MEET COACH GADOWSKY
Guy Gadowsky guides the Nittany Lions in his 26th collegiate season at the helm of an NCAA Division I program and his 14th at Penn State in 2025-26. Gadowsky’s 404 victories entering the 2025-26 season rank 29th all-time and are eighth among active coaches.
AT PENN STATE
This past season, Gadowsky led Penn State to its first-ever Frozen Four on the heels of an unprecedented second-half turnaround that saw the Nittany Lions go 13-4-4 down the stretch to earn the final at-large bid into the 2025 NCAA Tournament. Penn State was No. 31 in the PairWise in January and climbed all the way to No. 13 by season’s end and finished the year with its highest-ever final ranking at No. 5 in both national polls. Penn State defeated No. 3 overall seed Maine, 5-1, before securing a 3-2 overtime victory against UConn to win the Allentown Regional and advance to St. Louis where a hard-fought 3-1 defeat to BU ended a Cinderella run.
Gadowsky saw Penn State earn seven of a possible 12 points against the No. 1 team in the nation, Michigan State, securing a pair of shootout wins and one regulation win in four games against the Spartans. Penn State registered its sixth 20+-win season under Gadowsky finishing the year 22-14-4, with the 22 wins tying for the second-most in a single-season all-time.
Gadowsky secured career victory No. 400 in thrilling fashion with an overtime win against No. 2 Minnesota at Pegula Ice Arena to close out the month of February, captain Simon Mack scored the game-winner.
Mack had a breakthrough senior campaign, one of the best seasons for a Nittany Lion defenseman all-time, earning Second Team All-Big Ten honors after registering 30 points on three goals and 27 assists with a plus-23 rating and 71 blocked shots. Mack’s point total tied the Penn State single-season record for blueliners while ranking third in the Big Ten and tied for eighth nationally among defensemen. His 27 assists are the most-ever by a Penn State d-man in a single season and also paced the Big Ten while ranking fourth nationally.
Sophomore Aiden Fink became Penn State’s first-ever Hobey Baker Award Top-10 Finalist while earning second team west All-American accolades, the third All-American in program history, as well as becoming the first Nittany Lion to be named a unanimous First Team All-Conference selection. Fink set new single-season records for points (53) and assists (30) while tying the single-season goal mark at 23. Fink finished the year as the Big Ten leader in points and assists while ranking third in goals. After leading the nation in scoring for most of the second half, Fink’s 53 points ranked fourth at year’s end while his 1.33 points per game average was good for second in the Big Ten and third in the nation and is the second-best Nittany Lion mark all-time.
Junior goaltender Arsenii Sergeev had a career year for the Nittany Lions earning Second Team All-Big Ten honors becoming the first Penn State goaltender to land first or second team laurels. Sergeev was named First Star of the Week on three separate occasions throughout the year and inked his entry-level contract with the Calgary Flames following the season. Sergeev set a Penn State single-season record with four shutouts leading the Big Ten and ranking tied for fourth in the nation while his 19 wins also paced the conference and tied for the second-most in a single-season in program history. Sergeev’s .919 save percentage and 2.54 goals-against average each ranked as the third-best in a single-season by a Nittany Lion net-minder.
Gadowsky also saw a pair of freshmen burst onto the scene and become the second-highest rookie scoring duo in program history as both Wiebusch and Charlie Cerrato combined for 75 points on 29 goals and 46 assists. Cerrato was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team while Wiebusch earned himself Big Ten All-Tournament Team and Allentown Regional All-Tournament team honors. Cerrato led the Big Ten and ranked second nationally for points by a freshman with 42, the second-most in Penn State history, while ranking tops in the Big Ten for rookie goal scoring and assists with 15 and 27, respectively, marks that placed him third and tied for second in the nation among freshmen.
As a team, Penn State averaged 3.48 goals per game, a mark good for third in the Big Ten and eighth nationally as the 139 goals scored rank as the fourth-most in a single-season all-time and most since scoring a program record 177 during the 2018-19 campaign.
