SB Nation User Blog: IcersGuy

Icers Take On a D-3 Tournament

IcersGuy — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:17:23 -0000

While we were all watching football over Thanksgiving weekend, the Icers found themselves up north, facing off in the 15th Annual Manchester Police Athletic League Stovepipe Hockey Tournament. But instead of the normal slate of ACHA teams, the Icers were up against two NCAA D-II teams (S. New Hampshire and Stonehill) and a D-III team (UMass-Boston). It should be noted that ice hockey has the bottom tiers a bit backwards. To make a long story short, the D-III teams play at a higher level than the D-II teams (D-I is still the best). There are also only 6 teams in the D-II, but I'm getting off topic here. The focus is the tournament, and the Icers would face off against the Southern New Hampshire Penmen on Saturday.

Yeah...I don't know either...

November 28, vs NCAA DII S. New Hampshire, 5-2 W: After losing the opening game of last season's NCAA tournament they played in, the Icers were looking for a way to be playing for the tournament championship game this year. The Icers and the Penmen found themselves in a feeling-out process in the first period, as both teams shared the energy, but neither team was able to light the lamp. In fact, the two teams were goalless for the first 34 minutes of the game until the proverbial light went on. Marek Polidor would find the back of the net first, scoring with 6 minutes left in the second period. But as is commonplace for the Icers this season, the Penmen returned fire with a goal of their own just 45 seconds later. Another Penmen goal just 2 minutes after that gave SNHU the 2-1 lead, but then they committed one of the worst hockey fouls - allowing the opponent to score in the final minute of a period. Ryan Paradis would tie the game up with just 52 seconds left in the 2nd period, and the Icers wouldn't look back. The third period belonged to the Icers, with two powerplay goals from Polidor and Paradis sandwiching a Joe Zitarelli goal. The Icers kept up the pressure, and Teddy Hume came up big in net when called upon. When the final whistle blew, the Icers skated off with a 5-2 victory, a 42-18 shot advantage, and entry into the championship game against UMass-Boston.

I STILL don't know what you are.

November 29, vs NCAA DIII UMass-Boston, 7-4 L: Like the Icers, the UMass-Boston Beacons had blown past their DII opponent Saturday night, and were looking to continue to roll on Sunday. And they looked like they would, as the Beacons would score just 2 minutes into the game. The Icers weren't about to be rolled over, as a Chris Cerutti powerplay goal and a Tim O'Brien even strength goal gave the Icers the 2-1 advantage. A late goal from the Beacons would send the game tied at 2 going into the intermission. But the second period was not kind to the Icers. A UMB goal just 17 seconds into the period was the first of 4 in the period for the Beacons. The Icers' mistakes were giving the UMB players more than enough chances, and once down 6-2, coach Balboni made the switch in net - pulling Teddy Hume for John Jay. Jay would play well enough, and goals from Tim O'Brien and Marek Polidor would bring the game to 6-4 early in the third. But the 4 goal lead and a 3rd period goal for the Beacons was enough to give the Icers second place for this tournament, losing to UMB, 7-4.

Season Standings: Overall - 15-2-1; ESCHL - 9-0-1; ACHA Standings - 6th.

Reflections and Ramblings: I've updated the overall season record to 15-2-1, but note that the ACHA doesn't recognize non-ACHA games as part of the overall record. And either way, the tournament is based on league winners and the coaches' poll rankings. At 6th, we're doing just fine. New rankings come out on Friday, so it will be interesting to see if our ACHA winning streak, combined with loss to some of the teams ahead of us, give us another bump upwards.

Looking back at the tournament, the Icers did a solid job. Yes, you'd like to win it all, but it was a good 60 minutes against a DII team, and a solid 40 minutes against a DIII team. Again, this is still a fairly young team in terms of collegiate level hockey, and when you add in the injuries that this team has cycled through, it was a mighty fine performance for the weekend. The Icers definitely had their chances, and the UMB goalie came up huge at times, so the offense and the energy is there. The Icers also made their fair share of mistakes, including one turnover that lead to a UMB short-handed goal. Again, there are things to build on and things to build off of here, and the future continues to look bright for Penn State ice hockey.

The two final weekends of the semester see ESCHL rival Delaware come to town this coming weekend, and then the nearly-annual Friday night game against Niagara to close the fall schedule. Delaware finds itself in a bit of an off season, last listed at 11-5-0, and ranked #11 in the ACHA. It's always a tough series, but the Icers will surely be looking to keep their energy from this past tournament continuing into the ACHA games. Niagara is, well, Niagara. They'll be bothersome, but their absence from the coaches voting should say enough as to how well they've been playing this season. With the offensive firepower this team has shown, both weekends are easily winnable.

Other Points of Interest: The Lady Icers close out the Fall portion of their schedule with a set at Rhode Island this weekend. They're currently 5-1-1, but the bulk of their games will be in January and February - 14 games, including 4 in 4 days (1/21-1/24) followed by 3 in 3 (1/29-1/31). That's 7 games in 11 days. Stay updated on the Lady Icers here.

Another interesting link I've been pointed to is this article on John Walton Hockey about the Icers and the possibility of a NCAA level program. John Walton has been bouncing around the world of college and AHL hockey for a number of years, and currently finds himself as the announcer for the Hershey Bears. He's all for DI hockey at Penn State and is confused as to why we don't already have it. The author of the article, Jess Mikula (a Penn State student/alum - not sure if she graduated yet or not, but she has Penn State ties) gives some info and interview snippets from JoeBa and Balboni. It discusses some of the costs and the hows/whys - a very good read if your interested on what still needs to be tackled to get this program to NCAA DI levels.

