Three Stars: July 29-August 4

3. The Pipeline Show - Season #9 Clips
(The Pipeline Show)

Much as once-and-again teammate David Glen did a couple weeks ago, freshman defenseman and Vancouver Canucks draft pick Mike Williamson was in studio with TPS for a hour on Saturday (show 1, August 3rd at the link).

2. Using HARBORcenter to attract college hockey’s best
(Two in the Box)

Buffalo sports blog Two in the Box has an interesting idea for an in-season tournament hosted by the First Niagara Center/HARBORcenter complex - and Penn State is included through its Pegula connection, along with Canisius, Niagara and a rotating fourth team (preferably from PSU's league to make the thing an Atlantic Hockey-Big Ten showdown of sorts).

My initial instinct was to say that there's no way that the Nittany Lions would do both the Three Rivers Classic and the Pegula Challenge, but as long as we have roughly 64 non-con slots to play with, why not? And if it has to be one or the other, I have a hard time believing that PSU could say no to the $102 Million Man.

1. christivetter8 (1,2)
(Instagram)

@Cmen12
(Twitter)

It was a popular week for Pegula Ice Arena visits by current players and recruits, including junior women's forward Cara Mendelson and her brother Matt, an uncommitted forward with the USHL's Muskegon Lumberjacks (top photo). Christi Vetter, who is scheduled to hit campus next fall, also joined the party - both solo and with her sisters.

Best of the Rest

84 Lumber Arena will host the PSU men and women three times in 2013-2014

Men's and Women's Hockey Tickets Now on Sale
(rmucolonials.com)

Heads up for Pittsburgh-area Nittany Lions, or anyone who likes a good roadie: single-game tickets for the men's trip to Robert Morris on November 1st, as well as for the women's series there on February 21st and 22nd, are now on sale. I have no reason to think that the men's game won't be packed pretty tightly at the Ice Pavilion-sized 84 Lumber Arena, so you might want to jump on that now.

RIT coach Wayne Wilson receives contract extension
(Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)

Speaking of Atlantic Hockey opponents, RIT coach Wayne Wilson has received a well-earned contract extension, through 2017. Wilson, in 15 years, has led the Tigers from Division III power to one of Division I's most respected mid-majors - including a Frozen Four appearance in 2010 that helped net him the Spencer Penrose Award as DI coach of the year.

Penn State athletic department loses two officials in Greg Myford and Brian Siegrist
(The Daily Collegian)

PSU lost two long-time athletic department employees on Friday in Greg Myford, the associate athletic director for marketing and communications and Brian Siegrist, who primarily was in charge of communications for men's basketball. Myford is leaving for a vice president position with marketing company IMG College, while Siegrist is headed to the University of South Florida to be their associate athletic director for communications.

From a hockey standpoint, Myford is the more notable of the two departures due to the department-wide scope of his job. It's likely that, as one of his last acts affecting hockey, he played a role in the decision to not retain broadcaster Steve Penstone for the 2013-2014 season.

How NHL owners can help grow the NCAA game
(The Hockey News)

It seems a bit wasteful to write an entire column when "give out money" is the essence of Ryan Kennedy's suggestion to NHL owners to help grow the NCAA game, but here you go. Of obvious interest: potential Big Ten connections between the Blackhawks and Illinois and the Capitals and Maryland are explored.

Pegula Ice Arena, July 2013
(Penn State News)

Random good-quality PIA bowl photo? Sure, why not (the version at the link is better than the one presented here, by the way)?

Penn State racks up first draft picks, and McAdam, Williamson await Big Ten baptism
(USCHO)

While this is not the best thing ever written about Eamon McAdam and Mike Williamson - their quotes are taken from a transcript of PSU's media event two days after they were drafted - it's what you're getting from what, generally, is the slowest period of the offseason if you don't have any pro signings, major junior defections or World Junior camp invites. No, I'm not in sales, why do you ask?

AU Hockey to join NCHA in 2014-2015
(aurora.edu)

It's not exactly the Fighting Illini, but Aurora University (based in the Illinois city of the same name) will be joining NCAA Division III and the NCHA for the 2014-2015 season. AU started its hockey program last year at the ACHA Division 3 level with the stated goal of NCAA status.

And yep, in case you're wondering, @USCollegeHockey had it all the way.