Gadowsky watched as the specialty teams continued to improve under his guidance in 2024-25 as the powerplay ranked third in the Big Ten and 16th nationally converting at 23.6 percent while the 33 powerplay goals tied for the second-most in a single-season in program history and ranked first in the Big Ten and tied for fifth nationally. Fink tied his own single-season record and ranked in the top-10 nationally with eight powerplay goals while freshman JJ Wiebusch added five to lead all Big Ten rookies while ranking tied for eighth in the nation among first-year players. The penalty kill unit finished the season third in the Big Ten and was a perfect 40-for-40 in non-conference games marking the first time in the history of the program the Nittany Lions didn’t surrender a man-advantage goal in non-conference play (13 games).
In 2023-24, the Nittany Lions won the first four games of the season for the second-straight year as Gadowsky led Penn State to a 15-win campaign including a trio of victories over top-15 opponents, No. 12 Michigan, No. 7 Minnesota and No. 14 Michigan. Penn State also secured its first-ever season sweep of Ohio State following its first-ever sweep in Columbus, only the third such instance in which the Nittany Lions have won all four games in a season against a conference foe and first since the 2016-17 season. The Nittany Lions also secured their largest comeback in program history to start the New Year with five-unanswered goals in a 7-6 victory over Army West Point after trailing 6-2 midway through the game.
Gadowsky earned his 200th career victory as the Nittany Lion Bench Boss, also the 200th for the program, during a 5-3 victory against No. 12 Michigan at Yost Ice Arena on November 18, 2023, the first Penn State victory in Ann Arbor in four years.
Gadowsky saw freshman Aiden Fink land on the B1G All-Freshman team as the only unanimous selection becoming the first Penn State representative in eight seasons. Fink was also an All-Big Ten honorable mention and a Hobey Baker nominee as he led the team with 34 points, the third most by a Nittany Lion freshman all-time while his 19 assists and 15 goals were good for second and fifth, respectively.
Gadowsky also saw junior Dylan Lugris earn the 2024 Hockey Humanitarian Award as college hockey’s finest citizen. Lugris became the second HHA recipient to be coached by Gadowsky as he is now the only coach to roster multiple Humanitarian winners. Lugris is also now just the second Nittany Lion to receive a national award joining PJ Musico, the 2015 Derek Hines Unsung Hero Award winner.
In the classroom Penn State bolstered the highest grade point average for a men's team in Happy Valley during the fall semester with a 3.50 GPA and the Nittany Lions had a Big Ten best nine distiguished scholars recognized in the spring.
The Nittany Lions once again led the country in attendance capacity during the 2023-24 season at 110.7 percent while registering their three highest attended games in program history.
In 2022-23, Gadowsky led the Nittany Lions to their third NCAA Tournament appearance over the past six that have been played (The 2020 postseason was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic with Penn State sitting No. 7 in the PairWise). Penn State advanced to the Allentown Regional Final following an 8-0 victory over Michigan Tech, the largest shutout in NCAA Tournament history. The Nittany Lions finished the year 22-16-1 registering the second-most wins in a single-season in program history and it was also the fifth 20-win season over the past eight years for Penn State under Gadowsky.Led by goaltender Liam Souliere, Penn State improved drastically on the defensive side of the puck lowering its goals-against average by nearly a half goal per game from the 2021-22 campaign. Souliere had one of the best seasons in program history between the pipes as his 2.43 goals-against average set a new Penn State single-season record while his 19 wins are the second-most all time and his .917 save percentage is the third best mark.
Penn State climbed to as high as No. 5 during the 2022-23 season and became the first team in NCAA history to defeat separate No. 1 ranked teams in back-to-back weeks when they defeated No. 1 Michigan and No. 1 Minnesota on consecutive weekends in November. The Nittany Lions finished the year with a No. 8 final ranking in both national polls to tie their highest finish all-time.
In 2021-22, Gadowsky led the Nittany Lions back to the Big Ten semifinals for the seventh-straight season and the eighth time overall in the nine-year history of the conference. Both marks tie for the most all-time.