Finally, word on the street is that Drexel and Navy will be dropping out of the ESCHL next season, and Robert Morris (PA) will be joining. This once again brings us to 5 teams in the ESCHL, but it opens up 2 weekends to find other teams to play. (Until a 6th team is announced, of course.)

STILL MORE FOOTBAW?!?!

IcersGuy — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 17:04:57 -0000

Apparently the mods are still fat and happy from Turkey-day, so I'll gladly set-up another open thread for football today. I'm sure they're all glad that we can find ways to entertain ourselves. It's one of the last weekends in college football, which means there are a lot of rivalry games. Which means even if the teams aren't that good, there's always the chance for a brawl. And let's be honest - we'd all get a little excited to see a scene from Bloodsport re-enacted on the field.

The Holy War reaches new levels of HATE!!

Interesting early games on tap:

North Carolina @ N.C. State - 12pm
Clemson @ South Carolina - 12pm
Ole Miss @ Mississippi State - 12:20pm
Okie State @ Oklahoma - 12:30pm
V-Tech @ Virginia - 3:30pm
SWAG U @ South Florida - 3:30pm
"THE CLASH!!!" Florida St. @ Florida - 3:30pm

If other games start becoming interesting, feel free to let us all know. Also, Icers play their first game in this mini NCAA DIII tournament today at 4:30 (vs. Southern New Hampshire). Depending on how things go, I might make a new open thread around that time anyway. And then you'll have to deal with my Icers updates (I'm assuming they're broadcasting the game). Anywho - enjoy more FOOTBAW!

Woo! Friday FOOTBAW FOOTBAW FOOTBAW!

IcersGuy — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 16:05:44 -0000

[Happy Football Friday all. -KHD]

It's the Friday after Thanksgiving, which means most of you are still stuffed and/or hungover. It also means you've likely figured out that Commercialism Friday is much easier from home - deals and free shipping to be found online! (No, seriously - if you haven't seen some of the deals on Amazon, you need to go check them out.) Digressing, there's college football on today.

The Temple Owls have been led by a QB that just flies past defenses. Get it? HAHAHAHAH!

I have no idea what is actually on TV in your area, but here are the notable games on tap for today:

Rutgers @ Louisville at 11am (notable only because it's on my TV right now)
Temple @ Ohio at 11am (for the MAC East title)
Zookers @ Cinci at 12pm
Alabama @ Auburn at 2:30pm
Pitt @ WVU at 7pm
Nevada @ Boise St at 10pm

There's a slew of MAC and C-USA games on as well, so yeah. And then there's one of my flip-to favorites - Southern @ Grambling State on at 2pm. Consider this another open thread.

Happy Day of Eating! (Open Thread)

IcersGuy — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 17:38:03 -0000

I'm not sure what the mods have planned, if anything, so I figured I'd pop this up as an open thread. If they want to bump and add, then that sounds like a plan to me.

This is part of the holy trinity, right?

Games on tap for today include Green Bay at Detroit (currently tied 7-7 in the 2nd quarter), Oakland at Dallas (4:15pm), and NY Giants at Denver (8:20pm). As for college football, you're looking at the Texas-TAMU game at 8pm. As for me, I'm flipping between the football games and the Home Alone marathon on FX.

Oh, and remember to be thankful and all that jazz associated with today. Good family/friends, good football, good eats - can't ask for much more than that! Feel free to take a day off from hate week to spread some love. Then return to hating tomorrow!

As you wait for the food, or the alcohol, or a football game, I give you this fun game to pass the time - the link to the game is there. Yes, it's from last year, but it's still hilarious and fitting today. Happy Thanksgiving!

Icers Continue to Roll Through the ESCHL

IcersGuy — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:57:58 -0000

Injuries. Suspensions. This Icer team cares not. Okay, they do, and they'd like all these things to stop. But the Icers plow on regardless. As was mentioned in the last post, Marek Polidor and Chris Pronchik were both handed game disqualifications due to their involvement in the end of game scrum against Navy. This resulted in both players being suspended for Friday's game at Rhode Island. Thankfully, John Conte was back after missing the Navy weekend - a much-needed return on a thin defensive corps.

November 13th, @ URI, 4-1 W: With some depleted lines, the Icers looked to hold off an energetic Rhode Island team that was playing in front of their home crowd. And after some early back and forth, the Icers would get the all important first goal on the stick of Nick Seravalli. But this is the Icers we're talking about, and the Rams would get on the board with their own goal late in the period, making it a 1-1 tie after one period. The energy and intensity kept up in the second, and Chris Cerutti would put the Icers back on top just 1:27 into the period. URI would have their chances, but Teddy Hume would come up big time and time again, ensuring the 2-1 Icers lead after two periods. The third period belonged to the Icers, as Mike Broccolo would give the Icers a 2-goal cushion, and that's all Teddy Hume would need. A late empty-net goal by Ryan Paradis would cap the scoring, giving the Icers a huge 4-1 win on the road.

November 14th, @ URI, 4-3 W (SO, 2-0): The Rams weren't going to just roll over on their home ice. They came out with the energy, and an early first period goal would give URI the 1-0 lead. URI would continue to control play, as the Icers were just not making the right plays or the crisp passes. Still, halfway through the period, Marek Polidor would put home a rebound (original shot from Cerutti) to tie it at one apiece. But a few minutes later, some sloppy play in the Icers' defensive zone led to another URI goal, giving the Rams a 2-1 lead into the intermission. The Rams would keep up their side of the energy, as the Icers never seemed to get much going. The lead remained at 2-1, when Tim O'Brien would get taken down on a breakaway setting up the always exciting penalty shot in regulation. But much like the rest of the game, a sloppy attempt resulted in nothing. The Rams continued to dominate the play in the 2nd period, and with 30 seconds left in the period, URI extended the lead to 3-1. After two periods of stumbling, the Icers finally decided to play in the 3rd period. In front of much of his extended family, Steve Thurston would cut the lead to 3-2 less than two minutes into the period. The Icers would continue to keep up the pressure, and with 9:16 left, Paul Daley would tie the game up after deflecting a Dan Loucks shot. Both teams would get their chances, but both goalies would come up big. Although the refs tried to insert themselves at times, neither team would capitalize before the end of the period. And to overtime we would go again. The OT was a frenzy of action, but neither team could find the back of the net. And so, to the shootout:

Penn State	Result	Rhode Island	Result
G. Saad	Goal	J. Dupas	No Goal
J. Conte	Goal	K. Kranich	No Goal
PSU Final	2	URI Final	0

Since it's best of 3, the Icers only needed 2 goals and 2 stops to get the 4-3 win, and sweep a difficult weekend at Rhode Island. The Icers would get to head home with two more big wins in their pocket, and a home weekend set against Navy ahead.

And there was much rejoicing!

November 20th, vs Navy, 9-0 W: With Navy in the house, the Icers were proud to make it Military Appreciation Weekend. And this might have been the reason the crowd was halfway decent. The Icers would have more energy in the first period, and Chris Cerutti would turn that energy into a goal 5:28 into the period. Nick Seravalli would keep things rolling with his 7th goal of the season four minutes later. The Icers would extend the lead to a comfortable 3-0 margin thanks to a Steinour goal. The dominance would continue into the 2nd period, as Seravalli would get his second of the game, this one just 1:35 into the second period. Not to be outdone, Steinour would get his 2nd of the night (to go along with his 2 assists) on a breakaway midway through the 2nd period. Ryan Paradis would make it 6-0 before Steinour would complete his hat trick just seconds before the end of the 2nd period. The 7-0 lead was enough to give Coach Balboni the chance to move starting goalie Teddy Hume to the bench to give the frosh Dan Ivanir some more playing time. A Dominic Morrone goal and Eric Steinour would solidify his spot as the top star of the night with his 4th goal, capping the Icers dominant win over Navy, 9-0.

November 21th, vs Navy, : A big win Friday night is not always the best thing for Saturday games. And with this being the last game before the team can head home for the holiday break, some lackadaisical play has to be feared. But a win here would give the Icers their 10th win in a row. Dominic Morrone would try to keep "low energy" out of it, giving the Icers a 1-0 lead just 1:16 into the game. And that would be enough to keep the Friday juices flowing. Chris Pronchik would get a couple goals, Eric Steinour would continue his weekend domination with his 5th goal of the weekend, Nick Seravalli picked up his 9th goal of the season, giving the Icers a 5-0 lead after 2 periods of play. As tempers began to flare, the goals and changes seemed to have been lost. Once again, Teddy Hume would be pulled after two solid periods of play, relieved by Dan Ivanir to give the frosh more experience. Offensively speaking, Marek Polidor, Seravalli, and Ceruttii would add some more goals for the heck of it, giving the Icers the 8-0 win. Weekend summary - outscored Navy 17-0, out-shot Navy 120-30.

No real reason for reposting this. Guess it could be viewed as somewhat related...

Season Standings: Overall - 14-1-1; ESCHL - 9-0-1; ACHA Standings - 6th.

Reflections and Ramblings: Again, no changes with the ACHA standings. Some rumblings that the Icers aren't getting the proper respect, seeing how Iowa State is ranked at #5 with a record of 12-4-2 at the time of the last rankings (just prior to Navy weekend). Hopefully there will be some more changes with the next rankings - Iowa State lost to surging Arizona State, Oakland upset Liberty. So there's some chances to move up in the rankings.

Coming up next on the schedule is the P.A.L. Stovepipe Tournament in Hooksett, NH. The Icers play Saturday at 4:30pm against NCAA DIII Southern New Hampshire. Depending on the result of that game, the Icers will play either UMass-Boston or Stonehill (both NCAA DIII teams as well) on Sunday. The winners of Saturday's game will play on Sunday in the "championship" game, while the losers will play in the "consolation" game. Really, results aside, playing against NCAA DIII teams is always a nice addition to the schedule. The Icers split their DIII games last year (lost the first game, won the consolation game), but overall it was a nice step in the right direction. "Youth" and inexperience may keep the team from performing at its best at the tournament. But with how the team has played over the past few weekends, this team is playing some solid hockey. And again, this might be one of the most offensively potent Icers teams I've seen in a long time. I'll likely do a separate post to recap this tournament by itself.

December has three games on the slate before heading into winter break. A home weekend of games against #11 Delaware, then a single home game on the 11th against Niagara. Delaware will be a battle; Niagara just battles to be annoying. I won't call them sure wins, but these are three winnable games for certain. And taking a 13-game ACHA winning streak into the break would be a great way to set up a grueling second half to the season.

Icers take on the "easy" weekends

IcersGuy — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:14:13 -0000

Sometimes, the schedules play out better than originally planned. After two tougher-than-necessary weekends against West Chester and Drexel, the Icers found themselves in a full home weekend against West Virginia and then a road-trip against a not-as-talented Navy team. These two weekends aligned perfectly, as the Icers continue to fight the injury bug. Senior leader Matt Kirstein (MCL sprain - 3-5 weeks) and junior energy forward Taylor Cera (high ankle sprain - 2-4 weeks) continue to battle injuries. The Icers depth will be tested, but this will also give some of the new players a serious chance to show their abilities. On to the Mountaineers.