Jooris leaving Union for Calgary Flames
(Schenectady Daily Gazette)

Penn State's games against Union on November 30th and December 1st are now slightly less daunting thanks to the departure of Josh Jooris, who has forfeited his senior year with the Dutchmen to sign a two-way entry-level deal with the Calgary Flames. He registered 88 points in 117 collegiate games and had recently attended the Flames' development camp, apparently doing pretty well there. Jooris follows star goalie Troy Grosenick, who similarly departed Union with a year on the table to sign with the San Jose Sharks on April 8th.

Union got back on the horse a day later by announcing their solid 2013 recruiting class.

Group photo of Wisconsin's 2013 entering class

College Hockey Recruiting: Wisconsin
(Over The Boards)

OTB's look at the recruiting efforts of the various NCAA Division I programs continued last week, with the spotlight on the Badgers. UW's incoming group is headlined by Grant Besse, a forward from Benilde-St. Margaret's (MN) who was drafted by the Anaheim Ducks in the fifth round back in June.

Here's a link to catch up on the whole series, which has also included Penn State, Boston College and Minnesota.

Big Ten hockey teams draw well
(Minneapolis Star Tribune)

Minnesota (2nd, 9,950 fans per game), Wisconsin (3rd, 9,521), Michigan State (8th, 5,869) and Michigan (10th, 5,357) were all among the nation's top ten in attendance last season. Given where the bar is set and what we know about ticket sales at Pegula Ice Arena, don't be surprised to see Penn State crack the list for the coming season.

Megastar Sidney Crosby's sister helps women's hockey
(BBC)

Canadian goalie Taylor Crosby - sister of Sid, as the headline says - recently went over to the UK as part of a camp bringing players and coaches from 18 different countries together as part of an effort to grow women's hockey outside of traditional powers Canada, the U.S., Finland and Sweden. The women's game has frequently faced criticism for its lack of depth worldwide and is at risk of being kicked out of the Olympic lineup if things don't improve.

Crosby, because of her last name, got a good deal of press over the camp... but she is a remarkably mature 17-year-old who has a good shot of Cheryl Miller-ing big brother by establishing herself as a superstar in her own right. After looking it up, I see that Cheryl Miller is older than Reggie Miller. Whatever, you get my point.

End begins for North Dakota's old Ralph Engelstad Arena
(Duluth News Tribune)

Demolition of the original Ralph Engelstad Arena, home to the North Dakota Fighting Sioux from 1972-2001, is finally underway. And no, it's not at all dusty to leave a vacant ice arena sitting in the middle of your campus for 12 years, just ask UND I guess.

Union Series Confirmed, Schedule Shaping Up

Pete Sweetland and PSU will again try to shut down Union's Daniel Ciampini Thanksgiving weekend

The already-known series between Union and Penn State at Pegula Ice Arena, the return trip from last year's matchup in Schenectady, NY, has been set for Saturday, November 30th and Sunday, December 1st by Union's schedule release. As with all of the Nittany Lions' 2013-2014 contests so far, the game times are TBA.

The Dutchmen, of course, have emerged from 15 years of mediocrity following their elevation to NCAA Division I in 1991 to become one of college hockey's nouveau riche, first under Nate Leaman and now under Rick Bennett. Union has won the last two Whitelaw Cups (ECAC Tournament championships) and two of the last three Cleary Cups (ECAC regular season championships). The school famously rebooted as a DIII power by legendary Cornell and RPI coach Ned Harkness in 1975 has also qualified for the NCAA Tournament in each of the past three seasons, advancing to the 2012 Frozen Four.

Last year's 22-13-5 (10-8-4 ECAC) squad swept the Nittany Lions 2-0 and 4-1 on November 24th and 25th, 2012 at the Achilles Center's Messa Rink. Based on what we knew of Penn State's team at the time (in other words, PSU hadn't played Ohio State, Vermont, Michigan State and Wisconsin yet), the results were stunningly close, as both games included empty-netters by the Dutchmen and the second contest was 1-1 after 40 minutes, with David Glen - who else - accounting for the blue and white's goal. Flyers draft pick and World Junior Championships gold medalist Shayne Gostisbehere dropped a power play bomb early in the final stanza to break the deadlock.

Union is at an interesting stage in its program's development, one where it gets decided whether recent successes are an aberration or whether reloading and competing at the top of college hockey on a consistent basis is possible. Some key pieces from that Frozen Four team have begun to depart thanks to both graduation and the professional ranks - notably, in that latter category, 2012 Hobey Baker Award finalist and Academic All-American Troy Grosenick, who stopped 37 shots against PSU in the November 25th matchup and signed with the San Jose Sharks in April. Gostisbehere returns on defense, along with Mat Bodie, and guys like Daniel Carr, Josh Jooris, Max Novak and Daniel Ciampini are still around to score the goals.

