2020–21 Penn State Nittany Lions men's ice hockey season

The 2020–21 Penn State Nittany Lions men's ice hockey season was the 15th season of play for the program and the 8th season in the Big Ten Conference. The Nittany Lions represented Pennsylvania State University and were coached by Guy Gadowsky, in his 10th season.

2020–21 Penn State Nittany Lions
men's ice hockey season
Conference5th Big Ten
Home icePegula Ice Arena
Rankings
USCHONR
USA TodayNR
Record
Overall10–12–0
Conference7–10–0–2–1–0
Home7–3–0
Road3–8–0
Neutral0–1–0
Coaches and captains
Head coachGuy Gadowsky
Assistant coachesKeith Fisher
Matt Lindsay
Andrew Magera
Captain(s)Alex Limoges
Alternate captain(s)Paul DeNaples
Aarne Talvitie
Penn State Nittany Lions men's ice hockey seasons
« 2019–20 2021–22 »

Season

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As a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic the entire college ice hockey season was delayed. Because the NCAA had previously announced that all winter sports athletes would retain whatever eligibility they possessed through at least the following year, none of Penn State's players would lose a season of play.[1] However, the NCAA also approved a change in its transfer regulations that would allow players to transfer and play immediately rather than having to sit out a season, as the rules previously required.[2]

Penn State had a dreadful start to their season, losing their first five games while facing a murderers row of ranked teams. The team rebounded sharply in their sixth contest, scoring 9 goals and nearly doubling their season total to that point. After the Nittany Lions' first win of the year, the team played much better and slowly climbed back to respectability, winning nine of twelve and pulled themselves above .500 near the end of January. Just when it seemed like the team had turned a corner, their season was derailed by COVID-19. All of PSU's games were cancelled in February and the team didn't play again until the end of the regular season. The 34-day layoff hamstrung the team and it showed in their poor performance; despite outshooting Notre Dame in both games, the Nittany Lions lost both by a combined score of 3–12.

By losing an entire months-worth of games, Penn State couldn't overcome their bad start and the team's only path into the NCAA Tournament was by winning the Big Ten. They faced the same Fighting Irish team that had soundly beaten them a week earlier in the first round, but the game time appeared to have knocked the rust off of the Penn State and the Lions scored 5 consecutive goals to give themselves a solid 6–3 win. Their next game was against league-leading Wisconsin and Penn State showed no fear, overcoming an early deficit and outshooting the Badgers to take two separate leads in the game. Once the game got into overtime, the fast pace of regulation seemed to have caught up with PSU and they were overwhelmed by the Badgers, surrendering 10 shots in under 7 minutes and they could only watch as the nation's leading goal-scorer ended their season.

Departures

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Player Position Nationality Cause
Evan Barratt Forward   United States Signed professional contract (Chicago Blackhawks)
Brandon Biro Forward   Canada Graduation (Signed with Buffalo Sabres)
Liam Folkes Forward   Canada Graduation (Signed with Bakersfield Condors)
Blake Gober Forward   United States Graduation
James Gobetz Defenseman   United States Graduation
Cole Hults Defenseman   United States Signed professional contract (Los Angeles Kings)
Peyton Jones Goaltender   United States Graduation (Signed with Colorado Eagles)
Kris Myllari Defenseman   Canada Graduation (Signed with Utah Grizzlies)
Nikita Pavlychev Forward   Russia Graduation (Signed with Syracuse Crunch)
Denis Smirnov Forward   Russia Graduation (Signed with Metallurg Magnitogorsk)
Nate Sucese Forward   United States Graduation (Signed with Arizona Coyotes)

Recruiting

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Player Position Nationality Age Notes
Christian Berger Defenseman   United States 20 St. Louis, MO
Tim Doherty Forward   United States 25 Portsmouth, RI; graduate transfer from Maine
Jimmy Dowd Defenseman   United States 20 Point Pleasant, NJ
Xander Lamppa Forward   United States 21 Rochester, MN
Chase McLane Forward   United States 20 Trenton, MI; selected 209th overall in 2020
Tyler Paquette Forward   United States 19 Collegeville, PA
Christian Sarlo Forward   United States 19 Lynbrook, NY
Liam Soulière Goaltender   Canada 21 Brampton, ON
Jared Westcott Forward   United States 21 Imperial, MO

