Vaughan to Play Second WUG for Team USA

USA Hockey announced Wednesday that senior Women's Ice Hockey Club goaltender Katie Vaughan will play for Team USA at the upcoming Winter World University Games, which will be held December 10th through 21st in Trentino, Italy.

She was one of 17 named to what USA Hockey is calling a "preliminary roster," with more players to be added later this month.

Last season, en route to second-team All-ACHA Tournament and ACHA All-American honorable mention honors, Vaughan posted sparkling stats: an 8-4-0 record with a 1.40 goals against average, a 0.943 save percentage, and a shutout in helping to lead Penn State to the ACHA Division 2 national championship game. She spent her first two years at PSU with the ACHA Division 1 Lady Icers program, where she notably backstopped the team's 3-2 overtime upset of NCAA Division I Sacred Heart on January 14th, 2012. So far in 2013-2014, she has a perfect stat line, thanks to two shutout periods against Liberty in September 27th's season opener.

Vaughan also played for Team USA at the 2011 World University Games in Erzurum, Turkey, the first time USA Hockey sent a women's team to the tournament. Alongside fellow Lady Icers Heather Rossi, Lindsay Reihl and Denise Rohlik, she went 2-1-0 in four games, including a 1.81 goals against average and a shutout to help the Americans to fourth place. Vaughan is one of just two returning members of that team, as she's joined by Robert Morris (IL) forward Ramey Weaver in that category.

Team USA, it was previously announced, will be led by long-time Penn State hockey coach Mo Stroemel, who has served as director of operations for the NCAA women's team, as both an assistant and a head coach with the Lady Icers and the ACHA Men's Division 2 Ice Lions, and also as an assistant with the ACHA Men's Division 1 Icers. He was the head coach of the 2011 U.S. World University Games entry as well. Stroemel will be assisted by Rob Blackburn and Kristen Wright, the head coaches at Michigan and Colorado, respectively.

There are other Penn State connections to the WUG as well. Massachusetts defender Paige Harrington, who played for the Lady Icers in 2011-2012 before transferring, is on the women's preliminary roster. Former Icers head (2006-2011) and assistant (1997-1999, 2001-2006) coach Scott Balboni will lead the men's team at the tournament.

Here is the schedule Stroemel, Vaughan, Harrington and the U.S. women's team face, with all games being played in a 1,672-seat rink in Pergine Valsugana, a municipality within the province of Trentino in northern Italy. All times are Eastern.

December 10th vs. Russia, 10:00 a.m.
December 12th vs. Great Britain, 6:00 a.m.
December 13th vs. Japan, 2:00 p.m.
December 15th vs. Canada, 2:00 p.m.
December 16th vs. Spain, 2:00 p.m.
December 18th vs. Semifinals, TBD
December 20th vs. Championship/Third Place, TBD

Ten Forgotten Stories of the Transition

Penn State's transition from ACHA to NCAA is nearly complete by every conceivable measure, as the public opening of Pegula Ice Arena and the inaugural season for the Big Ten, the last significant milestones, are just about one month away. With that in mind, here's a look back at ten obscure stories (plus two honorable mentions) that may have slipped from the memories of most observers over the three years - yes, it's been that long - since the university announced its intent to sponsor varsity hockey and thanks to the massive donation of Terry and Kim Pegula.

The nature of the stories, of course, is that they are easy to forget - and that includes by me. If you think I've missed something more deserving than what's listed here, let me know in the comments!

Honorable Mention: PIA Groundbreaking

While Pegula Ice Arena's groundbreaking event on April 20, 2012 - notable for Terry Pegula's announcement that he had upped his donation from $88 million to $102 million - hardly qualifies as a "forgotten story," one quirk of the proceedings does. The two men's players made available to the media that day to talk about the arena were goaltender Matt Madrazo and forward Justin Kirchhevel, neither of whom lasted on PSU's NCAA roster until its opening.

Honorable Mention: Pennsylvania Puck

On October 1, 2011 and following a healthy buildup, Pennsylvania Puck (papuck.com) officially launched with the promise of delivering the best coverage available of Keystone State hockey. Although it tended to be a bit too focused on the AHL's Hershey Bears, it came through for the most part with an interesting mix of behind-the-scenes features, how-to videos, first-person blogging and more conventional reporting (arguably its most notable Penn State-related article concerned then-broadcaster Steve Penstone).

Rather suddenly and after only five months, the site shut down, citing traffic and ad revenue that did not meet expectations. PA Puck still maintained Twitter and Facebook accounts that shared hockey news from around the commonwealth after discontinuing its site content, but on Monday announced that those would be stopped as well.

10. Reed Linaker

Given the way his story suddenly re-emerged in June, it's possible that Linaker doesn't qualify as "forgotten" right now, although he will certainly re-enter that territory in time. The skinny: Linaker committed in May 2011 and, as that made him the first pledge for the 2012-2013 season, he became the first pure NCAA player and first scholarship player in Penn State hockey history.

However, before his freshman season began, the Albertan abruptly disappeared from the PSU roster, and although he attended games in a suit, he never played in one. As it turned out, Linaker was not cleared to play by the university's medical staff due to a heart issue (Linaker, for his part, disputes the assessment) and was not allowed to join the team. He eventually left school and will sit out the 2013-2014 season while continuing to explore other college options both north and south of the Canadian border.

9. The Blowout at RMU

Contrary to popular belief, the Penn State women did not play Robert Morris for the first time on November 10, 2012 at the Ice Pavilion. The meeting in question actually took place the previous year, on September 23, 2011, at RMU's 84 Lumber Arena as an exhibition opener to the final Lady Icers season. Although PSU's team included future NCAAers Kate Christoffersen, Tess Weaver, Katie Murphy, Madison Smiddy, Lindsay Reihl and Cara Mendelson (Taylor Gross and Jess Desorcie didn't arrive until mid-season), the hosts scored early and often in a 12-0 shellacking.

The Colonials' goal scorers included players like Rebecca Vint, Thea Imbrogno and Jamie Joslin who would star against the Nittany Lions' NCAA entry the following year, while Murphy and current Women's Ice Hockey Club president Allie Rothman led the Lady Icers with two shots apiece. RMU went on to win the College Hockey America playoff title, so it's not like they were a terrible team.

8. The CCHA "Invitation"

In a bit of a bizarre maneuver - particularly since Penn State had not yet announced its intent to elevate hockey to varsity status - current Michigan State coach Tom Anastos, then the commissioner of the CCHA, told the Detroit News in August of 2010 that he'd love to have the school in his league. "They are a very attractive choice - very attractive," Anastos said. "They're in a different market than we're in, more and more U.S. players are on college rosters, and there's tremendous growth of the sport in Pennsylvania."

The quote actually hurt PSU in the public's estimation. One year earlier, the CCHA had rejected an application from struggling independent/cause célèbre Alabama-Huntsville, and in tandem, the two events led many to speculate that the 11-team league was "saving a seat" for PSU, to UAH's detriment. The CCHA met its demise after last season when the later-formed Big Ten took away Michigan, MSU and Ohio State (as well as Penn State) and other schools followed in jumping ship. Anastos, in all likelihood, saw that outcome in his crystal ball a couple years ahead and, without regard to UAH's application, was doing what he could to preserve his conference.

