UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The energy is high in Happy Valley with the return of hockey season just days away, and head coach Guy Gadowsky beamed with excitement as he and his players discussed the impending 2023-24 campaign.
After setting the record for the largest shutout in NCAA Tournament history in their first-round 8-0 victory over Michigan Tech, the Nittany Lions dropped the Allentown Regional Final in an overtime battle with Big Ten rival, the Michigan Wolverines.
A lot has been in the works with this Nittany Lion team as they spent the offseason preparing and improving in a multitude of ways on and off the ice. Both Gadowsky and his team discussed several topics, including the continued development of their team culture, senior Christian Berger taking over as the 10th team captain in program history, additions to both sides of the team, and the high expectations following a record season.
Carrying Out the Culture
Gadowsky made sure to have the term 'culture' ringing in our ears as a reminder of everything in between the success and values this program has been built on; that is the culture that translates to success on the ice.
Challenged with the task of leading a team through a pandemic that wrenched all plans and goals of college athletics nationwide, Gadowsky humbly credits the team culture with withholding the unprecedented waters and making this group resilient.
"Culture is a word that's been thrown around and used in different ways almost as a cliche type, and I can tell you that for the success of our program last year, what our coaching staff learned, was that it cannot be overstated," said Gadowsky, "It was the main reason why we were able to have the season we had."
Further extending the concept, Gadowsky and his coaching staff pride themselves on diligently selecting athletes and coaches that will help contribute to the culture on and off the ice, to enable success for the program in years to come.
"It's not only the guys with the letters, but also the true leaders that really understand how important culture is, and they continue to put the work in, and that's what I expect."
Berger Named 10th Captain in Program History
Senior defenseman Christian Berger will be repping the 'C' this winter for the Nittany Lions, taking over the role left by former two-year captain, Paul DeNaples. Captains were selected by both teammates and coaching staff.
Coming off a record season, the St. Louis, Missouri native recorded a career-high in each offensive category scoring five goals and tallying 15 assists for a total of 20 points, while recording a team-high 70 blocked shots. Berger earned 2023 Allentown Regional All-Tournament Team accolades after recording one goal and two assists in the two games.
Berger will be the second in his immediate family to don the 'C' for the Blue & White. His older brother, Chase Berger '19, served as Penn State's sixth captain during the 2018-19 campaign and was a part of the last Nittany Lions squad to win a Big Ten Tournament Championship, in 2017.
"I'm super fortunate… my brother went here and was a captain, so obviously being super close to him, this means a lot," said Berger, "It's a huge honor, I've been super fortunate to be around a ton of amazing guys since I've been here, all great leaders, great people, and great hockey players."
Alongside Berger are alternate captains, senior forwards Xander Lamppa and Christian Sarlo.
"It's not a surprise to anyone who's been around this program because of how they are… They were chosen because of what they've done in the past three years and how they are as teammates," says Gadowsky. "All three of them, excellent students, excellent work ethic, excellent contributors to Penn State University, and that's why they were chosen."
Pagliero Elevated to Associate Head Coach
Juliano Pagliero, who is entering his third season on Guy Gadowsky's staff at Penn State was elevated to Associate Head Coach this summer.
In only his second season, Pagliero vastly improved Penn State's defensive and goaltending tactics, successfully decreasing the goals against average by half a goal per game, leading to a new program record of 2.43 GAA for Liam Souliere.
Under Pagliero's wing, Souliere became the first Nittany Lion in program history to record three shutouts in a single season, one of which being their dominant first-round victory in the Allentown Regional, winning 8-0 over Michigan Tech, a NCAA Tournament record.
Gadowsky, who was prominent on the theme of 'culture' throughout the program, capitalized on how this culture can be represented not only through the players, but through the coaching staff.
"He's a guy that brings a great environment and great culture, and is a bit of an overachiever, not someone that's had anything handed to him, that's not what this program is about, it's about guys really getting down to work," said Gadowsky.
New Nittany Lions in Hockey Valley
Concluding the 2022-23 season, the nine graduating seniors left big shoes to fill for the newcomers in Hockey Valley. The coaching staff worked tirelessly to find athletes from across the continent to continue the culture on and off the ice, and confidently believe they found the perfect group.
Penn State happily added seven new faces to the program, five Freshmen and two graduate transfers, totaling for five forwards and two defensemen.