Roster

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As of January 3, 2021.[3]

No. S/P/C Player Class Pos Height Weight DoB Hometown Previous team NHL rights
3   Paul DeNaples (A) Junior D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 184 lb (83 kg) 1998-09-19 Moscow, Pennsylvania Sioux Falls (USHL)
5   Christian Berger Freshman D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 182 lb (83 kg) 2000-05-22 St. Louis, Missouri Omaha (USHL)
6   Jimmy Dowd Jr. Freshman D 5' 9" (1.75 m) 161 lb (73 kg) 2000-07-09 Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey Chicago (USHL)
7   Evan Bell Senior D 5' 11" (1.8 m) 191 lb (87 kg) 1997-06-25 Livonia, Michigan Fargo (USHL)
9   Alex Limoges (C) Senior F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1997-09-16 Winchester, Virginia Waterloo (USHL)
10   Christian Sarlo Freshman F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 188 lb (85 kg) 2001-06-29 Lynbrook, New York Lincoln (USHL)
11   Chase McLane Freshman F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 183 lb (83 kg) 2000-04-22 Trenton, Michigan Tri-City (USHL) NSH, 209th overall 2020
12   Bobby Hampton Junior (RS) F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 197 lb (89 kg) 1997-11-18 Middletown, New Jersey Northeastern (HEA)
13   Xander Lamppa Freshman F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 2000-04-30 Rochester, Minnesota Waterloo (USHL)
14   Max Sauvé Junior F 5' 9" (1.75 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 1998-09-02 Acushnet, Massachusetts Avon Old Farms (USHS–CT)
15   Kenny Johnson Sophomore D 6' 4" (1.93 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1998-05-28 Ann Arbor, Michigan Victoria (BCHL)
16   Mason Snell Sophomore D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 2000-06-18 Courtice, Ontario Penticton (BCHL)
17   Tim Doherty Graduate F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1995-07-10 Portsmouth, Rhode Island Maine (HEA)
18   Clayton Phillips Senior D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1999-09-09 Edina, Minnesota Minnesota (Big Ten) PIT, 93rd overall 2017
19   Connor McMenamin Sophomore F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1999-02-25 Collegeville, Pennsylvania Tri-City (USHL)
20   Aarne Talvitie (A) Junior F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 198 lb (90 kg) 1999-02-11 Espoo, Finland Blues U20 (Nuorten SM-liiga) NJD, 160th overall 2017
21   Kevin Wall Sophomore F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 2000-02-01 Penfield, New York Chilliwack (BCHL) CAR, 181st overall 2019
22   Alex Stevens Senior D 6' 1" (1.85 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1997-02-27 Plymouth, Minnesota Dubuque (USHL)
23   Tyler Paquette Freshman F 6' 3" (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 2001-03-18 Collegeville, Pennsylvania Green Bay (USHL)
24   Adam Pilewicz Senior D 6' 1" (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1996-07-20 Sewickley, Pennsylvania Johnstown (NAHL)
25   Jared Westcott Freshman F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1999-07-18 Imperial, Missouri Sioux Falls (USHL)
27   Sam Sternschein Senior F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 204 lb (93 kg) 1998-04-27 Syosset, New York Lincoln (USHL)
28   Tyler Gratton Sophomore F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 187 lb (85 kg) 1999-08-06 Pottstown, Pennsylvania Central Illinois (USHL)
29   Connor MacEachern Sophomore F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1999-07-01 Brooklin, Ontario Youngstown (USHL)
31   Liam Soulière Freshman G 5' 11" (1.8 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1999-03-16 Brampton, Ontario Victoria (BCHL)
32   Will Holtforster Graduate G 5' 11" (1.8 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1998-03-12 Mississauga, Ontario Upper Canada College (CISAA)
35   Oskar Autio Junior G 6' 0" (1.83 m) 183 lb (83 kg) 1999-10-06 Espoo, Finland Chicago (USHL)