7. Tim Carr

Like Linaker, Carr was a first - along with Jake Friedman, he was the initial Penn State commit following the Pegula donation. Unlike Linaker though, Carr actually played at PSU, suiting up in three games as an Icers freshman in 2011-2012 and going 2-1-0 with a 2.00 goals against average, a 0.919 save percentage and a shutout of Rutgers. The product of Pine Bush, NY had enjoyed a great campaign with the EJHL's New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs the season before, earning a good chunk of minutes in a tandem with current Boston College netminder Brian Billett. As a result, many (guilty) pegged him as a significant contributor to the inaugural Nittany Lions, but he quickly fell behind Matt Madrazo and P.J. Musico in the Penn State crease and never recovered.

Over winter break and just before the Icers' outdoor game against Neumann at Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park, Carr transferred to NCAA Division III Western New England University. In a season and a half with the Golden Bears, he has compiled a 7-8-1 record, a 2.94 goals against average and a 0.919 save percentage.

6. Name The Student Section

Prior to and throughout most of the 2012-2013 season, there was a push from the fine folks in the athletic department to develop a name for Penn State's hockey student section. In addition to the standard social media solicitations, there were suggestion boxes set up at the Ice Pavilion during games. Given that we haven't heard a thing about it in roughly nine months, it's probably fair to consider the effort abandoned. And I'm fine with that. After all, PSU's well-regarded football student section doesn't have a name. The lesser-regarded basketball student section does have a name, one that does little other than draw out snarky hoops loyalists when an "ill-informed" journalist dares to use "Nittany Nation" in any sort of general context. To paraphrase noted vampire hunter Abraham Lincoln, better to remain nameless and be thought a fool than to come up with a really terrible name - The A-Team at Michigan State, for example - and remove all doubt.

5. The Shoot Twice Founders Club

The what? Yeah, pretty much. One early rendering of Pegula Ice Arena (below) included a large banner for the mythical association fronting the upper level. However, as I'm sure all of you know by now, the "shoot twice" end is, in actuality, home to the student section and not the Founders Club - and it looks nothing like what is depicted. Although the rendering quickly became dated, it remained a favorite among bloggers and media well past its sell-by date, possibly due to its showing a packed bowl with a game on the ice (something that was generally not the case with other, more accurate versions). The Founders Club was still receiving circulation as recently as January, even with the actual arena over halfway complete.

4. PegulaVille

In July 2012, then-junior John Romano initiated a movement for a student hockey campout, similar to the well-known Paternoville Nittanyville for football games. There was a Twitter account, which quickly gained a couple hundred followers. There was a Facebook page. There was some publicity, including a pretty cynical Three Stars entry on this blog and a much more positive turn in the Collegian that included quotes from Connor Varley. Then, shortly after the Nittany Lions' inaugural jersey unveiling event that September, it went poof faster than Keyser Soze and hasn't been heard from since.

3. Mark Johnson

The last, frantic days of the search for Penn State's first NCAA men's coach in April of 2011 were truly a spectacle, one that gained national interest as the college hockey world waited to hear which of finalists Guy Gadowsky, Scott Sandelin and Mark Johnson would get the nod.

The choice, obviously, ended up being Gadowsky, but Wisconsin athletic director and noted windbag Barry Alvarez stirred up controversy when he claimed days later that Johnson had received an offer from PSU and turned it down to remain the women's coach at UW, his alma mater. Was Gadowsky a Plan B, or even a Plan C (Sandelin and Minnesota-Duluth, his employer both then and now, remained silent on the issue)? Not so fast. A couple weeks after Alvarez's comments, Johnson went on the record to dispute his boss' claim of an offer and even said that he was relieved at not having to face a difficult choice.

2. The 2011-2012 Co-Coach Plan

When Gadowsky was hired, he did not directly replace then-Icers coach Scott Balboni. In fact, the two were listed as co-head coaches for 33 extremely awkward days. The idea, initially, was for Balboni to remain as the game-day, ground-level coach, allowing Gadowsky and his staff additional time to recruit while also evaluating players and implementing systems. Fortunately, sanity eventually won out: Gadowsky expressed a desire to take on the whole ball of wax, and Balboni obliged by resigning.

1. Jessi Hilton

While Penn State has had a couple of traditional major junior defections already in the forms of Thomas Welsh and Conor Garland, Jessi Hilton was sort of the backwards version of that. In early July 2011, and at the same time as Kenny Brooks, Hilton committed to PSU.

He was with the AJHL's Sherwood Park Crusaders at the time, but had previously played 12 regular season games with the WHL's Calgary Hitmen during the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 seasons, which not surprisingly presented issues. Quietly, Hilton disappeared from the Nittany Lions' commit list just one week later, when the NCAA wouldn't grant his appeal concerning those "professional" games - even if the appeal was granted, he still would have had to sit out a full season plus 12 games. Fortunately, the Hilton story has a happy ending, as he wound up at the University of British Columbia (the CIS is okay with major junior participation and UBC, by the way, is where former PSU women's player Katie Zinn transferred) and scored 10 points in 22 games as a freshman last year.

DIII Manhattanville Adds A Hired Hand

Josh Hand, Penn State's volunteer goaltending coach during the 2012-2013 inaugural NCAA season, has left to become the community relations coordinator for Manhattanville College athletics. He'll also assist with the Valiants' NCAA Division III men's and women's hockey programs.

Hand, a former goalie at NCAA Division III Concordia (MN) (2004-2008) and assistant coach/hockey director at ACHA Division 2 Texas A&M (2008-2010), first came to PSU as an assistant coach with the Icers for the 2010-2011 season. He then played a vital, yet underrated, role in Penn State's transition to NCAA status.

PSU struggled through much of that 2010-2011 season and, after two January losses at Ohio, was on the verge of missing the ACHA National Tournament for the first time ever. However, the team righted itself during the second half of the year, including while head coach Scott Balboni was in Turkey as part of Team USA's World University Games coaching staff in late January and early February. Hand led the Icers in Balboni's absence, a stretch involving a pair of wins and a shootout loss in tough series against Delaware and Rhode Island that more or less ensured the Icers' qualification for nationals.

Crucially, he was the team's recruiting coordinator as well and his work in the spring of 2011 helped lay the foundation for where the Nittany Lions stand today. With Balboni's future uncertain - not to mention his own - Hand spearheaded PSU's early 2011-2012 recruiting efforts that landed players like Jacob Friedman and Peter Sweetland, both of whom are still with the NCAA program.

Guy Gadowsky was hired for the Icers' final season in April, 2011 and shortly after brought his assistants at Princeton, Keith Fisher and Matt Lindsay, with him. Hand was able to stay in Hockey Valley by moving into the head coach role for the ACHA D2 Ice Lions, guiding the team to one of its most successful seasons ever: 30-3-0 (including a 25-game winning streak), the MACHA regular season and playoff titles, and an appearance at the D2 national championships in Fort Myers, FL.

During that season, he also worked with the Icers' goalies, something that continued with the Nittany Lions for the 2012-2013 season. Under his tutelage, goalies Matt Skoff and P.J. Musico blossomed, representing one of PSU's strengths last year.

With Manhattanville, which is located in Purchase, NY, Hand joins a pair of hockey programs that have seen a lot of success despite just 14 years of history. From 2005-2008 the Valiant men appeared in four NCAA Tournaments, including a DIII Frozen Four in 2007, and the team has six ECAC West regular season or playoff championships to its credit. Head coach Arlen Marshall is entering his second year following up a 15-10-3 mark in 2012-2013. The women have been even more successful, with eight total NCAA appearances (seven in a row from 2002-2008) including participation in the 2002, 2003 and 2008 national championship games. David Turco is entering his third year in charge of the program with a 33-18-5 record.

