Last Thursday night, Penn State senior Alex Limoges added another impressive milestone to his personal record book.
The forward from Winchester, Virginia, picked up his 50th career goal as he helped lead Penn State to a 2-1 overtime victory against Notre Dame. Limoges received a pass out in front of the net and beat Irish goalie Dylan St. Cyr past the blocker to secure the win.
While the goal will go into the record books at Penn State, Limoges was happier he was able to help his team get a much-needed victory, which shows how selfless Limoges is. Penn State head coach Guy Gadowsky wasn't even sure if Limoges knew that goal was his career 50th.
"I don't think he did at all," Gadowsky said. "I'm honestly not sure if he knew. Limo plays to win hockey games."
Limoges picked up another big accolade on Monday. He was named a nominee for the Hobey Baker Award, given to college hockey's best player. It is the second time in his career that Limoges was named a nominee for the award.
Awards like that show the type of player Limoges is. But it is everything he does behind the scenes that make him the person he is. It takes a lot more than just play on the ice to sport the captains "C."
In a season like this, the responsibility of the captain is greater than ever before. With the coaching staff unable to be in the locker room much, Limoges and his other captains' roles are even more important.
"Coach Gadowsky sat all the captains down before the season and said this was going to be the situation," Limoges said. "He said for us to keep preaching the culture here and our way of hockey and what it means to be a Penn State hockey player."
As difficult as this season was going to be with COVID, Penn State's 0-5 start added even more of a challenge. It could have been very easy for the team to mail it in and look ahead to next season. But, since their poor start, the Nittany Lions are 9-4.
The whole team deserves credit for the 180-degree turnaround. While Limoges may not acknowledge it, his leadership has played a huge part in setting the bar for the way Penn State should play.
"I'm proud of every guy in there because it would have been easy to say this isn't our year," Limoges said. "But the guys showed a lot of courage and resiliency."
Gadowsky acknowledged that it can be hard to speak on Limoges' impact since the head coach is rarely in the locker room. But, from working with Limoges over the years, Gadowsky knows his captain is having a monstrous impact on the rest of the team.
His teammates have noticed it as well. Junior goaltender Oskar Autio has had a front-row seat at the turnaround Penn State has had. The Espoo, Finland, native was very quick to acknowledge the job Limoges has done as the captain when asked.
"He's been a leader as long as I've been here," Autio said. "Everyone likes him, and he shows up every single day."
As young as Penn State hockey is, it has had a rich history and plenty of incredible leaders. But none of them had the responsibility that Limoges does. When you add the youth of the team and COVID, it's truly impressive what Limoges and the other captains have done with this group.
"When I talk to past captains, they all talk about the job that he has," Gadowsky said. "The job he's done to keep this positive is awesome and equally as important to what he's done on the ice."
Moving forward, Limoges will certainly continue to pick up more accolades and recognitions as the season continues. But for Limoges, he's more worried about the team's success.
Sitting at 9-9, Penn State has a lot of work left to continue to climb up the Big Ten standings. To do that, Limoges knows he has to keep being himself, and everything else will follow.
"I'm trying to be myself and same with the other seniors and juniors," Limoges said. "I think the freshmen are really picking up on it."