October 30, vs WVU, 10-1 W - The Mountaineers would jump out with some energy to open the Friday night game, but it was Paul Daley's goal 3 minutes into the period that gave the Icers the early advantage. Dominic Morrone would add his team-leading 7th goal just two and a half minutes later. As the season has shown, the Icers struggle to keep the opponents away, as WVU would cut the Icers lead to 2-1 with just under 13 minutes left in the 1st period. Tim O'Brien would increase the lead to 3-1on the power play. And then those flood gates opened with goals from Morrone, Broccolo (x2), and Serevalli. And that's just the 1st period, and that's all the Icers would need. A scoreless second period rolled into a 3rd period which included goals by Marek Polidor, Morrone's 3rd for the hat trick, and then Ryan Paradis capped the scoring on a breakaway with one second left, giving the Icers the 10-1 win. To further show the domination, the Icers outshot the Mountaineers, 50-12.

October 31, vs WVU, 8-2 W - If Friday night was a bad night for West Virginia sports, the Icers wanted to make sure Saturday was a good day for Penn State sports. A back and forth first period saw the scoring follow suit. The Icers would strike first on the stick of Kurt Collins, but the Mountaineers would strike late in the period. Whereas other games this season (and seasons past) might have seen a tight Saturday game, the Icers were able to replicate much of their Friday night dominance. Eric Steinour would get things rolling just 8 seconds into the 2nd period, and Chris Cerutti would follow just two minutes later. Dan Loucks and Marek Polidor would extend the lead to 5-1 before West Virgina momentarily stopped the bleeding with a goal of their own. But 5-2 would be as close as it would get, as Timmy College would strike back just 12 seconds later to cap the 2nd period scoring, and Chris Pronchik would get one and Steinour would net his second. Instead of taking a team lightly on Saturday after beating them soundly on Friday, the Icers played the full 120 minutes this weekend. Maybe not always the best 120 minutes, but dominating efforts both days nonetheless. Any time you can complete a weekend sweep with 2 wins, an shot advantage of 99-32, and a goal advantage of 18-3, it's a good weekend.

No couches were harmed in the making of this goal.

November 6, @ Navy, 6-4 W - Hoping to keep the winning streak rolling, the Icers headed to Annapolis, MD to take on the Naval Academy Midshipmen. And Steve Thurston would gladly oblige, scoring just three minutes into the game. Marek Polidor would pick up his 4th goal of the season, this one on the power play, just a few minutes later. But a Navy goal and some late Navy pressure in the first period seemed to mean this game would be tougher than planned. The Icers would trade some goals with the Midshipmen in the second period, as Chris Cerutti and Steve Thurston goals were matched by Navy. Dan Loucks would put home a power play goal late in the period to give the Icers a 2 goal lead heading into the 3rd period. The 3rd period saw another early goal, this time for the Middies. Both teams would get their share of chances, and a late Penn State penalty gave Navy their best chance to tie up the game. But the penalty kill lines and Teddy Hume held their own, keeping the 5-4 lead. A final empty net goal by Paul Daley would cap the scoring - a 6-4 Icers win.

November 7, @ Navy, 5-1 W - The roster continues to thin, as the defense was down to 5 starters, with Dan Petrick adding his name to the list of scratches. As well, Teddy Hume's shaky play as of late saw him relieved for Saturday's tilt against Navy. In his place, Freshman Dan Ivanir would get his first start as an Icer. The offense in front of Dan would set the tone early, but it would take a shorthanded goal by Chris Pronchik for the Icers to break through. The Icers would take that 1-0 lead into the second period. A lucky bounce let Pronchik get his second goal of the night, giving the Icers the 2-0 lead a little over halfway through the 2nd period. And although the Icers would continue to control the play for the rest of the period, the Icers could not build on their 2 goal lead. The Icers would keep up the pressure in the third, and goals by Nick Seravalli, George Saad, and Marek Polidor would give the Icers the cushion they looked for all weekend. A late goal from Navy would spoil Ivanir's shot at a shutout in his first start, but it would be more than enough for the win. The game ended with some fisticuffs, as their goaltender decided to take a run at Chris Pronchik, who was in on a breakaway with just seconds left in the game. While nothing major came of it on the ice, the officials had their own fun with dealing out punishment. Polidor and Pronchik were slapped with Game DQ's for their involvement, and at this point, I don't have definitive word if they'll be out for the next game. But in the end, the Icers skated away with a 5-1 win.

Since these awesome photos are from Mr. Ivanir, let's give one to his son. Dan's performance earned it, too.

(You can find more of Mr. Ivanir's great Icers' photo's here - http://jalbum.net/users/miva/)

Season Standings: Overall - 10-1-1; ESCHL - 7-0-1; ACHA Standings - 6th.

Reflections and Ramblings: No major changes with the ACHA standings, and no real surprise with that. The two weekends went well for the Icers. The weekend sweep of WVU was one of the most complete weekends of hockey I've seen out of any Icers team in a few years. Navy, as expected, played hard all weekend. Friday's game reflected that in the score, whereas Saturday showed more dominance from the Icers. Again, two of the "easier" weekends in WVU and Navy, and while the Icers had to work at times, the wins followed.

The injury bug really needs to knock it off. Kurt Collins injured his shoulder in practice during the week leading up to the Navy game and will miss a few weeks, while Senior defenseman John Conte didn't make the trip to Navy at all. Hopefully, Dan Petrick (who did a great job helping with commentary on Saturday's game against Navy) should be back in the lineup for the coming weekend set, so the defense won't be running at just 5 able bodies. Speaking of the upcoming games, the Icers are on the road again for a set against #7 Rhode Island. This is becoming a fairly heated and nasty rivalry in its own right, and to be honest, I'm scared about the lack of depth due to all the injuries. Add to that some inconsistent play from goalie Teddy Hume, and the URI weekend will be a huge test for this young team. You always want to win them all, but I'll be more than happy with a split. After URI is the home weekend against Navy. It'll be two more hard-played games, but this time on home ice, and hopefully with a healthier line-up as well.

