Blue White Illustrated

VARSITY VIEWS G uy Gadowsky had every right to be disappointed. After a promising start to the 2015-16 season, his Nit- tany Lions had faltered down the stretch, losing four of their last five regular-sea- son games and bowing out of the Big Ten hockey tournament with a 7-2 thumping at the hands of a Michigan team that had their number all season. "We have a ways to go," Gadowsky said postgame, asked about his program's progression toward the elite level of col- lege hockey. "I don't know how close. I think Penn State University is a top-tier university and it's going to happen. I'm not sure how close we are, but it's really fun to keep on improving and to have all the support that we get. It's fun to keep striving to get there." Less than a year later, his Nittany Lions have arrived, perhaps sooner than even their head coach expected. A 13-1-1 start to the season propelled Penn State to the No. 3 ranking in the first December USCHO poll. The Lions hold a 2-1-1 record against ranked opponents on the season, and the performance that put them firmly in the national spotlight came against the same Michigan team that outscored them 33-11 in five matchups last season. This time, the Lions flipped the script, sweeping the series with the 20th-ranked Wolverines. They scored a 6-1 victory in their Big Ten opener Dec. 1 and followed it up with a 5-1 win the next night to ex- tend their winning streak to 11 games. Michigan coach Red Berenson called the Lions' performance "a real eye-opener." "They're probably the hottest team in college hockey right now," he said. "So we got to see a real good team in their home rink and why they're successful." The scoring bonanzas have become al- most ordinary for Penn State. The Lions lead the nation in goals per game with an average of 4.87, and have scored six or more goals five times in their 15 games. One of the most important factors in Penn State's offensive output has been its depth. Gadowsky has long been focused on building the kind of attack that can keep the pressure on opponents no mat- ter who's on the ice. "We said all along that if we can achieve that, we're pretty tough to play against," he said. "We tend to play a very high- tempo game and play to get a lot of of- fense. When you're rolling lines, it's really tough to play against as a whole. You can't key on one line, you can't get a rest, and right now I think we have that." Special teams have also been one of Penn State's strengths. The Lions sport the nation's leading penalty kill unit, hav- ing allowed only five goals in 67 opportu- nities. Their power play unit has been impressive, too, scoring on nearly 23 per- cent of its chances. "We have three different [special teams] units that all do something different," Gadowsky said. "I think we're tough to scout, and I think we're getting execution from everybody. Every line is playing well." Most remarkably, Penn State's rapid as- cent has been marked by youth. Six of the 10 spots on the Lions' first two lines are regularly filled by underclassmen, with Peyton Jones, a freshman, typically start- ing in net. Two of those underclassmen have played particularly noteworthy roles in the Nittany Lions' early-season success. Denis Smirnov, a forward from Moscow, Russia, was leading all freshmen and was third among all Division I players with 27 total points as of mid-December. In ad- dition, he was leading all freshmen in as- sists. Smirnov's play in November garnered him the Hockey Commissioners Association Rookie of the Month award. Smirnov's linemate, sophomore for- ward Andrew Sturtz, has also been among the nation's leading of- fensive players. Sturtz was tied for second in the nation in goals scored with 13, while also contributing to the Lions' outstanding penalty kill unit, scor- ing two shorthanded goals in just 15 games. While Gadowsky acknowledges the COLD FUSION A youthful roster quickly jells, as PSU's ice hockey team surges into the top five | SHAKE ON IT Gad- owsky greets long- time Michigan coach Red Berenson at last season's Big Ten hockey tournament. Photo by Patrick Bar- ron/MGoBlog

• Cover