Team-first commitment a focus for Penn State men’s hockey before Minnesota series
There’s aspiration and reality in college hockey, a continuum from great to just average. Or maybe even less.
The difference between those two extremes — between what can be the standard for consistent success and what can be frustrating dysfunction — is not much. It’s some spacing on the ice here and a good pass there, as opposed to a sizzling shot hitting the post here or a poorly timed turnover there.
As the fifth-ranked Penn State men’s hockey team makes a road trip to play Minnesota this weekend, that aspirational level of performance remains the goal.
“The difference isn’t much, and we know it,” defenseman Nolan Collins said this week. “It feels like every game is a playoff game because there are so few of them.”
Collins, a freshman who joined Penn State after playing in the Ontario Hockey League, might be just 14 games into his college career, but he knows the difference between a 68-game OHL season and a 34-game college campaign. “It makes everything more meaningful,” he said.
Penn State rebounded from a lopsided 7-1 loss to No. 2 Michigan in the first game of last week’s series with a balanced, compelling and hard-fought 4-2 victory to split the series.
Coach Guy Gadowsky did not talk to his team after the first game. He wanted to avoid the potential for emotion blurring an important message he wanted to share. He thought the ugly result was because of the lack of a team-first commitment.
Ironically, his void was filled by a players-only session that reached the same conclusion.
Still, while the players identified a standard they want to maintain going forward, they’ll be the ones who must make it happen inside 3M Arena at Mariucci the next two nights.
The host team has been a tough draw for Penn State in recent years. Penn State is 4-15 vs. the Golden Gophers dating to Nov. 19, 2021.
“I think that no matter what coaches do, when you talk about the standard, it has to come from the team,” Gadowsky said. He generally avoids fiery speeches intended only to pique emotions. “If that’s what you do every time, it’s very ineffective. The less you speak, the more you get listened to.”
Beyond attitude and motivation, Penn State will need balanced scoring this weekend. The nation’s most penalized team (289 penalty minutes) will also need a dose of discipline. While Minnesota has a sub-.500 record, it has plenty of talent and scored three power-play goals in its most recent game.
No. 5 Penn State (10-4, 3-3 Big Ten) at Minnesota (5-8-1, 2-2)
Series: 8 p.m. Friday, 8 p.m. Saturday
Audio/Radio: 93.7 FM, GoPSUsports.com
Streaming/TV: FS1 (Friday), B1G+ (Saturday)
Notable: Minnesota leads the all-time series, 32-19-1, with a 12-11-1 advantage on its home ice. … Minnesota split a series at home with Long Island last weekend. … Penn State is 5-1 this season when leading entering the third period, and 7-2 when a freshman scores a goal for the Nittany Lions. … After this series, Penn State does not play again until Jan. 3-4 with a home-and-home nonconference series against RIT. … The team’s next Big Ten series will be Jan. 9-10 against Minnesota at Pegula Ice Arena.