Three Stars: July 15-21

3. Record 68 PSU Student-Athletes Honored as Big Ten Distinguished Scholars 
(gopsusports.com)

Hockey players Tommy Olczyk, Lindsay Reihl and Kate Christoffersen were among the 68 Penn Staters named Big Ten Distinguished Scholars last week, an honor for student-athletes with a grade point average of 3.7 or higher. What makes it especially impressive is that none of the three have actually played in the Big Ten.

In all seriousness, people like them (and the many other outstanding students on both the men's and women's teams) are why I'm proud to blog about Penn State hockey. Also, #culture.

2. The Pipeline Show - Season #8 Clips
(The Pipeline Show)

Last Tuesday evening - July 16th, show number 56 if you're digging at the link - Penn State's own David Glen spent an hour in The Pipeline Show's studio, along with Adam Tambellini, a promising prospect who played in the BCHL last season, and host Guy Flaming. While nothing earth shattering happened, it was nice to get a little more in depth than is typically the case with a recorded one-segment interview. And as you may have expected, Glen showed well enough to demonstrate why he's probably the leading candidate to wear the C after Olczyk graduates. For that alone, it's worth a listen.

By the way, something kind of fantastic: at the beginning of the second segment, both Glen and Tambellini plugged their Twitter accounts, and Flaming followed up by asking the latter how much his follower count blew up after he was picked in the third round by the New York Rangers at the NHL Draft on June 30th. That prompted me to check both of their pages. Tambellini, who is headed to North Dakota, has just under 1,500 followers. Undrafted Glen, who plays at Penn State, is over 2,000.

So yeah, welcome to the big-time college hockey, Fighting Sioux Flickertails fans.

1. Liquor Control Board Suspends G-Man’s Liquor License
(Onward State)

State College bar Gingerbread Man, generally known as G-Man and for its bro-tastic clientele, had its liquor license abruptly suspended at some point between July 13th and July 16th for reasons unknown. Shortly after the news spread, the following appeared on the establishment's Facebook page (assume a quote-long "[sic]"):

To all my G-man friends Thank you for all your continued support. The G-Man will be closed for the next few weeks. We will open again in early August and we will have NEW Menu, New Management, New Specials, and New ownership in process. We are very excited to bring back the old tradition of the G-man as a great restaurant, that happens to be a great bar! We are extremely excited about the future of the G-man so we hope you will be there to support us as we move forward. Thanks

Since 2009, G-Man has been owned by The Hat Trick Group, Inc., which includes former Icers coach Scott Balboni, current Women's Ice Hockey Club coach Pat Fung (who in the past has also coached the Ice Lions and Lady Icers, while assisting with the Icers) and former Icer Teague Willits-Kelley. However, it appears as if the era of hockey-based bar ownership in town may be coming to a close.

Best of the Rest

EA Sports re-ups on college football after NCAA snub
(USA Today)

There was a day, not all that long ago, when people persistently suggested that college hockey could or should or might be added to EA's popular NHL series of video games, which presently includes the major-junior CHL, as well as the AHL and professional leagues across Europe. That event now seems further away than ever with the NCAA buried in litigation over the use of player likenesses in EA games covering other sports, namely football and basketball - litigation that has prompted the NCAA to pull out of games subsequent to the just-released NCAA Football 14.

The involved parties will continue to find a way to produce a college football game, as the NCAA's withdrawal is largely symbolic (the rights to the various schools' names, logos, etc. are handled through the Collegiate Licensing Company, not the NCAA). However, the football games make money, while EA has killed both the NCAA March Madness/NCAA Basketball (1998-2010) and the MVP: NCAA Baseball (2006-2007) series that didn't. Given the questionable marginal value of adding college hockey to the NHL game and the current legal climate, it ain't happening anytime soon. It simply wouldn't be lucrative enough to negate the exposure, in my amateur judgment.

But hey, we'll always have Icers hall of famer Curtiss Patrick in NHL 09, right?

Trophy Michaels Pegula Ice Arena Tour 
(YouTube)

Here's a nice 2:41 chunk of a Pegula Ice Arena tour, shot primarily on the floor of the main arena, but also including some of the underneath stuff like the Zamboni area and the dry lockers.

NCHC Announces Inaugural CBS Sports Network Schedule
(NCHC)

The conference built to grab a massive television payday will have all of 18 games on CBS Sports Network, which is sort of like NBC Sports Network, Fox Sports 1 and ESPN, just without the viewers, sponsors, carriage or high-end programming. Well done, boys.

Of interest: on November 15th, CBS Sports will carry a doubleheader involving both Wisconsin (at Miami) and Michigan (at Nebraska-Omaha), if you're the sort of person who likes to scout future Penn State opponents. I'm guessing that if you read hockey blogs in July, you probably are.

WMU to build new hockey arena on campus
(Bronco Hockey Hot Stove)

NCHC school Western Michigan is rumored to be - there is no way I'm going with "reportedly" on this source - building a new arena. It is rumored to cost $16 million. Have fun with that, I guess.

Badgers receive 2013 WCHA Final Five playoff championship rings
(Bucky's 5th Quarter)

Due to declining ticket sales, Wisconsin sold sponsorship of its 2013 WCHA playoff championship rings to Chevrolet.

Lindenwood Adds Samantha Ullrich To Coaching Staff
Lindenwood Announces 2013-14 Recruiting Class
(lindenwoodlions.com)

It was a busy week for Lindenwood's media relations people. Penn State's CHA rival added an assistant coach on Thursday, former Robert Morris Colonial Samantha Ullrich, who most recently was on the staff of Team Pittsburgh's U19 AAA squad that won the 2010 USA Hockey national championship. Two days before introducing Ullrich, LU announced its eleven-player freshman class for the coming season. Like PSU, the Lions have gone in hard on Minnesota high school players, grabbing three this time around - including Nicole Rash, a teammate of Nittany Lions freshman Sarah Nielsen at Edina.

No NHL for now, but could UW hockey thrive in Seattle?
(Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

Never forget where you came from, Penn State.

My thoughts on west coast NCAA hockey haven't really changed in the last couple years. It could be a big deal. A really big deal. As I say that I'm looking at Washington, the subject here, located in a major city that, by all accounts, loves hockey and includes what seems like a workable short-term arena solution (as we know, that's kind of important). And also at schools like Arizona and Arizona State, home to two of the ACHA's best-run and best-supported programs. Of course, there's also the rapidly-growing California hockey scene, touching on a bunch of other Pac-12 universities.

The biggest problem is that somebody has to be first, and that's not such an appealing position as a geographic outlier that runs the risk of getting Huntsvilled. Seriously, which conference takes an unproven startup program nowhere close to any existing program, and one that is more or less guaranteed to leave when its primary conference can get to six? The WCHA, which many think is already overextended based on its new place in the universe? The NCHC, which was formed when a few power schools ditched long-standing rivals that were perceived as bad for the bottom line? Once the ball gets rolling, there's no stopping it. But right now, it's hard to see who can push the thing forcefully enough.

