2017–18 Penn State Nittany Lions men's ice hockey season

2017–18 Penn State Nittany Lions
men's ice hockey season
NCAA Tournament, Regional semifinals
Conference4th Big Ten
Home icePegula Ice Arena
Rankings
USCHO13
USA Today13
Record
Overall18–15–5
Conference9–10–5–2
Home11–5–3
Road6–9–2
Neutral1–1–0
Coaches and captains
Head coachGuy Gadowsky
Assistant coachesKeith Fisher
Matt Lindsay
Captain(s)James Robinson
Alternate captain(s)Erik Autio
Chase Berger
Penn State Nittany Lions men's ice hockey seasons
« 2016–17 2018–19 »

The 2017–18 Penn State Nittany Lions men's ice hockey season was the 12th season of play for the program and the 5th season in the Big Ten Conference. The Nittany Lions represented Pennsylvania State University and were coached by Guy Gadowsky, in his 7th season.

Season

Fresh off of their first tournament appearance, Penn State entered the season looking to improve on their newfound success. Unfortunately, the team had some difficulty finding traction early in the season. The Nittany Lions split each of their first five weekends of the season, progressively declining in the rankings, until they were knocked out altogether by Notre Dame. Peyton Jones, who had played spectacularly as a freshman, was struggling early in his sophomore season and began losing his first grip on the starting role.

In mid-November Penn State began to find their form and began a nearly 2-month unbeaten streak. They jumped back into the top-20 after a 4–0 shoutout against Ohio State that saw Jones seize his primary job in the crease and by mid-January the team had nearly returned to their preseason ranking. Immediately following their run, however, the offense flagged and the team went 8 games without a win. Because that stretch was played almost entirely against ranked teams, PSU wasn't punished too harshly in the standings (ending up at 16), but their hopes at returning to the tournament were balanced on a razor's edge. The team was tied for 5th in the conference entering the final weekend and they were facing a top-10 team in Minnesota. Surprisingly, the Nittany Lions easily handled the Gophers and leapt ahead of Minnesota in the standings, ending up as the 4th seed by just 1 point.

When the conference tournament began, PSU was again facing Minnesota. The team took advantage of their home games and swept the Golden Gophers with a nail-biter in the second match. The four consecutive wins essentially flipped Minnesota and Penn State in the rankings. When the team headed to South Bend the following week they were ranked 12th in the country and all but guaranteed a spot in the tournament regardless of the result. The team performed well against the Fighting Irish but fell 2–3.

Penn State was ranked 12th by the NCAA selection committee and given a #3 seed in the tournament. They opened against Denver as the de facto home team since they were the host for the Midwest Regional. Unfortunately, the team was overwhelmed by the Pioneers; Denver scored the first four goals and outshout the Nittany Lions 42–27 en route to a 5–1 win.

Departures

Player Position Nationality Cause
Ricky DeRosa Forward  United States Graduation (Retired)
David Goodwin Forward  United States Graduation (Signed with SaiPa)
Sean Kohler Forward  Canada Left Program (Retired)
Vince Pedrie Defenseman  United States Signed Professional Contract (New York Rangers)
Dylan Richard Forward  Canada Graduation (Signed with Manglerud Star Ishockey)
Zach Saar Forward  United States Graduation (Signed with Utah Grizzlies)
David Thompson Defenseman  United States Graduation (Retired)

Recruiting

Player Position Nationality Age Notes
Evan Barratt Forward  United States 18 Bristol, PA; selected 90th overall in 2017
Cole Hults Defenseman  United States 19 Stoughton, WI; selected 134th overall in 2017
Alex Limoges Forward  United States 20 Winchester, VA
Adam Pilewicz Defenseman  United States 21 Sewickley, PA
Sam Sternschein Forward  United States 19 Syosset, NY
Alex Stevens Defenseman  United States 20 Plymouth, MI

Roster

As of September 3, 2017.[1]