At this point in the season, I can't complain about the play on the ice by the team. One regulation loss to a good Ohio team on the road (just the 3rd game into the season) and a shoot-out loss on the road to a good WCU team are the only blemishes on the record thus far. The new guys seem to be learning the systems well, and a number have been very productive both offensively and defensively. Again, the endless run of injuries can really throw a team off due to the changes in each offensive line or defensive pairing.

As a quick hockey lesson, line formation and defensive pairings are very important for team chemistry and cohesion. Much like an offensive line or secondary in football, the players need to know each other, their tendencies, where they are, where they're going to. On offense, it's a matter of know the passing lanes, the drop passes, who is going to the front of the net, who is cycling down low. On defense, it's a matter of who is jumping up to help or stay with the offense, who drops back, who is covering whom in the defensive zone, who goes after the pucks in the corner or behind the net. While most players on a team can be switched around since they all know the schemes, having more time together really helps build that trust and sixth-sense of where your linemate is.

Truth be told, with all the line swapping that's been done due to the injuries, these guys have played much better than one might have expected. If they can finally get healthy and build some consistency, this may be one of the more offensively potent teams I've seen from the Icers.

Icers Start Up the ESCHL Schedule

IcersGuy — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:25:28 -0000

The first two weekends of hockey could be best described as a small roller-coaster. After being gifted a win in the first game of the season, the team turned it around and completely destroyed Towson the next day. The Icers then found themselves on the road at rival Ohio University. Both games saw tough, high energy action, and both teams would leave the weekend with a win. And to be fair, it's very impressive to go into OU with all the new and somewhat inexperienced players and leave with a weekend split.

The past two weekends of hockey have had a similar flow. Penn State was at home on Friday night, then was on the road on Saturday. And both weekends were the first games against ACHA foes within the ESCHL. First up was the newest member, West Chester, who was coming off of back-to-back losses to Arizona State and Oklahoma. The next weekend was a weekend set against Drexel - one of the lesser teams in the ACHA.

October 16, vs WCU, 7-1 W: Missing Dan Loucks and George Saad due to fights from late in the Saturday game at Ohio, the Icers looked to keep things rolling and keep West Chester on their losing streak. The Icers would strike first, using two early power plays to take a 2-0 lead in the first 8 minutes. (Goals by Dominic Morrone and Taylor Cera.) Ryan Paradis would cap off a dominant first period with a goal of his own, going up 3-0 after one period. The second period would be more of the same, with Tim O'Brien and Chris Cerutti finding the net, and giving the Icers a 5-0 lead after 2 periods. The 3rd period saw no comeback attempt by WCU. Chris Pronchik and Erik Steinour would sandwich the lone WCU goal (scored on the power play), giving the Icers a solid 7-1 win. Teddy Hume continued to play well, stopping 26 of 27 shots. And the production from the returning players - Cera, Paradis, Timmy OB, Cerutti, Pronchik - will be necessary to sustain the winning ways.

October 17, @ WCU, 4-3 L (SO - 3-2): Traveling to the Ice Line in West Chester hasn't been kind to the Icers in recent years. Somewhere between the loss in the championship game in 2006, and the spotty losses to WCU, the superstitions have started to grow. And an early WCU goal would not help, as the Rams would jump out to an early 1-0 lead. Much of the first period was marked by sloppy play, with the Icers applying more pressure as the period progressed. The pressure continued into the second period, but the Icers could not capitalize. While the Rams' goalie stood on his head, WCU's offense was able to sneak another past Teddy Hume - perhaps one that should have been blown dead. The Icers' would get one back late in the 2nd period, with some good tic-tac-toe passing between Marrone and O'Brien, with Marrone getting the goal. The score would remain 2-1 in favor of WCU heading into the 3rd period. Timmy O'Brien would then put in his own goal, this one to tie the game at 2-2 early in the 3rd period. Then came the posturing part of the third period - some chances for each side, but more just trying to get into position to score the final goal. And then with just under 5 minutes left, Ryan Paradis puts the Icers up 3-2. Of course, just seconds later, a mental and defensive lapse gives the Rams another goal to tie it back up at 3-3. And for the 3rd straight weekend, an extra period was needed.

The OT saw some good chances for both teams. Penn State sustained more pressure, but some mental collapses gave West Chester a couple of good chances late in the OT period. But neither team could get the game winner in the OT period, so a 5-man shoot-out would have to decide this game. To summarize:

Penn State	Result	West Chester	Result
T. O'Brien	Saved	E. Keene	Goal
D. Morrone	Goal	P. Johnson	Saved
R. Paradis	Saved	M. Longo	Saved
C. Cerutti	Goal	T. Scocozza	Goal
E. Steinour	Saved	T. Gilbert	Goal
PSU Final	2	WCU Final	3

So, the Icers would fall short, and once again the Ice Line in West Chester sneaks up and bites the Icers again (and I guess the WCU players helped too). But the team would have to refocus and prepare for Drexel the next weekend.

October 23, vs. Drexel, 6-3 W: Looking to rebound from the last Saturday's loss to West Chester, the Icers hosted the Drexel Dragons. The Icers showed all the energy early, but a Steve Thurston penalty halfway through the period allowed Drexel to get on the board first with a power play goal. But the Icers would not stay silent for long as Steve Thurston would make amends for his penalty by getting a power play goal of his own a few minutes later. The dominating efforts would start to show up in the 2nd period, and early at that. Timmy O'Brien would score just 26 seconds into the 2nd period. The Icers would get some breathing room when Joe Zitarelli put home his first goal as an Icer with under eight minutes left in the period. But Icer penalties would lead to Drexel power play goals two more times before the end of the 2nd to keep the game at a tie, 3-3. An early Drexel penalty in the 3rd period would give the Icers the opportunity to take the lead, and Steve Thurston would oblige, getting his second of the night and giving the Icers the 4-3 lead. Chris Cerutti would add 2 quick goals (7 seconds apart) halfway through the period to give the Icers the 6-3 advantage they would maintain for the win. This win also marked the 100th win for head coach Scott Balboni's as the head coach of the Icers. Gradulations Coach!