HARBORcenter Reaches Agreement with Marriott, Shaner Hotels to Develop Hotel Facility
(Buffalo Sabres)

From the "it's not what you know, it's who you know" department: HARBORcenter, Terry Pegula's rink, hotel, retail and restaurant complex in downtown Buffalo, has contracted with Shaner Hotels to operate a Marriott at the facility. Shaner, for those who don't know, operates 36 hotels in 14 states (plus another in Italy) and is headquartered in State College. Oh yeah, and they sponsor Penn State hockey. It's not terribly difficult to put those dots together.

Canisius - which presently calls the campus rink of Division III Buffalo State "home" - has been in negotiations to play at HARBORcenter once it opens in 2015. Additionally, the twin rinks that will also be connected to the Sabres' First Niagara Center should be an appealing option for major tournaments.

Several Teens Reportedly Paddled With Hockey Sticks In Alleged Hazing Incident
(CBS Pittsburgh)

I don't really like the word "hazing," because people who engage in it don't really deserve a softened version of "being a douchebag who is guilty of assault." Whatever you want to call it, it's alleged to have happened with Upper St. Clair High School's hockey team. Suck less, guys.

How To Do A Bieber Fangirl Story: Ask About The Eagles’ QB Dilemma
(Deadspin)

The Women's Ice Hockey Club's Allie Rothman, in the course of her internship at Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia this summer, edited a video featuring CSN's Sarah Baicker asking fans outside of a Justin Bieber concert last Wednesday about the Eagles' quarterback situation and about the Beebs-Blackhawks locker room story. It's about as fantastic as you'd expect, and as a result, it ended up on Deadspin. Rothman reacted by tweeting that "I don't know whether to be proud or horrified" of the notoriety. Proud, Alexandra. Definitely proud. Rule of thumb: if you're involved in something that ends up on Deadspin and it's not there because of you being an idiot in some way, soak in the viewership and enjoy.

Ice chips: Doerring leaves UVM; Frosh confirmed; Todd leaves Spartans; Fan forum fun
(Burlington Free Press)

In a move that affects two separate Nittany Lions opponents, junior defenseman Blake Doerring is transferring from Vermont to Ohio State. He only played four games last season due to injury (after 29 as a freshman), so it's tough to call this one paradigm shifting, although the Buckeyes will benefit from having a sturdy stay-at-home guy when he's eligible to play at OSU in 2014-2015.

The Catamounts also lost junior forward Mike Montagna to Division III Oswego this offseason. Montagna only played in 11 games for UVM last year, but one of them was the Philadelphia College Hockey Faceoff against PSU - he was a -2 with one shot on goal in the contest.

@ChristiVetter (1, 2)
(Twitter)

An easy call for best tweet(s) of the week: 2014 women's commit Christi Vetter, during the ESPYs last Wednesday evening. I sincerely feel bad for anyone who missed Vetter's Lakeville North fall 4-3 in six overtimes to Minnetonka in February's Minnesota AA state semifinal. Despite the loss, Vetter may have been the best player on the ice, as she willed the Panthers back from a 3-1 deficit with a pair of second-period goals to force (lots of) extra hockey. Of course, PSU freshmen Laura Bowman and Amy Petersen weren't exactly terrible either, with the former assisting the latter on the game-winner after each had an assist in regulation.

Balboni, Stroemel to Lead WUG Teams

Scott Balboni

Former Icers head coach Scott Balboni and current NCAA women's director of hockey operations Mo Stroemel have been selected to lead the 2013 World University Games men's and women's hockey teams, respectively, USA Hockey announced Wednesday afternoon. The bi-annual event will take place December 11th through 21st in Trentino, Italy and, as has been the case since 2001, the American entries will be stocked with ACHA players.

Both men have extensive backgrounds with Penn State hockey. Balboni, a lieutenant for Joe Battista from 1997-1999 and 2002-2006 (periods that include the Icers' 1998 and 2003 ACHA national championship teams), took over as head coach when Battista stepped aside to - as we know now - focus on landing nine-figure donations. The former Hockey East champion defenseman at Providence put together a 149-33-9 record from 2006-2011, including an ACHA championship game appearance, an ACHA Coach of the Year award (both in 2007) and six ESCHL regular season or playoff championships. He was inducted into the Penn State Hockey Hall of Fame in 2012.

Mo Stroemel

Stroemel has been involved with PSU hockey in one form or another since 1994, always going wherever needed and doing a fantastic job. He was an assistant coach (1994-1997) and the head coach (1997-2004) of the ACHA Division 2 Ice Lions during their formative years and built them into a national power through a 131-62-11 record and an appearance in the 2004 D2 semifinals. He then served as an assistant with the Icers from 2004-2007 and head coach of the Lady Icers from 2007-2011 before Josh Brandwene's hire as the first NCAA women's head coach moved him to an assistant coach's role in 2011-2012 and then to his present position.

Penn State has been well represented at the World University Games over the last dozen years of ACHA participation. Balboni was an assistant coach on both the seventh-place 2009 men's team and the sixth-place outfit in 2011, while Stroemel reprises his role as the head coach of the first-ever U.S. women's WUG team, which finished fourth in 2011. Battista, now PSU's associate athletic director for ice arena and hockey operations, was Team USA's head coach in 2003, where he was assisted by Brandwene (then the head coach with the Delaware men's team). Men's Director of Hockey Operations Billy Downey was a player on that 2003 team, which finished 11th in Tarvisio, Italy. Current NCAA men's senior Eric Steinour was a forward on the 2011 team, while NCAA women's senior Lindsay Reihl played defense on the 2011 women's team.

Katie Vaughan

Notably, ACHA women's goalie Katie Vaughan, now a junior, was also on the 2011 team as a freshman. In the tournament, she appeared in four games with a 2-0-0-1 (W-OTW-OTL-L) record, a sparkling 1.81 goals against average, a 0.857 save percentage, and a shutout of host Turkey. With the selection of Stroemel, her coach at the 2011 WUG and also with the Lady Icers of course, Vaughan would seem a likely candidate to become the third Penn State player to appear in two World University Games, following former Icers Josh Mandel and Lukas DeLorenzo.

Here's a complete list of Penn State's World University Games player and coach participation, as of today.

2001 in Zakopane, Poland: Mandel, Mike Blevins, Scott Curry, Greg Held
2003 in Tarvisio, Italy: Downey, Mandel, Curtiss Patrick, Neal Price, Battista (head coach)
2005 in Innsbruck, Austria: Eric Harbaugh, Kevin Jaeger, Joe Maglaque
2007 in Torino, Italy: DeLorenzo, Frank Berry, Keith Jordan, Michael McMullen
2009 in Harbin, China: DeLorenzo, Jamie Zimmel, Balboni (assistant coach)
2011 in Erzurum, Turkey (men): Steinour, Tim O'Brien, Balboni (assistant coach)
2011 in Erzurum, Turkey (women): Vaughan, Reihl, Heather Rossi, Denise Rohlik, Stroemel (head coach)
2013 in Trentino, Italy (men): Balboni (head coach)
2013 in Trentino, Italy (women): Stroemel (head coach)

First Ballot

The Icers have announced the 2012 Hall of Fame class, and quite simply, it's a great one. Here are the official bios on each, along with my thoughts (in italics).