Teams are allowed a maximum of 34 games by the NCAA (with certain games exempt from the total). With the Union series now known, PSU - which does not meet any exemption allowances so far beyond the fact that postseason games like the Big Ten Tournament don't count - has 27 games fully on the books. There are the 20 Big Ten games obviously, Union, the Pegula Ice Arena opener on October 11th against Army, the Philadelphia College Hockey Faceoff versus Vermont on October 26th, the November 8th game with Sacred Heart, and the Three Rivers Classic on December 27th and 28th including Boston College, Robert Morris and Bowling Green.

Seven other matches (two at Air Force, one at Robert Morris, and at home against Boston College, RIT and twice against UMass-Lowell) range from confirmed, just without a hard date, to rumor containing a fair amount of meat on the bones. Assuming they all materialize, Penn State's 2013-2014 opponents and locations are now entirely known. As always, check M Schedules/Results for the complete rundown.

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.

Three Stars: April 8-14

3. @MarkHorgas
(Twitter)

Given Joe Battista's well-known affinity for Notre Dame, a PSU-ND series seemed inevitable once the Nittany Lions' NCAA program was going full blast. And sure enough...

Pegula Arena will have marquee teams visiting besides B1G Teams. Notre Dame is negotiating now w/ #PennStateMHKY for a multiyear series.

2. Surround Yourself with People Who Make You Better!
(statecollege.com)

Battista devoted his weekly column to singing the praises of new babysitter for incompetent Board of Trustees hand puppet Dave Joyner Athletic Department Special Assistant for Operations Morris Kurtz. Kurtz, a former Icers head coach with two degrees from Penn State, recently completed 27 years as the athletic director at St. Cloud State (a period that included a Division I hockey elevation and the construction of an arena) and should be a fantastic addition to PSU's leadership.

1. USA 1980 Olympic hockey captain shares story, talks about opportunity
(The Daily Collegian)

Miracle on Ice captain Mike Eruzione visited Penn State last Wednesday to speak at Eisenhower Auditorium, tour Pegula Ice Arena (leaving behind an autograph, as seen above) and pose for photo ops with the Nittany Lion men and women. During Eruzione's talk, one exchange between the former Boston University star and a PSU undergrad quickly gained legend status on Twitter and elsewhere:

In a crowd filled with United States flags and jerseys, Tyler Feldman stood up to ask Mike Eruzione the famous questions from the 2004 movie, "Miracle."

"Who do you play for?" Feldman (freshman-business administration and broadcast journalism) said.

"Tonight, I play for Penn State," Mike Eruzione, Captain of the 1980 Olympic hockey team, said.

Well played, sir.

Best of the Rest

The final 2012-2013 NCAA women's team photo, taken at Saturday night's postseason banquet

Women's Hockey Announces Team Awards
(gopsusports.com)

The women's NCAA team held their end-of-the-season banquet Saturday night, and subsequently announced the following team award winners:

Most Valuable Player: Nicole Paniccia
Unsung Heroes: Jenna Welch and Emily Laurenzi
Iron Lion (outstanding weight room performance): Birdie Shaw
Most Improved Player: Stephanie Walkom

Duluth East's Moore the News Tribune's player of the year
(Duluth News Tribune)

Here's a rare pre-commitment recruiting update, concerning Meirs Moore, a former standout defenseman at Minnesota's Duluth East High School who now plays for the USHL's Sioux City Musketeers. Moore's father, Skeeter Moore, played at Minnesota-Duluth from 1983 through 1987, including with a guy named Brett Hull.

The article is behind a pay wall, but here's the juicy part concerning the younger Moore, who was actually born in Sweden while his father was playing there professionally:

Moore hopes to play at the Division I level. He grew up wanting to emulate his dad by playing at UMD. While the Bulldogs showed some interest early on, Moore’s primary Division I suitors now are Alabama-Huntsville, Bemidji State, Penn State and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

“I’m not saying that my hope of ever going (to UMD) is over because it’s not … but as the years have gone on, I’ve realized how much more there is out there,” he said.

