W: Penn State 4 at Vermont 2

Box score // Penn State recap // Vermont recap
Victory Bell Rings recap // Vermont highlights // Vermont photos

Building on an extremely strong showing in a season-opening 3-3 tie with Vermont on Friday night, Penn State (1-0-1) took the next step on Saturday afternoon with a 4-2 victory over the Catamounts (0-1-1) at UVM's Gutterson Field House.

To tell the truth, there wasn't much to set the win apart from the tie (other than the scoreline, of course) as many of the game's themes were reruns from the front half of the series. But just to review...

Theme 1: Resilience

Vermont scored five goals on Penn State this weekend. After four of them, the Nittany Lions scored next. And those answers came after just 2:11, 0:27, 4:58 and 0:06, with the latter two on Saturday. After Gina Repaci's bouncer through traffic from center point put UVM ahead just under seven minutes into the contest, Kelly Seward answered with a bar-down bomb from just inside the line at the 11:49 mark. Laura Bowman, however, decided that wasn't good enough. Twelve seconds after Seward tied it up, she broke the tie by finishing a faceoff win and Hannah Hoenshell's rush-and-pass at the back post.

In the middle period, UVM received a second goal from a blueliner 3:48 in when Dayna Colang stepped around Shannon Yoxheimer up high before burying to re-knot the contest at two. But Hoenshell - who played arguably the best game of her career - had a lighting-fast reply when she dangled down low off of the draw and tucked the puck past Roxanne Douville.

Bottom line: PSU has always been a tough team, but they now have the skill to make it count on the scoreboard.

Theme 2: Secondary scoring

It was clear on Friday that the newly-assembled unit of Amy Petersen, Bowman and Hoenshell would provide a viable second scoring line this season. However, it didn't show up in the stats immediately, as usual suspects Shannon Yoxheimer and Taylor Gross were the offensive stars. In the rematch, however, the goals came from the less-familiar sources. Hoenshell had one, plus two assists to first-star-of-the-game Bowman. After the Texan countered Colang to put the Lions back ahead, the Minnesotan once again went back post from a centering feed to supply some breathing room with 2:38 left in the second period.

Bottom line: Penn State received seven goals over the weekend, the most of any NCAA series against a major-conference team, and now present exponentially more matchup problems for opponents.

Theme 3: Goaltending

Josh Brandwene may have raised a couple eyebrows by starting Celine Whitlinger after Nicole Paniccia's stellar outing Friday, but the sophomore more than answered the bell with 37 often-spectacular saves and her second career win.

Although Penn State held a two-goal lead into the third period, it certainly wasn't an easy close-out. The Catamounts launched 16 shots on Whitlinger in the 20 minutes, including one near the halfway mark that bounced through the crease and ended up with just about every blue-clad player on the ice laying on top of it. A video review followed, but after a lengthy delay it was determined that the puck never fully traversed the goalline.

Bottom line: Start Paniccia, start Whitlinger... either way, they're both outstanding.

Theme 4: Player development

Some of the unsung heroes in the win were players who are both well-known to Penn Staters but also much better than a year ago. The defensive tandem of Jordin Pardoski and Sarah Wilkie is developing into a legitimate shutdown pair, and both were instrumental to PSU's lead protection efforts. Lindsay Reihl and Paige Jahnke also had great games on defense. Jenna Welch and her linemates made the tough plays, while Emily Laurenzi was all over the ice at times.

Bottom line: As fantastic as the freshman were in their first two college games this weekend, the bulk of this team is still in the sophomore class - and they've shown unreal growth from year one to year two.

Up next, this dangerous-looking pride of Nittany Lions travels to Hamden, CT for a two-game set at Quinnipiac. They'll make their long-awaited Pegula Ice Arena debut the following weekend against Union.

Here's the live blog from a fantastic couple hours at the Gut:

 

UVM and Burlington: A Photo Tour

Because I really enjoy experiencing new places and because I can't pack Steve Hass in my suitcase to photograph the games themselves, here's my walking photo tour of Vermont's campus - easily one of the most impressive I've visited in the course of doing this blog. As always, click any photo to open a gallery view.

