Blue White Illustrated

| P enn State's Big Ten title defense could begin "as soon as" Nov. 13, the Big Ten announced in early October. Penn State will play four games against each of the conference's other six teams: Notre Dame, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Additionally, each Big Ten team will play four games against independent Arizona State. The conference tournament, which had featured a best two - o u t - o f- t h re e format until the title game for the past three seasons, will return to a single- elimination format. Penn State coach Guy Gadowsky said in a prepared state- ment that the Nittany Lions are eager to get their season under way. "We are thankful to the Big Ten and each individual university for the sac- ri9ces they've made to allow our hockey season to begin this semester," Gadowsky said. "We have been working extremely hard within Penn State's safety protocols since returning to campus and are looking forward to get- ting back to competition come mid- November." Big Ten hockey teams will follow the same medical and testing protocols set forth by the football return-to-play an- nouncement that came on Sept. 16. Those protocols include daily antigen testing and enhanced cardiac screening. The league said that Arizona State has agreed to follow the same testing proto- cols as Big Ten members. "The 2020-21 hockey season builds on the rich traditions of Big Ten Hockey and brings new competitive opportuni- ties to the Conference with the Arizona State University scheduling agreement," Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren said in a prepared statement. "As our teams return to competition, we will continue to keep the health and safety the position and she "would love to see… our program have the kind of success this season that would give Coach Ferry a shot." Chambers finished his career at Penn State with a 148-150 record, including a 56-110 mark against Big Ten opponents. At .337, it represents the highest winning percentage for a Penn State coach in the program's 28-year Big Ten era and the highest overall winning percentage since Bruce Parkhill. Chambers coached nine All-Big Ten se- lections and 23 Academic All-Big Ten honorees. His teams compiled a 90 per- cent graduation rate and had a program- best 18 wins against ranked opponents. ■ COLD OPEN Hockey programs aim to begin playing in November VARSITY VIEWS GADOWSKY ICE HOCKEY Freshman McLane selected in NHL Draft Freshman Chase McLane be- came the 13th player in Penn State's hockey history to be dra:ed by an NHL squad when he was selected in the seventh round, 209th overall, by the Nashville Predators on Oct. 7. McLane, a 6-foot-2 center from Trenton, Mich., will begin his ca- reer at Penn State this fall a:er spending the 2019-20 season with the Tri-City Storm of the United States Hockey League. A:er be- ginning the season with an injury, he 9nished the year with 16 points (5 goals, 11 assists) in 18 games for the Storm. In 106 USHL games over the past three seasons, all with Tri- City, McLane scored 13 goals while adding 37 assists for 50 total points and served as an alternate captain during the 2018-19 sea- son. McLane joins current Nittany Lion dra: picks Aarne Talvitie (2017, New Jersey), Clayton Phillips (2017, Pittsburgh) and Kevin Wall (2019, Carolina), giv- ing Penn State four dra: picks on the 2020-21 roster. ■ stances immediately derailed any notion of expectations ahead of a season al- ready filled with uncertainty due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Bigger questions will emerge in the weeks and months to come regarding the program's next head coach, an op- portunity Barbour said would include Ferry but would also include a national search. Further, within a roster over- whelmingly made up of players with at least two seasons of eligibility remaining in their collegiate careers, possible transfers will no doubt be considered by many, especially with the NCAA having announced in October that the 2020-21 season will not count against anyone's eligibility. "As you can imagine, it was difficult news for them to hear," Barbour ac- knowledged. "Coach Chambers has many current and former players who have been glowing in their praise of him. Our current players, many of them have very good relationships with him, and he's the one who has given them this opportunity. They're in a little bit of shock and they're very disap- pointed." For a program that has withstood countless setbacks and hurdles en route to its current brush with unprecedented success, the shock and disappointment are all too familiar. ■

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