Sept. 29, 2017
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The tenth-ranked Penn State men's ice hockey team open its season with the third installment of the International Game as they battle the University of Ottawa in a matinee affair at 3 p.m. on Sunday inside Pegula Ice Arena.
TICKETS
- Tickets are still available through ticketmaster.com with non-premium seats starting at $10 and premium seats available for $20. Walk-up sales will also be accepted at the Gate A Ticket office beginning at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday.
PARKING
- Parking for Sunday's exhibition contest is free and all lots will be open. Starting for the 2017-18 season, Stadium West will now be open to University Drive when exiting, but a right hand turn must be made.
800 STRONG
- Sunday's contest marks the 800 Strong game and student-athletes are encouraged to attend and support the Nittany Lions. Student tickets for the game are just $5 and can be purchased at Gate A starting at 1:30 p.m.
THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP
- Penn State begins the 2017-18 campaign with a preseason contest against the University of Ottawa on Sunday, October 1 at Pegula Ice Arena. Puck drop is set for 3 p.m.
- This marks the third-straight season Penn State has opened play against a Canadian Interscholastic School (CIS) after entertaining Windsor and Queens the previous two seasons, respectively.
- This game will not count toward official standings nor will the stats. This also marks the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
EXHIBITION SUCCESS
- Since it began, Penn State is 2-0 in the International Game as they defeated Windsor 5-2 to open the 2015-16 season and knocked off Queens last season by the score of 8-0.
- Both Denis Smirnov and Andrew Sturtz scored two goals each during last season's victory to tie David Glenn for the International Game goal record as he potted a pair of scores the year prior against Windsor. Both Glenn and Sturtz each added an assist in their respective games for a total of three points, which is also an International Game record.
- Penn State holds the 13-2 scoring edge over its opponents in the International Game and are outshotting opponents 107-42.
SMIRNOV, JONES NAMED B1G PLAYERS TO WATCH
- Sophomore classmates Denis Smirnov and Peyton Jones were part of a 17 player watch list as voted on by the seven head coaches in the Big Ten.
- Both players were named an All-Big Ten honorable mention as well as a member of the All-Freshman team following the conclusion of the 2016-17 season.
- Smirnov led the entire nation last season in freshman scoring with 47 points. The Russian winger secured 19 goals and 28 assists for those 47 points all numbers, which are now single-season Penn State records for a freshman. His 47 points and 28 assists are also single-season Penn State records for any player.
- Jones also had a record setting season for Penn State as his 23 wins and 884 saves are both single-season program records.
- Both players were Hobey Baker Award nominees in 2016-17.
RECAPPING 2016-17
- Penn State finished the 2016-17 season with an overall record of 25-12-2. The Lions finished fourth in the Big Ten during the regular season with a record of 10-9-1 for the second straight season.
- The Nittany Lions became the first conference team to capture the Big Ten Tournament Championship by winning three games in three consecutive nights. PSU defeated Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin to secure its first ever title with the semifinal and final being decided in double-overtime.
- Penn State advanced to its first-ever NCAA Tournament where it defeated Union (N.Y.) 10-3 before falling 6-3 to eventual National Champion, Denver. The ten goals scored against Union tied an NCAA Tournament record for most goals scored by a team in its debut game and where also the most any team has scored since 1990.
- Penn State broke or tied 65 program/individual records last season including the program marks for most wins (25), points (425), goals (160), assists (265), shots (1,719) and shots per game (44.1).
- Andrew Sturtz became just the second 20-goal scorer in program history as he tied Casey Bailey's single-season record of 22 set during the 2014-15 season.
- The Nittany Lions led the entire nation averaging 4.10 goals per contest.
- The Nittany Lions also led the nation in freshman scoring with 157 points on 64 goals and 93 assists.
NEXT UP
- Penn State officially drops the puck on the 2017-18 season when they travel to New York next weekend to battle Clarkson on Friday evening and St. Lawrence on Saturday before traveling to Minnesota to open Big Ten play on October 13-14.