Freshman Aidan Fink joins the Nittany Lions on the heels of a standout year in the Alberta Junior Hockey League, where he served as an alternate captain of the Brooks Bandits in the 2022-23 season. Fink was named the Top Forward and Most Valuable Player of the AJHL and CJHL (Canadian Junior Hockey League) and was drafted 218th overall by the Nashville Predators in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft.
"I think the culture is the biggest thing," said Fink on why he chose Penn State. "Even talking to the guys, the coaching staff, I just felt like this is where I should be."
Overcome with excitement on where the freshmen are at, Gadowsky was also determined to put two names in the headlines; Tanner Palocsik and Jacques Bouquot.
Defenseman Tanner Palocsik joins the Nittany Lions from Dartmouth College, where he was a two-time All-IVY League selection, and a Third Team All-ECAC honoree.
"He's a guy that's really going to push everybody, and he's making the team better for sure," said Gadowsky.
Bouquot joins Penn State from the University of Vermont, where he also served as a team captain in the 2022-23 campaign, recording career highs of six goals and 10 assists.
"He's really highly educated and experienced in that he's not taking what he knows and throwing it on the team, he's coming in with eyes wide open and doing everything he can just to enhance in the areas he sees."
Battle of the Backstops
The Nittany Lions return fan-favorite Liam Souliere in net for one last season, following a breakout year in 2022-23. Starting in all but three games, Souliere posted a career-best season for himself, and broke a multitude of program records, going down as one of the most decorated goaltenders in Nittany Lion history.
Aforementioned, under the wing of Pagliero, him and Souliere worked in tandem to elevate Penn State's defense in 2022-23, successfully reducing the teams goals-against-average by half a goal a game, breaking the single-season record for any Nittany Lion in net. Souliere also holds the single-season shutout record with three and sits third all-time in save percentage with .917 as the final lap of his collegiate career approaches.
"He's a great guy who loves to compete, and he's a leader himself. He loves to have fun, but when he's calm, he's at his best, and he's done a great job for us," says Gadowsky.
Throughout the 2022-23 season, we saw glimpses of the future from then-freshman goalie, Noah Grannan. The Germantown, Wisconsin native was a later addition to the Penn State roster as he fought to recover from an injury that kept him out of the game. Coming into the NCAA eager to make a name, he did just that quickly earning the understudy role behind Souliere.
While only starting in three games for the Blue & White, Grannan appeared in six contests tallying 76 saves through 175 minutes of play. The Nittany Lions turned to Grannan when the team found themselves in a defensive rut, naming him the starter against conference opponent Ohio State on the road, where he led his team to a victory and recorded a career-best 32 saves.
With still another year to learn from Souliere, Gadowsky boasts his progress and confidence in the future of this program, "I mean, he's a different athlete right now. I'm really excited for him, because where he was coming in as a freshman to where he is right now is a real significant difference."
"Iron Sharpens Iron" Mentality
"It's our phrase we're going to stick to this year… you can always revert back to that understanding of when someone's doing great, all it's doing is making everyone around yourself great," claims Souliere.
As consistently mentioned, this program prides itself on culture and legacy, and as more players rise to their positions, they in turn challenge each other daily to do the same. With big shoes left to fill by the 2023 graduating class, a commonly referenced concept was how they, as leaders and players, paved the way for those to come.
"I think we've all challenged ourselves to step into it because we saw those guys that came before us, Paul DeNaples, Kevin Wall they were super great leaders and we were able to learn from them… we're all wanting to be in a role like that so we'll take that into this season and base it off each other," said junior forward, Ryan Kirwan.
The aforementioned loss of DeNaples left a hole in the defensive unit, a common question mark throughout the offseason, but Gadowsky and Fisher are confident as ever in the next-up, courtesy of the iron-sharpens-iron mentality.
"This is absolutely the best defensive corps we've ever had. I think we had freshmen that came into this program last year that had their ups and downs, and by the end of the year, all of them were playing huge roles and really contributing to a team that was very close to the Frozen Four." Gadowsky especially credited Dylan Gratton, Jarod Crespo and Carter Schade for stepping into their roles on the ice and learning from those ahead of them.
Hungry as ever for the return of the season, nobody put it better than Kirwan, "I think we just want to win a championship, and we think this year is the year for us."
The Nittany Lions start their 2023-24 campaign on the road with their first three games against LIU, Clarkson and St. Lawrence before returning to Hockey Valley to take on AIC in their home opener.