This HarborCenter rendering is inaccurate, as it includes pedestrians in downtown Buffalo

Sabres Break Ground on HarborCenter
(Tumblr)

Terry Pegula's other ice rink, the HarborCenter complex across the street from the Sabres' home First Niagara Center in Buffalo, officially broke ground on Saturday. HarborCenter, which is scheduled to open in September 2014 and carries a price tag of $172 million, will include two NHL-sized ice sheets, a hotel, a restaurant, retail space and a parking garage. The main rink will seat 1,800 and is expected to host NCAA Division I's Canisius, which presently plays its home games on the campus of DIII Buffalo State.

Pegula: 'We'll move forward and do the right thing'
(Buffalo News)

It wasn't all sunshine and puppies for TPegs last week, as he was grilled about the state of his NHL franchise at the HarborCenter groundbreaking. At his introductory press conference after purchasing the Sabres in February 2011, Pegula made a few rookie mistakes, like promising Stanley Cups (with an 's') and offering an insane-in-hindsight three-year timeline for reaching that pinnacle. Since then, the Sabres haven't looked much different than they did near the end of the stewardship of previous owner Tom Golisano - in other words, they've been a middling team that competes for a lower playoff seed in most years, qualifying roughly half of the time. The unexpected struggle has caused Pegula to back off of most of his initial statements (including the one where he supported long-time head coach Lindy Ruff, who was canned this season).

Pegula noted that it was 39 years for Boston Bruins owner and WNY native Jeremy Jacobs to win a Cup before the Bs did in 2011. Pegula, of course, had made it clear he had a three-year vision when he took over the Sabres in 2011.

"Jerry Jacobs down the road took 39 years to win a Stanley Cup. I don't know how long," Pegula said. "How can you guarantee anybody anything? You do your best every year. When's the last time the New England Patriots won the Stanley Cup? Or the Super Bowl?"

I reminded Pegula the Pats don't regularly miss the playoffs and he said, "Well, hey." Whatever that means.

Ouch. It certainly seems as if the honeymoon - which was unlike anything I've ever witnessed for a team owner - is over, at least as far as the Buffalo News' Mike Harrington is concerned.

Kelly Seward will bring her well-rounded game to campus this fall

Youth hockey: Bowman Cup brings stars back to Buffalo
(Buffalo News)

Speaking of Buffalo's major newspaper, it gave incoming women's defender Kelly Seward a mention for reaching the USA Hockey Girls Tier I 19U quarterfinals with the Buffalo Bisons during the national championship tournament held April 3-7 in San Jose, CA, as well as for her CISAA and NAPHA titles with Nichols School this past season.

Gophers: Sorting the high number of early departures
(Western College Hockey Blog)

Troy Grosenick signs entry-level NHL contract with San Jose Sharks
(unionathletics.com)

Programs that Penn State is playing next year are being gashed with early pro departures (toss in Michigan defenseman Jacob Trouba from last week's Three Stars as well). I don't hate it.

Rocha Named Senior CLASS Winner
(goarmysports.com)

Congratulations to Army senior defenseman Cheyne Rocha, who was voted by fans, coaches and media members as the national winner of the Senior CLASS Award for hockey. What is the Senior CLASS Award?

To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – classroom, community, character and competition.

An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.

Rocha's parents, in case you forgot at some point since PSU's game at West Point in October, are quite familiar with Penn State. His father, Larry Rocha, was an Icers assistant coach from 1982 through 1985, and his mother is lacrosse legend Candace Finn Rocha, a two-time national player of the year who led the Nittany Lions to a pair of national championships and was elected the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1998.

Potential destinations for NCAA Division I hockey
(The Hockey News)

The latest iteration of the popular "I have nothing better to write about" article calls Nebraska, Southern California, Texas, Rhode Island and Saint Louis likely next outposts for NCAA DI hockey. I'll give that a score of roughly 60 percent: full credit for Nebraska and Rhode Island, half credit for Texas and USC.

Brianne McLaughlin (left) with her 2013 IIHF Women's World Championships gold medal. PensTV host Katie O'Malley (right) is wearing McLaughlin's silver medal from the 2010 Olympic Games.

Team USA Wins World Championship
(usahockey.com)

What better way to close a Three Stars post headlined by Mike Eruzione than with a nod to Team USA winning gold at the IIHF Women's World Championships last week with a 3-2 win over Canada in the final? University of Minnesota junior Amanda Kessel was the hero of the decisive contest in the Canadian capital of Ottawa, as her third-period goal clinched the U.S.' fifth world championship gold medal (and fourth from the last five tournaments, which are held in non-Olympic years). It also capped a pretty ridiculous couple of weeks for Kessel, the sister of Toronto Maple Leaf Phil Kessel, who led the Gophers to the national championship by completing the first perfect season in NCAA women's hockey history on March 24th. The day before Kessel registered four points in a 6-3 win over Boston University in the title game, she won the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award as the nation's best player.