Penn State became the first road team in league history to win a best-of-three quarterfinal series defeating No. 12 Ohio State in back-to-back games after starting in a one-game hole following an opening game loss.
Throughout the 2021-22 season, Penn State had marquee wins against No. 6 North Dakota in the first-ever meeting between the two schools. The Nittany Lions defeated the Fighting Hawks, 6-4, in front of a sold-out crowd at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee during the 2021 US Hockey Hall of Fame Game. The Nittany Lions also defeated No. 7 Minnesota on the road for just the sixth time in program history.
Gadowsky also saw former captain Brandon Biro ‘20 make his NHL debut as he suited up for the Buffalo Sabres back in February becoming the third former Nittany Lion to lace ‘em up in the show.
In a season unlike any other in 2020-21, Gadowsky led Penn State back to the Big Ten semifinals for the sixth consecutive season and the seventh time overall as he became the winningest coach in the history of the tournament after securing his 11th victory in B1G tournament play.
The Bench Boss registered his 150th career victory at Penn State in his 300th game as Nittany Lion head coach on January 9, 2021 at Ohio State.
Penn State captain Alex Limoges went on to sign an AHL contract with the San Diego Gulls and in just 23 games scored 11 goals while adding 10 assists for 21 points.
Following the season Aarne Talvitie inked his entry-level, NHL contract with the New Jersey Devils while earlier in the season former Nittany Lion Peyton Jones also put pen to paper on an NHL contract giving Penn State six NHL signees in the past two seasons and 10 overall.
Near the conclusion of the 2020-21 NHL season former Penn State forward Brett Murray (2017-18) made his NHL debut with the Buffalo Sabres becoming the second Nittany Lions to skate in an NHL contest.
Gadowsky led Penn State to its first-ever Big Ten regular-season championship during the 2019-20 season with a single-season program record 12 conference victories and 41 points. The Penn State bench boss was named a finalist for the 2019-20 Big Ten Coach of the Year award while leading the Nittany Lions to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals for the sixth time in the seven-year history of the conference. Penn State earned a first-round bye straight to the semifinals.
Gadowsky secured his seventh career 20-win season and his fourth in the past five years at Penn State in 2019-20 becoming one of just two Big Ten programs to have four 20-win seasons over the past five years. He also had the Nittany Lions in line for their third NCAA Tournament appearance before the postseason was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic with Penn State finishing the season No. 7 in the final PairWise rankings marking the highest finish in program history.
Gadowsky registered his 300th career victory in October and currently ranks tied for 78th all-time throughout all divisions with 318 victories. Among Division I coaches all-time, Gadowsky ranks 45th with his 318 wins and is currently 13th among active NCAA Division I coaches.
In 2019-20 he coached Penn State’s first-ever CCM/AHCA All-Americans as both Cole Hults and Nate Sucese landed on the Second-Team West while also being named First-Team All-Big Ten. Hults earned Penn State’s first-ever Big Ten Player of the Year honors while also garnering Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year while Sucese took over as the program’s all-time leader in goals (61) and points (140) during the 2019-20 season.
At the conclusion of the season the Nittany Lions saw four players sign NHL entry-level contracts while three others signed AHL deals.
In 2018-19, Gadowsky led Penn State to its second-highest win total in program history with 22, and became the winningest coach in Big Ten Tournament history, compiling a 10-6 record over six seasons. The Nittany Lions returned to the Big Ten Championship game for the second time in the past three seasons, but dropped a tough 3-2 decision at Notre Dame.
Penn State secured its most Big Ten wins in program history with 11 while its 35 points were also the most in a single season. The Nittany Lions once again led the nation in goals per game with a new single-season record of 4.54 while also setting single-season records for goals (177), assists (301) and points (478), each of which were also tops in the nation.
Gadowsky saw sophomore Alex Limoges become the first Nittany Lion ever to lead the nation in points as he set a single-season program record with 50 while his 23 goals were also a new program standard and ranked tied for second in the nation.
