in college hockey without a national championship. There's not much on either side of the ledger from a Penn State/Pennsylvania perspective though, other than gigantic (6'6", 225 pounds) defenseman Eric Knodel, a West Chester native and a Toronto draft pick. He was selected when Brian Burke was still the Leafs' GM, although that probably goes without saying.

4. Denver. The Pios have always been sort of a nothing team to me. There's no disrespect intended in that statement, DU's obviously one of the most successful programs in college hockey, I just have literally no feelings positively or negatively about them. What drops them to the bottom of the region, then? They're joining the NCHC next year. I get the feeling that Big Ten-NCHC in hockey is going to be like Big Ten-SEC in football for years to come, or at least until the entire conference structure gets reshuffled again. Except hopefully, the Big Ten will be the better conference at hockey.

Midwest Region (Toledo, OH)

1. Notre Dame vs. 4. St. Cloud, Saturday 1:30 p.m., ESPN3
2. Miami vs. 3. Minnesota State, Saturday 5:00 p.m., ESPN3
Regional Final, Sunday 4:00 p.m., ESPNU


1. Notre Dame. It's not an easy call in a region that's absolutely brutal for Penn State interests, but I've always been fond of the fact that once upon a time, the Icers played Notre Dame. The Irish temporarily removed varsity status from its hockey program for a single season, 1983-1984, and scheduled a series in Johnstown against eventual club national champion PSU, with ND taking three points from the weekend. The next season, with Lefty Smith's gang back in the NCAA, the Icers went to South Bend and were swept. Notably, Notre Dame was Joe Battista's second choice of college - try that alternate history on for size, you won't like it - and PSU brass has a good relationship with the school, so you can probably count on the teams meeting at some point. ND's Compton Family Ice Arena was a key influence on the Pegula Ice Arena design as well.

No shame in having the second-nicest arena in college hockey

2. Minnesota State. The Screaming Eagles Mavericks could be considered one of the victims of Penn State's entry into NCAA hockey, as next season they'll be going from the WCHA, the toughest conference in college hockey, to... the WCHA, the fifth-toughest conference in college hockey. Normally, I'd point out that under the new setup, teams like Minnesota State, Lake Superior State and Bowling Green might actually have a better shot at an NCAA bid since one of the WCHA "leftover" teams are guaranteed to go via the autobid, but MSU obviously didn't need that to get in this year, so... uhhh... sorry?

3. Miami. I've generally been fond of the RedHawks, as a relative newcomer to NCAA Division I hockey that is now firmly established in the "club" of national powers (in other words, saying Miami is going to be good or is going to win something no longer receives a sneer in response, as it has for PSU, although the Nittany Lions' 2012-2013 results certainly shut a few people up). Eight straight tournament appearances with two Frozen Fours and one almost-championship will tend to do that. From a 1978 start date, the then-Redskins first made NCAAs in 1993, before things really took off once head coach Enrico Blasi's tenure began in 1999. MU does receive some credit for participation in the Three Rivers Classic this season, although they managed to duck PSU, but... there's that NCHC thing rearing its ugly head again. Without it, Miami is first or second in the region. With it, they're third.

4. St. Cloud State. In the recent past, and in consideration of the fact that former Icers coach Morris Kurtz was a 27-year athletic director at SCSU, the Huskies would almost certainly be somewhere other than last. However, Kurtz retired last June, and... NCHC. Ew.

West Region (St. Paul, MN)

1. Minnesota vs. 4. Yale, Friday 2:00 p.m., ESPNU
2. North Dakota vs. 3. Niagara, Friday 5:30 p.m., ESPNU
Regional Final, Saturday 4:00 p.m., ESPNU


1. Minnesota. With the end of Michigan's 22-year tournament streak this year and the low seed given to Wisconsin (although many are pegging the Badgers as a dark horse, given the 10 wins in 12 tear that got them into this thing), stacked Minnesota has to be considered the favorite to represent the Big Ten deep into NCAAs, and Penn Staters should act accordingly. Since the announcement of the conference's formation, haters have had loads of ammo, thanks to frequently-underperforming programs, as judged by their traditional standards. In 2011, Michigan was the only Big Ten school to qualify for the tournament, although their run to overtime of the national championship game helped alleviate the issue. Last year, Michigan, Michigan State and Minnesota all made it, but only the Gophers managed to win an NCAA Tournament game, two actually, before falling to eventual national champion Boston College in the Frozen Four semifinals. Until the Badgers' late run this season, things once again looked pretty bad for the Big Ten, particularly with usual powers Michigan and Michigan State slumping - but a Gophers national championship leading into Big Ten play next year would help the league's credibility immeasurably.

