UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Earlier this month head coach Guy Gadowsky and the Penn State men's ice hockey team finalized its 2023-24 recruiting class. Comprised of five forwards and two defensemen the class features five incoming freshmen and a pair of transfers.
Casey Aman // D // 6-0 // 185 // R // Johnstown, Pa. // Powell River Kings (BCHL)
A Pennsylvania native, Aman returns to his home state after spending the past two seasons with the Powell River Kings of the British Columbia Hockey League. Aman played 113 total games with the River Kings from 2021-23 scoring 17 goals while adding 46 assists for 63 points. This past season the right-handed defenseman served as team captain leading the River Kings to the BCHL playoffs. Aman had a career year with Powell in 2022-23 scoring 10 goals while adding 25 assists for 35 points in 54 regular season games, a mark good for sixth on the team and tops among defensemen. His 35 points were the 11th most among all BCHL defensemen in 2022-23. Aman was named the River Kings' Top Defenseman each of his two seasons out west and was the 2021-22 Team MVP.
Jacques Bouquot // F // 6-2 // 190 // L // South Windsor, Conn. // Vermont (Hockey East)
Bouquot arrives in Hockey Valley after spending the past four seasons at Vermont including serving as team captain during the 2022-23 campaign. Bouquot has 109 career NCAA games under his belt and is coming off a career-best season with six goals and 10 assists for 16 points. In total, Bouquot has 50 career points on 17 goals and 33 assists with 31 points and 12 goals coming over the past two seasons. Prior to his time in the Green Mountain State, Bouquot played the 2018-19 season in the BCHL split between the Wenatchee Wild and Chilliwack Chiefs where he competed alongside former Nittany Lion Kevin Wall '23. Bouquot played 47 career BCHL games scoring 14 goals with 19 assists for 33 points.
Matt DiMarsico // F // 6-0 // 180 // L // Wexford, Pa. // Green Bay Gamblers (USHL)
A product of Pittsburgh Penguins Elite, DiMarsico spent the 2022-23 season with the Green Bay Gamblers of the United States Hockey League scoring 25 goals while adding 21 assists for 46 points in 59 games. His 25 goals led the team and ranked in the top-20 of the USHL while his 46 points were good for fourth on the Gamblers. DiMarsico attended Avon Old Farms prep school during the 2021-22 season registering 36 points in 27 games on 16 goals and 20 assists. During his three-year stint with Pens Elite, DiMarsico averaged 36 goals and just under 80 points per season.
Dane Dowiak // F // 5-10 // 180 // L // Pittsburgh, Pa. // Tri-City Storm (USHL)
Dowiak spent the previous two seasons in the USHL with the Tri-City Storm playing in 116 total games and scoring 32 goals while adding 31 assists for 63 points. Dowiak helped the Storm to a 47-11-0-4 record and the Anderson Cup Championship (USHL regular season champion) in his first year with Tri-City during the 2021-22 season. Dowiak is also a Pens Elite alum spending two years in the organization from 2016-18.
Aiden Fink // F // 5-10 // 160 // R // Calgary, Alberta // Brooks Bandits (AJHL)
Fink, the 63rd-ranked North American skater by NHL central scouting for this week's draft, arrives in Hockey Valley after spending the previous two seasons with the Brooks Bandits of the Alberta Junior Hockey League. This past season, Fink was named the top forward as well as the Most Valuable Player of both the AJHL and the CJHL (Canadian Junior Hockey League) following a league-best 97 points in just 54 games. Fink tallied 41 goals and 56 assists during the regular season to rank second and fourth in the AJHL, respectively, before adding eight goals and five assists for 13 points in 15 playoff games leading the Bandits to the 2023 AJHL Championship, the seventh in team history. Brooks was also named National Champions for the second-straight season after claiming the 2023 Centennial Cup with a 4-0 blanking of the Battlefords North Stars of the SJHL. Fink led all players with six goals and seven assists for 13 points in six Centennial Cup games. The Calgary, Alberta native was also invited to compete for Team Canada in the World Junior A challenge this season where he led the tournament in scoring with 12 points on five goals and seven assists in six games.
Reese Laubach // F // 6-0 // 170 // R // San Jose, Calif. // Omaha Lancers (USHL)
A 2022 seventh round (No. 217) selection by the San Jose Sharks, Laubach comes to Penn State after spending parts of the past two seasons in the USHL most recently with the Omaha Lancers after a mid-season trade from the Youngstown Phantoms. With Omaha in 2022-23, Laubach notched 20 points on nine goals and 11 assists. In 52 career USHL games, the San Jose, California native scored 11 goals with 13 assists for 24 points. Prior to his time in the USHL, Laubach played for Northstar Christian Academy from 2020-22 amassing nearly 100 goals and over 200 points in 139 games. Laubach is just the third Californian to lace up his skates in Hockey Valley joining PJ Musico '15 and Taylor Holstrom '15.
Tanner Palocsik // D // 5-11 // 190 // R // Aliquippa, Pa. // Dartmouth (ECAC)
Palocsik arrives in Hockey Valley after four years at Dartmouth College spending his senior season in 2022-23 wearing the 'C' for head coach Reid Cashman. He appeared in 93 games on the blue line scoring 13 goals while adding 53 assists for 66 points averaging 20+ points each season in Hanover, Dartmouth did not compete in 2020-21 as the IVY League canceled all athletic events due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Palocsik is a two-time second team All-IVY selection (2019-20, 2022-23) and was a third team All-ECAC honoree this past season. Palocsik is also a product of Pens Elite where he developed from 2012-17 before playing a pair of seasons in the NCDC with the Jersey Hitmen from 2017-19 prior to enrolling at Dartmouth.
Recruiting classes are subject to change and more student-athletes can be signed throughout the entirety of the 2022-23 signing period, which runs through August 1, 2023.
