June 9, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
Penn State men's hockey head coach Guy Gadowsky announced the spring signings of Chris Funkey (Orland Park, Ill.), Derian Hamilton (Port McNeill, British Columbia) and Vince Pedrie (Rochester, Minn.) on Tuesday afternoon.
All three Nittany Lions will be suited up in Blue and White for the 2015-16 season. Hamilton and Pedrie (pronounced PEE-dree) will patrol the blue line, while Funkey is a goaltender.
Chris Funkey
G // 5-10 // 175 // March 16, 1994 // Orland Park, Illinois // New Jersey Hitmen (USPHL)
Three-year starter for New Jersey Hitmen of the United States Premier Hockey League ... Played 31 games in 2014-15, leading the Hitmen to the USPHL championship, posting a 1.41 GAA and .947 in the playoffs ... Led the USPHL in GAA in 2013-14 (2.05) and 2014-15 (2.14) ... Played 22 regular season games in 2013-14 with a .927 save percentage ... Appeared in 27 games in 2012-13 for the Hitmen with a 2.27 GAA and .927 save percentage, dropping the numbers to 1.91 GAA and .936 in the playoffs en route to the EJHL title ... Played three years for the Chicago Mission U16 and U18 clubs.
Gadowsky on Funkey: "Chris is a fierce competitor and an athletic goaltender. In his three years, he led the Hitmen to two league championships, posting impressive numbers along the way. While serving as a captain last year, he proved himself to be not only a great teammate, but also as the premier goaltender in the USPHL."
Funkey on Penn State: "I chose Penn State because from the time I stepped on campus, and into Pegula Ice Arena, until the time I left, it felt like the place I wanted to spend the next four years. I was blown away by everything about the University, the hockey program, and the community as a whole. "
Derian Hamilton
D // 6-1 // 175 // June 6, 1994 // Port McNeill, British Columbia // Comox Valley Glacier Kings (VIJHL)
Played four seasons in the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League for the Nanaimo Buccaneers (2012-14), Comox Valley Glacier Kings (2013-15) and select games for the Powell River Kings (2015) in the British Columbia Hockey League ... In VIJHL action, totaled 173 appearances with 37 goals, 132 assists and 169 points ... In 2012-13, played 57 games with eight goals and 33 assists for Nanaimo ... In 2013-14, played a total of 57 games, scoring 13 goals and 43 assists with action split between Nanaimo and Comox Valley ... In 2014-15, started with Comox Valley tallying 16 goals and 56 assists in 58 total games ... Appeared in 13 games for Powell with a goal and five assists ... Appeared in 40 games with two goals, eight assists in 2011-12 for the North Island Silvertips of the B.C. Major Midget League.
Gadowsky on Hamilton: "Derian is a great skating defenseman. He is able to break pucks out on his own because of his skating ability. He is a smart player who moves the puck well and is able to create a lot of offense."
Hamilton on Penn State: "I chose Penn State because I have always been impressed with Penn State's academic and athletic reputation."
Vince Pedrie
D // 6-0 // 185 // Jan. 17, 1994 // Rochester, Minnesota // Tri-City Storm (USHL)
Played four seasons in the United States Hockey League for the Omaha Lancers (2011-13), Indiana Ice (2012-14), Bloomington Thunder (2014-15) and Tri-City Storm (2015) ... Totaled 203 games played with 22 goals and 45 assists ... In 2011-12, saw time in 44 games at Omaha, dishing five assists ... In 2012-13, played 11 games in Omaha with three assists before being traded to Indiana to play 45 games, scoring three goals and 12 assists ... In 2013-14, played 36 games with five goals and nine assists for the Clark Cup Champions in Indiana ... Started 2014-15 with the Bloomington Thunder as the team's alternate captain, playing 39 games and scoring nine goals with 13 assists ... Was traded to Tri-City and played the final 28 games of the season with the Storm, scoring five goals and three assists ... Played two seasons with Apple Valley High School, tallying 13 goals and 41 assists in 56 total games.
Gadowsky on Pedrie: "Vince is a good skating defenseman who likes to get up in the rush and add to offense. He has a good shot from the point. He comes to Penn State with a lot of experience having playing 203 USHL games. He should be able to step in from day one and help out the blueline."
Pedrie on Penn State: "I chose Penn State because it presented the absolute best academic and athletic opportunity I could ever have hoped for."
Funkey, Hamilton and Pedrie join the already announced Chase Berger (St. Louis, Mo.), Kevin Kerr (Bensalem, Pa.), Alec Marsh (Bridgewater, N.J.) and Matt Mendelson (Pittsburgh, Pa.) as the freshman class for the 2015-16 season.
Denis Smirnov (Dunmore, Pa.) has deferred his freshman campaign until 2016-17 as he further develops in the United States Hockey League with the Fargo Force. Smirnov signed his National Letter of Intent in November at the same time as Berger, Kerr, Marsh and Mendelson.
The Nittany Lions enter their fourth NCAA Division I season with the Big Ten's leading returning scorer in David Goodwin (Des Peres, Mo.), who had 15 goals and 19 assists in 2014-15. Goodwin's output was followed by Eric Scheid (Blaine, Minn.) who tallied 14 goals and 15 assists.
Penn State opens its 2015-16 campaign Oct. 4 by hosting the University of Windsor for The International Game at Pegula Ice Arena. The regular-season opens the following week, Oct. 10, at Canisius.