Penn State beats UConn in overtime!
Frozen Four!
- Thread starter Delcolion915
- Start date
Where is"PSU Alum" Lando Commando? Remember now, he is a "Penn State graduate" 😂😂😂😂
A Penn State graduate who cannot name a single dorm, class, landmark, professor, or restaurant from when he "went to Penn State" 😂😂😂😂😂
Have relatives in from LA- full day of family activities. Missed most of game- but started to listen in mid 3rd while barbequing.
Got to get inside for OT on TV. Looked like 1st Rocky movie...we were on our heels. UConn post saved us. Like any good fighter- we got one shot - and 14 buried it.
Doing the Phillies Opener combo w Flyers night game tomorrow. Just decided to alternate my jersey selection to PSU w a Flyer cap.
Congrats to Guy and team!
Been a great run- and it is not over yet!
Got to get inside for OT on TV. Looked like 1st Rocky movie...we were on our heels. UConn post saved us. Like any good fighter- we got one shot - and 14 buried it.
Doing the Phillies Opener combo w Flyers night game tomorrow. Just decided to alternate my jersey selection to PSU w a Flyer cap.
Congrats to Guy and team!
Been a great run- and it is not over yet!
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Just an incredible story! Hopefully, this will solidify PSU as a perennial hockey power.
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Why can't sugar daddy Pegula throw $100M or more at the hoops program to jumpstart that?
If hockey can go from club team to D1 Frozen Four in 12 years, certainly hoops can go from Big Ten also-ran to something much more in less time.
If hockey can go from club team to D1 Frozen Four in 12 years, certainly hoops can go from Big Ten also-ran to something much more in less time.
If only Mt. Lebanon native Mark Cuban had gone to PSU instead of IU.
Well.....nothing is certain with us and roundball.
PSU hoops is like a never ending colonoscopy prep.
An abusive relationship for sure. Cubs and Red Sox before The Curses were broken.
Maybe ONLY Terry coukd revive that patient....tough task.
Penn State has a long history of hockey including NCAA hockey before the team could not be supported monetarily after a run. When hockey was revived as a club sport back in the 70's they were pretty darn good and were good when Pegula's donation pushed them back into NCAA hockey.
Maybe Pegula saw something in the potential for PSU hockey that he does not yet see in PSU b-ball.
Write about the Frozen Four.
They don’t play until April 10th. Games on ESPN2, our game at 8:30. In St Louis. Vs Boston U.
They don’t play until April 10th. Games on ESPN2, our game at 8:30. In St Louis. Vs Boston U.
Who's in Frozen Four? Updated NCAA men's hockey bracket, schedule
Here's a look at the 2025 Frozen Four, including the teams in it, the schedule and the location:
www.usatoday.com
Awesome for the team. Western Michigan vs Denver in the other semi-final. With games in St. Louis, no particular school should have much of a home field advantage.
This is the first trip to the Frozen Four for WMU. Denver is the defending national champion.
This is the first trip to the Frozen Four for WMU. Denver is the defending national champion.
There was a relationship with a player back in the late 70’s early 80’s who played at Penn State when it was a club team.. think he was largely responsible for convincing the Pegulas to be all in supporting Hockey.. this was after he bought the Sabres.. think his name was Joe Batista ? Anyway he went on to work with the Sabres and Paula family afterwards.. the family has done a tremendous amount of good especially within the city of Buffalo.. I may not have the exact facts but I think I’m pretty close..
Joe Battista was the coach of PSU when they were a club team, and I believe that he was involved with hockey in the Pittsburgh area when he was employed by the Penguins. From my memory, he was very successful as PSU's head coach.
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Checking Lou Prato's book about PSU facts. Battista was 512-120-27 as the Icers head coach with six ACHA championship and 10 straight appearances in the title game. He was instrumental in the design of the Pegula Arena. Pegula hires Battista in 2013 as the Buffalo Sabres VP for hockey services and business administration. He was instrumental in the hiring of Guy Gadowski.
IMHO Battista should be considered the father of modern day hockey at PSU
Do you think PSU's basketball problem is mostly the facility? I think there's more to it than that. His money can't go to buy players.
Do you realize that Pegula also owns the Buffalo Sabres and they suck.
Just for the record ... your argument is that $100M+ infused into the hoops program WOULDN'T help?
Wellness check on bdgan ...
They still call traveling?
Actually you could slide to mid court on one foot…. switch to other foot….slide all the way in for a layup.
BU has been the "Georgia" of NCAA hockey (Georgia in football, that is). They beat Cornell in sudden death to get to the final four. They came into the tournament 8th ranked. Cornell was ranked 16th. They are 23-13-2 overall this year so it has been a bit of an off year but they are very used to playing in big games. They lost back-to-back games against Michigan and Boston College during the regular season. They also lost to UConn 5-2 in the East Tournament (right before the NCAA's). We are 22-13-4. We also lost six in a row in November against good teams (UM, Minny, Wiscy). But we have played really well the last two months. In our last ten games we are 7-2-1.
