Penn State men’s hockey players headed to Hockey Canada camp, Spengler Cup

There might not be a game for the team until the new year, but there’s plenty of competition ahead sooner rather than later for several members of the ninth-ranked Penn State men’s hockey team.

An intrasquad three-on-three tournament has been completed, and practice and workouts remain for the next few days as the fall academic semester and calendar year wind down.

Still, there are bigger things on the horizon.

Freshmen Gavin McKenna and Jackson Smith have been invited to the Hockey Canada training camp scheduled Dec. 12-22 in Niagara Falls, Ontario. That session and three tuneup games will set Canada’s roster for the World Junior Championship that begins Dec. 26 in Minnesota.

McKenna, a forward and the presumptive No. 1 overall pick in the NHL Draft next summer, has 18 points in his first 16 college games. He recorded points in Penn State’s three most recent games, including assists on both of the team’s goals in a 2-1 victory over Minnesota on Nov. 22.

Smith, a first-round pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets last summer, leads all Penn State defensemen with nine points. He scored the game-winning goal against Minnesota in the Penn State’s last game.

Penn State does not play again until Jan. 3 at RIT, though, and if Team Canada advances to the medal round of the tournament, the Nittany Lions may begin the second half of their season without the two freshmen who have both represented their country during international tournaments in the past.

Meanwhile, coach Guy Gadowsky and five other players are headed to a separate tournament. They’ll be part of the U.S. Collegiate Selects team competing in the Spengler Cup, an international hockey tournament conducted in Davos, Switzerland. Competition there begins Dec. 26 with the Collegiate Selects facing Team Canada.

Each of the six teams in the tournament — that’s the U.S. and Canada, along with HC Davos, HC Fribourg-Gotteron, IFK Helsinki, Sparta Praha and host HC Davos — will play a minimum of three games and a maximum of five during the six-day event.

Forward Aiden Fink and defensemen Mac Gadowsky were named to the team because they were All-Americans last season, and in an effort to bring a little chemistry to the team that includes representatives from every major college hockey conference. Meanwhile, the team’s coach was happy to have Charlie Cerrato, Matt DiMarsico and JJ Wiebusch — Penn State’s productive early season line, and players with a good combination of grit and productivity — added to the roster.

Fink, who was injured earlier this season, hopes to return to the ice for the first time in Switzerland.