Men's Hockey: Media Day NotebookMen's Hockey: Media Day Notebook

Men's Hockey: Media Day Notebook

Written by: Sofia Miranda - student writer

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The puck is about to drop for the first time in the 2025-26 season as Penn State men’s hockey faces its first opponent, No. 14 Arizona State, October 3-4. The team looks forward to continuing its success after a run to the Frozen Four last season.

Before the first faceoff, head coach Guy Gadowsky and players met with the media on Monday to discuss last season’s run, the new leadership group, expectations and the newcomers.

The New Leadership Group

A new captain for the hockey program was bound to be announced with last year’s captain Simon Mack’s graduation. After showcasing great leadership skills, even as an underclassman, junior Dane Dowiak was named the 12th captain in program history. 

“I look at all the past captains that have been here and the leadership groups that I’ve been lucky to be around. I was excited,” Dowiak said. “Obviously, it's a huge honor. Those guys have taught me so much, so I feel like I’m well prepared. But, at the same time, I just follow the support from my teammates. It wasn't one person that decided, it was the whole team.” 

The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native will be joined by senior Jarod Crespo, who will also be assuming a leadership position for the first time in his collegiate career as alternate captain.  

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The Rookies and Transfers 

Penn State’s recruiting stood out amongst all programs nationally this season. The team was able to put more depth into all areas of the ice.   

“When you get a taste of winning, you just want to do it more. It's addictive, right? Obviously, our end goal is to win a national championship, we're going to do it for Penn State,” Dowiak said. “There's a lot of new faces and it's going to take some time to get used to. It's like that every year. So, I think the more that we just focus on game one, taking it day by day in practice, and putting our best foot forward, we just need to focus on ourselves right now.” 

On offense, the player to watch is Gavin McKenna. The Yukon, Canada, native had a tremendous season in the WHL last year, tallying 129 points on 41 goals and 88 assists. The freshman is currently rated as the No. 1 prospect for the 2026 NHL draft.  

“His work ethic is excellent; he fits into our locker room extremely well. He’s extremely quick and fast, he’s also in great shape,” Gadowsky said. “He does think the game differently, he’s a different animal when it comes to that, not only compared to other freshmen but compared to anybody.” 

The differences between the WHL and NCAA might be the biggest challenges for McKenna. He believes that the change from 68 games to 34 games will be the most impactful change to his game. However, the freshman believes it will allow him to spend more time in the gym and allow him to get stronger and put on weight.

“I think part of my game is patience… I like to slow the game down and have guys come to me where it's open and I just kind of know when to do it and when not to,” McKenna said. “I think, obviously, college is a very fast paced game and it's a little different from the (WHL), but I think it's been going good so far in practices.” 

Between the pipes, with 2024-25 starting netminder Arsenii Sergeev inking his NHL entry-level contract, the need for a new net-minder was imminent. The Nittany Lions looked both in the transfer portal and for rookies to fulfill that void.

Sophomore Kevin Reidler spent his first season of collegiate hockey at Nebraska-Omaha, posting a record of 4-1-0 and a .920 save percentage. According to Gadowsky, he is likely to be the starting goaltender in the beginning of the season and is “Sergeev 2.0.”

However, the coaching staff also has a choice in freshman Josh Fleming, who Gadowsky also mentioned to be “extremely impressed” about.  

Offense Revamped  

Apart from the new additions to the team, the top six scorers on the team are coming back. Hobey Baker Top-10 Finalist and the team’s lead scorer last season, junior Aiden Fink, is one of them.  

“I can tell you he’s hungry. He really wants to build off what he did and what the team did last year,” Gadowsky said. “He’s not satisfied, he’s proud of what we accomplished but he’s not satisfied.” 

Last year’s freshmen class impressed on the ice, taking on big roles in leading the Nittany Lions to the Frozen Four. Now a sophomore, Charlie Cerrato was one of the scoring leaders last year.

“It's new not being the young guy, it's a little different, but it's fun,” Cerrato said.“You have more experience coming in. You have fun with the freshmen, teach them a couple new things, and I think it's great.” 

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Defense Fortified 

Even with the loss of Cade Christenson to start the season, the team still has four veterans as well as support from the newcomers on the blueline.

Junior Mac Gadowsky is a big addition after transferring from West Point Army. The Happy Valley native led all defensemen in the country in goals last season and was also named a Hobey Baker Award Top 10 Finalist after registering 42 points. 

“I know there's a lot of eyes on us with how well the team responded last year to being down 0-9 in Big Ten play. That response to be able to climb back from that and get to the Frozen Four is incredible,” Mac Gadowsky said. “You don't see that too often and it speaks volumes to the culture that you know the guys had last year and we hope to continue this year. It’s an incredible feeling to be a part of this program and this culture.” 

Jackson Smith is another one of the recruiting highs of this offseason. The 6-foot-4 defenseman was the 14th overall pick of the 2025 draft, the first first-rounder in program history.  

 

Expectations Set 

Even though multiple players showcased the motto of  thinking one game at a time there’s one game that they all are looking forward to in January: the Beaver Stadium outdoor game.  

“I'm super excited. We played at Wrigley Field last year and that was a super cool experience. You have to kind of feel it out at first, but it's a dream of mine,” Fink said. “I know all the alumni are a little mad that it didn't happen during their time. We can't wait for it, but we're going to focus on Arizona State for now.” 

After the program’s first trip to the Frozen Four, the expectations have been on the rise. However, the team does not shy away and welcomes the pressure.  

“We know what we did last year is pretty special. We're going to have a target on our back every night, and we're going to get every team's best game,” Dowiak said. “We’re not going to change what we have to do each night. We're going to hold to our own values and what we know as a team, and I don't think we're looking to make too much of the numbers, where we're ranked or anything. We just want to win.”