Sept. 18, 2017
ROSEMONT, Ill. - Following a record-setting season in 2016-17 and a Big Ten Tournament Championship the Penn State men's ice hockey team was picked to finish fourth by the opposing conference coaches as announced by the league office earlier Monday morning.
The Big Ten also announced an elite group of 17 individuals for their Preseason Watch List, which featured sophomore goaltender Peyton Jones (Langhorne, Pa.) and sophomore forward Denis Smirnov (Moscow, Russia).
Jones had the most successful single-season in program history for a goaltender as he set team records for games played/started (36), victories (23) and saves (884). Smirnov also shattered many single-season records as he led the entire nation in freshman scoring. His 47 points were seven more than Casey Bailey had during the 2014-15 season for the most in a single-season by a Penn State player as well as a freshman. Smirnov's 28 assists was also both a single-season record for a player and freshman while his 19 goals are the second most in a single-season and the most for a first-year player at Penn State.
The Nittany Lions have now been picked to finish fourth for the third consecutive season. After finishing the regular season in fourth last year, Penn State ran the table in the Big Ten Tournament capping off an incredible weekend with a 2-1 double-overtime victory against Wisconsin in the Championship game.
Penn State opens its season with the International Game on Sunday, October 1 before traveling to Clarkson and St. Lawrence for opening weekend on October 6-7, respectively.
2017-18 BIG TEN PRESEASON WATCH LIST#
Quinn Hughes, D, MICH
Will Lockwood, F, MICH
Josh Norris, F, MICH
Ryan Lindgren, D, MINN
Casey Mittelstadt, F, MINN
Rem Pitlick, F, MINN
TYLER SHEEHY, F, MINN
Jake Evans, F, ND
Jordan Gross, D, ND
Andrew Oglevie, F, ND
Mason Jobst, F, OSU
Matthew Weis, F, OSU
Peyton Jones, G, PSU
Denis Smirnov, F, PSU
TRENT FREDERIC, F, WIS
Kyle Hayton, G, WIS
Cameron Hughes, F, WIS
Unanimous selections in ALL CAPS
# Additional honorees due to ties
2017-18 BIG TEN PRESEASON POLL
- Minnesota
- Notre Dame
- Wisconsin
- Penn State
- Ohio State
- Michigan
- Michigan State