Vince Pedrie ‘21 enters his second season as assistant coach at his Alma Mater in 2026-27 after joining Guy Gadowsky’s staff in July 2025.
In his first season behind the bench in 2025-26, Pedrie helped guide Penn State back to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in the past four seasons including the second straight and fifth overall following a 21-14-2 record. It marked the seventh 20-win season in program history while the Nittany Lions also tied program records with 12 wins and 41 points in conference play to finish third in the Big Ten, its best conference finish since winning the regular-season title in 2019-20.
Penn State finished the year tied for fifth in the nation averaging 3.67 goals per game paced by a single-season record seven hat-tricks including three from junior Matt DiMarsico.
Penn State led the nation once again with a 111.2 percent capacity for the year with an average of 6,342 per game at Pegula Ice Arena setting single-season records for both categories. Penn State also had a historic first hosting 74,575 fans for an outdoor game at Beaver Stadium in January pushing its total attendance for the year to 195,064.
The Nittany Lions finished the season sixth in the Big Ten but eighth in the nation in powerplay percentage at 26 percent with a single-season program record 38 powerplay goals. Penn State also impressed on the penalty kill leading the Big Ten and ranking 12th nationally at 83.7 percent raising its PK by four full percentage points from the year prior.
Freshman Gavin McKenna, the highest rated recruit in Penn State and college hockey history, was drafted with the top overall selection by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2026 NHL Draft after finishing the year fifth in the nation with 51 points, a Penn State freshman record and the second-most in a single-season all-time. McKenna became the first-ever Nittany Lion to win the Big Ten Scoring Title with 38 points on 11 goals and 27 assists in 24 league games. McKenna was also named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Penn State’s first-ever, as well as landing on the All-Big Ten Second and All-Freshman teams. McKenna also became the second-straight Nittany Lion to be named a Hobey Baker Top-10 Finalist as well as the programs fourth All-American landing on the Second Team West.
Freshman Jackson Smith had one of the most dominant offensive seasons for a defenseman in program history scoring a Nittany Lion defenseman record 11 goals while adding 15 assists for 26 points and being named to the All-Big Ten Second Team as well as the Big Ten All-Freshman team alongside McKenna. Smith also had seven powerplay goals, a Nittany Lion defenseman record and the second-most in a single-season all-time.
Pedrie saw five Nittany Lions sign NHL contracts at the end of the season as Kevin Reidler (OTT), Matt DiMarsico (COL), Aiden Fink (NSH), Charlie Cerrato (CAR) and Gavin McKenna (TOR) each inked their entry-level contracts following the conclusion of the season. Fink concluded his Nittany Lion career third on the Penn State career scoring list with 125 points.
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.