UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – With a four-point cushion over Minnesota and Ohio State, along with a bye heading into the final week of the regular season, Penn State needed a bit of chaos from the six other teams around the Big Ten to clinch its first regular season conference title in program history.
Neither Minnesota nor Ohio State could earn the maximum six points last weekend needed to surpass Penn State. By the end of Friday, the Penn State players, who together watched all the games closely over the weekend, knew they had won at least a share of the Big Ten title. With Michigan's 2-1 victory over Minnesota on Saturday, the Nittany Lions clinched the outright title.
"Friday night was a lot of fun," junior forward Alex Limoges said. "Everybody was just ecstatic…just picture everybody yelling at the top of their lungs. It was very cool and then checking the phone Sunday morning and seeing that we don't have to share this amazing trophy, so it's pretty cool."
Clinching the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten tournament means Penn State will have a first round bye through the quarterfinals and two more weeks off before playing another hockey game. Combine that time off with Penn State's bye week to close out the regular season, and it will have been three full weeks since the Nittany Lions played a game.
"I think there are a few individuals that are very happy we got the bye," head coach Guy Gadowsky said. "There's bumps and bruises at this time of the year and I think that, you know for specifically a few of the guys, there are a lot of benefits to it…I do believe that we have great leadership with that and I'm looking at it right now as a positive."
The three weeks off for Penn State will undoubtedly help the team heal before it's next game at Pegula Ice Arena, but for Penn State to win the Big Ten Tournament, it would have to make history.
In the six years the Big Ten Hockey Tournament has existed, Notre Dame in 2018 is the only team to win the tournament after having more than one week of rest after the end of the regular season..
Despite all the time off Penn State will have, the team has no concerns about rust being a factor when it takes the ice again on March 14 in the tournament semifinals.
"Obviously, it's a long season and you're pretty bruised up. Guys get injuries, so it's great for us to kind of sit back, relax and then have another week to kind of get after it and prepare for the tournament," junior defenseman Cole Hults said. "I take it as a positive. Obviously, going into practices you want to be a little bit more intense against your teammates and make sure you're staying in that game shape."
Penn State understands that the extra rest even with its next game being at Pegula doesn't guarantee a deep run into the tournament. Many of the players pointed out last year when Penn State, the four-seed in the Big Ten Tournament, took down top-seeded Ohio State in Columbus following the Buckeyes two weeks of rest between the end of the regular season and the tournament semifinals.
Now the situation is reversed, and the Nittany Lions are hoping to avoid a similar result as last year's Ohio State team.
"I don't think it changes too much," Folkes said on preparing with the additional time off. "We're just focused on what we can control, and we can't control the outcome of the other games that are going on this weekend. We're just going to be practicing hard and working out, so that's all we can do right now. I don't think there's going to be any rust from us coming out for our first game."
"I think we're going to keep doing what we've been doing because it's been working," freshman forward Kevin Wall added. "I don't think we're going to change anything up this late in the year so usually it's just the regular schedule. You really try not to think about rust. We're just looking at this as a positive that we can get more rest."
Penn State's training staff is working to determine the best course of action as far as how balance rest and recovery with staying in game shape.
For now, the team is lifting a bit heavier than normal in weight room sessions to simulate the type of workout one's body goes through while playing an actual game and practice drills have been high-intensity. The Nittany Lions will also watch a lot of film to prepare as usual. However, it doesn't appear the team will do any full scrimmages during the time off.
"I think we need an extra week off here," Limoges said. "The coaches know what we need to work on based on previous games so they're diving into practice and really taking advantage of working on the little things, and that's going to help us win playoff hockey."
The key for Penn State will be to stay disciplined throughout the next three weeks and take advantage of all the time to prepare with high-quality practices. All of the players are well aware that they are in the same position as Ohio State was last year, so it is a matter of staying hungry and being ready for a battle no matter who they play in the semifinals.
"I think just take it one day at a time and don't worry about the next," Hults said. "We don't know who we're going to play yet so we're not worried about it. We're just worried about getting right for the tournament right now and just getting healthy."
Rust concerns aside, a first round bye for Penn State means one less obstacle it has to navigate in an ultra-competitive Big Ten this year. Gadowsky has said all year that all seven teams in the conference are not just good, but excellent teams. Even with the time off, he won't make significant changes in terms of how to prepare for Penn State's next game.
"Hockey is very variable, so just like every other game, it's who prepares best and we just happen to have a little more time to do that," Gadowsky said.