Basically, if Kessel wanted, she could quit the game right now and be giving speeches about her accomplishments 33 years later.

The CHA was represented on Team USA by goaltender Brianne McLaughlin, who played at Robert Morris from 2006 through 2009 and is the NCAA's all-time saves leader. She's also been an assistant coach with the Colonials for the past two seasons, a period that includes RMU's CHA tournament championship in 2012.

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):

Three Stars: March 12-17

3. The Penn State fans have to step up next year
(PennStateHoops.com)

Although I take issue with some of the things said about hockey within, I found this a worthwhile discussion of what may turn into an interesting and unique dynamic. People who pay more attention to PSU men's hoops than I believe that Pat Chambers' program is close to turning a corner. And of course, we all know what's going on with men's hockey. I don't think it violates #OneTeam bylaws to ask the following questions:

1. Is there room at Penn State for three heavily-attended winter sports (with wrestling being the third), particularly given the population of the immediate area? Penn State supports more different sports at a high level than most schools, and doesn't have the benefit of being the primary sports entity in a metro area of 1.5 million like Ohio State.
2. If not, who "wins" to become the alpha winter sport at Penn State? Who settles for the scraps?

My opinion? It's much too complicated of a question to answer right now. But I do think we'll have some idea of how things are headed by the end of next season.

2. PSU Women’s Ice Hockey Club: The Journey
(Onward State)

Onward State checks in with a nice review of the Women's Ice Hockey Club's ACHA tournament run. Jump on the train now, kids - this is your best shot at a national championship next year. With no disrespect at all meant to the Ice Lions, who will certainly contend as well, or to the NCAA programs, who will continue to progress but probably won't be on a national championship level just yet, of course.

1. 2013 ISS Draft Rankings - March
(The Pipeline Show)

As Gudas time as any
(The Hockey News)

When it comes to items related to recruits, it takes a lot to make a Three Stars post in a week where the appropriate gender's Commit Cycle is up. Welcome to "a lot:" 2013 commit Eamon McAdam retained his number five goaltender slot in the ISS draft rankings and also got a shout in The Hockey News' Hot List.

June's NHL Entry Draft is in New Jersey. The next great TYT roadie? Quite possibly.

Best of the Rest

An Inside Look at the Pegula Ice Arena
(Onward State)

Between the second star and this, it wasn't exactly a close race for the unofficial TYT website of the week award.

ASU Hockey Year in Review: The Game of the Year
(House of Sparky)

I'm sure you don't need me to reveal the identity of the game declared Arizona State's "Game of the Year." Now that it's all over, I'm okay with it, to be honest. We'll move on to bigger things, they have their story for the grandkids. The Icers beating then-new NCAA program Robert Morris in 2005 didn't screw up the Colonials' development and gave PSU a great moment for a time when we didn't think we'd ever have NCAA hockey. No harm either way.

OSU Ice Rink called upon one last time
(Land-Grant Holy Land)

I feel like you could swap out "OSU Ice Rink" for "Greenberg Ice Pavilion" in a lot of places here. Regardless, an outstanding look at possibly the last time the Buckeye men will be forced out of their large, multi-purpose arena and into a tiny and dated, but gloriously intimate, rink (OSU's women will continue to use the facility as their regular home).

Ice Hockey Recap: ALL THE SEASON CLOSURES!
(Black Shoe Diaries)

There's always room for IcersGuy (and apparently, all SB Nation blogs) in this post. Here, he runs down the end of the season for the NCAA women and both ACHA teams.

Mercyhurst beats Cornell, 4-3, in Overtime. Advance to NCAA Frozen Four
(chawomenshockey.com)

Speaking of season closures... Mercyhurst advanced to the Women's Frozen Four by beating No. 2 Cornell. They'll now play Boston University (PSU assistant Gina Kearns' alma mater - guessing she's going to drop conference loyalty for a couple hours there) in the semifinals on Friday in Minneapolis. The winner will battle the winner of the other semifinal, between Boston College and Minnesota, in Sunday's NCAA championship game.