Old Mill, UVM's oldest building, fronted by a statue of state founder Ira Allen

The Waterman Building houses administration, financial aid and the registrar

Billings Library

Ira Allen Chapel

Step your school spirit game up, CATA

Mary Fletcher Hospital begat Fletcher Allen Health Care, affiliated with UVM

Jeffords Hall, built in 2010, houses life sciences programs

The Aiken Center for Natural Resources...don't tell TPegs about the solar panel

The Davis Center student union was just built in 2007

Someday, PSU will have throwback tees of NHLers in its bookstore

Redstone Lofts are really cool looking...

...although people in Millis Hall prefer the surroundings and view

Patrick Gym, home to UVM basketball

The court wasn't in game shape, but you get the idea

#Merica

Burlington is an equally spectacular town, highlighted by the Church Street Marketplace. Essentially, several blocks of the road are paved with brick, closed to vehicular traffic, and lined with an eclectic group of shops, restaurants and bars (think the College-Calder-Beaver corridor without all of those pesky cars).

The "church" at the end of Church Street is unitarian, for the record

 

That church can still be seen prominently further down

Another look...not pictured: Ben & Jerry's, but you know there is one

Since it's New England, there is in fact a town square

On to Gutterson Field House, as classic of a hockey barn as you'll find...

The main entrance is the most modern thing about the building

 

The side exterior view more accurately captures the essence of the place

I thought the Zamboni garage was pretty stellar

Those four perches are actually, collectively, the press box

The team's helmets lined up on the bench is always a favorite shot

Player introductions, with the UVM pep band in the far corner

The beginning of the season...

W: Penn State 3 at Vermont 3

Box score // Penn State recap // Vermont recap

Victory Bell Rings recap // Vermont highlights // Penn State photos

An opening tie this year matched up against an opening win last year? Please don't think of it that way.

The simple reality of the situation is this: that historic NCAA-era opening win against Vermont was an outlier. Penn State managed five goals in that contest, then didn't score more than three in a game over the rest of the season other than against NCAA Division III Chatham and Sacred Heart, a DI team in name only.

While it's impossible to project things over all of 2013-2014 based on a single evening, right now, the Nittany Lions look like a much better team than a year ago. The signs are everywhere.

After a scoreless first period, Penn State took a 1-0 lead 6:28 into the second period just nine seconds into Sarah Kelly's hooking penalty. On the play, Shannon Yoxheimer threw the puck up to Jordin Pardoski at the point. The newly-minted alternate captain bombed UVM goalie Roxanne Douville with her heavy shot, and while Douville did make the save, the puck wound up behind her and just in front of the goal line for several agonizing seconds. Enter freshman defender Kelly Seward, the first to see the loose biscuit, and therefore the first goal scorer for Penn State this year.

It was a rather important power play goal for a team that only scored 17 of them all last season.

On the other side of the ledger, a PSU penalty kill that allowed opposing tallies 23.4 percent of the time last season went into lockdown mode. An early too many players on the ice call against the Lions went unpunished. As did two tripping calls, two checking calls, an interference call and an elbowing call over the first 40 minutes. The Catamounts did eventually solve the PK unit, on a Brittany Zuback rebound goal off of Amanda Pelkey's hybrid centering pass-shot that gave UVM a 3-2 lead with 4:04 remaining in regulation. Nevertheless, things could have gone much worse in that department.

But that leads us to something else that feels different this season. The Nittany Lions were always a resilient bunch, but didn't always have the horsepower to make that trait pay off with goals. It looks as if they do now. Just 27 seconds after Zuback scored that go-ahead goal, Yoxheimer took Lindsay Reihl's pass, powered down left wing, then sniped over Douville's shoulder. Earlier, after Pelkey's spectacular one-on-one goal gave Vermont a 2-1 lead a couple minutes into the third period, Gross provided a quick answer. Yoxheimer again started that play down left wing, and centered to the blue paint. Douville stopped Gross' initial shot, but after some persistence and a survived video review, the score was tied for the third of four times.

