Penn State Nittany Lions men's ice hockey, formerly known as the Penn State Icers (the name for the former ACHA team), is a

college ice hockey College ice hockey is played principally in the United States and Canada, though leagues exist outside North America. In the United States, competitive "college hockey" refers to ice hockey played between colleges and universities within the go ...

program that represents the

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

. 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 The Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League (ESCHL) is a collegiate hockey conference at the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Division I level. The league was created in 2017 and is made up of eight teams located in the Northeast and ...

(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 Penn State University Park, also referred to as University Park, is the main campus of Pennsylvania State University, located in both State College and College Township, both in Centre County, Pennsylvania, United States. The campus post off ...

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 (1940–44, 1946–47) 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 Robert or Bob Morris may refer to: :''Ordered chronologically within each section.'' Politics and the law * Robert Hunter Morris (1700–1764), lieutenant governor of Colonial Pennsylvania * Robert Morris (financier) (1734–1806), one of the Foun ...

. When the program was resumed in 1971, it began playing a mix of non-NCAA club teams, NAIA teams and DIII teams. In the 1975–76 season Penn State became the first college ice hockey team to play in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. 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 (including 10 consecutive championship games), 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 West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

4–1, followed by

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

6–3. In the semifinal round, Penn State faced Oakland (MI), 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 III NCAA Division III (D-III) is the lowest division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that do not offer athletic scholarships to student- ...

Neumann Neumann () is a German language, German surname, with its origins in the pre-7th-century (Old English) word ''wikt:neowe, neowe'' meaning "new", with ''wikt:mann, mann'', meaning man. The English form of the name is Newman. Von Neumann is a varian ...

Citizens Bank Park Citizens Bank Park is a baseball stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the city's South Philadelphia Sports Complex. Home to Major League Baseball's Philadelphia Phillies, the stadium opened April 3, 2004. It is named after Citizens Financi ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

as part of the

2012 NHL Winter Classic The 2012 NHL Winter Classic (known via corporate sponsorship as the Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic) was an outdoor ice hockey game played in the National Hockey League (NHL) on January 2, 2012, at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvani ...

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 Terrence Michael Pegula (born March 27, 1951) is an American billionaire businessman and petroleum engineer. He is the owner of the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League (NHL) and, with a consortium of private equity firms and athletes, th ...

, 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 The Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) is a college athletic conference in the Midwestern United States that participates in the NCAA's Division I as a hockey-only conference. The current CCHA began play in the 2021–22 season; a previ ...

(CCHA) schools. Pegula, who would eventually go on to purchase the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Con ...

, donated US$88 million (later upgraded to US$102 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 The Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) is a college ice hockey conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a women's-only conference. From 1951 to 1999, it operated as a me ...

(WCHA). Without a women's league the women's team would not join the CCHA, speculation had the women's team joining

College Hockey America College Hockey America (CHA) was a college ice hockey conference in the United States. It participated in the NCAA's Division I as a hockey-only conference. The conference's final membership featured six women's teams, with three in Pennsylvani ...

(CHA), currently a 5-team league with teams in

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. On September 17, 2010, after years of speculation, it was officially announced the program would move to the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA) 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 The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

announced that the conference planned to begin sponsoring men's ice hockey in the 2013–14 season combining Penn State with

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

, and

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

from the CCHA as well as the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

and the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

from the

WCHA The Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) is a college ice hockey conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a women's-only conference. From 1951 to 1999, it operated as a men ...

to form the six-member Big Ten Hockey Conference. On March 26, 2015,

Casey Bailey Casey Bailey (born October 27, 1991) is an American professional ice hockey player. He is currently an unrestricted free agent who most recently played with ERC Ingolstadt in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). Bailey played college hockey with th ...

became the first Penn State player to play in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

, debuting for the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

in a 4–1 loss to the

Florida Panthers The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Panthers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team initially played it ...

. 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 :First year: 1909–10 :Varsity seasons: 5 (1940–44, 1946–47) :Varsity record: 13–15–1 :Non-varsity seasons: 45 (1909–10, 1937–40, 1971–2012) :Non-varsity record: 962–307–44–11 :ACHA National Championships: 7 (1984, 1990, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003) :ACHA National Runners-Up: 9 (1983, 1985, 1993, 1995, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007)

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 The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

club in early 2015 and is frequently featured on

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

and

Big Ten Network Big Ten Network (BTN) is an American sports network based in Chicago, Illinois. The channel is dedicated to coverage of College athletics, collegiate sports sanctioned by the Big Ten Conference, including live and recorded event telecasts, news ...