No. S/P/C Player Class Pos Height Weight DoB Hometown Previous team NHL rights
2 Wisconsin Cole Hults Freshman D 6' 2" (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1998-05-22 Stoughton, Wisconsin Madison Capitols (USHL) LAK, 134th overall 2017
4 Ontario Kris Myllari Sophomore D 6' 2" (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1997-02-05 Kanata, Ontario Youngstown Phantoms (USHL) —
5 Pennsylvania Kevin Kerr Junior D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 183 lb (83 kg) 1996-02-09 Bensalem, Pennsylvania Tri-City Storm (USHL) —
6 New York (state) James Gobetz Sophomore D 6' 2" (1.88 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1996-08-06 St. James, New York Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL) —
7 Alberta James Robinson (C) Senior F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 194 lb (88 kg) 1994-04-09 Cochrane, Alberta Langley Rivermen (BCHL) —
8 Missouri Chase Berger (A) Junior F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 194 lb (88 kg) 1994-11-14 St. Louis, Missouri Tri-City Storm (USHL) —
9 Virginia Alex Limoges Freshman F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1997-09-16 Winchester, Virginia Waterloo Black Hawks (USHL) —
10 Alberta Brandon Biro Sophomore F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1998-03-11 Sherwood Park, Alberta Spruce Grove Saints (AJHL) —
11 Michigan Trevor Hamilton Sophomore D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 183 lb (83 kg) 1995-03-17 Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan Lincoln Stars (USHL) —
13 Russia Nikita Pavlychev Sophomore F 6' 7" (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1997-03-23 Yaroslavl, Russia Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL) PIT, 197th overall 2015
14 New York (state) Nate Sucese Sophomore F 5' 9" (1.75 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1996-07-12 Fairport, New York Dubuque Fighting Saints (USHL) —
16 New York (state) Andrew Sturtz Junior F 5' 8" (1.73 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1994-09-21 Buffalo, New York Carleton Place Canadians (CCHL) —
17 Pennsylvania Evan Barratt Freshman F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1999-02-18 Bristol, Pennsylvania USNTDP (USHL) CHI, 90th overall 2017
18 Ontario Brett Murray Sophomore F 6' 4" (1.93 m) 216 lb (98 kg) 1998-07-20 Bolton, Ontario Youngstown Phantoms (USHL) BUF, 99th overall 2016
19 British Columbia Derian Hamilton Junior D 6' 1" (1.85 m) 174 lb (79 kg) 1994-07-06 Port McNeill, British Columbia Powell River Kings (BCHL) —
20 Finland Erik Autio (A) Senior D 5' 10" (1.78 m) 183 lb (83 kg) 1995-07-23 Espoo, Finland Espoo Blues U20 (Nuorten SM-liiga) —
22 Minnesota Alex Stevens Freshman D 6' 1" (1.85 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1997-02-27 Plymouth, Minnesota Dubuque Fighting Saints (USHL) —
23 Texas Blake Gober Sophomore F 5' 8" (1.73 m) 179 lb (81 kg) 1995-01-18 Colleyville, Texas Bloomington Thunder (USHL) —
24 Pennsylvania Adam Pilewicz Freshman D 6' 1" (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1996-07-20 Sewickley, Pennsylvania Johnstown Tomahawks (NAHL) —
25 Russia Denis Smirnov Sophomore F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1997-08-12 Moscow, Russia Fargo Force (USHL) COL, 156th overall 2017
26 Ontario Liam Folkes Sophomore F 5' 8" (1.73 m) 182 lb (83 kg) 1996-02-26 Scarborough, Ontario Brockville Braves (CCHL) —
27 New York (state) Sam Sternschein Freshman F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 204 lb (93 kg) 1998-04-27 Syosset, New York Lincoln Stars (USHL) —
28 New Jersey Alec Marsh Junior F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 187 lb (85 kg) 1995-11-28 Bridgewater, New Jersey Fargo Force (USHL) —
30 Pennsylvania Matt Erlichman Senior G 5' 11" (1.8 m) 181 lb (82 kg) 1993-06-24 Bedford, Pennsylvania Three Rivers Vengeance (NA3HL) —
31 Pennsylvania Peyton Jones Junior G 6' 4" (1.93 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1996-02-14 Langhorne, Pennsylvania Lincoln Stars (USHL) —
33 Illinois Chris Funkey Senior G 5' 10" (1.78 m) 174 lb (79 kg) 1994-03-16 Orland Park, Illinois New Jersey Hitmen (USPHL) —

Standings

2017–18 Big Ten ice hockey standings
Conference record Overall record
GP W L T SOW PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
#2 Notre Dame†* 24 17 6 1 1 53 66 47 40 28 10 2 117 87
#3 Ohio State 24 14 8 2 1 45 77 55 41 26 10 5 131 85
#4 Michigan 24 11 10 3 2 38 70 72 40 22 15 3 136 121
#13 Penn State 24 9 10 5 2 34 70 72 38 18 15 5 138 120
#18 Minnesota 24 10 12 2 1 33 65 69 38 19 17 2 102 100
Wisconsin 24 8 13 3 1 28 69 83 37 14 19 4 115 124
Michigan State 24 6 16 2 1 21 53 77 36 12 22 2 91 117
Championship: March 17, 2018
† indicates conference regular season champion
* indicates conference tournament champion
Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll; updated March 12, 2018