On the men's side, PSU opponents Ohio State, Wisconsin, Union and Connecticut are still alive in their respective conference tournaments, which play their semifinals and finals (or Final Five, in the case of the WCHA and the Badgers) this weekend, ahead of the NCAA tournament selection show Sunday evening. Those four schools are the only opponents remaining with any chance of making NCAAs - OSU and UConn would have to win their conference tournaments to qualify, while Wisconsin and Union stand at least a chance of an at-large bid, depending on how things shake out with the always-fluid PairWise Rankings.

Part of me hopes Wisky makes it, part of me hopes Penn State ruined their season. Tough call.

@JHoldcroft
(Twitter)

Good news: Jill Holdcroft's broken wrist is progressing nicely.

Penn State goalie Nicole Paniccia, once upon a time

Heather Linstad Resigns As Women's Ice Hockey Coach
(uconnhuskies.com)

Someday, I'd love to hear the full story of what happened with UConn women's hockey. Here's what I do know: Heather Linstad, the only coach in program history, was generally successful since starting at the school in 2000. Then, rather suddenly, things veered downhill a couple years ago. Twenty-one wins in 2009-2010 became 13, then four, then just three this past season. Simultaneous to that slide, the Huskies were gutted by transfers, including Nicole Paniccia, Taylor Gross and Jenna Welch to Penn State of course, as well as Jocelyn Slattery, now of Lindenwood. Last week, Linstad resigned. I'm not sure I've ever seen a program take such a complete header in such a short period of time.

@B1GIceHockey
(Twitter)

Regarding a possible name for the Big Ten championship trophy...

Admittedly, I did not support the idea of Big Ten hockey initially. But the more it angers Minnesota and Wisconsin fans, the more I'm coming around on it.

W: Penn State 1 at Union 2

Box score // GoPSUSports.com recap // UnionAthletics.com recap
UnionAthletics.com highlights

Nicole Paniccia returned from flu-like symptoms that kept her out of Friday's game with a strong 34-save effort and Jess Desorcie scored a third-period rebound goal, but neither was enough to keep the Nittany Lions from falling to 7-14-1 (1-8-1 CHA). Penn State will now have next weekend off before returning to action January 25th and 26th at Syracuse.

Here are the game's highlights, via Union Athletics...



...and here's the recap from the winning side.

---

Bryanne Panchuk and Jessica Kaminsky registered two points each as women's hockey sweeps the two-game set against Penn State with a 2-1 victory at Messa Rink Saturday afternoon.

Penn State came out the starting faceoff raring for the first goal of the game as the Nittany Lions quickly put up four shots. However, Shenae Lundberg came up with the stops. Union slowly regained momentum as the game progressed leveling the shot count. Midway through the first period, Ashley Johnston was sent to the penalty box for hooking as Penn State went on the power play. The penalty kill unit for Union faced four shots on target but did not concede a goal.

Three minutes later, Union won the faceoff in the Penn State third in which Bryanne Panchuk found Jessica Kaminsky open in the slot in which she found the back of the net for the game's first goal. The Dutchwomen were seeking to double their lead in the latter part of the first period on the power play but netminder Nicole Paniccia stopped two shots on net to prevent any further scoring to give Union the 1-0 edge after the first period.

Neither team gave ground in the second as both sides exchanged eight shots each. Penn State had multiple chances for the equalizer as Emily Laurenzi received a pass from Hannah Hoenshell in front of the Union net. Laurenzi was able to get the shot off but Lundberg made the glove save from point-blank range. Katie Zinn had a chance as well as her shot was knocked down by Lundberg and escaped in front of the crease but Kelly McGrath swept the puck away from the Penn State skaters. Hoenshell was also denied a chance in front of the net as Lundberg made a great stick save to prevent the redirect from going in.

Union was able to put some pressure of Paniccia towards the end of the second period as Rhianna Kurio made a diving effort to keep the puck in the offensive third. Thomson was the recipient of the Kurio pass as she found Valente skating towards the net. Valente made a hard shot on the right side but Panccio made the pad save to keep the score at 1-0.

The Dutchwomen were able to extend their lead in the third with Kaminsky dishing out a pass to Panchuk. Bryanne took the puck around the net, as she was able to beat Paniccia on the wrap around to increase the lead to two. The goal was Panchuk's first of the season. Union's two-goal cushion did not last long as Jess Desorcie snuck it by Lundberg to give the Nittany Lions their first goal. Taylor Gross and Shannon Yoxheimer were able to find the center as Desorcie got it by the paddle of Lundberg. Penn State opted for the extra skater as time was expiring but Union buckled down and eventually earned the 2-1 victory.