Standings

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Conference record Overall record
GP W L T OTW OTL 3/SW PTS PT% GF GA GP W L T GF GA
#8 Wisconsin 24 17 6 1 1 1 0 52 .722 92 52 31 20 10 1 118 80
#7 Minnesota * 22 16 6 0 0 0 0 48 .727 69 44 31 24 7 0 117 64
#9 Michigan 20 11 9 0 1 0 0 32 .550 69 45 26 15 10 1 91 51
#17 Notre Dame 24 12 10 2 1 2 2 41 .542 65 53 29 14 13 2 84 78
Penn State 18 7 11 0 2 1 0 20 .389 48 68 22 10 12 0 65 81
Ohio State 22 6 16 0 0 2 0 20 .273 39 82 27 7 19 1 53 101
Michigan State 22 5 16 1 2 0 0 15 .250 32 70 27 7 18 2 40 77
Championship: March 16, 2021
† indicates conference regular season champion
* indicates conference tournament champion
Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll

Schedule and Results

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Date Time Opponent# Rank# Site TV Decision Result Attendance Record
Regular Season
November 19 8:34 PM at #11 Minnesota #10 3M Arena at MariucciMinneapolis, Minnesota BTN Autio L 1–4  129 0–1–0 (0–1–0)
November 20 4:04 PM at #11 Minnesota #10 3M Arena at MariucciMinneapolis, Minnesota BTN Soulière L 2–3  159 0–2–0 (0–2–0)
November 23 6:08 PM at #14 Wisconsin #15 Kohl CenterMadison, Wisconsin BTN Autio L 3–6  0 0–3–0 (0–3–0)
November 24 6:08 PM at #14 Wisconsin #15 Kohl CenterMadison, Wisconsin BTN Soulière L 3–7  0 0–4–0 (0–4–0)
December 2 6:02 PM vs. #7 Michigan Pegula Ice ArenaUniversity Park, Pennsylvania ESPNU Autio L 1–3  153 0–5–0 (0–5–0)
December 3 6:04 PM vs. #7 Michigan Pegula Ice ArenaUniversity Park, Pennsylvania   Autio W 9–5  166 1–5–0 (1–5–0)
December 11 6:04 PM vs. #20 Arizona State* Pegula Ice ArenaUniversity Park, Pennsylvania   Autio W 3–2 OT 184 2–5–0
December 13 2:04 PM vs. #20 Arizona State* Pegula Ice ArenaUniversity Park, Pennsylvania   Soulière W 5–4 OT 84 3–5–0
January 3 3:00 PM at Michigan State Munn Ice ArenaEast Lansing, Michigan   Autio W 1–0  125 4–5–0 (2–5–0)
January 4 3:00 PM at Michigan State Munn Ice ArenaEast Lansing, Michigan   Soulière L 1–5  100 4–6–0 (2–6–0)
January 8 5:30 PM at Ohio State Value City ArenaColumbus, Ohio   Autio L 3–6  0 4–7–0 (2–7–0)
January 9 5:30 PM at Ohio State Value City ArenaColumbus, Ohio   Autio W 5–2  0 5–7–0 (3–7–0)
January 15 6:04 PM vs. Michigan State Pegula Ice ArenaUniversity Park, Pennsylvania   Autio W 3–2 OT 177 6–7–0 (4–7–0)
January 16 3:04 PM vs. Michigan State Pegula Ice ArenaUniversity Park, Pennsylvania   Autio W 3–1  195 7–7–0 (5–7–0)
January 21 6:04 PM vs. #12 Wisconsin Pegula Ice ArenaUniversity Park, Pennsylvania   Autio L 1–4  171 7–8–0 (5–8–0)
January 22 6:04 PM vs. #12 Wisconsin Pegula Ice ArenaUniversity Park, Pennsylvania   Autio W 5–4  180 8–8–0 (6–8–0)
January 28 6:04 PM vs. Notre Dame Pegula Ice ArenaUniversity Park, Pennsylvania   Autio W 2–1 OT 175 9–8–0 (7–8–0)
January 29 6:04 PM vs. Notre Dame Pegula Ice ArenaUniversity Park, Pennsylvania   Autio L 2–3 OT 194 9–9–0 (7–9–0)
March 5 7:51 PM at Notre Dame Compton Family Ice ArenaNotre Dame, Indiana   Autio L 2–5  104 9–10–0 (7–10–0)
March 6 5:36 PM at Notre Dame Compton Family Ice ArenaNotre Dame, Indiana   Autio L 1–7  113 9–11–0 (7–11–0)
Big Ten Tournament
March 14 12:05 PM at #19 Notre Dame* Compton Family Ice ArenaNotre Dame, Indiana (Big Ten Quarterfinals) BTN Autio W 6–3  166 10–11–0
March 15 4:35 PM vs. #5 Wisconsin* Compton Family Ice ArenaNotre Dame, Indiana (Big Ten Semifinals)   Autio L 3–4 OT 158 10–12–0
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Eastern Time.