There was plenty of the familiar. Yoxheimer had a three-point evening and tied for the team high with four shots. Gross also had four shots and was perpetually dangerous. Nicole Paniccia was her usual spectacular self in making 35 stops. Emily Laurenzi, Sarah Wilkie and Birdie Shaw all played their roles particularly well this time out.

At the same time and as expected, freshmen Laura Bowman and Amy Petersen paired up to play in just about every situation and offered the promise of a second consistent scoring line. Sarah Nielsen, another first-year player, stepped in between Yoxheimer and Gross seamlessly. Seward had her goal, but also showed how her length will limit the opposition's trips to the middle of the ice this season.

So yeah, it was a tie. But right now, it feels like a win, because it looks like plenty of the sort of victories that count towards the season record are about to follow.

Here's the live blog from a wild evening in Burlington:

 

New Beginning, Same Old Place

Micayla Catanzariti and her teammates will look to take two from Vermont this time around

What
NCAA Women (0-0-0, 0-0-0 CHA) vs. Vermont (0-0-0, 0-0-0 Hockey East)

Where
Gutterson Field House; Burlington, VT

When
Friday, October 4th at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday, October 5th at 2:30 p.m.

Coverage
Friday: TYT live blog (free), UVM video (free), UVM live stats (free); Saturday: TYT live blog (free), UVM video (free), UVM live stats (free).

The optimism of a new season is one of the truly enjoyable things about sports. Only one team per year wins the national championship, so for all others, this time of year is a chance at redemption for whatever went wrong last time around. Everyone begins 0-0-0 and, in theory, has an equal shot at being the best team in the country for 2013-2014.

Last year, shockingly, first-year NCAA program Penn State kept their claim to the "best" label past opening day, thanks to a 5-3 upset at Vermont that saw Shannon Yoxheimer and Micayla Catanzariti each score twice. Want to re-live it once more? Gladly:

The Nittany Lions came back to Earth almost immediately, as the Catamounts won the next day's rematch 3-1. Thirty-three games later, PSU was 7-26-2 and out of the first round of the CHA playoffs. Without question, it was an outstanding season in terms of laying the program's foundation, but at the same time, nobody plays hockey with the goal of winning one-fifth of the time.

However, the first weekend in October - a fresh start - is here once again, and it brings Penn State back to the same spot as one year ago - Gutterson Field House in Burlington, VT and two dates with UVM.

For all of the great things about the opening of a new campaign, one thing the situation lacks is a good way to write a pregame or preseason post. There's sort of a formula to it: here's how Team X did last season, here's what they lost, here's what they added, here's a prediction that is only ever incrementally different from the previous year's finish, and based mostly on an arbitrary assessment of the lost vs. added equation. It's far from ideal in many, many ways, but at the same time, nobody has developed a better approach to the task yet.

The situation is exacerbated in the case of Penn State, a second-year NCAA program that famously had 17 freshmen last season. There's simply very little in the way of formula that can tell us what to expect right now.

We do know that those freshmen have become 15 sophomores (Katie Zinn and Taylor McGee left the program in the spring). They're still the core of the team and still young, but now one year deep. In 2012-2013, star players emerged from that class like sniper Yoxheimer, blood-and-guts blueliner Jordin Pardoski, silky-handed Hannah Hoenshell, dangerous bundle of energy Jill Holdcroft and steady puck mover Paige Jahnke. Catanzariti and Birdie Shaw added grit, while Emily Laurenzi and Jeanette Bateman added dependability. Overseeing it all was a small, but vital group of upperclass leaders, including clutch stopper Nicole Paniccia, ACHA original Lindsay Reihl, rough-and-tumble Jenna Welch and, of course, all-compete captain Taylor Gross.