Lundberg tallied 25 saves in the win while Paniccia notched 34 saves in the loss. Shots were in favor of Union 36-26 and in faceoffs 25-21. Each of the special teams units went 0-1 on the power play.

The Dutchwomen will conclude their season long five-game homestand as New Hampshire will visit this coming Tuesday, January 15 with the puck dropping at 7:00 p.m.

W: Penn State 0 at Union 1

Box score // GoPSUSports.com recap // UnionAthletics.com recap

Despite a virtually superhuman effort from freshman goaltender Celine Whitlinger, who made a career-high 48 stops while filling in for an ill Nicole Paniccia, Union (6-11-3, 0-7-3 ECAC) scored a rebound goal with exactly four minutes remaining in regulation to escape with a 1-0 win over the Nittany Lions (7-13-1, 1-8-1 CHA).

Here's the recap from the winning side.

---

Stefanie Thomson puts away the game-winning goal with four minutes remaining in the third period as the Dutchwomen shutout the Nittany Lions 1-0 at Messa Rink Friday night.

Sheane Lundberg earns her first collegiate shut-out of her career in the win. Head Coach Claudia Asano Barcomb earns her sixth win of the season, a personal best in her six years with the program. Additionally, it is the first shutout since October 15, 2010. Alana Marcinko and Kate Gallagher combined for a shutout in a 3-0 win against Sacred Heart.

The Dutchwomen applied heavy pressure on Penn State's defense throughout the first period as Union tallied 20 shots on goal, a season-high for one period. Union had a great opportunity halfway through the first period as Courtney Turner slapped a pass to Thomson but the forward could not connect. Ashley Johnston also had a great opportunity as she cranked a slap shot towards net. The puck snuck by Celine Whitlinger through traffic but ricocheted off the crossbar. Penn State managed to escape the first period without conceding a goal as Whitlinger blocked all 20 shots.

While Union kept their offense momentum in the second stanza, Penn State nearly was able to get on the board. After a failed clearance, Hannah Hoenshell found herself one-on-one with Lundberg on her stick side but backhanded the puck wide. Once again, Hoenshell freed herself from the defense but then missed glove side of Lundberg. Jenna Welch corralled the puck and made a shot but it was off the mark as well.

The Dutchwomen had their chances on the power play in the third period. Christine Valente redirected a shot from Alex Tancrell-Fontaine that was on target. However, Whitlinger continued to thwart the Union offense. Johnston nearly put the Dutchwomen on top with a slap shot from the point in which the shot was reviewed for a goal but the officials waved it off.

Union continued to seek the go-ahead goal as the Dutchwomen outshot the Nittany Lions in every period. Thomson was able to provide the lone goal in the game as she put away the loose puck in a scrum in front of the Penn State net. Haley Welch flung the puck towards the net as Whitlinger made the initial save. Rhianna Kurio and Valente had shots as well in which the netminder tacked on two more saves. The puck then found Thomson in which the junior was able to slip one by Whitlinger for the win.

Union finished with 49 shots on target, a season-high while Penn State had 14 on net. The last time Union eclipsed the 40-shot mark was October 8, 2011 against Sacred Heart. The Dutchwomen also had the edge in faceoffs with a 25-20 advantage.

Penn State and Union will see each other again in a rematch tomorrow at Messa Rink, as the puck will drop at 4:00 p.m.

State and the Unions

What
NCAA Men: vs. U.S. National Team Development Program Under-18
NCAA Women: at Union

Where
NCAA Men: Greenberg Ice Pavilion, University Park, PA
NCAA Women: Messa Rink, Schenectady, NY

When
NCAA Men: Friday, January 11 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, January 12 at 7:30 p.m.
NCAA Women: Friday, January 11 at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday, January 12 at 4:00 p.m

Coverage
NCAA Men: TYT live blogs (free), Friday PSU video ($), Friday PSU audio ($), Friday PSU live stats (free), Saturday PSU video ($), Saturday PSU audio ($), Saturday PSU live stats (free)
NCAA Women: Union video ($), Union live stats (free)

J.T. Compher will return to Penn State next season, but as a Michigan Wolverine.

The men, who are now 9-12-0 in all games, 8-11-0 against NCAA competition and 6-10-0 against NCAA Division I will try to reverse their fortunes with a pair of exhibitions against the U.S. National Team Development Program Under-18 team. Since November 10th, PSU is just 3-9-0 in all games and beyond the win over Ohio State in Pittsburgh - which was outstanding, of course - has only beaten the ACHA's Arizona State and NCAA DIII Fredonia.

