Ready for the Beijing Olympics? Here are 4 Penn Staters to watch in the Winter Games
The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics start this week and several Penn Staters are ready to participate.
Former Penn State women’s ice hockey defencewoman Jessica Adolfsson (Sweden), director of men’s ice hockey operations Alex Dawes, Penn State associate women’s ice hockey head coach Allison Coomey (United States) and current Penn State World Campus student and ice dancer Kaitlin Hawayek (United States) are set to either compete or serve in a coaching or scouting role.
Here are their roles in the Olympics and what to watch for:
Lightning strikes twice for Penn State women’s ice hockey Olympians
Penn State women’s ice hockey is in the midst of a 14-8-3 season and are leading the College Hockey America conference with a 7-2-1 record in league play. Head coach Jeff Kampersal realizes the importance of the representation that his program has in the Olympics and thinks that Adolfsson and Coomey are paving the way for the future of women’s ice hockey in Happy Valley.
“I think that for the players and coach Allison (Coomey) it’s an amazing opportunity to be surrounded by great athletes that are dedicated to their craft,” Kampersal said. “So, I’m definitely jealous of them from afar, but I’m actually super proud of them that they’ve put in the time and effort to deserve that opportunity. For the program, it just helps put Penn State women’s hockey on the map. We’re continuing to always fight for respect and what not, but we need to earn that. We need to get things accomplished so that people pay attention to us.”
Adolfsson had a prolific career with the Nittany Lions. In 69 games with Penn State, she finished with 26 points to tie for sixth all-time on the program scoring list among all defenders. She was named to the All-College Hockey America first team in her junior season in 2020-2021 and the College Hockey America All-Rookie Team in her freshman year (2018-2019).
The 23-year old currently plays for Linköping HC Dam, her hometown team in Sweden. Adolfsson’s story is all about hard work, according to Kampersal. She came to State College from Sweden in the summer prior to her freshman season, started classes and finished her degree in three years — immediately returning to Sweden to play professionally.
She’s set to become the first Olympian in the history of Penn State women’s hockey.
“She’s just the quintessential student-athlete,” Kampersal said. “She’s just great at everything, not because it came easy to her, but because she worked for it. I’m super proud of her because I think if it was reversed and if I were to go to Sweden and go to college there, I would’ve struggled big time. I want to give her a lot of credit for doing what she did to get herself set up for this Olympic year.”
Getting to the Olympics didn’t come easy for Team Sweden, which was relegated to the B pool for the Olympics following a 2019 World Championship 3-2 loss to Japan in Espoo, Finland.
The Swedes had to scrap their way back into the 2022 Beijing Olympics, with Adolfsson at the forefront of the effort. They held a qualification tournament on home ice in Lulea, Sweden in November, going 3-0 with a narrow 3-2 victory over France.
“The Olympics aren’t guaranteed, but they weren’t guaranteed for Sweden specifically,” Kampersal said. “(Adolfsson) was able to go back and help the team get to that point where they can represent now at the Olympics. She’s done an amazing job.”
As for Coomey, who serves as a team scout for Team USA, Kampersal said he’ll miss his colleague, as he cheers her on from afar.
In her fifth season as an assistant with Penn State women’s ice hockey, Coomey was promoted to associate head coach in the 2020-2021 season. She was named as 2019 America Hockey Coaches Association Women’s Hockey Assistant Coach of the Year for her efforts with the Nittany Lions.
“Coomey is the best human being that I’ve ever met,” Kampersal said. “She has great morals, she’s a great, kind person and she’s very transparent and smart. She’s a great teacher of the game. Her best ability besides relating with the players is in between period breakdowns analysis of what we need to do better and what we’re doing well and how the other team is trying to attack us. She’s a really good in-game adjuster. She brings a lot to our staff and we’re definitely going to miss her over these next 6-8 games, but we’re definitely pulling for her over there.”
Adolfsson’s first Olympic foray will begin with a game against Japan at 3:40 a.m. on Thursday. Coomey and Team USA take on Finland at 8:10 a.m. Thursday. The preliminary rounds will conclude on Feb. 8 with the gold medal game to be held on Feb. 17.
Dawes sets the tone for Penn State men’s hockey
The feeling around the Penn State men’s hockey team is that Dawes is someone who can be counted on for many things. The Utica graduate is in his sixth season as Penn State’s director of hockey operations and held the same position for the women’s team, serving as an assistant coach from 2013-2016. Not only does he work as the program’s de facto video coordinator, he schedules travel plans and helps the coaching staff prepare.
Dawes is serving as Team USA men’s hockey’s video coach for the 2022 Olympics. Team USA men’s hockey will begin with a matchup against China at 8:10 a.m. on Feb. 10, with the preliminary rounds continuing through Feb. 13. The gold medal game will take place on Feb. 20.
“I just think it’s the coolest thing ever,” Penn State sophomore goalie Liam Souliere said. “Alex deserves every single second of that experience that he’s going to live over there. He’s the man — actually the man. He’s the oil that keeps the machine running around at Penn State hockey and all of the team, we’re excited to see him go and have that experience. He deserves every second of it.”
Penn State freshman forward Danny Dzhaniyev looks to Dawes for advice on many things, as do his teammates. Dawes is viewed as a reliable portion of the team and Dzhaniyev is looking for him to bring back hardware to Penn State.
“He’s awesome,” Dzhaniyev said. “I don’t think we’d be doing the things without him that we’re doing right now. He just gels everything together for us. ... I think that the whole team is excited for him to travel to Beijing and hopefully, he comes back with gold.”
Despite the men’s and women’s hockey team being made up of Canadians, Americans and a Finn in men’s hockey goalie Oskar Autio, the team is rooting for Penn State Olympians first and foremost. Penn State men’s ice hockey coach Guy Gadowsky’s said his team was focused on preparing Dawes heading into Beijing.
“We’re all very much trying to help Dawesy as much as possible because you have no idea how busy that guy is right now,” Gadowsky said last Monday. “He’s doing our job, he’s doing their (Team USA) job and he’s doing it with very little sleep. I don’t know there’s bragging rights in the locker room as far as the Olympics are concerned from our staff. We’re trying to help Dawesy in every way that we can right now because it’s an incredible opportunity and experience for him that we want him to really enjoy. He takes extreme pride in his performance.”
Hawayek dances into Olympics
Hawayek has extensive experience as an ice dancer, partnering with Jean-Luc Baker. The Penn State World Campus student is the 2018 Four Continents champion, the 2018 NHK Trophy champion and is a four-time U.S. national bronze medalist with Baker from 2019-2022.
Due to her training and busy schedule, she enrolled at Penn State World Campus in 2018 in the Bachelor of Psychology program. Hawayek is completing her classes at her own pace and plans around her travel and competition.
Ice dancing preliminaries will begin with rhythm dance at 10:35 p.m. Thursday, with the free dance set to take place at 9:30 p.m. Saturday. On Feb. 13, the ice dance medalist will be awarded at 8:15 p.m.
This story was originally published February 2, 2022 at 4:35 PM.