Shannon Yoxheimer scored PSU's first NCAA goal last season at Vermont

Now thrown into the mix is a highly-decorated freshman class including Laura Bowman and Amy Petersen, linemates who led Minnetonka High School to an unprecedented three Minnesota AA titles in a row, two-way forward Sarah Nielsen, and Kelly Seward, an unflappable defender who will help correct a size deficit PSU frequently faced last season.

The unstated, but ever-present, variable in all of this is competition. No matter how you slice and dice potential lineups, there's no getting around the fact that several very good hockey players - a couple of whom will have been every-game contributors in NCAA year one - will be sitting in the stands each time out.

Put it all together and you have... well, something. Almost certainly a better team than a year ago, with most players a year older and key issues involving scoring depth and defensive matchups addressed in recruiting. How much better? "Well, we played them tougher than last year" better? Second-year NCAA Lindenwood better, as the back half of 2012-2013 saw LU start to figure out how to beat established CHA teams? Something more than that? We're about to find out, and that's part of what makes the occasion so much fun.

Vermont, as a long-standing varsity team, is a little bit more of a known quantity, yet one that still shares plenty of common ground with its opponent. Following the embarrassment of allowing a new NCAA team its first win, the Cats wound up 8-21-4 overall, with a quick exit from the Hockey East quarterfinals. While that doesn't sound like much on the surface, it did represent progress, as it was the program's first-ever postseason appearance in 16 varsity seasons.

Like Penn State, UVM didn't lose much. Star goalie Roxanne Douville is back for her senior year, while offensive leader Brittany Zuback (her 14 goals and 26 points were both tops on the Catamounts) is a junior. Vermont scored just 2.15 goals per game last year, only slightly better than PSU's 1.97 number, and will therefore look to Zuback, Amanda Pelkey, Klara Myren and a strong group of seven freshmen to up their production, and to a re-tooled defense to lighten the 36.15 shot-per-game burden placed on Douville. Vermont isn't a particularly deep team (their roster numbers just 21) so consistency up and down the lineup will be vital if growth is to continue in head coach Jim Plumer's second year in charge.

Some might cynically suggest, as in the case of Penn State as well I suppose, that bringing back largely the same roster from a losing team isn't a recipe for greater success. However, the limited data looks good so far, as a Zuback hat trick powered a 5-1 exhibition win over Nepean last weekend, after UVM lost their tune-up for PSU a year ago by a 2-1 count to the University of Montreal. Plumer also begs to differ. He clearly likes what he has and claims that several key players have had phenomenal offseasons.

In short, both teams, partly fueled by the optimism allowed by a clean slate, think they're better than the last time they saw each other. Both teams, however, are also looking for tangible evidence of it, namely an improvement on the previous-meeting split. Here's hoping that it's the Nittany Lions keeping the dream of a perfect season alive into the season's second weekend.

Big Ten, Hockey East Issue Challenge

After January's sellout, the Philadelphia College Hockey Faceoff has a say in a trophy this season.

At the Hockey East media day on Tuesday, the conference announced that it will conduct a 13-game "challenge" with the Big Ten from October 18th through 27th similar to the well-established, and probably more familiar to Penn Staters, Big Ten-ACC Challenge in basketball.

The Nittany Lions only play one game as part of the challenge - the Philadelphia College Hockey Faceoff against Vermont in Philadelphia on October 26th - but it's actually quite an important one in terms of the league showdown. Should the Big Ten and Hockey East end in a tie after all games are completed (two points will be given for a win, one for a tie and a bonus point for a road win), the PSU-UVM result will serve as the tiebreaker. Outside of that catfight, six games will be played in Hockey East venues on the first weekend, October 18th and 19th, with six games in the Big Ten's arenas following on the October 25th through 27th weekend.

Five of the 13 games have already been picked up by various television outlets, including the Philly Faceoff which, according to Hockey East, will air on Comcast outlets in both Philadelphia (The Comcast Network) and New England (Comcast SportsNet New England).

