Formerly known as the Penn State Icers, our team had only been a club sport until the 2012-2013 season when it joined the NCAA Division 1 league. Penn State did have a varsity team in the 1940's until it was dropped due to insufficient facilities. All of this changed in the summer of 2010 when Terrence Pegula, PSU alumnus and avid hockey fan donated an insane amount of money to the tune of $102 MILLION DOLLARS to Penn State hockey in order to build the arena we all know and love today.
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| Thanks Terrence! |
Shortly after, the Big Ten Conference announced plans to sponsor and form a six-member Big Ten Hockey Conference in the 2013-2014 with the inclusions of teams from Michigan State, UMichigan, OSU, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Not saying anything, but there wasn't a conference until we said we were joining the NCAA, so make of that what you will.
Guy Gadowsky is our team's current head coach, and he took the team to a #1 ranking in the nation earlier in the season until a heartbreaking sweep by OSU after a penalty shootout and some questionable ref-ing.
"Why is this important to me?" you may be asking yourself. Well, the point of this post is that this weekend our team is returning home to play Minnesota on Friday and Saturday, and students can purchase tickets for as little as $17.25 to sit in the Roar Zone.
The Roar Zone is the student section. They are notoriously rowdy, like to pick on the opposite team's goalie, and are very good at slowing down while performing the cowbell cheer. They're noisily enthusiastic about supporting the team, especially our two players from Russia, and contribute immensely to the atmosphere inside Pegula.
Many times that I've been at a hockey game, the Penn State Football team has paid a visit, including Trace McSorley, Daeshawn Hamilton, and Marcus Allen. I also had the chance to talk to James Franklin himself, so you never know who you might run into at Pegula.
Should you decide to come to a game this weekend, you will most definitely have a blast, and you'll also get to hear some stands tunes favorites from the Hockey Band. Also, for those of you who have had the chance to experience the Beaver Stadium Chicken Basket, they are also available for purchase to satisfy all your cravings at the concession stands in the arena.
So if you're not into THON, you want a break from THON, you like chicken baskets, watching grown men get slammed into walls and seeing a winning team, I highly recommend going to a hockey game.
I'd give Hockey Valley 9 shaking pom poms out of 10
Photos courtesy of:
Multimedia & Broadcast Journalism Camp
Sports Business Daily
That's really cool how the Penn State hockey team came to be. It's also really cool just how popular it seems to be with everyone. I haven't been able to go to any of their games yet, but I really wanted to a couple of times. After you post, I'll make sure I go!
ReplyDeleteI am not a hockey fan and have never considered going to a game, but after this I am definitely considering going. Also, it's clearly where all the cool kids on the block go if the football team is there! Nice job!
ReplyDeleteI never knew the history of the hockey team, and I certainly had no idea how new it really was. It's certainly been popular this year, and you've given me plenty of reason to go check out a game. Great post!
ReplyDeleteThank you for giving a shout-out to a team other than football! I have only been to football games, myself but I want to get out of that habit. There are so many other teams that work hard and deserve some recognition and support from their peers. The Roar Zone sounds really fun!
ReplyDeleteI really liked reading about the history of the hockey team. My dad went here and it's weird to think that there was no Pegula when he was a student. This definitely makes me want to go to a game, and I definitely enjoyed reading!
ReplyDeleteI love how you never run out of amazing things to say about Penn State and its community. It is great that you focused on hockey this week because our hockey team is dang good, but everyone is so set on football to notice. Even though our football team is amazing so is our hockey team. I actually really like hockey because I played field hockey in high school and I actually understand it haha!
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