[4]

Scoring statistics

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Name Position Games Goals Assists Points PIM
Alex Limoges C 22 10 12 22 2
Kevin Wall RW 22 8 11 19 4
Tim Doherty C/LW 22 8 10 18 4
Connor McMenamin LW 22 6 9 15 4
Aarne Talvitie C/LW 21 7 6 13 6
Christian Sarlo F 21 5 6 11 2
Connor MacEachern F 21 2 9 11 6
Jimmy Dowd D 20 2 8 10 4
Clayton Phillips D 20 3 4 7 25
Sam Sternschein LW 19 2 5 7 10
Evan Bell D 22 2 5 7 16
Jared Westcott F 17 1 5 6 4
Chase McLane C 19 3 2 5 4
Mason Snell F 21 2 2 4 20
Bobby Hampton C 13 2 1 3 0
Alex Stevens D 17 0 3 3 6
Xander Lamppa F 13 1 1 2 10
Tyler Gratton RW 17 1 0 1 8
Liam Soulière G 5 0 1 1 0
Tyler Paquette RW 6 0 1 1 0
Paul DeNaples D 22 0 1 1 8
Christian Berger D 22 0 1 1 21
Max Sauvé F 2 0 0 0 0
Will Holtforster G 2 0 1 1 0
Kenny Johnson D 5 0 0 0 2
Adam Pilewicz D 12 0 0 0 2
Oskar Autio G 18 0 0 0 0
Bench - - - - - 2
Total 65 103 168 170

[5]

Goaltending statistics

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Name Games Minutes Wins Losses Ties Goals Against Saves Shut Outs SV % GAA
Oskar Autio 18 1072 9 9 0 56 474 1 .894 3.13
Liam Soulière 5 248 1 3 0 77 103 0 .844 4.60
Will Holtforster 2 6:39 0 0 0 1 3 0 .750 9.02
Empty Net - 12 - - - 5 - - - -
Total 22 1340 10 12 0 81 580 1 .877 3.63

Rankings

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Poll Week
Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 (Final)
USCHO.com 9 10 15 NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR - NR
USA Today 9 9 14 NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR

USCHO did not release a poll in week 20.[6]

Players drafted into the NHL

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Round Pick Player NHL team
7 206 Owen McLaughlin Philadelphia Flyers

† incoming freshman [7]

References

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  1. ^ "NCAA approves blanket waiver for 2020 fall sports athletes to retain year of eligibility". CBS Sports. August 21, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  2. ^ "DI Council grants waiver to allow transfer student-athletes to compete immediately". NCAA. December 16, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  3. ^ "2019–20 Men's Ice Hockey Roster". Penn State Nittany Lions. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
  4. ^ "Penn State Nittany Lions (Men) 2020-2021 Schedule and Results". College Hockey Stats. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  5. ^ "Penn State Univ. 2020-2021 Skater Stats". Elite Prospects. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
  6. ^ "USCHO Division I Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  7. ^ "NCAA player rankings, selections in 2021 NHL Draft". USCHO.com. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
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