UNIVERSITY PARK – Much of the preseason buzz Penn State generated resulted from the majority of its production returning for another season. After all, Penn State returned eight of its top 10 point scorers from last year's team, which was the highest scoring in the nation. That group also included the highest scoring line in college hockey last season.
One of the biggest bright spots through four games this season though has been how quickly Penn State's freshmen have made an impact. In particular, Connor MacEachern, Connor McMenamin and Tyler Gratton have already proven to be a formidable trio on the ice.
MacEachern, McMenamin and Gratton played together on the same line in Penn State's opening series against Sacred Heart. The Nittany Lions scored 13 goals in that opening weekend series and Penn State head coach Guy Gadowsky was impressed with his freshmen line immediately.
"First of all, I thought the freshmen line was our best line," Gadowsky said after Penn State's 8-2 opening night win. "I thought that line played extremely well and looked more like Penn State hockey than our returning starters."
The three of them did not play together on the same line this past weekend against Alaska, but MacEachern has already established himself as arguably Penn State's most reliable option in the faceoff circle.
"I know there are some analytics that state that faceoffs aren't actually all that important," Gadowksy said. "I disagree with that wholeheartedly and (MacEachern) is a guy that has been giving us possession."
Penn State has won only 49.8 percent of its faceoffs through two weekends, but MacEachern has frequently played center over the years, and he expects those percentages will rise as he gets more comfortable being in that spot for Penn State.
"I played center growing up a lot," MacEachern said. "I've had the opportunity to play all three forward positions through minor hockey over the years and even here I've kind of been playing everywhere, so I think it's very beneficial for me to be able to bring that to my game and be used in the dot as well. I've just been working at that in practice to just be as strong as I can in the dot and win the puck."
MacEachern, McMenamin and Gratton have combined for five points through the first four games of this season. Each of them began practicing with the team over the summer and developed early chemistry with one another that has quickly translated to production on the ice.
"We all play a different kind of a game, but at the same time we're all very similar." MacEachern said. "We're all very fast players and want to get the puck behind the defensemen and get after it and put the puck in the back of the net."
Gratton scored his first career goal last Thursday against Alaska, and he has also impressed Gadowsky early on with his ability to make plays that do not show up in the box score. In that way, Gadowsky has seen some similarities with Gratton to Nikita Pavlychev. Both of them are very quick and physical defensively, which is an attribute Gadowsky has wanted more of this season from his team after struggling on the defensive end at times last year.
Another freshman who has made an early impact is Kevin Wall, who has yet to score but is a plus-two on the ice so far. Gadowsky consistently praised his scoring ability in the preseason, so one can only expect him to eventually break out as he continues to get more comfortable throughout the season.
"I think in other aspects of the game, I think he's looked really comfortable physically and the physicality of older players hasn't seemed to bother him one bit," Gadowsky said. "In that sense, I think his transition is going to be fine."
The Nittany Lions stumbled in their second game against Alaska last weekend, losing 4-0. They'll take on Robert Morris Friday before conference play begins the following weekend. MacEachern says a short memory will be important for Penn State to finish the nonconference season on a high note before the schedule gets tougher.
"We have to be a lot better if we want to play for a national championship and that's why we're all here," MacEachern said. "We know we have to be better so we're going to keep pushing forward and bring it this weekend."
