UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's ice hockey team completed its 11th season as a varsity program back in March and earlier this week announced its 2022-23 team awards.
The Nittany Lions concluded the season with a 22-16-1 record marking the second-most wins in a single-season in program history. Penn State advanced to its third NCAA Tournament in the past six that have been held (PSU would have qualified for the 2020 Tournament that was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic) knocking off No. 13 Michigan Tech, 8-0, in the most lopsided shutout in NCAA Tournament history to advance to the regional semifinals for the second time in program history. Penn State fell just one goal shy of a trip to the Frozen Four following a 2-1 overtime loss to No. 2 Michigan in one of, if not, the best game of the tournament.
In total five team voted awards were handed out including the sixth annual Team Culture Award as well as Team MVP, Top Defenseman, Freshman of the Year, and the Players' Player. Additionally, the team recognized its top scorer and top student-athlete as well as the Iron Lion, which recognizes the top performer in the weight room.
Senior Kevin Wall (Penfield, N.Y.), the team's top scorer, was also voted Penn State's Most Valuable Player by his peers. Wall finished the season with career-highs across the board with 17 goals and 14 assists for 31 points. His 17 goals tied for the eighth-most in a single-season in Penn State history and were good for ninth in the Big Ten.
Wall concludes his Penn State career ranking 10th on the all-time points list with 86 for his career while his 43 goals are good for ninth.
Fifth-year Paul DeNaples (Moscow, Pa.) was named the team's top defenseman for the second-consecutive season after tying his career-high with three goals while adding seven assists for 10 points along with blocking 49 shots and securing a plus-8 rating.
DeNaples concludes his Nittany Lion career as just the second player to don the 'C' for multiple seasons as well as finishing first all-time in plus/minus at plus-58, second in blocked shots with 269, tied for sixth in goals be a defenseman with 10 and ninth all-time in both points and assists by a defenseman with 44 and 34, respectively.
The Moscow, Pennsylvania native is also Penn State's Iron Man having played in 172-consecutive games in his Nittany Lion career. DeNaples did not miss a single game during his five years in Hockey Valley.
Jarod Crespo (Eastampton, N.J.) was voted Freshman of the Year following a strong rookie campaign. Crespo registered 46 blocks and 10 points in 33 games on a pair of goals and eight assists including one goal and one assist in Penn State's 8-0 victory over Michigan Tech in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
Junior Christian Berger (St. Louis, Mo.) was voted the 2022-23 Players' Player along with being the Top Student-Athlete for the second straight year. The Players' Player award honors someone who best exemplifies work ethic and commitment to Penn State hockey's on ice objectives.
Berger paced the Nittany Lions both defensively and offensively from the blue-line as he led the team with 70 blocked shots, the eighth-most in a single-season in Penn State history, and tallied a career-best 20 points to lead all Penn State blueliners. Berger's five goals and 15 assists resulting in those 20 points are also career-best marks.
After registering just 10 points in 42 games over his first two seasons in Hockey Valley, junior Xander Lamppa (Rochester, Minn.) had a career-year in 2022-23 with six goals and 13 assists for 19 points in 37 games played and it all started in the weight room earning him the Iron Lion Award.
The Iron Lion recipient is one of the strongest pound-for-pound athletes on the team and possesses a strong work ethic while being consistent in doing the little things right on a daily basis.
Lamppa was thrown into a roll at center in 2022-23 and took full advantage not only generating career-high offensive numbers, but finishing the year winning over 54 percent of his draws.
Finally, sophomore Carson Dyck (Lethbridge, Alberta) earned the sixth annual Team Culture Award as the student-athlete who best influences a positive culture of quality and values off the ice.
2022-23 Penn State Team Awards
Team MVP: Kevin Wall
Top Defenseman: Paul DeNaples
Freshman of the Year: Jarod Crespo
Players' Player: Christian Berger
Culture Award: Carson Dyck
Top Scorer: Kevin Wall
Top Student-Athlete: Christian Berger
Iron Lion: Xander Lamppa
