April 1, 2015
2015-16 Season Ticket Renewals Through April 10
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Nittany Lion men's hockey team unveiled its 2014-15 season awards on Wednesday, headlined by Casey Bailey (Anchorage, Alaska) and Patrick Koudys (Smithville, Ontario).
Penn State doled out team-voted awards honoring the most valuable player, freshman of the year, top defenseman and the players' player. In addition, the Nittany Lions also recognized the team's leading scorer, top student-athletes and preseason top athlete.
Bailey, who made his NHL debut with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday, March 26 against the Florida Panthers, was named the team's MVP as the leading scorer. Bailey set program marks for goals (22) and points (40) this season and left Penn State as the program's leader in goals (45) and points (80) in three years' time.
An impressive leader as captain, Koudys was earned the Top Defenseman and Players' Player honors. Koudys led the team in blocked shots (62), pitching in with a goal and seven assists this year. Koudys took home the Players' Player award for the second straight season.
Rookie Erik Autio (Espoo, Finland) was voted Freshman of the Year. Autio appeared in 34 of 37 games on the blue line and was second in defenseman scoring with 11 points on two goals and nine assists. Autio registered a power play goal and blocked 41 shots.
Max Gardiner (Deephaven, Minn.) and David Thompson (Glen Mills, Pa.) shared Top Student-Athlete honors this season for their excellence in the classroom. Gardiner will graduate Penn State as a two-time Academic All-Big Ten Team honoree with a degree in economics. Thompson shares the honor as a sophomore, featuring on the Academic All-Big Ten team for the first time this year.
For a third straight season, Connor Varley (Lansdale, Pa.) entered training camp as the most fit Nittany Lion, earning the Preseason Top Athlete laurel. The award is determined by strength & conditioning coach Cam Davidson.
The Nittany Lions completed the 2014-15 season with an 18-15-4 overall record and a fourth-place finish (10-9-1-0) in the Big Ten. Head coach Guy Gadowsky was named Big Ten Coach of the Year, while Bailey gathered the team's first All-Big Ten First Team honor ahead of his NHL debut.
Penn State is set to host 18 games at Pegula Ice Arena during the 2015-16 season at Pegula Ice Arena, the team's third in the state-of-the-art $90 million facility.
Season ticket renewal is ongoing through April 10 as Penn State looks to continue its home ice advantage in front of the most packed house in the nation (104.1 percent capacity on average). PSU went 13-2-3 at home, tied for the second best winning percentage in the nation. Renew here!
2014-15 PENN STATE TEAM AWARDS
Most Valuable Player: Casey Bailey
Top Defenseman: Patrick Koudys
Freshman of the Year: Erik Autio
Players' Player: Patrick Koudys
Leading Scorer : Casey Bailey
Top Student-Athletes: Max Gardiner, David Thompson
Preseason Top Athlete: Connor Varley