Scott Balboni - Assistant Coach (1997-1999, 2002-2006), Head Coach (2006-2011)

Scott Balboni played four-years at Providence College and was part of the 1996 Hockey East Championship team in his senior year before graduating with a degree in Business Management. The next season, he joined the Penn State coaching staff as an assistant to then Head Coach Joe Battista and was an integral part of building the teams that won 5 of 6 ACHA National Championships from 1998 to 2003. He earned the Jerry Fry Service Award in 1998 before taking a brief hiatus from being an assistant in 1999. He returned to the team in 2002 and then succeeded Battista as the 11th Head Coach of the Icers in 2006. As head coach, he amassed a record of 150 wins and 34 losses, was named ACHA Coach of the Year in 2007, and ESCHL Coach of the Year in both 2009 and 2010. Balboni was also an assistant coach for Team USA at the World University games in 2009 and 2011 and will be the Head Coach next year in Slovenia.

He currently resides in the State College area and is Co-Owner and President of Hat Trick Group, Incorporated and an Insurance Consultant at Frost and Conn.

I'm not sure that Coach Balboni's role in Penn State hockey history will ever be fully appreciated, but induction is a nice start. Hindsight might call his role in his time as head coach that of a caretaker while Joe Battista was off raising a bunch of money, but that's not fair. The two had nearly identical winning percentages, which shouldn't really be all that surprising considering Balboni's vital role in the most successful stretch the Icers have ever seen.

He also once dropped one of the five funniest jokes I've ever heard, but I can't publish it, sorry.

---

Dick Merkel - Forward (1971-72)

Dick Merkel, along with Jim Hodgson, was the first captain in Icers’ history in the 1971-72 season. “Merk”, as he was called, was a team leader on the ice netting 18 goals and assisting on 10 more in the team’s 19 games and off the ice as an Assistant Coach all while a member of the Geophysics Faculty. Despite the pleading of then Head Coach Larry Hendry, “Merk” played just one season for the nascent hockey program as he left Penn State to begin his career in the oil and natural gas industry in 1972. He was the first Icer to have previously played Division 1 hockey as he played at Saint Lawrence University before graduating with a degree in Physics in 1964. He went on to play semi-pro hockey for the Lake Placid Roamers before coming to Penn State to pursue a post-graduate degree. He completed his Masters and Doctorate in Geophysics in 1967 and 1970, respectively.

He is currently the Petrophysical Advisor for Newfield Exploration located in Denver, Colorado. He and his wife Judy have four children: Pete, Leslie, Chris and Trish.

I don't have the pleasure of being familiar with Merkel on any kind of firsthand basis. In the course of doing this blog though, I've come to have a renewed appreciation for the struggles of Penn State hockey's pioneers - both in the 1930s and 40s as well as those who founded the club program in the 70s. In order to write this blurb, I re-read a couple of old Collegian articles, and just from that you can get a sense of the hard work that went into getting the program on its feet - equipment, as one example, had to be acquired from places like Ithaca, NY and Pittsburgh. Merkel, as a former DI player and a star performer, helped lend instant credibility to the organization.

---

Scott Curry - Defenseman (1998-2002)

A native of Burlington, Massachusetts, Scott Curry came to Penn State in 1998 and made an immediate impact as a hard-hitting defenseman earning Rookie of the Year honors in his freshman year. He continued his steady performance the following season earning the Joe Battista Award for Defensive Player of the year and an ACHA All-Tournament Honorable Mention during the Icers’ “Magic City Miracle” Championship run in Minot, North Dakota. In 2001, Scott was selected as an Assistant Captain on Team USA at the World University Games in Poland – the first time players from the ACHA were selected for this honor. Also beginning that season, Scott became one of only a handful of Icers to wear the captain’s “C” for two seasons, sharing it with Alon Eizenman during his Junior year and Kyle Jordan during his senior year. During those two seasons, he was also an ACHA Academic All-American while pursuing a degree in Communications with an emphasis in Advertising. He capped his Penn State career with yet another All-Tournament Honorable Mention, ACHA All-American Third Team designation and his third ACHA Championship ring in 2002.

He is currently Director of Core Marketing for the American Council on Exercise in San Diego, California, where he resides with his wife, Lisa and daughter Sienna with a second daughter expected in May.

I really can't say enough about what a first-class guy Curry is. He was a two-year captain, but he was just one of those guys who exuded "leader," with or without a letter. I can't really explain that quality with great specificity, but I can illustrate it. After he was named to that first ACHA World University Games team, my friend Tim approached him with a USA Hockey puck. He signed it (using the number 14 that he wore in the WUG), then without being asked, tracked down the other Icers picked for the team (Mike Blevins, Josh Mandel and Greg Held) and got them to sign too. A simple gesture on some level, but still a high-character move.

---

Curtiss Patrick - Defenseman (2000-2004)

One of three players from the Patrick family to don a Penn State jersey, Curtiss patrolled the Icers’ blue line aggressively and exhibited a very physical style of play in all of his four years. The Shavertown native began his career in the 2000-01 and was second on the team in plus/minus at plus-31. Also during that season, he began a trend that would continue his whole Penn State career in leading the team in penalty minutes. He currently is the all-time leader in that category with 325. Curtiss scored the game-winning goal against Illinois in the 2002 ACHA National Championship Game and during the tournament, was not on the ice for a single, even-strength goal against. During his Junior season, he was named an Assistant Captain and garnered several awards including the Norm Hutchinson, Players’ Player Award, ACHA All-Tournament First Team designation, ACHA Academic All-American and ACHA First Team All-American. He also represented Team USA at the World University Games in Italy with Head Coach Joe Battista. Curtiss was named team captain for his senior season and earned the Defensive Player of the Year award and his second ACHA First-Team All-American designation. He signed with the Johnstown Chiefs after the 2004 ACHA National Tournament and was invited to the Pittsburgh Penguins Tryout Camp the next season. Curtiss went on to play professional hockey for the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the AHL.

He completed his degree in Communications/Advertising in 2008 and is currently a web designer and interactive developer for Quest Fore based in Pittsburgh. He currently lives in Seattle, Washington with his wife Erica and two sons, Connor and Ethan.

The entire Patrick family was really a source of tremendous pride for all of us, a connection to one of the legendary names in hockey history. But far from riding on coattails, Curtiss carved out his own niche as a fantastic d-man and one of the great characters on the team. Here's a story that proves he was more than just his family's legacy, published in the May 11, 2009 Hockey News: "Last season my family and I drove the four hours to Hershey to watch the AHL Penguins battle the Bears. After the game my two sons persuaded my wife and I to take them to the Pens bus. We informed the boys the players would probably want to be left alone after losing the game, but to my surprise we were met by an enthusiastic Penguins player named Curtiss Patrick, of the same Patrick family famous for its tremendous hockey achievements. Curtiss was more than happy to corral his teammates over to autograph pucks and talk hockey for a few minutes. The Patrick family is to hockey what the royal family is to England. My sons will never forget meeting one of the game's true ambassadors."