So we match up well and have a good shot. In fact, probably favored. However, Hockey being hockey in a single elimination tournament, a single lucky bounce, lack of concentration or missed assignment can cost you a game.
I think a good chance. Similar season records. BU lost to Mich (twice), PSU 3-3 (two wins when they counted most). BU beat ND once, PSU 3-0-1 against ND. BU beat OSU once, PSU 1-3-1.
Just in terms of talent, probably not much; BU has several players who played on the USA Junior Team that won the championship this past January. However despite their talent, they haven't been a dominant team. I watched them in the Beanpot Championship when they beat BC and they played a great game, and I wondered why they had lost a lot of games, at least for BU. However, it's a one off, and goaltending can make the difference. I'm just ecstatic that PSU has made that far, and the publicity that they're going to get should do wonders with attracting higher quality players who otherwise might have gone to a Minnesota, like a Pittsburgh kid like Logan Cooley did.
By the way, BU's goalie who played in the Beanpot also is Russian, and he only joined the team midway through the season. However, I don't know if he's the goalie who played this past weekend; I went to a concert on Saturday night so I couldn't watch their OT game against Cornell.
Finally, just remember that this past weekend, PSU beat the two teams that played in the Hockey East Championship last weekend, so winning that regional was a great accomplishment. It's the same conference in which both BU and BC play. I really was impressed with UConn; they don't have great talent, but I though that they played great as a "team."
Finally, I know one of the goalies on PSU because my nephew played on the same travel hockey team with his brother, and he sometimes would practice with our team if he was at the rink just to get some work. His brother also attends PSU. I'm so happy that he's got to experience all of this.
Goaltending could very well be the key. Defense wins championships.
Against Maine, the defensemen moved the puck very well out of the defensive zone and enabled our speed game to go into effect. However, UConn imposed their size againt the defensemen yesterday and were able to hem them in, especially from the second period on, and thus it took away from PSU's strength. If BU can do that with their talent, that probably will be fatal for PSU. However, if the defensemen can move the puck fast to the forwards, then PSU will have a fighting chance.
Like I said, it's a one off, and this BU team isn't any better than MSU or Minnesota, and PSU competed against those teams very well back in February. It should be fun.
Donations can't be used for the school to pay players. Are you suggesting that Pegula set up an NIL collective just for basketball? Or are you suggesting that we can't attract players because they don't like the BJC?
There's a plan to renovate the BJC but that's not included in the first 5 years of the 20 year plan. These are the nearest term plans to upgrade facilities at PSU. Do you think Kraft is intentionally holding out on basketball?
- Center of Excellence
- Indoor practice facility
- 10-lane, 50-meter Natatorium
- 10-court indoor tennis facility
- Renovation and upgrades to Jeffrey Field (men’s and women’s soccer facility)
I am not the person to ask and I don't know. I haven't watched more than a few minutes of college hockey and was just going by the records in 2025.
I don't know if it's an advantage against BU, but yes, speed is a PSU strength, and several of PSU's players are good shooters when they get some time and space. The probelm against UConn is that UConn basically overwhelmed PSU with their size beginning in the second period when they decided to play a grinding game in the corners, which this PSU team simply is not equipped to play. I think that PSU is a dangerous team against team that tries to skate with them.
I'm asking one more time before I write you off ...
Just for the record ... your argument is that $100M+ infused into the hoops program WOULDN'T help?
You said that Pegula should give PSU $100 million to jump start the basketball program. I assume you meant like he gave PSU $88 million to build the hockey arena. I questioned your thinking by asking a simple question. Would a facility upgrade do the trick? You won't answer because you'd rather throw out insults.
First of all it takes a lot more money to compete in D1 basketball than it does to compete in D1 hockey. The Pegula arena seats 5,700 fans. D1 basketball requires a lot more than that. Secondly PSU didn't have an arena capable of supporting D1 hockey until Pegula came along. The BJC with all it's flaws is a lot closer to a competitive D1 basketball facility than PSU hockey was before Pegula. Finally there's a lot more to developing a winning D1 basketball program than an upgraded arena. I'm quite sure that Kraft would find $100 million for PSU basketball if he thought it would make us a perennial top 25 basketball school.
Of course any program would like a big infusion of cash. Things like nicer locker rooms and nutrition areas couldn't hurt but IMO the bigger issue at this point is money to attract players and a private donation from Pegula couldn't be used for that.
But please go ahead and write me off.
I didn't say he should ... I asked why can't he. I also didn't ask about $100M ... I asked about $100M+. The reason I asked about that amount is because Pegula didn't just give $88M to build the hockey arena (actually $89M) ... he gave $102M total, which included $13M to endow schollies for the hockey program.
No one said anything about a basketball arena.
I asked, repeatedly, if your argument is that $100M+ infused into the hoops program wouldn't help.
You have proven incapable of answering this very basic question. I am, in fact, writing you off. You want to wax poetic about some dreamt up thing, rather than deal with the reality that is before you. Either discuss something in good faith, or don't bother.