It's not immediately clear whether this will be an annual event, but given that the involved parties are tossing around the word "inaugural" and the fact that there will be a trophy called the "Big Ten/Hockey East Challenge Cup," the sane money is on yes.

Shortly after the challenge ends, Penn State will welcome Hockey East's UMass-Lowell to Pegula Ice Arena for a bit of a follow-up on November 14th and 15th. The River Hawks, the 2013 Hockey East regular season and tournament champs and also a Frozen Four participant, were tabbed as the number one team in the league at media day, one day after receiving the top spot nationally in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine preseason rankings.

Here's the full press release from Hockey East, including the entire slate of games at the bottom.

---

Eleven of the country's most storied college hockey programs will compete this fall in the inaugural Big Ten/Hockey East Challenge, it was announced today by the Big Ten Conference and the Hockey East Association. Eleven different institutions will participate in 13 designated games to be played between October 18-27, with six games in Hockey East arenas on the first weekend, followed by six games in Big Ten arenas and a single game on neutral ice on the second weekend.

"The Big Ten/Hockey East Challenge will offer a tremendous opportunity to build a relationship between our two conferences and to promote the strong traditions of college hockey on a national level," said Big Ten Associate Commissioner Jennifer Heppel. "The student-athletes will also benefit from the chance to take part in meaningful non-conference competition against other top programs."

"The college hockey landscape is going through a major change this season and each conference needs to look beyond its familiar boundaries," said Hockey East Commissioner Joe Bertagna. "We have great respect for the hockeyplaying institutions in the Big Ten and we hope to develop this concept to allow all of our programs to participate in this competition in future years."

A Big Ten/Hockey East Challenge Cup will be presented to the conference that records the most points from the 13 games. Points will be awarded as follows: two points for a win, one point for a tie and a bonus point for a road win. Should a Big Ten school utilize a shootout in any of its home games, it will not factor into the result. Should each conference record the same number of points, the results of the Penn State - Vermont game, played on neutral ice, will serve as the tie-breaker.

The seventeen schools that play in these two conferences have compiled an unparalleld record of success in the history of college hockey, combining to claim 33 national championships during the 66 seasons that the NCAA has sponsored the sport. Of the 11 schools participating in the inaugural Big Ten/Hockey East Challenge, five took part in last season's NCAA Championship.

Below is the full schedule for the inaugural Big Ten/Hockey East Challenge:

Big Ten/Hockey East Challenge Schedule
(All times EST and 7:00 p.m. unless noted)

Friday, October 18
Wisconsin at Boston College
Michigan State at Massachusetts
Michigan at New Hampshire (7:30 p.m.)

Saturday, October 19
Wisconsin at Boston University
Michigan State at Massachusetts
Michigan at New Hampshire

Friday, October 25
Boston College at Minnesota (8:00 p.m.)*
Boston University at Michigan#
UMass Lowell at Michigan State@

Saturday, October 26
Boston University at Michigan State
UMass Lowell at Michigan#
Penn State vs. Vermont %
(Philadelphia, PA - 5:00 p.m.)

Sunday, October 27
Boston College at Minnesota (2:00 p.m.)^

* Big Ten Network
# XFINITY Channel 900
@ Fox Sports Detroit
% Comcast Philadelphia and New England
^ Fox Sports North and Sports Time Ohio

Three Stars: August 26-September 1

3. Women’s Hockey: Freshmen excited to begin
(The Daily Collegian)

A sure sign that the season is almost upon us: the Collegian is back at it on a regular basis. This article, which takes an overview of women's team freshmen Laura Bowman, Kelly Seward, Amy Petersen and Sarah Nielsen, is a great way to get the fall semester going.

2. Steinour reflects on his career in "Hockey Valley"
(Stack The Pads)

On the other end of the career curve, of course, is recently-graduated men's forward Eric Steinour. What's Big Stein up to now? Something that sounds a little more difficult than writing a hockey blog:

I am working for Affiliated Engineers in Chapel Hill, NC as a Mechanical Systems Designer. Affiliated Engineers is a multi-discipline technical consulting firm. The team I am a part of is specifically involved in designing steam and chilled water plants and distribution systems. We design new systems as well as redesign existing systems to be more efficient. Many of our clients are universities and medical facilities.

