Penn State hockey fans bring Frozen Four energy to Pegula watch party
Nearly 800 miles separated Penn State men’s hockey from the majority of its fan base — but passion feels no distance.
Pegula Ice Arena hosted a watch party Thursday night, bringing the Roar Zone and community members together for Penn State’s first Frozen Four appearance in program history during its matchup against Boston University in St. Louis.
“You’ve seen all the bars get crazy, but when we’re in Pegula, it’s something different,” sophomore Ryley Carroll, the treasurer of the student section, said.
Doors opened at 7:30 p.m. and cheers rang through the entrance. Puck drop ended up not being until 9:50 p.m., but the excitement was hard to ignore, with music pumping through the arena and fans painting the ice with hopeful messages.
On the concourse, fans gathered around televisions to watch the end of Western Michigan, Denver semifinal match that needed more than three periods to determine who moved on.
Moments before Western Michigan scored the winning goal in the second overtime period, Rich Seifert — or “Blue Haired Guy” to ardent fans — led a booming “We Are” chant from center ice.
Seifert has been a die-hard Penn State hockey fan since 1990 when the program was just a club team. In 2012, it moved up to the varsity level and 13 years later, he got to experience history with the rest of the fanbase.
“When I first got here, somebody said ‘Oh, we’ll go to a hockey game,’ and I said ‘No way, they’re a football town,’” Seifert remembered. “And now we’re Division I, it’s all amazing.”
He sits one section over from the Roar Zone during home games and the crowd has always embraced him. Seifert has a series of cards he hands out to fans and his blue hair has become a trademark staple to Pegula Ice Arena and the fans that fill it.
“That just came natural with me cheering and them cheering right back,” Seifert said.
Variations of “let’s go PSU” scattered the ice in blue, yellow, orange and green paint. The goalie creases were still reserved for goaltender Arsenii Sergeev, who was cheered on all evening as he saved several Terrier shots in the opening period.
Before puck drop, freshman Ben Burrell was on the ice with his face painted, crazy blue and white hair beneath his helmet and Penn State chains around his neck. It’s his typical look during football season, but he brought it to the Roar Zone and wouldn’t miss the chance to dress up for the Frozen Four.
“You just get so amped up and are going crazy, especially when ‘Zombie Nation’ plays,” he said.
Rodney Martin, the voice of Pegula Ice Arena, announced the starting lineups and the Roar Zone chanted, engaging with the crowd as if the Nittany Lions were on the ice right in front of them.
Living and dying with every second, the crowd roared often but went silent when Boston University scored twice in the second period.
But the third period started and it didn’t take long to bring the volume back to Pegula. Within the first three minutes, Nicholas DeGraves cut the deficit in half.
The crowd erupted in response.
However, the Nittany Lions couldn’t finish the comeback to fend off the Terriers and lost 3-1.
But getting to the Frozen Four is no small feat.
Fans signed a banner that’ll be hung in the locker room when Penn State returns from St. Louis. It says “Congrats on a historic season.”
“It’s incredible seeing how much this team has brought the community together and how they’ve done so much for us, how much we can do for them and regardless of the result, just being a part of this historic moment,” Carroll said.
