PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — It was a historic season for Penn State University’s men’s ice hockey team, which competed in the NCAA Division I tournament for the first time in more than a decade.
The Nittany Lions made it to the Frozen Four, earning a shot at the national championship. Head coach Guy Gadowsky described the adversity the program had to overcome early on in the season.
"It could have been really easy for the guys just to throw in the towel and say, 'This isn't our year,' but they did the exact opposite,” he said. "They actually pulled together as a team."
He credited the leadership group for the turnaround, as the team became one of the hottest in the nation during the second half of the season.
Penn State finished with a 22-14-4 record, defeating Maine in the regional semifinals and Connecticut in the regional finals before losing to Boston University in the national semifinals. Boston University later lost to Western Michigan in the national championship game.
Boston University is no stranger to national success in college hockey, having won five NCAA National Championships since 1971. Boston has decades of experience in Division 1 compared to Penn State.
"In college hockey, it seems like you have the Blue Bloods that you hear about every single year – and you have for decades and decades – and everybody else," Gadowsky said. "And I think that we're starting to be put in the conversation. Certainly, making Frozen Four is a big step in that.”
This year's trip to the Frozen Four is just the latest step that the team has taken in its gradual improvement. In 2017, Penn State won the Big Ten tournament, defeating Wisconsin for an automatic NCAA bid.
“We just had a tremendous run, and I think a lot of people thought we caught lightning in a bottle — it was one lucky tournament, and then three years later, we won the regular season in the Big Ten," Gadowsky said.
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That year, for the 2020 season, the tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The fans have been part of the journey for the Nittany Lions' success.
Gadowsky said it was a learning curve for the student section. He said when the Nittany Lions transitioned from a club team to an NCAA Division I program and moved into Pegula Arena, they had to develop their own songs and dances. Fast forward more than a decade, and now they have.
"The best atmosphere in college hockey, and by far the best student section,” he said.
As the program grows, Gadowsky said youth hockey across Pennsylvania is also on the rise.
"From a Philadelphia standpoint, a Pittsburgh standpoint, they really have done a great job in developing youth players at hockey from a grassroots level,” he said.
“I think you look now as our program gets more and more successful, we're, we're being able to draw more and more of the best hockey players in Pennsylvania.”