Vince Pedrie ‘21 enters his first season as assistant coach at his Alma Mater in 2025-26 after joining Guy Gadowsky’s staff in July 2025.
The Chicago, Illinois native played for the Nittany Lions from 2015-17 leading Penn State to the 2017 Big Ten Tournament Championship, its first in program history, and its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2017 before signing a two-way NHL contract with the New York Rangers and Hartford Wolfpack following his sophomore season.
Pedrie spent parts of the next four seasons with three different NHL organizations skating in 109 career American Hockey League games registering 31 points on five goals and 26 assists before hanging up his skates in 2020.
Pedrie departed Hockey Valley in 2017 after becoming the first Nittany Lion defenseman to hit the 30-point mark and the first to be named a First Team All-Big Ten selection in 2017. Pedrie set single-season records in each offensive category for a Penn State blueliner at the time with eight goals and 22 assists for 30 points. His point and goal totals, while having been matched since he left, still haven’t been surpassed.
In just two seasons at Penn State, Pedrie registered 52 points in 71 games on 16 goals and 36 assists and still ranks third in goals by a defensemen and ninth in both points and assists while his plus-31 rating is tied for tenth all-time.
Pedrie completed his bachelor’s degree in communications arts and sciences in December of 2021 following his professional hockey career and since retiring as a player, he served as the lead United States player representative for all U.S. based clients for the Will Sports Group on behalf of numerous NCAA Division I commitments and USHL/CHL draft picks over the past four years.
Pedrie is also a level 4 USA Hockey Coach having spent four-plus seasons as a youth coach, most recently as the head coach and director of player development for the Windy City Storm 16U squad. He was also a head coach for Team Illinois AAA for the 15U and 16U teams from 2020-23.