Schedule and Results

Date Time Opponent# Rank# Site TV Decision Result Attendance Record
Exhibition
October 1 3:07 PM vs. Ottawa* #10 Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania (Exhibition)   Funkey L 3–4 OT 4,482
Regular season
October 6 7:00 PM at Clarkson* #10 Cheel Arena • Potsdam, New York   Jones L 1–2  2,317 0–1–0
October 7 7:07 PM at St. Lawrence* #10 Appleton Arena • Canton, New York   Jones W 4–1  2,758 1–1–0
October 13 8:05 PM at #7 Minnesota #11 3M Arena at Mariucci • Minneapolis, Minnesota FSN Jones W 3–1  8,840 2–1–0 (1–0–0–0)
October 15 4:05 PM at #7 Minnesota #11 3M Arena at Mariucci • Minneapolis, Minnesota FSN Jones L 3–6  8,114 2–2–0 (1–1–0–0)
October 19 7:03 PM vs. American International* #11 Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania BTN Jones W 7–5  6,018 3–2–0
October 20 7:07 PM vs. American International* #11 Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania   Funkey L 2–3 OT 6,149 3–3–0
October 27 7:07 PM vs. Michigan #15 Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania   Jones W 5–4 OT 6,096 4–3–0 (2–1–0–0)
October 28 8:07 PM vs. Michigan #15 Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania   Jones L 2–5  6,011 4–4–0 (2–2–0–0)
November 3 7:07 PM vs. Mercyhurst* #17 Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania   Funkey L 4–7  5,982 4–5–0
November 4 7:07 PM vs. Mercyhurst* #17 Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania   Jones W 7–5  6,089 5–5–0
November 10 7:35 PM at #6 Notre Dame #19 Compton Family Ice Arena • Notre Dame, Indiana   Jones L 3–5  4,574 5–6–0 (2–3–0–0)
November 11 5:40 PM at #6 Notre Dame #19 Compton Family Ice Arena • Notre Dame, Indiana NBCSN Jones L 0–1  4,160 5–7–0 (2–4–0–0)
November 17 10:05 PM at Arizona State* Gila River Arena • Glendale, Arizona   Funkey W 7–0  2,842 6–7–0
November 18 9:05 PM at Arizona State* Gila River Arena • Glendale, Arizona   Jones W 4–2  3,104 7–7–0
November 24 7:07 PM vs. Michigan State Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania   Jones W 7–2  5,931 8–7–0 (3–4–0–0)
November 25 8:07 PM vs. Michigan State Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania   Jones T 2–2 SOL 5,824 8–7–1 (3–4–1–0)
December 1 7:05 PM at #11 Ohio State Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio   Funkey T 5–5 SOW 4,281 8–7–2 (3–4–2–1)
December 2 4:05 PM at #11 Ohio State Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio   Jones W 4–0  3,861 9–7–2 (4–4–2–1)
December 8 7:05 PM vs. Robert Morris* #18 PPG Paints • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania   Jones W 5–2  2,471 10–7–2
December 9 7:07 PM vs. Robert Morris* #18 Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania   Jones W 7–4  6,089 11–7–2
January 5 7:07 PM vs. #15 Wisconsin #14 Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania   Jones W 5–1  5,822 12–7–2 (5–4–2–1)
January 6 7:03 PM vs. #15 Wisconsin #14 Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania BTN Jones T 3–3 SOW 5,963 12–7–3 (5–4–3–2)
January 12 7:37 PM vs. #6 Ohio State #13 Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania   Jones W 5–2  6,077 13–7–3 (6–4–3–2)
January 13 7:03 PM vs. #6 Ohio State #13 Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania BTN Jones L 1–5  6,182 13–8–3 (6–5–3–2)
January 19 8:03 PM at #20 Michigan #12 Yost Ice Arena • Ann Arbor, Michigan BTN Jones L 0–4  5,574 13–9–3 (6–6–3–2)
January 20 7:31 PM at #20 Michigan #12 Yost Ice Arena • Ann Arbor, Michigan   Jones L 2–3  5,800 13–10–3 (6–7–3–2)
January 26 9:03 PM at #18 Wisconsin #14 Kohl Center • Madison, Wisconsin BTN Jones L 2–4  9,190 13–11–3 (6–8–3–2)
January 27 8:07 PM at #18 Wisconsin #14 Kohl Center • Madison, Wisconsin FSW Jones T 4–4 SOL 13,689 13–11–4 (6–8–4–2)
February 2 6:33 PM vs. #2 Notre Dame #17 Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania BTN Jones L 3–5  6,229 13–12–4 (6–9–4–2)
February 3 4:07 PM vs. #2 Notre Dame #17 Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania   Jones T 2–2 SOL 6,221 13–12–5 (6–9–5–2)
February 16 6:33 PM at Michigan State #16 Munn Ice Arena • East Lansing, Michigan BTN Jones L 2–4  5,649 13–13–5 (6–10–5–2)
February 17 5:03 PM at Michigan State #16 Munn Ice Arena • East Lansing, Michigan BTN Jones W 3–2  6,368 14–13–5 (7–10–5–2)
February 23 6:33 PM vs. #8 Minnesota #18 Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania BTN Jones W 5–1  6,171 15–13–5 (8–10–5–2)
February 24 7:03 PM vs. #8 Minnesota #18 Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania BTN Jones W 5–2  6,172 16–13–5 (9–10–5–2)
Big Ten Tournament
March 2 7:03 PM vs. #11 Minnesota* #15 Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania (Big Ten Quarterfinal Game 1)   Jones W 5–3  4,170 17–13–5
March 3 7:03 PM vs. #11 Minnesota* #15 Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania (Big Ten Quarterfinal Game 2)   Jones W 6–5  5,025 18–13–5
Penn State wins series 2–0
March 10 5:33 PM at #5 Notre Dame* #12 Compton Family Ice Arena • Notre Dame, Indiana (Big Ten Semifinal) ESPNU Jones L 2–3  4,892 18–14–5
NCAA Tournament
March 24 7:07 PM vs. #3 Denver* #12 PPL Center • Allentown, Pennsylvania (NCAA Midwest Regional semifinal) ESPN3 Jones L 1–5  7,491 18–15–5
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Eastern Time.