For those who don't know the nature of this week's opponent, the National Team Development Program is a USA Hockey initiative based in Ann Arbor, MI. Since 1996, it has attempted to identify the best American players and get them into the same organization in an attempt to enhance their development for, according to their literature "participation on U.S. National Teams and success in their future hockey careers." The NTDP, which includes both an Under-17 and an Under-18 team, plays games against college teams (generally, only the U18s play those games), against the USHL, as the NTDP is a member of the league, and in international tournaments. NTDP players have gone on to collegiate and NHL success, as famous Big Ten alumni like Ryan Kesler, Jordan Leopold, Ryan Suter and Phil Kessel are counted among their products. No fewer than 15 players from Team USA's recent gold medal team at the World Junior Championships did time with the NTDP.

Obviously, since the U18s are the team playing Penn State, I'll speak exclusively about them from this point, using "NTDP" or "Team USA" as shorthand.

There's sort of a misconception many have of these games, at least some of the people with whom I've spoken, who view these as pointless walkovers, which really couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, Penn State will be the less talented team on the ice this weekend. That's not a slam on the Nittany Lions. The NTDPers, as mentioned, are among the best American players out there in their age group and as such, they out-talent just about every college team they play, with edges in experience and physical maturity going to the collegians (a senior who aged out of junior hockey is generally six years older than an U18 player).

The games Team USA has played against NCAA opponents bear that out, with wins over Michigan, Merrimack and Alabama-Huntsville. They also boast impressive draws with Minnesota, Notre Dame and New Hampshire, presently three of the top four teams in the country. Most of the NTDP's action comes against USHL competition, and (combined with the U17 team in this case), they're 6-18-3 in those games.

As one might surmise, NTDP players are some of the most sought-after recruits in the country. Nineteen players opposing PSU this weekend are committed to colleges, including future Big Ten opponents J.T. Compher, Evan Allen and Tyler Motte (Michigan), as well as Hudson Fasching (Minnesota). While Penn State has yet to pull an NTDP recruit, getting players of their caliber on campus certainly can't hurt in that process. Motte, Compher, Allen and Fasching, along with leading scorer Tyler Kelleher (committed to New Hampshire) represent a few of a lethal group of forwards that will really test a thin PSU blueline that hopes to receive Mark Yanis back this weekend but has now lost Luke Juha to an undisclosed injury.

Shenae Lundberg is an elite stopper - and owes some of that to PSU's Casey McCullion.

For the women (7-12-1, 1-8-1 CHA), this weekend represents a chance to continue the momentum generated from last weekend's shellacking of an overmatched and shorthanded NCAA Division III Chatham team. The Nittany Lions will seek to chip off a second and a third major-conference win at Union (5-11-3, 0-7-3 ECAC).

Since joining the Division I ranks to join their male counterparts in 2003-2004, the Dutchwomen haven't been particularly successful, never posting more than five wins or better than a 0.176 win percentage in any season. In that sense, this year has been a breakout of sorts with that zenith for victories already matched and Connecticut, Maine, RPI and Syracuse, PSU's College Hockey America rival, among Union's victims.

The team's undisputed star is goaltender Shenae Lundberg. The sophomore boasts a 3.09 goals against average and a 0.902 save percentage - outstanding numbers on a losing team. She has a boatload of USA Hockey recognition to prove her talents, including her status as a member of the 2011 world champion U.S. U18 team. Lundberg is also a four-time USA Hockey Player Development Camp selection and a two-time selection to the Warren Strelow National Team Goaltending Camp. She's played in four of Union's five wins, and has been called on to make at least 30 saves each time without ever allowing more than three goals.

In short, Lundberg is good.

Oh, by the way, the New Hampshire native is an alumna of Deerfield Academy, where she played for - you guessed it - PSU assistant Casey McCullion, who was an assistant there in 2007-2008.

With Nicole Paniccia expected back between the pipes after playing only 20 minutes in the sweep of Chatham, combined with Lundberg and Union's anemic offense that scores just 1.42 times per game, it probably isn't out of line to expect a pair of low-scoring games. When the Dutchwomen do receive offense, it tends to come from a large number of sources. Sophomore Christine Valente leads the team with five goals, but the team's 27 this season have come from 12 different players.

It would serve the Nittany Lions well to put everything out there in the pursuit of two wins - next weekend is the last one off for the team this season before jumping back into the fray with a trip to Syracuse on January 25th and 26th.