Sept. 26, 2016
ROSEMONT, Ill. - After a record-setting 2015-16 season and their first 20-win campaign in program history, the Penn State men's ice hockey team has been picked to finish fourth by opposing Big Ten coaches as the conference office announced the 2016-17 preseason poll earlier Monday afternoon.
Along with the preseason coaches' poll, the Big Ten also announced an elite group of 13 individuals for their Preseason Watch List, which included four unanimous selections.
For the second-straight season the Nittany Lions have been picked fourth by the opposing coaches after finishing third in the conference and advanced to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals for the second time in three seasons.
Along the way PSU set new single-season program records for wins (21), goals (140), assists (226), points (366), shots (1,579), shots/game (41.55) and goals/game (3.68). However, they lost nine players from the 2015-16 squad and brought in 12 new faces, including 10 freshman giving them one of the youngest teams in the league as 18 of the 27 players are either freshman or sophomores.
One of those sophomores, defenseman Vince Pedrie, was one of four unanimous selections for the Preseason Watch List. Pedrie earned All Big-Ten Second-Team and All-Freshman Team honors after his first season in Hockey Valley. The sophomore really turned things on during conference play leading all Big Ten defensemen in goals with seven while adding eight assists for 15 points. His 22 points (8G, 14A) on the year was good for eighth on the team.
Pedrie joins Minnesota's Justin Kloos and Eric Schierhorn and Wisconsin's Luke Kunin as unanimous choices by the league's coaches. All six schools were represented on the list with only Minnesota, Penn State and Wisconsin earning multiple selections.
Senior David Goodwin was honored for the second consecutive year after leading the team in scoring with 38 points on 11 goals and 27 assists. His points total was good for T-6 in the Big Ten while his assists placed him T-3.
The senior currently sits at 90 career points, a mark good for eighth among active players in all of college hockey. He is also just one of six preseason honorees to be named an Academic All-Big Ten selection last season.
The Nittany Lions open their season with the International Game on Sunday, October 2 before welcoming St. Lawrence to Pegula Ice Arena for a pair of games on October 6-7 to begin regular season play.
2016-17 BIG TEN PRESEASON POLL
- Minnesota
- Ohio State
- Michigan
- Penn State
- Wisconsin
- Michigan State
2016-17 BIG TEN PRESEASON WATCH LIST#
Alex Kile, F, Michigan
Mason Appleton, F, Michigan State
Jake Bischoff, D, Minnesota
Leon Bristedt, F, Minnesota
Justin Kloos, F, Minnesota*
Eric Schierhorn, G, Minnesota*
Josh Healey, D, Ohio State
Mason Jobst, F, Ohio State
Nick Schilkey, F, Ohio State
David Goodwin, F, Penn State
Vince Pedrie, D, Penn State*
Luke Kunin, F, Wisconsin*
Grant Besse, F, Wisconsin
* Unanimous selection
# Additional honoree due to tie