UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The No. 16 Penn State men's ice hockey team will open its season with the fourth installment of the International Game as they battle Brock University in an exhibition contest on Saturday afternoon inside Pegula Ice Arena. The puck will drop 45 minutes after the conclusion of the women's hockey game against Merrimack College, which begins at 2 p.m.
TICKETS
- Tickets are still available HERE for just $5 and include admission to both games.
- Penn State students with a valid ID will be allowed in for FREE with the first 500 students receiving a FREE t-shirt.
- Saturday also marks the Penn State men's ice hockey 800 strong game and student-athletes are encourages to attend and support their fellow Nittany Lions on the ice.
THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP
- Penn State opens the 2018-19 campaign with a preseason contest against Brock University on Saturday inside Pegula Ice Arena.
- This marks the fourth-straight season the Nittany Lions have played a Canadian Interscholastic School (CIS) after welcoming Windsor, Queen's and Ottawa into Hockey Valley the past three seasons.
- This game will not count toward official standings nor will the stats. This also marks the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
- Penn State is 2-1 all-time during the International Game after falling to Ottawa 4-3 in overtime during last season's game. The Nittany Lions had previously defeated Windsor 5-2 during the 2015 contest and Queens 8-0 in 2016.
- The Nittany Lions still hold a 16-6 scoring edge over its opponents during this yearly contest while outshooting them 160-63.
SCOUTING BROCK
- Brock finished last season with a 20-18 overall record and a 14-9-5 mark in conference play.
- The Badgers ranked 15th in the Ontario University Athletics conference last season averaging 2.75 goals per game and while their power-play percentage of 12.9 was only good for 17th their penalty kill of 84.8 percent ranked fifth best in the league.
- Brock has already played a pair of exhibition games as well as one regular season game as they defeated Guelph 3-1 a few weeks ago.
- The Badgers are without starting goaltender Clint Windsor from one season ago who started 26 games compiling a 12-12-0 record with a 2.51 goals against average and a .930 save percentage, but they return Alex Brooks-Potts who made a pair of starts last season going 2-1-0 with a 0.73 goals against average and a .978 save percentage.
SMIRNOV AND SUCESE NAMED B1G PLAYERS TO WATCH
- Junior classmates Denis Smirnov and Nate Sucese were both named to the Preseason Big Ten Players to Watch list.
- This marks the second-consecutive season that Smirnov has made the list as he enters the 2018-19 season second on the team in career points with 74 in just 69 games while Sucese ranks not far behind with 65 points in 74 career games played. The duo has combined for 65 goals over the past two seasons.
OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN
- Senior Chase Berger was named the sixth captain in program history for the 2018-19 campaign after serving as an alternate last season. Fellow senior Kevin Kerr and junior Brandon Biro will serve as his alternates.
PERFECT ATTENDANCE AWARD
- Senior forward Chase Berger begins the 2018-19 season needing to play in at least 33 games to become the program's all-time leader in games played. The senior hasn't missed a single game in his entire Penn State career becoming the first Nittany Lion in program history to reach 100 games without missing a single one. The senior has now played in 115 straight games.
- Recent graduate Trevor Hamilton is currently the only Nittany Lion in program history to not miss a single game while wearing the Blue and White, however, he only played two seasons in Hockey Valley suiting up for 77 games while at Penn State.
- Along with Berger and Hamilton, Penn State had three other players appear in every game last season as Liam Folkes, Cole Hults and Kris Myllari skated in all 38 games during the 2017-18 season.
RECAPPING 2017-18
- Penn State is coming off its second-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance after finishing the 2017-18 season at 18-5-5 with a 9-10-5-2 mark in Big Ten, good for a fourth place finish with 34 points in league action.
- The Nittany Lions led all Big Ten teams with 138 goals and 374 points last season ranking third and fourth in the nation, respectively, in each category. Penn State returns 109 of those goals and 274 points each topping the Big Ten while ranking first and fourth in the NCAA to open the 2018-19 season.
- The Nittany Lions have 20 players returning from last season's roster as they welcome six newcomers to the 2018-19 squad.
- Andrew Sturtz became just the third player in program history to reach the 40-point mark in a season as the junior scored 14 goals while adding 26 assists. Sturtz then became the fourth Nittany Lion to ink a professional contract signing a two-way NHL deal with the Ottawa Senators forgoing his final season in Hockey Valley.
- Penn State had six players register double-digit goals while two others fell one goal shy of that mark. The Nittany Lions ranked first in the Big Ten and third in the nation averaging 3.63 goals per game during the 2017-18 season.
- Brandon Biro had a career-year for the Blue and White ranking second on the team with 31 points on nine goals and 22 assists. Fellow classmates Nate Sucese and Denis Smirnov were also top-5 in points for the Nittany Lions with 29 and 27, respectively while Smirnov led the team with 15 goals and Sucese one behind with 14. Liam Folkes also had a career-year with 13 goals and 10 assists for 23 points.
- Senior Trevor Hamilton became the first Penn State player to earn a major conference honor as he was recognized as the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year after scoring six goals while adding 23 assists for 29 points and leading the nation in blocked shots for the second-consecutive season with 109.
NEXT UP
- Penn State opens the 2018-19 regular season next week when they welcome No. 17 Clarkson to Happy Valley for a pair of contests on Thursday and Friday evening.