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

Source:

Records vs. Big Ten teams

As of the completion of 2021–22 season

Cumulative record against opponents

Prior to NCAA D1 Status (1909–10, 1937–44, 1946–47, 1971–2012) :^❋ Beginning with the 2006–07 season, ties were abolished in favor of deciding overtime ties by the shootout. Overtime losses before the 2006–07 season are reported in the loss column. :† In 1972, 1980, and 1983–85, Penn State won 4 and lost 1 against opponents whose identities have not been retrieved.

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 The Princeton Tigers are the athletic teams of Princeton University. The school sponsors 35 varsity teams in 20 sports. The school has won several NCAA national championships, including one in men's fencing, three in women's lacrosse, six in me ...

from 2004 to 2011 and also served as head coach of the

Alaska Nanooks The Alaska Nanooks are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The Nanooks name is derived from the Inupiaq " nanuq", meaning polar bear. The school colors are blue and gold. The Nanooks compete at ...

from 1999 to 2004. He replaces Scott Balboni, who coached the Icers for five seasons from 2006 to 2011 and compiled a 150–35–8 record.

NCAA all-time coaching records

As of completion of 2023–24 season

ACHA All-time coaching records

As of completion of 2011–12 season

Statistical leaders

Source:

Career points leaders

Career goaltending leaders

''GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% =

Save percentage Save percentage (often known by such symbols as SV%, SVS%, SVP, PCT) is a statistic in various Goal (sports), goal-scoring sports that track Save (goaltender), saves as a statistic. In ice hockey and lacrosse and association football, it is a sta ...

; GAA =

Goals against average Goals against average (GAA), also known as average goals against (AGA), is a statistic used in field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and water polo that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender or goalkeeper (depending on spo ...

'' minimum 30 games Statistics current through the end of the 2023–24 season.

Players

Current roster

As of September 5, 2024.

Awards and honors

NCAA

Individual awards

Derek Hines Unsung Hero Award * P. J. Musico: 2015 NCAA Scoring Champion * Alex Limoges: 2019

All-Americans

AHCA Second Team All-Americans *2019–20: Cole Hults, D; Nate Sucese, F *2024–25:

Aiden Fink Aiden Fink (born November 24, 2004) is a Canadian college ice hockey player for Penn State University of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Playing career Junior Fink spent two seasons with the Brooks Bandits of the Alberta Juni ...

, F

Big Ten

Individual awards

Defensive Player of the Year Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY or DPOTY) is the name of an award given in sports for outstanding defensive play by a single player over the course of a season. Many sports leagues award this type of award. League awards for Defensive Player o ...

* Trevor Hamilton: 2018

Coach of the Year Many sports leagues, sportswriting associations, and other organizations confer "Coach of the Year" awards. In some sports — including baseball and association football — the award is called the "Manager of the Year" award. Some of the ...

* Guy Gadowsky: 2015 Tournament Most Outstanding Player * Peyton Jones: 2016

All-Conference Teams

First Team All-Big Ten *2014–15:

, F *2016–17: Vince Pedrie, D *2017–18: Trevor Hamilton, D *2018–19: Evan Barratt, F *2024–25:

, F Second Team All-Big Ten *2015–16:

Eamon McAdam Eamon McAdam (born September 24, 1994) is an American professional ice hockey goaltender who is currently playing for the Guildford Flames in the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL). Playing career Amateur McAdam began his junior career with the Au ...

, G; Vince Pedrie, D *2024–25: Arsenii Sergeev, G; Simon Mack, D Big Ten All-Rookie Team *2014–15:

Scott Conway Scott may refer to: Places Canada * Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec * Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380 * Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Sas ...

, F *2015–16: Vince Pedrie, D *2016–17: Peyton Jones, G; Kris Myllari, D; Denis Smirnov, D *2023–24:

, F *2024–25: Charlie Cerrato, F; Cade Christenson, D

Nittany Lions in the NHL

As of June 1, 2024

References

External links

*
Friends of Penn State Men's Hockey

Roar Zone
{{DEFAULTSORT:Penn State Nittany Lions Men's Ice Hockey 1909 establishments in Pennsylvania Big Ten Conference ice hockey College ice hockey teams in Pennsylvania Ice hockey clubs established in 1909 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey teams

History

ACHA years

Move to NCAA

Program record

The Roar Zone

Season-by-season results

Records vs. Big Ten teams

Cumulative record against opponents

Coaches

NCAA all-time coaching records

ACHA All-time coaching records

Statistical leaders

Career points leaders

Career goaltending leaders

Players

Current roster

Awards and honors

NCAA

Individual awards

All-Americans

Big Ten

Individual awards

All-Conference Teams

Nittany Lions in the NHL

See also

References

External links