1. A Look Inside The Pegula Ice Arena
(Onward State)

Not a particularly tough call this week, as the fruit of Onward State's all-access look inside the arena is the most extensive peek we've received since the ice was installed.

Best of the Rest

@kingston1990
(Twitter)

Amazing? Horrifying? I suspect that there's very little middle ground on this one, as tends to be the case with tattoos.

Also, apropos of nothing, Runnin' With The Dogs is both the worst college hockey blog out there and written by the biggest tool out there.

University Park Alumni Athlete Letter
(ps4rs.org)

Alumni activist group Penn Staters For Responsible Stewardship - an organization drawing even fewer middle-ground opinions than most tattoos - has assembled a list of former PSU student-athletes who support the lawsuit brought by the Paterno family (as well as several faculty and Board of Trustees members) against the NCAA over... well, you know. Hockey's sole representative is former Icers captain Ryan Wick, a 2000 graduate.

Pittsburgh's Consol Energy Center to Host 40 2014 NHL Draft-Eligible Players
(USA Hockey)

Last Monday, USA Hockey unveiled the players who will participate in the second annual CCM/USA Hockey All-American Prospects Game, which will take place on the 26th in Pittsburgh's Consol Energy Center. Freshman goalie Eamon McAdam participated in last year's inaugural edition of the draft showcase in Buffalo as part of his push to the 70th overall pick. However, there will be no repeat participation by a Penn State commit, as well-regarded defenseman Kevin Kerr was surprisingly snubbed.

On a related note, if anyone needs a hotel room in Pittsburgh on September 26th, let me know in the comments.

Penn State hockey gets new voice
(The Daily Collegian)

In other "yay, the Collegian's back" news, new men's beat writer Darian Somers - you'll like him, trust me - takes a run at Brian Tripp, the team's new radio voice. Tripp replaces Steve Penstone who, contrary to the verbiage used in the article, was let go this offseason.

The Old NHL, Penn State Hockey, and Your FGSB Mailbag
(The 700 Level)

In response to someone asking how badly Penn State is going to get spanked this year:

Penn State’s move to The Big Ten is quite a big deal, especially for their hockey team, which I’m sure everyone knows went D1 last year. Their first year in D1 they were independent and actually didn’t do too badly for a really young team. On the official roster there were 14 freshman, 6 sophomores, and 7 juniors. Hey, you when go from club team to the big leagues that transition is going to take some time. With this young team they took down some big clubs in Wisconsin, Vermont, and Michigan State. The realignment has everyone saying they’re going to get whooped up on. On paper it looks like it, but I’m not so sure.

Penn State’s new conference is made up of them, obviously, and Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State. Those are some perennial power houses in the college hockey world, but Penn State is looking to be better than last year. They have their first ever NHL draft picks joining the program this season, and as you can see above have already done surprisingly decent with the guys that are ALL coming back this year (they went 13-14 last season).

Well done, guy.

UC Men's Hockey Dawes Exits Program For Position With Penn State's Women's Team
(uticaod.com)

It seems as if new women's team director of operations Alex Dawes will be missed in the neighborhood of Utica College, his previous employer. Seriously, I probably won't even get a write up this flattering when I die.

Onward State Cribs: Campus Towers
(Onward State)

Ever wonder what the apartment of women's forwards Katie Murphy and Shannon Yoxheimer (and their roommates) looks like? Onward State's new Cribs series has you covered. Since it's way nicer than my place, I would've been okay not finding out about it.

