Penn State hockey season wrap up: Guy Gadowsky wants to see his team return to form next year

With this past season now in the books, Penn State hockey is looking to move forward past its disappointing 2020-21 campaign, in which it finished below .500 (10-12) for the first time since 2013-14 and just fifth in the Big Ten standings.

Speaking to the media on Wednesday, ninth-year head coach Guy Gadowsky illustrated some of the struggles his team dealt with this season and what his program needs to do to rebound and make a return to the national tournament — something Penn State hasn’t done since 2017-18.

Gadowsky praised the way his players dealt with the challenges the pandemic presented, such as the lack of in-person practices and opportunities to bond with teammates, but criticized his own ability to adapt well enough when the team started out 0-5 and when they had four straight weekend series canceled at the end due to COVID-19.

“I think the guys did a good job of handling. I’m disappointed in how I handled things,” Gadowsky said. “I don’t think that I had the team prepared to compete at the start on the ice nearly as well as you have to at this level and I don’t think that I was innovative enough to protect the off-ice culture that has built up for a lot of years.”

One obstacle the team had to overcome was figuring out how to incorporate the incoming freshmen — such as defenseman Jimmy Dowd Jr., who finished with an impressive 10 points in 20 games — given the fact their offseason looked completely different than in years past.

“This year there was obviously very little interaction — in fact, zero interaction — at the rink between the newer players and our older leaders because of the (COVID-19) situation,” Gadowsky said. “One thing that’s positive is we learned how effective that was and we as a coaching staff are really looking forward to being able to have that again.”

In terms of on-ice production, the Nittany Lions are losing some elite players who have proven to be staples of the program over their years with the team. Although they only finished fourth in the Big Ten in scoring, averaging 2.95 goals per game while finishing first in shots per game with 39.68, the absence of Alex Limoges, Tim Doherty and Aarne Talvitie will leave a lot to be desired next season as those three players combined for 53 out of the 168 total points the team scoring in 2020-21.

Gadowsky is unsure of exactly who will be able to step up and replicate the team’s offensive production from this past season, but is looking forward to seeing how guys challenge themselves this offseason. He cited the progress that forward Kevin Wall made from Year 1 to Year 2 as an example of what he’s looking for, and hopes many of his young players can mirror his success.

“But if you look at Kevin Wall, what’s happened from his freshman year to sophomore year, he certainly had the right attitude about it,” Gadowosky said. “But also in the summer he really worked extremely hard at strength and conditioning off the ice and the little habits that he had to do.”

Gadowsky specifically mentioned forwards Connor McMenamin and Connor MacEachern as two players who could, along with Wall, fill in that leadership void.

The defensive side took a bit of a hit this past year, as the Nittany Lions allowed an average of 3.68 goals per game, finishing next-to-last in the conference standings, and their penalty kill finished dead-last with a .762 percentage. Both of those areas will need to improve if Penn State hopes to return to the national tournament.

However, there is a glimmer of hope for improvement, as veteran defenseman Clayton Phillips is returning to the program where his presence will surely be felt in the locker room. Having him with the team’s top-scoring defenseman in Dowd Jr. back on the blue line excites Gadowsky and gives promise for what should be an improved unit the next time it steps on the ice.

“It’s a unique situation because he’s so talented yet he is very young, I truly feel he should be coming back,” Gadowsky said. “The truth is we have freshmen that are older than Clayton Phillips, so the fact that he is still developing and still getting better and better and we believe very much in his skill set and getting to know him. We also very much believe in him as a person and what he does as a student and team member.”

While Penn State saw great production and many bright spots from junior goalie Oskar Autio, who had his first crack at the full-time starting gig this season once former goalie, Peyton Jones — the program’s all-time leader in wins, saves and games started — concluded his four years with the Nittany Lions, it’s never a bad idea to more than one goalie capable of staring games.

Once a highly-touted prospect from Brampton, Ontario, backup Liam Souliere had his fair-share of ups and downs while posting a 4.60 goals against per game in the five games he played last season. But, according to Gadowsky, he certainly will be in the mix for the starting role next year and this offseason will play a huge role in who wins the job.

“A lot of that is going to be answered by them, not us, not our plans or what we think might happen, it’s gonna be answered by them,” Gadowsky said. “I will tell you we’re very happy with what Oskar did and it’s not just what he does on the ice, it’s what he does in the program. I can tell you from a performance standpoint on the ice, especially after the start of the season and the performance perspective of what he does for the program, he’s excellent. I think he will probably have the nod to begin with, but, like I said, it all depends. Now they’ll determine what happens, not us.”

Having plenty of experience coaching winning programs from his days at Princeton and Alaska, Gadowsky knows how important it is to enhance team chemistry. To accomplish that, Gadowsky said the first thing his program will work on this offseason is establishing continuity from a cultural standpoint. And second, coming to an understanding about their identity as a team.

But the biggest thing Gadowsky said will help with his team’s success is the return of fans — particularly the student Roar Zone — to Pegula Ice Arena.

“We cannot wait to see them at Pegula again, I will tell you that,” Gadowksy said. “They’ve been such a huge part of the success that we’ve had, and we knew that and we know that every year. But then once it’s taken away ... you certainly understand once you miss them, you really miss them.”