Penn State Nittany Lions men's ice hockey


Penn State Nittany Lions men's ice hockey, formerly known as the Penn State Icers, is a college ice hockey program that represents the Pennsylvania State University. Prior to the 2012–13 season the program was designated a club sport and competed at the ACHA Division I level. PSU was previously a member of the Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League (ESCHL, although the team competed as an independent ACHA D-I member for the 2011–12 season before moving to the NCAA D-I level. They play at the Pegula Ice Arena in University Park, Pennsylvania.

History

Penn State ice hockey was inaugurated in 1938, aside from two games in 1909–10. Penn State fielded a varsity hockey team for five seasons in the 1940s before the sport was dropped due to limited facilities.

ACHA years

The current program traces its roots back to 1971 when the program was restarted at the non-NCAA level. Consensus in the ice hockey community considered Penn State to play on a level comparable to NCAA Division III teams, with whom Penn State routinely scheduled games prior to the move to Division I. The Icers also played Division I, in-state opponent Robert Morris.
When the program was resumed in 1971, it began playing a mix of non-NCAA club teams, NAIA teams and DIII teams. In 1975–76 season Penn State became the first college ice hockey team to play in Europe. The team moved to the on-campus Greenberg Ice Pavilion, now known as the Penn State Ice Pavilion, in 1980. The 1,350-seat facility was the home of PSU hockey until 2013.
From 1971 to 2012, Penn State teams won 7 ACHA National Championships, were runners-up 9 times, appeared in 29 ACHA postseason tournaments, won 9 conference playoff titles and recorded 8 conference regular season championships.
In the program's final season as a member of the ACHA, the team was led by Guy Gadowsky, who stayed on to coach as the team began play in the NCAA. Gadowsky brought a number of transfers and recruits for the NCAA DI team to prepare for a transition from club to varsity status. The team finished the regular season with a record of 27–4 and received a bid to the 2012 ACHA DI National Tournament as the number one seed and ranked first in the ACHA. In the tournament, the Icers defeated West Virginia 4–1, followed by Oklahoma 6–3. In the semifinal round, Penn State faced Oakland, who were ranked as the thirteenth seed. The game was a rematch of 2007 ACHA championship when the Golden Grizzlies upset the Icers. In a repeat of 2007, Oakland ended Penn State's season and era in the ACHA by a score of 5–3.
The Icers finished the season with an overall record of 29–5, 29–4 in ACHA competition and a 6–3 loss to NCAA Division II Neumann at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia as part of the 2012 NHL Winter Classic events in front of a crowd of 6,800.

Move to NCAA

Over the summer of 2010 it was reported that Penn State athletic director Tim Curley and Terrence Pegula, a PSU alumnus, billionaire hockey fan, and possible large donor visited Minnesota’s hockey facilities and the new on-campus Notre Dame Ice Arena currently under construction at Notre Dame and other Central Collegiate Hockey Association schools. Pegula, who would eventually go on to purchase the Buffalo Sabres, donated US$88 million to the Penn State hockey programs for the purpose of building an arena. In August 2010 Tom Anastos, CCHA commissioner said the CCHA was interested in adding Penn State as a 12th member after Nebraska-Omaha left the league to join the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. Without a women's league the women's team would not join the CCHA, speculation had the women's team joining College Hockey America, currently a 5-team league with teams in Michigan, Pennsylvania and New York.
On September 17, 2010, after years of speculation, it was officially announced the program would move to the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I level along with the PSU women's ice hockey team starting in the 2012–13 season and the program would initially compete as an independent team until the new arena was completed in 2013. The university also announced the construction of a new 6,000-seat ice arena to replace the undersized and aging 1,350-seat Penn State Ice Pavilion.
Following the announcement by Penn State, the Big Ten Conference announced that the conference planned to begin sponsoring men's ice hockey in the 2013–14 season combining Penn State with Michigan State University, University of Michigan, and Ohio State University from the CCHA as well as the University of Minnesota and the University of Wisconsin from the WCHA to form the six-member Big Ten Hockey Conference.
On March 26, 2015, Casey Bailey became the first Penn State player to play in the National Hockey League, debuting for the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 4–1 loss to the Florida Panthers.
In 2017, Penn State defeated Wisconsin to capture their first Big Ten Tournament Championship. Freshman goaltender Peyton Jones earned the tournament's 2017 Most Outstanding Player Award. Four Nittany Lions made the All-Tournament Team: Jones, forward Liam Folkes, and defensemen Vince Pedrie and Erik Autio. In their first NCAA Tournament game, Penn State notched 10 goals en route to a 10–3 victory. This marked the first time in team history that Penn State scored more than 8 goals in a varsity game. It also marked the most goals scored by a team in an NCAA Tournament game since 1990.

Program record

Prior to NCAA D1 Status

The Roar Zone

The Roar Zone is the official student section for Penn State Men's Ice Hockey. Founded in 2013, the Roar Zone was created when Penn State Hockey became a Division I team and moved play from the Greenburg Ice Pavilion to the newly built Pegula Ice Arena. The Roar Zone became an official Penn State University club in early 2015 and is frequently featured on ESPN and Big Ten Network game coverages.
The Roar Zone holds more than 1,000 students on bleachers built to be the steepest allowed by code. All Penn State Hockey student season ticket holders are members of this organization.
The Roar Zone frequently works with Penn State Athletics to plan away game bus trips to watch conference and non-conference games. Notable trips include a bus trip to watch Penn State play in Madison Square Garden for the first time on January 30, 2016 and Penn State win an overtime win at the Munn Ice Arena on February 13, 2015.