Sophomore Evan Barratt became just the fourth player in program history and third in the last three seasons to earn first-team All-Big Ten honors. Barratt, along with teammate Aarne Talvitie, also became the first Niittany Lions ever to represent their countries at the IIHF World Junior Championship. Talvitie captained Finland to the gold medal while Barratt helped Team USA take home the silver.
Despite the win total and records the Nittany Lions fell one spot short of the NCAA Tournament, finishing the season at No. 16 in the PairWise rankings.
Gadowsky led his Nittany Lions to their second-straight NCAA Tournament in 2017-18. Penn State was able to take the short drive down to Allentown, Pennsylvania, as it served as host for the Midwest Regional. The Nittany Lions’ season was cut short at the hands of the Denver Pioneers, 5-1, in the NCAA Midwest Regional semifinal.
Earlier in the 2017-18 season, Gadowsky secured his 100th career victory at Penn State, also the 100th victory for the program, a 5-1 win over Minnesota on February 23, 2018. That victory was the start of the Nittany Lions first-ever sweep of the Golden Gophers, which secured home ice for Penn State in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals. Penn State went on to sweep Minnesota in two games, clinching the series and its fourth B1G Semifinal appearance in five years.
Junior Andrew Sturtz became just the second member of the 100-point club at Penn State in 2017-18 and the all-time leading goal scorer in program history. Sturtz graduated early and signed an NHL deal with the Ottawa Senators.
Gadowsky also coached Trevor Hamilton to a Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year award, the first major conference honor awarded to a Nittany Lion. To that point, Hamilton joined Casey Bailey and Vince Pedrie as the only first-team All-Conference members in program history.
In 2016-17, Gadowsky led Penn State to its most successful season ever, compiling a record of 25-12-2. Penn State won the 2017 Big Ten Tournament and earned its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance, falling one game shy of the Frozen Four. The Nittany Lions defeated Union 10-3, tying the record for most goals in a team’s tournament debut, before bowing out to eventual national champion Denver, 6-3, in the Midwest Regional final.
Penn State opened the 2016-17 season 13-1-1 using a program-best 11-game winning streak. The Nittany Lions also earned their first-ever uscho.com No. 1 national ranking on Jan. 17, 2017, with a 16-2-1 record. Penn State finished the season as the highest-scoring team in the country, averaging 4.10 goals per game.
The 2016-17 Nittany Lions also set numerous single-season team records on offense, including most goals (160), assists (265), points (425), shots (1,719), goals/gm (4.10) and shots/gm (44.1) to go along with the program-best 25 victories.
Penn State had its first 20-win season under Gadowsky in 2015-16, finishing third in the Big Ten with a 21-13-4-1 overall record.
Penn State rose as high as 14th in the uscho.com National Poll in the 2015-16 campaign. On February 6, the Nittany Lions earned their first-ever victory at Minnesota’s Mariucci Arena as they defeated the Gophers 5-3.
PSU secured a 5-2 triumph over Wisconsin in the Big Ten quarterfinals before a loss to eventual champion Michigan in the semifinals.
Of Gadowsky’s 24 players on the 2015-16 roster, eight signed professional contracts in the off-season ranging from the ECHL, AHL, NHL and Europe.
His 2014-15 Nittany Lions exceeded expectations all season, with a winning record in overall action (18-15-4) and Big Ten play (10-9-1-0), while earning the program’s first national ranking. Despite being picked sixth in the preseason, Gadowsky’s team was in the hunt for a Big Ten title until the final weekend of the season.
Under Gadowsky’s tutelage, junior Casey Bailey led the Big Ten in scoring and parlayed his outstanding season into a two-year contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Bailey was an All-Big Ten first-team honoree, while six other Nittany Lions earned honorable-mention recognition from the league coaches.
The 2014-15 season also saw Gadowsky reach the 200-win plateau in historic fashion when his Lions knocked off No. 4 UMass Lowell, 4-1 on Nov. 15, 2014. The program’s rise from its first year in the Big Ten to its sophomore campaign saw gains of 10 wins overall and seven wins in conference play.