[2]

Scoring Statistics

Name Position Games Goals Assists Points PIM
Andrew Sturtz RW 37 14 26 40 62
Brandon Biro LW 37 9 22 31 18
Nate Sucese LW 36 14 15 29 26
Trevor Hamilton D 38 6 23 29 35
Denis Smirnov LW/RW 30 15 12 27 6
Chase Berger C 38 11 16 27 4
Liam Folkes C 38 13 10 23 0
Alex Limoges C 37 7 14 21 16
Cole Hults D 38 3 17 20 43
Evan Barratt C/LW 32 11 7 18 34
Nikita Pavlychev C 35 9 5 14 36
Kris Myllari D 38 5 9 14 4
Erik Autio D 30 2 12 14 10
James Robinson F 37 6 5 11 53
Sam Sternschein LW 25 5 5 10 6
Kevin Kerr D 20 1 9 10 4
Alec Marsh C/LW 35 2 7 9 24
James Gobetz D 35 1 8 9 18
Brett Murray LW 21 1 5 6 23
Derian Hamilton D 22 1 3 4 6
Peyton Jones G 35 0 4 4 0
Blake Gober F 16 2 1 3 2
Chris Funkey G 6 0 1 1 0
Matt Erlichman G 2 0 0 0 0
Adam Pilewicz D 2 0 0 0 0
Alex Stevens D 7 0 0 0 2
Bench - - - - - 2
Total 138 236 374 424

[3]

Goaltending statistics

Name Games Minutes Wins Losses Ties Goals Against Saves Shut Outs SV % GAA
Matt Erlichman 2 4:07 0 0 0 0 1 0 1.000 0.00
Chris Funkey 6 243 1 2 1 12 104 1 .897 2.96
Peyton Jones 35 2036 17 13 4 103 983 1 .905 3.03
Empty Net - 26 - - - 5 - - - -
Total 38 2309 18 15 5 120 1088 2 .901 3.12

Rankings

Main article: 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey rankings
Poll Week
Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 (Final)
USCHO.com 10 – 11 11 15 17 19 NR NR NR 18 15 14 13 12 14 17 16 16 18 15 12 13 12 13
USA Today 10 11 11 11 15 NR NR NR NR NR NR 13 13 13 12 12 NR NR NR NR 13 12 12 12 13

*USCHO did not release a poll in week 1. [4]

Players drafted into the NHL

2018 NHL Entry Draft

No Penn State players were selected in 2018.

References

  1. ^ "2017–18 Men's Ice Hockey Roster". Penn State Nittany Lions. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
  2. ^ "Penn State Nittany Lions (Men) 2017-2018 Schedule and Results". College Hockey Stats. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  3. ^ "Penn State Univ. 2017-2018 Skater Stats". Elite Prospects. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
  4. ^ "USCHO Division I Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved December 6, 2019.