Season-by-season results

Records vs. Big Ten Teams

As of the completion of 2018–19 season

Cumulative record against opponents

Prior to NCAA D1 Status
Adrian College100
Alabama-Huntsville190
Arizona1781
Arizona State1310
Army140
Binghamton300
Bucknell310
Buffalo State3272
Canisius260
Canton Jr. College210
Carleton100
Carnegie Mellon1040
CC of Rhode Island200
Central Oklahoma200/2
Charleston010
Colgate010
Colorado400
Colorado State200
Conestoga1530
Cornell010
Cortland State450
Davenport100
Delaware81173
Drexel2910
Duke100
Duquesne2511/1
Eastern Michigan3492
Elmira College050
Erie CC25104
Findlay120
Fordham100
Franklin and Marshall300
Gannon College300
Geneseo State120
Georgetown031
Hawthorne100
Hobart310
Holy Cross010
Huntington010
Illinois2471/1
Indiana210
Iona220
Iowa State1660
Ithaca College020
Indiana Univ of Pennsylvania500
John Carroll010
Kent State24111
Lafayette120
Lebanon Valley100
Lehigh961
Liberty540/1
Lindenwood200
MacDonald College010
Marquette300
Maryland1130
Massachusetts Boston020
Mercyhurst850
Miami 300
Michigan200
Michigan State600
Michigan-Dearborn39190
Minot State300
Navy3641
Neumann010
New Brunswick-St John300
New Hampshire College100
Niagara21124
Nichols200
North Carolina State200
North Dakota State140
Northern Arizona100
Notre Dame031
Oakland230

Ohio48295/2
Oklahoma410
Oswego State010
Pennsylvania540
Pittsburgh1551
Plymouth State100
Princeton030
Ramapo300
Rhode Island31112/2
Robert Morris 400
Robert Morris 820
Rochester1201
Royal Military College010
Rutgers921
Saint Louis100
Salem State010
Salve Regina100
Scranton1100
Seneca College500
Skidmore100
Slippery Rock100
Southern New Hampshire100
St Bonaventure1151
St Clair College551
St John310
St Joseph100
SUNY-Brockport110
SUNY-Canton100
SUNY-Fredonia230
Syracuse100
Temple200
Toledo110
Towson2602
University of Buffalo1632
Upsala1300
Villanova2781
Washington and Jefferson1200
Wayne State100
Weber State100
West Chester4541/2
West Virginia3601
Western Michigan300
Western New England200
Westfield State020
Wisconsin-Whitewater220
Worcester Polytechnic300
York University010
Sub-total93530042/11
Other:
Army Air Corps010
Bad Tolz Juniors100
Bad Worishofen Seniors010
Baltimore All-Stars010
Baltimore Blazers200
Dodge Junior A100
Hampden Leafs400
Harrisburg Mohawks400
Hershey200
Hershey Flyers100
Hershey Jr. Bears070
Junior Flyers1032
Junior Penguins200
Kaufbeuren Juniors001
Keene Blackhawks U20100
Main Line Men400
Navy All-Stars010
North Penn Eagles120
Pittsburgh Knights040
Rutherford Sabres100
Skateland Junior A200
Washington All-Stars010
unknown †410
Sub-total40223/0
Total97532245/11

Coaches

On April 25, 2011 Penn State named Guy Gadowsky as the program's first NCAA Division I men’s hockey coach. Gadowsky was previously the head coach of the Princeton Tigers from 2004–2011 and also served as head coach of the Alaska Nanooks from 1999–2004. He replaces Scott Balboni, who coached the Icers for five seasons from 2006–2011 and compiled a 150–35–8.

NCAA All-time coaching records

As of completion of 2019–20 season

ACHA All-time coaching records

As of completion of 2011–12 season

Statistical Leaders

Career points leaders

PlayerYearsGPGAPtsPIM
2016–2020147617914068
2013–2017147448412870
2015–2019154516711834
2016–2020138417511649
2016–2020138506511536
2015–20181115450104105
2016–2020137485510318
2017–Present106416210334
2017–202098395695117
2012–20159243357883
2017–202011117617885

Career goaltending leaders

GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average
minimum 600 minutes played
PlayerYearsGPMinWLTGASOSV%GAA
2015–201921888751412.8992.77
2016–202013378667644113784.9072.88
2012–2016774420323272123.9092.88
2013–2016442420182121321.9053.27
2012–201530141410151781.8993.31

Statistics current through the start of the 2020–21 season.

Players

Current roster

As of September 3, 2019.

Awards and honors

NCAA

Individual Awards

Derek Hines Unsung Hero Award
NCAA Scoring Champion
AHCA Second Team All-Americans

Individual Awards

Defensive Player of the Year
Coach of the Year
Tournament Most Outstanding Player
First Team All-Big Ten
Second Team All-Big Ten
Big Ten All-Rookie Team
PlayerPositionTeamYearsStanley Cup|
Casey BaileyRight WingTOR, OTT2014–20170