This is his "happy" face.

October 24, @ Drexel, 4-3 W: The Icers headed to The Class of 1923 Rink (yeah, they're creative types) in Philadelphia to cap the weekend set against Drexel. The first period saw back and forth action with Drexel getting an early lead, and Tim O'Brien tying it up on the power play late in the period. Another Drexel game, another 1-1 tie after the first period. The second period continued the deja vu, as Drexel would get on the board early in the period. But the Icers would score twice, with goals by Mike Broccolo (his 1st as an Icer) and T. O'Brien, in 50 seconds to take a 3-2 lead halfway through the second period. The third period was heavily dominated by the Icers, but as it seems to go with this series anymore, the Dragons scored a game tying goal with just over a minute left to play. But just 14 seconds after the Dragons tied it up, Paul Daley finds the back of the net to give the Icers the 4-3 lead and the win.

Season Standings: Overall - 6-1-1; ESCHL - 3-0-1; ACHA Standings - 6th.

Reflections and Ramblings: The team is getting better, but they're struggling with injuries. They've been playing without senior captain Matt Kirstein and lost energy-forward Taylor Cera early in the Friday night game against Drexel, so that's forced some change-ups in the line. Otherwise, it seems as though the guys are working well together. Eventually, they'll get enough time to gel together too. Goaltending has been decent, if shaky at times. Penn State slid to number 6 in the ACHA standings due to their losses to OU and WCU, and the surging play of Liberty and Ohio (Iowa State also slid ahead somehow).

As for the coming weekends, the Icers are home for a weekend set against West Virginia for Halloween weekend, followed by a weekend set at Navy. Neither opponent brings much to fear - WVU is ranked 25th with their 3-2-0 record, and Navy continues to struggle with any sort of opponent. While you never want to call anything a gimme, these weekends might be as close as it gets for the Icers.

Icers Get the Season Underway

IcersGuy — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 02:11:22 -0000

While most other teams had already started the 2009-10 ACHA season, the Icers didn't pick up business until the first weekend in October. An opening weekend series against Towson was tabbed as a good way to get the new guys up to ACHA game speed. Of course, the following weekend saw a road-trip to Byrd Arena to face the ever-tough Ohio Bobcat fans. Oh, and their team is pretty solid too. Not to mention both sides hate each other. Guess there's no better way to test the new guys like throwing them into the fire.

October 2nd, vs Towson, 4-3 W (OT): With a line-up heavy in new players, the Icers hit the ice against Towson with the same goals in mind - another ACHA National Championship. After a short feeling-out process, the Icers finally got on the board 9 minutes into the game off the stick of freshman Dominic Morrone. It would take another 10 minutes before another goal - this one also for the Icers, credited to sophomore Nick Seravalli. The Icers brought the energy early in the second period, but an interference penalty to freshman Ryan Erbe allowed Towson to get on the board 7 minutes into the period. Some more scrumming around and penalties, and Towson would tie the game 8 and a half minutes later. But Nick Seravalli would not allow it to be tied for long, as he put the Icers up 3-2 less than a minute later.

The third period started, and like an eerie case of déjà vu, a Ryan Erbe interference penalty led to a game-tying power play goal for Towson. More back and forth play would follow until the Icers would get a break with a late-game power play opportunity. But that break almost turned into an upset when a Towson player would steal the puck and beat Teddy Hume. Somehow, the refs missed what happened and called "no goal" saying the puck hit the post and bounced out. (There was enough anecdotal evidence from Icers faithful that said the refs screwed up this call.) Heading into overtime, the Icers would not take this second chance for granted. Freshman George Saad would put away the game-winner just 54 seconds into the overtime period, letting the Icers leave with a win and the chance to go home counting their blessings.

October 3rd, vs Towson, 15-3 W: Saturday came around, and the Icers hoped for some better play all around. The game would open much like Friday night, with the Icers jumping out to an early 2-0 lead (goals by Tim O'Brien and Kurt Collins). But the mirror of Friday night continued as Towson would get the next two, including a short-handed goal thanks to an Icer turnover. Marek Polidor would put the Icers back up by a goal just 1:17 into the second period. As was the theme for the weekend, Towson would respond, tying the game back up at 3-3 a few minutes later. Dominic Morrone would insert himself in this game with a goal just 3 minutes later, giving the Icers the 4-3 lead. And the heavens opened.

The Icers would go on to score 11 more goals in a row - 12 total unanswered - to blow Towson out of the water, 15-3. To keep this from going on forever, here's the recap of scoring of the 12 unanswered: Morrone (2), Herel, Kirstein, Seravalli, Steinour (2), Thurston (2), Daley (2), Pronchik. So yeah. There's that.

October 9th, at Ohio, 2-1 L: After a roller-coaster weekend, the Icers found themselves on the road against a more-seasoned and more-experienced Ohio Bobcat team. Both teams came out with energy, and the Icers controlled the early part of the 1st period. The Bobcats would even things out, shots-wise, as both teams ended the first period tied at zero. The second period saw more action and some scoring. The Icers would open the scoring on the stick of (yet again) Dominic Morrone. But the lead would be short-lived, as the Bobcats would strike back later in the 2nd period, setting up an exciting fight for the win. Speaking of fighting, there was a rare fight involving the Icers' Eric Steinour. No real winner/loser of the fight, but both men involved would be given the game disqualification and be suspended for Saturday's game.