Condon, Rau Named Gopher Hockey Captains
(gophersports.com)

Leading off the opponent news section of Three Stars this week are the new captains of the Minnesota Golden Gophers, senior forward Nate Condon and junior forward Kyle Rau. Both are NHL draft picks, in 2008 by Colorado and in 2011 by Florida, respectively. Of course, you can't swing a dead cat at Minnesota's roster without hitting three or four draftees, so I'm not sure of that fact's newsworthiness.

Gophers hockey player Guertler suspended
(Minneapolis Star Tribune)

Incoming Gophers freshman Gabe Guertler, on the other hand, is not off to a good start if he wants to be a captain someday. Guertler received a DWI while operating a moped Friday night/Saturday morning and has been suspended by the team until at least November.

Judge throws out Milo’s case against Vermont, Sneddon
(USCHO)

Score one for common sense as former Vermont Catamount Justin Milo's "waaaah they cut me... no fair!" lawsuit against UVM and coach Kevin Sneddon has been thrown out.

RITMHKY
(Ow.ly)

RIT's men unveiled a new jersey last week. It's a throwback to the school's inaugural 1968 design, but with modern logos. Solid concept and well executed.

Former Laker Jones Picked 3rd Overall in CWHL Draft
(hurstathletics.com)

Brian Selected in Second Round of CWHL Draft
(rmuathletics.com)

Two Former Orange Selected by Toronto Furies
(suathletics.syr.edu)

Last week's Canadian Women's Hockey League draft was pretty good for College Hockey America, led by former Mercyhurst star Jess Jones, who was chosen third overall by the Brampton Thunder. Robert Morris goalie Delayne Brian (formerly of Wayne State as well, leaving there when WSU's program folded) was the first pick of the second round by the Alberta Honeybadgers, and a pair of Toronto Furies-drafted Syracuse alumnae, Holly Carrie-Mattimoe (second round) and Lisa Mullan (eighth round) closed things out for the conference.

Jones and Mullan both graduated from their schools in 2012 and never faced Penn State. Carrie-Mattimoe, however, had two goals and two assists in four games against PSU as a senior last year. Brian backstopped the Colonials' 4-1 win at the Ice Pavilion on November 11, 2012 with 19 saves and backed up Kristen DiCiocco in the other three PSU-RMU meetings.

Eight Hockey East teams to compete in Frozen Fenway
(New England Hockey Journal)

If you're the type of person who still gets excited by outdoor hockey not involving your favorite team, good news: the annual Frozen Fenway series is returning in January. Penn State opponents Boston College and UMass-Lowell are both among the eight Hockey East teams involved in the event hosted by the famous home of Major League Baseball's Boston Red Sox.

KSU Levies Lifetime Ban Against Coaching Staff
(hockeyyall.com)

While details of the alcohol-related tomfoolery of Kennesaw State at the ACHA Division 3 national championships back in March have not come to light, it must have been a pretty good time. Last we checked in, KSU had suspended the team for the entire 2012-2013 season. Now, it's banned the coaching staff for life. Even Jerry Sandusky can, theoretically anyway, outlive his sentence. Not so much if you're affiliated with Kennesaw State and get bombed at a hockey tournament, I guess.

Former Cal U. hockey players headed to trial
(Washington Observer-Reporter)

In other #ACHAProblems, former California (PA) hockey playing brothers/marijuana aficionados Steven and Jesse Powell waived their preliminary hearings and will stand trial. As you may recall, the Powells' arrests back in April led to Cal's suspension of the entire Vulcans hockey program, a sanction that was eventually lifted under the condition of required drug testing.

While the incident is obviously tailor made for jokes, I'll pass this time around. Instead, I think it needs to be said that Cal has handled the whole thing flawlessly from day one (in my view, anyway), and the university deserves to be commended for that.

@BattistaJoseph
(Twitter)

Guy Gadowsky ran in the inaugural Mt. Nittany Marathon on Sunday. Which is notable in and of itself, but as an added bonus, it led to another look at Penn State's new white jerseys, via Nate Jensen's Twitter.

The Show on the Road

Here are three things I know to be true:

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

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

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

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

Men

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

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

Women

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

Three Stars: July 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.