Bonus reason: Gophers forward Tom Serratore and PSU captain Tommy Olczyk are close friends

2. Niagara. Niagara is a team from mid-major league Atlantic Hockey and received an at-large bid. Not supporting that is un-American, or something. As mentioned under the Canisius entry, AHA teams get extra credit this season due to PSU's 13 games against the conference - it would be nice if the Nittany Lions' competition, or at least the teams that beat that competition to win the AHA regular season (Niagara) and playoff (Canisius) titles, ends up looking good.

3. Yale. The Bulldogs, along with New Hampshire and arguably UMass-Lowell and Minnesota State, stand out as a more or less completely neutral team from a Penn State standpoint. Don't root for them against Minnesota of course, but should Yale stun the Gophs, feel free to pull for them against North Dakota. You could even support them against Niagara, given the lack of truly compelling reasons to support the Purps, if you're a huge fan of junior forward Jesse Root, a Pittsburgh native who is fifth on the team in scoring with 20 points this year.

4. North Dakota. ...and in what's become an annual tradition, the Sioux bring up the rear due to what I'm calling the Eric Burton rule. I'm not sure that I have to elaborate at this point, but if I'm wrong, get at me in the comments. Because it will never stop being funny, here's what happens when the Sioux get eliminated (for those unfamiliar with the context, Michigan's Scooter Vaughan just scored an empty-netter to clinch victory for the Wolverines in the 2011 Frozen Four semifinals):

Pegula Center Speculation: TD Bank Sports Center

Fifth and final post in a series taking a look at rinks visited by Joe Battista, Terry Pegula and Tim Curley during their whirlwind tour over the summer and fall of 2010. The others: Boston University's Agganis Arena, Miami University's Steve Cady Arena, Notre Dame's Lefty Smith Rink and Minnesota-Duluth's AMSOIL Arena.

Opened: January 27, 2007
Cost: $52 million
Capacity: 3,386
Ice Surface: 200' x 85'
Official Site

Before we go any further, I want to sneak in an exterior shot of the home of the Quinnipiac Bobcats, even though it has absolutely nothing to do with Penn State.

Basketball on the left, hockey on the right, fans of the two sports forced to co-exist in the middle. Sorry, I just thought that was cool. I'm sure many heated exchanges about the relative merits of "bouncyball" (as many hockey fans derisively call it - last post) have taken place in that lobby. Or maybe both sides just let the other be when both teams are playing at the same time in there, which probably doesn't happen that often anyway. Yeah, that one's more likely.

First thing to point out: go back to the interior shot at the top. You'll notice that you may need spiked shoes and a rope to get from the bottom to the top of the seating. That steep slope in the seating bowl is something that appealed to Battista:

We want a steep rise and run so that it’s a great venue for spectators. We saw that at Boston U. and Minnesota and Quinnipiac. All of those places remind you of Hersheypark Arena. Not a bad seat in the house because it’s built for hockey.

If the infamous sketch is any indication, the Pegula Center will share this feature.

Wall o'fans.

Beyond the seating bowl (which is set up in the way I prefer as well, although AMSOIL started to get me to come around on that, as I said yesterday), it's tough to see what Battista got out of the visit, because TD Bank Sports Center doesn't really offer many of the things Penn State would seek to include in the Pegula Center. It's a nice facility, but it looks to be pretty spartan. A great place to watch a game, no doubt, but not towards the top of the facility rankings. But hey, don't take my word for it, go back to Quinnipiac's page about the place:

The TD Bank Sports Center is a 185,000-square-foot facility with basketball and hockey arenas joined by a common lobby area and university club. The new athletic center also includes: offices, locker rooms, club and premium seating, conference and meeting rooms, storage and weight-training facilities.

I'm certainly guilty of overanalysis from time to time, but that doesn't sound to me like much beyond the essentials. If you had a hydrotherapy room like Minnesota-Duluth or a puck-shooting range like Notre Dame, you'd probably toss it in that sentence.

But you know what? If the seating bowl slope was indeed our main takeaway from Quinnipiac, it was worth the trip in my opinion.