Onto the third period the two teams went, and the hitting and energy picked up again. The refs let the two teams play for awhile without calling any penalties. Then stopped. Unfortunately, this came at the expense of the Icers and the Bobcats would eventually take advantage of one of the power plays to take the 2-1 lead. The Icers continued to play hard, but they just couldn't beat OU goaltender Paul Marshall again (something most teams struggle doing anyway, as evidenced by his 3 shutouts already this season). A well played game by both sides, including some great play by goaltender Teddy Hume. But with the Icers falling just short, they had to look to Saturday for a weekend split.

October 10th, at Ohio, 4-3 W (OT): Saturday saw more intense play between the two teams. After some good back and forth action, the Icers would strike first, as Kurt Collins found the back of the net for the second time this season. But Ohio kept up their play and would capitalize on a power play late in the first, sending the teams into the 1st intermission tied at 1-1. The second period belonged completely to Ohio. Ohio also got the benefit of a number of penalties in their favor (to the point where one could start to wonder about some "home cooking" with the calls). They peppered goalie Teddy Hume with shot after shot, but Teddy Hume stood tall time and time again. It may be fair to say he single-handedly kept the game tied going into the 2nd intermission.

As the 3rd period took shape, the phantom penalties started to subside, but the physicality picked up. Then 11 minutes into the period, Matt Kirstein found himself in the right place - in front of the net. A quick deflection off of a Marek Polidor shot to give the Icers a 2-1 lead. But it was a short-lived lead, as OU would win the faceoff, take a quick shot, and put home the rebound just 11 seconds later to bring the game to a 2-2 tie. Not to be outdone, the Icers would take advantage of a shot rebound, with George Saad giving the Icers a 3-2 lead with just under 8 minutes left in the 3rd period. Then came the scrum in the corner, and the 8-day joint session for the refs to figure out what penalties they actually wanted to call. After it was all sorted out, the Bobcats ended up with a power play. The Icers would hold their own until with 44 seconds left, Ohio would put home a rebound at the side of Teddy Hume and tie it up at 3-3. Both teams would get some chances in the overtime, but it seemed as though a shootout would determine the winner. That was until Steve Thurston put the puck past OU goalie Paul Marshall with mere tenths of a second left in the overtime period, giving the Icers the much needed emotional win, 4-3.

[EDIT: Just came across this - enjoy! :) ]

Penn State Icers Overtime GWG 10-10-2009 (via PSUHockeyBD)

Season Standings and Rankings: ACHA Rankings - 3rd; ACHA Season Record - 3-1-0; ESCHL Season Record - 0-0-0.

On the Horizon: The Icers have two home-and-home sets in the coming weekends. The Icers start at home on Friday against West Chester, before heading to WCU for Saturday's game. The Icers follow the same setup the next weekend against Drexel. WCU is always a tough team, but took a beating at the ACHA Showcase, losing 9-2 to Arizona State. Drexel is, well, Drexel. Not to take a team lightly, but they're still not a good team. This can be evidenced by their loss to Rutgers, their overtime win over Villanova, and a loss to Lehigh - the last two teams, I didn't even realize they had a DI ACHA team. That should say enough...

So after a shaky start, the Icers started to find their legs. The tight games against Ohio don't surprise me at all, and the team played very well all things considered. The returning players have made a number of mistakes - something they will have to cut down to help the new guys. The new guys have begun to insert themselves nicely - the "Black Line" of Dominic Morrone, Eric Steinour, and George Saad has played very well together. And it's nice to see some of the returning players who did not see a lot of ice time last year playing well - as is the case with Seravalli and Collins. If Teddy Hume can keep up the form he "re-found" against OU, this could be a very successful year for the Icers, new players and all.

On a quick side note for those of you in the Pittsburgh area (or those who want to take a trip to Pittsburgh), the Icers face off against Robert Morris' ACHA team in January as part of the 4th Annual Pittsburgh College Hockey Showcase. Tickets are on sale (at Ticketmaster) now for the full day of hockey. So yes, you can go watch the Icers (and the other Robert Morris hockey teams, if you want) play at Mellon Arena if you're so interested.

Icers broadcast, if you're really that bored

IcersGuy — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 01:21:30 -0000

Icers broadcast, if you're really that bored

The actual link to listen is towards the top right, titled "Icers Webcast". Apparently SBN doesn't like download/playlist links.

Of course, I'll be listening and using this as a bit of an open thread. Any major changes or news, I'll be sure to add to an actual post. Otherwise, it's just the Blue-White game, so while I'll get an idea of who's who and how they play, it's really a lot of fluff.

Woo! Icers Preview (Kinda...)

IcersGuy — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 07:27:14 -0000

I figured with all the ONOES going on around here, this would be as good a time as any to post this...

Yes, folks, we're back at that time where I get to ramble on and on about my favorite ice hockey team - the ~~Charlestown Chiefs~~ Penn State Icers! I won't go into too much preview here, since they've only just named the team about a week ago. And as it is, there's sparse info on much of the new guys, so I'm here to go over what we've lost, what we retained, what we've gained (kinda), and a stroll through the schedule. So let's get to it!

What'd We Lose?

6 Forwards
5 Defensemen
1 Goalie
12 Total

(Technically, it's 13, but Alan Clark played all of 1 game for us last year, so I'm not going to include him in this discussion - I apologize to he and his family should they be reading this.)

That's 12 seniors gone. Over 1300 games played. 40% of the team. 300 goals, 500 assists, 51 GWG, 112 PPG, 23 SHG, and a combined +721 rating. For most of those stats - Goals, assists, GWGs, PPGs, SHGs - the returning players don't have half those numbers combined. Some of the top offensive and defensive players in Icers history, not to mention goalie Nick Signet's own major accomplishments (55 wins, 13 shutouts in 74 games played). Needless to say, there was a lot to be filled with this year's tryouts.