---

Bill Downey - Forward (2000-2004), Assistant Coach (2009-10), Director of Hockey Operations (2011-Present)

Bill Downey began his Penn State career with a bang scoring four goals in his first game of ACHA competition against Villanova and finished his freshman year fourth on the team in scoring. Bill continued to light the lamp with three hat tricks in his sophomore season. His 2 goals and 2 assists at nationals garnered him an ACHA All-Tournament Honorable Mention. He also received the Tammy Smith, Unsung Hero Award that season – an award he would also gather the following year. In his Junior season, he reached the 100 point mark as an Icer, a second ACHA All-Tournament Honorable Mention, the Cecil and Trudy Smith Improvement Award and was a member of Team USA at the 2003 World University Games in Italy along with Curtiss Patrick and Head Coach Joe Battista. As team captain in his senior year, he received the Norm Hutchinson, Players’ Player Award, an ACHA All-Tournament Second-Team and Third-Team All-American designation. Bill completed his Penn State career – as a player – with 57 goals and 102 assists in 134 games played never missing a game due to injury. Immediately following the 2004 ACHA National Tournament, Bill signed his first pro contract with the Johnstown Chiefs of the ECHL, scoring the game-winning goal in his first game. After graduating with a degree in Economics, he was invited to the 2004 Pittsburgh Penguins Training Camp and ultimately went on to play 2 seasons between the ECHL and UHL. In 2008, he returned to Penn State as an assistant coach and earned the Jerry Fry Service award in 2009 and the Vance McCullough Award of Excellence in 2010. After two seasons, Bill took the position of Director of Hockey Operations at Harvard but was brought back to Penn State to fill that same position last summer.

He and his wife Amy are expecting their first child this summer.

As great of a player and a coach as Downey was, it's pretty fun to think that his biggest contributions to Penn State hockey might still be ahead of us. He was obviously an integral part of putting the Citizens Bank Park game on January 3rd together, and every indication is that awesome will be the norm during his time as director of hockey ops. Along with all other Icers who played professionally, I took a lot of pride in having a guy from our humble little club program make a mark in the pros first as a player, then as an ECHL assistant in 2007-2008.

I posted this once before, but since it was well before anyone read TYT, I'd now like to brag about how I own Downey's Wheeling Nailers jersey.

---

Linda Jordan - Icers Booster Club (1998-Present)

Even with two sons having played for the Icers, Linda Jordan has been more than just your typical "Hockey Mom". After moving to the area from Minnesota, she immediately became a member of the Icers Booster Club when her oldest son, Kyle, was in his rookie season. At the request of Coach Battista, Linda began working with Ruth Markle and another Hall of Famer Maxine Schollenberger on the day-to-day operations of the Booster Club - particularly in merchandising. She served as Merchandise Chairperson overseeing sales at home games, online and at the hockey camps for a decade. She has also served as Booster Club Vice President for nearly five years. In 2003, one year before her youngest son Keith joined the team, she was awarded the Jerry Fry Service award. Linda's other contributions included Alumni Weekend organization, updating team history and contacts, Booster Club liaison to the Hockey Management Association, and basically anything else that Coach Battista, Coach Balboni or their staff needed. In 2007 she received the Vance McCullough Award of Excellence and the Icers Booster Club "7th Man" Award for her continued dedication to Penn State Hockey.

Linda divides her time between State College and their house in Saint Petersburg, Florida where she continues to work on stained glass creations - one of which was presented as a gift to Terry and Kim Pegula.

In observing programs around the ACHA, I've found that identifying the class of the group goes well beyond wins and losses on the ice - although Jordan certainly helped in that regard with fantastic playing progeny. But really the mark of an elite program, to a large extent, lies in the peripherals and the Icers recognize this through the Hall of Fame. Fellow 2012 inductee Steve Penstone puts out a first-rate broadcast, 2007 inductee Rodney Martin puts out a first-rate website, and Jordan obviously meets that same standard in terms of merchandising and the booster club. Having a top program, especially when an athletic department isn't running everything, is a "total package" situation, and Jordan has been a huge part of that.

As a guy who occasionally had to man the merchandise stand during games, I maybe didn't have a full appreciation for that aspect of things at the time (it's really hard to see the game from there), but we've always had lots of nice stuff.

---

Steve Penstone - Play-by-Play Announcer (2002-Present)

Toronto native Steve Penstone called his first game for the Penn State Icers on October 25th, 2002. For the past 10 years, he has been the voice of Penn State Hockey on the web and the radio. Steve was a recipient of the Icers Booster Club’s “7th Man” Award for his tireless efforts in promoting Penn State Hockey and bringing the games live to the fans. For the past two seasons, he has included video webcasting of the games with the help of his “executive producer” – his wife, Barb. Despite having to overcome a litany of technical issues and non-ideal broadcast conditions, Steve has been a consummate professional in providing some of the best broadcasting in the ACHA.

Steve currently resides in Centre Hall and is employed part-time at the All-Sports Museum and Penn State Golf Course.

As often as I can, I try to point out that while I probably could do this blog without Steve, it wouldn't be nearly as good. Watching the games (and listening to them before I started TYT) is vital to my understanding how the team is doing and without that, I'd be copy/pasting Collegian articles and box scores. Of course, it's not just the fact of the broadcast itself - as someone who has watched most of the teams out there doing broadcasts, I can promise you the quality far surpasses anyone else. I've always had the utmost respect for his ability to pull off a broadcast by any means necessary, but didn't fully appreciate what he goes through on a weekly basis until I tried covering games in person myself (and that was just for a laptop/internet connection, I can't even imagine the rest).

Balboni Resigns

Icers head coach Scott Balboni resigned today, news first reported by long-time friend of Penn State hockey Mark Horgas, bringing an end to the unstable situation at the top of PSU's soon-departing ACHA program that had existed since the hiring of Guy Gadowsky on April 24th.

This, of course, removes any remaining doubt that Gadowsky and assistants Keith Fisher and Matt Lindsay will coach the Icers for the 2011-2012 season, the final year of ACHA competition. Here's the pertinent portion of the press release, which confirms that fact:

---

Penn State men's ice hockey coach Guy Gadowsky and his staff will coach the Penn State Icers in the 2011-12 season, their final year of American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) competition. Current Icer head coach Scott Balboni has agreed to step down as coach so that Gadowsky and his staff can begin to coach the current team and evaluate the players and 2011 recruits for the future varsity team.
 
The move accommodates the accelerated time frame for the transition to NCAA Division I status in 2012-13. Coach Gadowsky and assistant coaches Keith Fisher and Matt Lindsay are on campus and have begun preparing to coach the Icers next season. Gadowsky and his staff have the challenge of leading the transition to play in the proposed Big Ten Hockey Conference by 2013-14 in the new Pegula Ice Arena, a full year earlier than originally planned.

"We are very appreciative of all the hard work and efforts that Coach Balboni has put into continuing our tradition of a strong ACHA club program during his 13 years as a member of the Icer staff," said Tim Curley, Penn State Director of Athletics. "We wish Scott and his family all the best and thank them for their contributions to the growth of hockey in Happy Valley."

"I am grateful to Coach Balboni for agreeing to allow my staff and I the opportunity to begin coaching the Penn State Hockey team right away," Gadowsky said. "It will give us the opportunity to evaluate the players and work with the team in preparation for the move to varsity play in 2012-13 and the inaugural Big Ten Conference season in 2013-14. We are excited to build on Penn State's strong ice hockey tradition."

In his five seasons as head coach, Balboni led the Icers to a 150-34-9 record, winning at least 30 games on four occasions. The 2006-07 Icers were ACHA national runners-up and the 2008-09 Icers advanced to the ACHA semifinals.

"The past nine months have been very exciting for Penn State hockey," Balboni stated. "After much thought and consideration about the future direction of the program, I believe it is in the best interest of the overall program to step down now as head coach of the ACHA Div. I Icers team. I can assure you that Coach Gadowsky and his staff are excited and are working to have as seamless a transition as possible and are looking forward to working with current players, recruits, boosters, HMA, support staff and fans both during this final season of ACHA play and leading into varsity play in 2012-13.