Penn State earned wins over every Big Ten team in 2014-15 including a season sweep of perennial power Wisconsin and a first win over Big Ten champion Minnesota on THON Night.
During the 2013-14 campaign, the bench boss guided the Nittany Lions in its first season of Big Ten Conference play. Penn State faced seven NCAA tournament teams and three Frozen Four participants, and capped its season with a 2-1 double-overtime victory against Michigan in the Big Ten quarterfinals.
Gadowsky led the Nittany Lions to double-digit wins (13-14-0) during their inaugural NCAA Division I season in 2012-13, with several marquee victories, including wins against three future Big Ten opponents (Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin). Penn State also topped Vermont at Wells Fargo Arena in front of the largest crowd to watch a college hockey game in an NHL barn (19,529).
Gadowsky steered Penn State’s final season in the ACHA in 2011-12, while recruiting for the future. That team went 29-5-0.
AT PRINCETON
Before arriving in Happy Valley, Gadowsky served as Princeton’s bench boss for seven seasons. In his first five years as head coach, the Tigers improved their win total in each season. In 2008-09, Princeton captured a program-record 22 victories and earned its second-straight NCAA Tournament appearance.
Gadowsky took a program that had a won a combined eight games in the two seasons prior to his arrival and guided it to both the ECAC Hockey Tournament and Ivy League crowns in 2007-08. The team earned its first NCAA Tournament berth since 1998, and Gadowsky garnered ECAC Hockey Coach of the Year honors and was a finalist for the Spencer Penrose Award, presented to Division I hockey’s top coach. He was also named Inside College Hockey National Coach of the Year.
More than 20 Tiger players went on to sign professional contracts, with Kevin Westgarth playing for the Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings in 2011-12. Gadowsky also coached two ECAC and Ivy League Players of the Year as Lee Jubinville (2008) and Zane Kalemba (2009) each won the award in their junior seasons.
AT ALASKA
Gadowsky spent five seasons as head coach of Alaska (1999-2004), where he took a team that had not won more than 14 games in any of the previous five seasons since joining the then-Central Collegiate Hockey Association. After two rebuilding seasons, the 2002 CCHA Coach of the Year led the Nanooks, ranked 11th nationally at the end of the season, to their only 20-win campaign since joining the conference. He followed that up with 15 wins in 2002-03 and 16 victories his last season.
Alaska twice hosted the first round of the CCHA playoffs in a three-year span, a feat never accomplished prior to Gadowsky’s arrival. During his tenure with the Nanooks, his teams set school records for team grade-point average, wins and game attendance.
BEFORE COLLEGE COACHING
Before joining the collegiate ranks, Gadowsky spent three seasons (1996-99) as head coach and director of hockey operations for the Fresno Falcons of the West Coast Hockey League. He led the squad to the playoffs in each season and left the team as the winningest coach in franchise history. In his first season, Gadowsky posted a 38-win campaign and garnered WCHL Coach of the Year accolades.
PLAYING CAREER
The Edmonton, Alberta, native played collegiately at Colorado College from 1985-89, serving as team captain as a senior, while also earning the team’s Rodman Award, given for outstanding leadership and sportsmanship. A three-time WCHA All-Academic team member, he collected 46 points in 134 career games.
Upon graduation, Gadowsky embarked on a seven-year professional career that included stops with the ECHL’s Richmond Renegades, the IHL’s San Diego Gulls and the AHL’s St. John’s Maple Leafs and Prince Edward Island Senators. Gadowsky saved his best season for last as he totaled 52 goals and 29 assists for the Fresno Falcons in 1995-96. He earned league MVP and first-team all-star recognition.
Gadowsky also competed with the Canadian National Team and played professionally in Austria, the Netherlands and Sweden during the 1993-94 season.
PERSONAL LIFE
Gadowsky and his wife, Melissa, have two sons, Mac and Magnus, and a daughter, Mia.