What'd We Keep?

11 Forwards
4 Defensemen
2 Goalies
17 Total

Naturally, when one large senior class leaves, the one behind it is usually fairly small. Only 5 seniors return, including defensemen John Conte and Steve Thurston. Conte is more of the defensive defenseman, while Thurston is big and has a big slapshot. Both will be huge keys to the success to this team. Joining them are forwards Dave Herel, Matt Kirstein, and Ryan Paradis. Herel has been cycled in and out of the lineup his first three years, but expect him and his nasty wrist shot to get more ice time. Kirstein is a guy who started his career slow, with 6 points in his first 2 years. Then he shows up with a 42-point junior campaign - good enough for 3rd best on the team last season, and hopes of more good things to come. Paradis is in his second year with the Icers, but was impressive with 35 points in his first season with the Icers (tied with Thurston for 5th best on the team last season).

The other major star returning is junior forward Tim O'Brien. It's basically his team now, as he led the Icers in goals (32) and scoring (52) last season. Expect more big things out of him this season. Also returning is junior goaltender Teddy Hume, who has already put up an impressive career of 25-4-0, with 5 shutouts. If he can cut down the lazy goals, he's a great big guy to have between the pipes (the last numbers on him are 6"4', 230 lbs). His primary backup is junior John Jay, who has played very well in his own right (5-0-0, 1 shutout, 1.28 GAA), but has played 3rd fiddle to Signet and Hume his first two seasons.

Also returning are defensemen Carey Bell and Dan Petrick, and forwards Taylor Cera, Chris Cerutti, Kurt Collins, Paul Daley, Marek Polidor, Chris Pronchik, and Nick Seravalli. There's talent, skill, and speed to be found amongst the returning players. In fact, 7 of the top 11 scorers from last season return (T. O'Brien, Kirstein, Thurston, Paradis, Cerutti, Daley, Polidor).

Who's This Guy?

As mentioned earlier, I don't know them either. Coming in are 11 freshmen (6 forwards, 4 defense, 1 goalie) and 2 sophomores (1 forward, 1 defense). Again, not too much info really swirling around about these guys that I can find easily. Apparently the sophomore forward (Dustin Roux) is damn good in the roller hockey world. Yep. That's the best I got. Hopefully, I'll be able to learn more with the Blue-White game scheduled for Friday night (at 9:15pm at the Ice Pavilion).

[EDIT: Here's a link for the full roster announced for the season. This way, you can see names, numbers, positions, height/weight, so on and so forth.]

Who Do We Play?

First, I'll link you straight over to the website itself for the full schedule. I'll give a quick summary/rundown here. First, there are 35 games schedule, which does not include the ESCHL playoffs or the ACHA tournament. Of those 35 games, 20 are set as weekend sets with the other 5 teams in the ESCHL (2 home games, 2 road games). Those include games against Navy, Drexel, Rhode Island, Delaware, and new-comer West Chester. I really don't see much changing this year, meaning the Navy and Drexel games will be fairly easy, and the URI, UDel, and WCU games will give us some battles.

The season opens up fairly easy with a home set against Towson. And then this young team will be thrown into the fire, with a weekend set at rival Ohio. Nothing says "Welcome to the ACHA" like being thrown into your rival's home turf. Oh fun. The next two weekends are interesting home-and-homes (@PSU on Friday, away on Saturday for both) with WCU and Drexel. October closes with a home set with West Virginia.

November is filled with more ESCHL opponents - @Navy, @URI, vs. Navy. Turkey-day break sees the team on the road for what I believe is the P.A.L. Stovepipe Tournament. It's our NCAA DIII tourney, as we'll face Southern New Hampshire on Saturday, then results-dependent, either Stonehill or UMass-Boston. None of these teams are anything too much to write home too, but it'll be a good test for the team, especially the younger guys. December is short for weekends, so it's a home set with UDel, followed by the (nearly) annual fall semester close-out game against Niagara.

The new year starts with a game against Robert Morris (PA) at Mellon Arena (OoOoO...pretty....), followed by a home game against Washington and Jefferson. Should be easy rolls. Then begins the annual fun stretch - home set against Ohio, home-and-home with WCU (away Fri, home Sat), at UDel, home against URI for Alumni Weekend, then the last home-and-home with Drexel (away Fri, home Sat). That leads us into ESCHL playoffs, and then one last meaningless (for the standings/tournament rankings) set of home games against Robert Morris (PA).

Honestly, there's nothing really snazzy or exciting with the schedule. Figure 33 games against ACHA teams, and 20 are against ESCHL teams. That's 13 games, 4 of which are taken by Ohio, 2 for the annual WVU visit, and the now annual Niagara visit in December - all of which I'm cool with having. So, that's 6 games remaining. What did we fill it with? Towson (2), Robert Morris (3), and W&J. My only guess is that cost has to be a factor, otherwise outside of URI (and the NCAA DIII tourney), we don't go more than one state over in any direction (and the same for teams visiting PSU). Even with the crappy teams scheduled in, we still find a way to have an inherent death-wish come the January/February, with 8 straight tough games that will fully decide our tourney-seeding fate. Truth-be-told, it hasn't ever really killed us in the past, but I still don't like looking at that stretch of games.

Like the football team, it's hard to gauge how good this team will be. Penn State continues to have the most depth in the ESCHL, so I still like our chances to do very well. But a lot of it will depend on how much they click, and how well the new guys can pick up and fill in the large holes left behind. I get the feeling the road trip to Ohio will tell us a lot very early.

Until then, keep your stick on the ice!