"I would like to thank Tim Curley and Penn State for all that they have done over the years to support the Icers and for their continued support to assure that everyone is being treated as fairly as possible in this transition period," Balboni added. "I also want to personally thank all the players, alumni, boosters, HMA, support staff and fans that have made the last five seasons as the head coach so special to me. I am proud to have been associated with Penn State hockey for 13 seasons and I am proud of all we have accomplished together. I plan to remain a fervent supporter of Penn State hockey."

---

Balboni's accomplishments also include the first three ESCHL regular season and tournament championships in 2008, 2009 and 2010. He served as Joe Battista's assistant in two separate stints, from 1997-1999 and 2002-2006, runs that includes the 1998 and 2003 ACHA national championships.

TYT extends its best to Coach Balboni, as well as its gratitude for his years of service to Penn State hockey.

More on Balboni: Head Coach Candidate: Scott Balboni

Men's World University Games Preview

The World University Games, or Universiade as it's called by almost everyone outside of the United States, has always been kind of special to me because it's one of the rare times where I'm not at a clear disadvantage to most following the Icers by virtue of living in Blow-hio. Are you going to Erzurum, Turkey for this one? Me neither. Yeah, okay, there's also that whole "representing your country" thing - I've been a sucker for international hockey going back to the 1992 Winter Olympics, where Ray LeBlanc and Team USA introduced me to this sport we all love as much as anything or anyone else.

The 2011 WUG, set to start Thursday, takes on a little bit of added significance, as it's the last one involving Penn Staters. By the time the next one rolls around in 2013, the top-level ACHA teams for both men and women will be gone from PSU, replaced by the NCAA teams. That brings with it the chance to have players compete in the World Junior Championships, which is exciting too, but the participation, especially at first, will be pretty far off of the guaranteed couple of players every two years PSU gets with the WUG.

With all of that in mind, I'm going to try my best to grind out some solid coverage of the event, beginning with this post and continuing with a similar one for the women's team (featuring four Lady Icers players and the head coach) tomorrow. So without further ado, off we go.

Last Time

Team USA is coming off a best-ever-with-ACHA-players (meaning since 2001) 3-2-0 record and seventh-place finish at the 2009 WUG in Harbin, China. Seventh is deceptively low in a sense, as Team USA had a shot at making the semifinals going into the last game of group play, needing only to beat Japan to be in the final four. Unfortunately, Japan stunned the Americans, who then took out their frustrations on China in the seventh-place game.

That team featured Icers Lukas DeLorenzo and Jaime Zimmel, as well as Scott Balboni as an assistant coach to Rhode Island's Joe Augustine, a role he’ll reprise this time around with Michigan-Dearborn's Dave Debol. It was DeLorenzo who provided Team USA with their highlight of the tournament – the shootout winner to defeat heavy favorite Slovakia, who went on to win the bronze.

Your shutter speed can't handle DeLo's wheels. Photo: USA Hockey

The Team

Defenseman Dan Lassik and forwards Kyle Krannich and Devin Sheehan, all from Rhode Island, are the only three returning players from the 2009 team, but they'll be joined by a glut of talented forwards, particularly guys like Michigan-Dearborn's Michael Macari, Western Michigan's James Telfer and Oakland's Kevin Kranker, all of whom had good pre-tournament games last month. Tim O'Brien and Eric Steinour, of course, represent Penn State, and also did well in those games with a goal and an assist each. Headshots of the Icers delegation:

O'Brien's chirping the camera guy, Steinour's trying to look like Iceman, Balboni has never taken a picture that differs from this one by more than two percent.

The defense doesn't strike me as quite as deep, but it still features some great players, including Alan Dionne, Lassik's frequent defense partner at URI, Niagara's Kevin Morrison and Kent State's Michael Lepre, who can slide up to forward if needed. Looking at the emphasis on speed and offense in that group, it's pretty easy to see how Icers Kevin Miller and Dan Petrick were relegated to alternate status, although at times, the group (outside of Dionne and Lassik, who were outstanding in that pre-tournament series) was victimized in their own end.

Goaltending is in good hands with Iowa State's Erik Hudson and Drexel's Dan Pyne. While Hudson and his team haven't had the greatest of seasons, one only needs to remember the way he shut the door on favored Illinois and Ohio in the ACHA tournament last season to know that he's capable of bringing in big Ws from an underdog position. He performed admirably in the final against mighty Lindenwood as well, but was done in by a couple second-period goals and no offense. Pyne is a guy with quite a bit of experience trying to keep his team in games as well, and has performed very well in that role.

The Group

Team USA has been placed in Group C, along with Slovakia, Kazakhstan and Spain. While that's a pretty tough group with two very good opponents (sorry, Spain), it's nice not being stuck with Russia or Canada, and the all-but-guaranteed loss that comes with it. The key to topping 2009's finish will be to a) not stumble against Spain, which in my mind includes not going to overtime - the 3-2-1-0 points system in place doesn't reward OT wins as much as regulation ones, and b) upset either Slovakia or Kazakhstan. That should be enough to lock in a spot in the quarterfinals as one of the top eight teams, and with a seed high enough to avoid Canada and Russia in that round.

The Rest of the Field

Group A: Russia, Japan, Czech Republic, Turkey
Group B: Canada, Korea, Belarus, Slovenia
Group C: Slovakia, Kazakhstan, United States, Spain

In case your inference skills are lacking, yes, Canada and Russia are the heavy favorites. As they should be - the two hockey-rich countries have met in each of the last two finals, with the Canadians winning in 2007 and Russia winning in 2009 (to go along with gold medals in 2003 and 2005). The Canadian team should be pretty easy to put in context for North American hockey fans, as it's always made up of players from one of the CIS conferences on a rotating basis - this time, it's OUA's turn.

What exactly is that context? Well, as one example, on January 3, 2001, the Icers lost to York University, an OUA team, 6-1. This was the last time Penn State played a CIS team. And while there's no question the ACHA is much improved from ten years ago (witness Iowa State's competitiveness in three games against the CWUAA, a different CIS conference, over Thanksgiving weekend this season), it's still at a deficit to the CIS.

Slovakia, Kazakhstan, Korea and Japan will be the leading teams looking to join the Canadians and Russians at the the end of the tournament, while teams like the US, Belarus and the Czech Republic push to be considered part of that secondary group.

The Schedule

Full schedule here - be prepared to deal with Turkey time, seven hours ahead of eastern time.

Here's Team USA only, using good, old-fashioned eastern time. Get ready to do a lot of personal internet usage at work.

Group Play
Friday, January 28 vs. Kazakhstan, 1:00 p.m.
Sunday, January 30 vs. Slovakia, 9:00 a.m.
Tuesday, February 1 vs. Spain, 9:00 a.m.

Medal Round
Thursday, February 3 - Quarterfinals/Relegation Round
Friday, February 4 - 11th and 9th place games/Relegation Round
Saturday, February 5 - Semifinals/7th and 5th place games
Sunday, February 6 - Gold and Bronze Medal games

All Your Offense Are Belong to USA Hockey

Tim O'Brien, Eric Steinour, Scott Balboni. Please tell me that you didn't need this caption.

With some inspiration from today's Collegian article on the subject, I thought it might be a decent time to take a quick look ahead as the Icers prepare for the absolutely critical next six games without Tim O'Brien, Eric Steinour and coach Scott Balboni, who jet off to Turkey for the World University Games in a few short days. First off, the PSU perspective, courtesy of a snipy-snip from the aforementioned article.

