UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- Best friends from day one at Penn State, it only makes sense that Brandon Biro and Nate Sucese signed NHL contracts days apart.
Biro, the senior captain, inked a two-year, entry-level contract with the Buffalo Sabres March 18 and his senior counterpart Sucese signed with the Arizona Coyotes on a one-year, entry-level deal a few days later. Both deals came earlier than expected following the premature conclusion to the season.
Sucese finished the 2019-20 season with 11 goals and 27 assists for 38 points. The Fairport, New York native became Penn State's all-time leading scorer with three assists in a Jan. 11 game against Robert Morris.
"I have left some impact in the record books with being the leading scorer and leading all-time goal scorer," Sucese said. "I hope it doesn't last long and someone passes it soon, but I'm proud of that achievement."
Biro finished a strong senior season with 10 goals and 15 assists to finish with 25 points after missing some time in the middle of the season. The Sherwood Park, Alberta native will judge his time at Penn State on the impact he made on his teammates on and off the ice, rather than any accolade he picked up in the record books.
"I've never been the most vocal person," Biro said. "I think I've always tried to show up, work hard and have a positive attitude. I think the biggest thing is to try to have a relationship with every person and leave an impact with everyone you can."
Biro and Sucese never talked prior to arriving at Penn State four years ago. They were paired to live together as freshmen and met for the first time when unpacking their bags upon freshmen move-in.
The pair has ]lived together for the last four years and consider each other to be their closest friends on the team. They have spent upwards of thousands of hours watching hockey together and take their connection to the ice as line mates for the better part of four years.
"I don't know if there is a time I'm not hanging out with Nate," Biro said. "He's such an easy guy to be around. Our passion for hockey is the same and our personalities match well together and he's a guy I'm always going to have a good time with and have been blessed to be best buddies with him for four years"
The two of them are part of a 10-person senior class that has put Penn State hockey on the map. Over the last four years, they have won a Big Ten Tournament, made two NCAA Tournaments and capped it off with a Big Ten regular season championship this season.
It's fair to say Biro and Sucese have played a huge role in the success Penn State has had over the last four seasons. A class that started off with a conference tournament championship, was still able to have its championship moment in a season where so many questions were left unanswered. That came in the final regular season game of the season against Minnesota at Pegula.
"It was a special night due to senior night and so many family members were in town," Sucese said. "To get five points out of the weekend with the win with Nikita [Pavlychev] scoring and Kevin [Wall] scoring right after."
Even with the season ending the way it did, it was an appropriate moment for a group that has given so much to Penn State. Biro and Sucese helped lead the way for the Nittany Lions for four years, and now their hard work is being rewarded with NHL contracts.
Biro had previously participated in Buffalo's developmental camp and now will play for the organization whose owners, Terry and Kim Pegula, were a big reason why Division I hockey came to Happy Valley.
"It was really exciting," Biro said. "A dream come true for myself and my family. It is something that you dream about as a kid."
Sucese had some contact with Arizona towards the end of the season, but never attended any developmental camps like Biro. Regardless of that, he is ready to attack the opportunity at hand whenever he gets out west.
"I'm excited to be an Arizona Coyote and I'm fortunate to be in this position," Sucese said. "I don't want to take it for granted and would like to take advantage of the opportunity when given."
For the two best friends, their time together at Penn State has come to an end. While both Biro and Sucese will be moving across the country thousands of miles apart, they will still find ways to stay in touch with each other.
Even though Biro and Sucese won't be together anymore, they will still be living out their lifelong dreams. It's something they've always envisioned doing and while apart, they'll still be doing it along each other's side.
"During our freshman year we talked about that after four years, we wanted to play in the NHL," Biro said. "For that to come true a couple days apart is pretty special. I don't think either of us would be in the places we are right now without each other."
Ironically enough, Buffalo's AHL team plays in Rochester, New York, Sucese's hometown. Nate's hoping he can get Brandon into town a week before training camp so they can hang out one more time before Sucese heads to Arizona.
One thing both players will take to their new clubs will be their team-first attitude. No matter what personal accolades either picked up, they were always more focused on the overall success of the team and their teammates. But as Biro and Sucese move on to the next stage in their careers, they will always be grateful for their experience at Penn State.
"I'll miss playing in front of the Roar Zone and coming out from the tunnel and having it be so loud, no matter what the score was or how we were doing," Sucese said. "Everyone always showed up and cheered for us and it was a super surreal experience being able to play at Pegula for four years."
