Blue White Illustrated

H ighlight production is starting to be- come a habit for Penn State's Evan Barratt. The sophomore forward became a social media sensation last season when he lev- eled Minnesota forward Ryan Lindgren right after exiting the penalty box and scored a goal later on the same shift. But Barratt's most eye-popping moment came earlier this month against Arizona State. As the puck slid to the side of the Sun Devils' net, Barratt laid his stick flat like a spatula, scooped up the puck as he circled around and flipped it into the top of the net as if he were serving a pancake at breakfast. The play earned him the No. 2 slot on ESPN's top-10 plays the following morning. "We were all over them that shift, dom- inating time down low," Barratt said. "I just kind of saw the puck squirt out behind the net and no one really coming toward me, so I guess I wasn't really thinking out there and it just kind of happened." Barratt said that he had worked on the move in practice, often trying it while just messing around when he had the ice all to himself. But had his teammates ever seen it work before Barratt decided to unveil it during a game in which his team was trailing by two goals in the third period? "I have not, no," Nikita Pavlychev said, laughing. "The game was the first time I've seen him actually pull it off." Hockey, at its highest levels, is a game defined by physical tools and attributes. Watch Barratt play, and it can be difficult to discern what makes him so effective. You can point right to Denis Smirnov's shot or Ludvig Larsson's skating or Pavlychev's size, but with Barratt nothing jumps off the page. That's because what Barratt considers to be his greatest asset isn't external. It's not out there for the scouts and the re- porters and the coaches to see after watching a game or two. "I play with my emotions more than anything else," he said. "You can tell by everything I do out there that I'm very emotional. I'm just really creative and think of things that I don't even know after I do them why I even thought of that." Barratt's tendencies on the ice clash with the persona that he shows the media, one that is reserved, hesitant to speak about his own exploits and perhaps even a little bit unsure of himself. On the ice, Barratt is an open book. "It's super easy to tell when he's pissed," linemate Alex Limoges said. Just ask Lindgren, who may still be feel- ing the effects of the hit Barratt delivered last March. When he sees red, Barratt's playing style can be a bit reckless. He's only 5- foot-11, but he threw his weight around enough to pick up 34 penalty minutes last season, sixth on the team. But Penn State wins when Barratt plays like that. The Nittany Lions beat Lind- gren's Minnesota team four times in a row at the end of last season to secure an NCAA tournament berth, and they were led by Barratt, with Limoges and Liam Folkes on his wings. Barratt scored four times in those four games. Limoges found the back of the net three times of his own, and Folkes added a pair of goals as well. The line combined for nine goals in that four-game span, while the Gophers netted 11 as a team. "I know when he's pissed, like when he's right at that level, he's going to do something crazy on the next shift, crazy in a good way," Limoges said. "He's going to hit somebody hard, make a turnover and we're going to get a chance, or he's just going to walk their entire team and put the puck on net. It's funny, it gets me excited just to get to the net, maybe good things will happen." That production has continued into this season. Through nine games, that line, centered by Barratt, had produced 16 goals. Barratt himself had five goals and nine assists, helping the Nittany Lions to an 8-1 start. It's a performance that aligns with Bar- ratt's pedigree as a third-round draft choice of the Chicago Blackhawks, the third-highest-drafted player to ever wear a Penn State sweater. The professional ranks may soon beckon if he keeps this up. For now, though, the Bristol, Pa., native is just en- joying playing close to home after spend- ing two years with the United States National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor, Mich. "It's definitely awesome being a home- town kid kind of thing," Barratt said. "Being away from home before I came here, now my mom's here every weekend for both games. It's definitely nice in that sense. Yeah, of course. Being a PA kid, I know a lot of kids around campus. It's definitely really cool, really special." ■ Lions sweep Robert Morris Penn State headed into its Big Ten season on the heels of a dominant performance against Robert Morris, defeating the Colonials 7-2 on Nov. 9 and 11-6 the following night. The 11 goals that PSU scored in the sec- ond game were a team record. Heading into their league opener against Michigan on Nov. 16, the Nittany Lions were 8-1 and ranked eighth in the USCHO poll. ■ FIRE AND ICE Forward Evan Barratt says his greatest asset is the passion he brings to the game | BARRATT I C E H O C K E Y

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