[Assistant coach Josh Hand, who will assume head coaching duties] said in terms of his day-to-day routine, changes will be minimal, and he believes it will be a smooth transition. While there is a seven-hour time difference between Turkey and State College, he said both coaches will remain in constant contact.

“For the most part [Balboni and I] are on the same page with everything,” Hand said.

“The decisions won’t change because, for the most part, we will still be in touch to talk about any potential decisions.”

While the coaching change should be smooth, replacing two of their top players should prove to be a more difficult proposition.

“It’s going to be a big loss, and it will create a big hole in the lineup,” [captain Marek] Polidor said.

“But you know what, we have the guys that can step up, and it gives them an opportunity to contribute to the team.”

True enough. Let's not forget that we have a lot of guys who played pretty well a couple months ago when we were absolutely gashed with injuries, then were sort of pushed to the background when the injuries healed. Yeah you, Michael Longo. No need for panic mode just yet, until we see what happens.

Also, let's not whine too much, it's not like PSU's the only team down some personnel. What about our opponents during WUG - who will they be missing?

West Chester (January 21st/22nd) - Nobody
Delaware (January 28th/29th) -  Nobody

Oh, okay, never mind, whine away.*

* Note that this is not at all meant to disparage the tremendous honor given to O'Brien, Steinour and Balboni. I'm just looking at it purely in terms of the Icers' fortunes, and in light of the fact that we have less of a safety net than at any other time during WUG since ever.

Without having seen the tryout camp in August or even knowing who was there, it's tough for me to say how the No. 3 (for the moment) team in D1 got completely snubbed. Not that it bothers UD's Dave Lombardi or anything, as he had this to say after Team USA's exhibition loss to Saint Michael's College on December 28th.

Looks like WUG team USA could have used some @UDHockey players like @josh24weiner to bury and kills some penalties

Team USA's loss I guess. Unfortunately, the Icers' loss too. But hey, a Dearborn program that hasn't mattered in half a decade is well represented on the team, so we're good.

Penn State's luck shifts a little bit when it comes to Rhode Island, the alumni weekend (February 4th/5th) opponent. Rams on Team USA include forwards Kyle Krannich and Devin Sheehan, both of whom were on the 2009 WUG team that finished seventh in Harbin, China. Krannich in particular is a pretty big blow to URI - he's the Rams' third-leading scorer, wins two-thirds of his draws, and is a +20 this year. Oh, and he's their captain too. He may even book their hotels, I'm not sure.

Rhode Island suffers two more significant absences with defensemen Dan Lassik (who also did this in 2009) and Alan Dionne. In tandem, the pair might have been the best players on Team USA during those exhibition games last month, and they'll be counted on to generate a lot of offense from the back end in Turkey - offense they won't be generating at the Ice Pavilion in a couple weeks. So - finally - we hit someone who might be up against it more, and with a chance to maybe avenge a couple losses against a quality team in the eyes of the coaches, who hopefully won't notice what I just said.

All in all, not the best setup ever for the Icers, especially over the next two weekends, and especially without the luxury of not having to worry about a nationals invite, but into the great unknown we go regardless.

Head Coach Candidate: Scott Balboni

First in a series looking at potential head coaches for Penn State's NCAA team.

This series, by its very nature, is pretty unfair to the guy who already holds the title of "Head Coach, Penn State Hockey," and I sincerely feel bad about it. But that said, this series is really just a snapshot of a pretty unfair situation. Because to be brutally honest about things, guys who donate $88 million to start an NCAA hockey program don't do so with the idea that the school is just going to promote the head man of its existing ACHA team. They're going to want to make a splash, for the recruiting, for the PR, and for the perceived guarantee of success that comes with hiring a guy who has had success at that level. All of which probably makes Balboni a longshot in this race.

It has to be pretty tough for him, because if I know that, he has to know it too. The Icers' on-again, off-again struggles so far in the only season between the NCAA announcement and the naming of a head coach can't really help things either. But to his credit, he has the right perspective:

Current Icers head coach Scott Balboni said he definitely would throw his name into the coaching search if he was asked.
********************
“It’s a dream job,” Balboni said. “It’s going to be the premiere job in the country and that’s something that I would consider.”

Balboni, as anyone who's read an Icers program before knows, played collegiately at Providence College. Since I was a lot busier caring about the Hartford Whalers than anything going on in Hockey East at the time, I popped "scott balboni providence" into Dogpile to see where it would take me. One place was HockeyDB.com:

Scott Balboni
Defense
Born   -- Salem, NH
Height 6.00 -- Weight 215

Season   Team                     Lge    GP    G    A  Pts  PIM
----------------------------------------------------------------
1992-93  Providence College       H-Eas  35    3   10   13   32
1993-94  Providence College       H-Eas  32    2    3    5   65
1994-95  Providence College       H-Eas  33    4   11   15   57
1995-96  Providence College       H-Eas  38    4   17   21   44

Go a little further and you'll see that Balboni led the team in penalty minutes in 1993-1994 and was second in 1994-1995. He played in all but 10 of the Friars' games over his four years, an impressive record. He capped his career with a Hockey East tournament championship and the NCAA tournament appearance that goes with it in 1996.

Unfortunately, he just missed being teammates with pro hockey player Fernando Pisani, although he did share the blueline with notables Hal Gill and Chris Therien.

The program of Lou Lamoriello and Brian Burke hasn't been in such great shape since Balboni left, so maybe there's something to that. But while you may not have known that the Friars have had a rough decade and a half, we're all pretty familiar with what Balboni's been up to in that time - two separate stints as an Icers assistant, followed by taking over the top job in 2006 after Joe Battista worked his way into positions at the university that would allow him to raise obscene amounts of money more effectively (in hindsight, anyone doubt this?).

You probably don't need me to re-hash the last four and a half seasons for you, but for the sake of completeness, the Icers have compiled a 138-27-8 record under Balboni and have remained one of the ACHA's flagship programs. What's changed: Penn State now makes earlier exits from the ACHA championship tournament than was once thought possible. In Balboni's first year, the Icers made the championship game, falling to Oakland. It was the team's 10th straight title appearance. However, PSU hasn't been back since, the closest run ending in a shutout semifinal loss to Illinois in 2009. But contrast that with this:

2001-2006, under Battista: 146-28-7 (0.826)
2006-present, under Balboni: 138-27-8 (0.821)

So where do you place the weight when evaluating the coach that could be described as "intimidating" or "scary" by his players? With a series of one-game seasons in March against an ACHA that is light years ahead of where it was in the past or with the much larger sample of season records against a similarly-improved ACHA? Have the Icers grown with the competition, or have they stagnated and been caught by it? Or is there a glass ceiling on the growth potential given the limitations of non-varsity programs? Is he riding Battista's coattails, or did he forge his own way, resulting in a similar record against tougher schedules? How do you factor in Balboni's work with camps, a crucial element to recruiting?

If the answers seem ambiguous, it's because answers to these types of questions usually are. If they weren't, we could just let EA Sports assign everyone an overall rating and be done with it. Ultimately, your opinion of Balboni as a candidate probably has a lot to do with how you answer those questions. And hey, I can't do that for you.

Regardless of where things end up, Balboni is to be commended for his record and for having achieved it the Penn State way. He's a true asset to our hockey program, one that I hope doesn't get lost in the shuffle.