Just five years ago, Penn State was taking its first steps into the college hockey world, stepping into a new on-campus arena and a new competitive frontier. Kim and Terry Pegula donated $88 million as part of the $100 million total that funded the university’s upgraded Division I men’s and women’s hockey programs.
By the 10 year-mark of its operation, the aptly named Pegula Ice Arena will host the 2022 Women’s Frozen Four, as was announced Tuesday. Meanwhile, the men’s team learned it will play host to the Midwest Regional for both the 2018 and 2019 NCAA tournaments in Allentown, Pa.
The state-of-the-art Pegula Ice Arena, which has drawn praise from every corner of college hockey, helped the still relatively new Nittany Lions win the bid for hosting the tournament.
It did not take long for hockey to take hold in Central Pennsylvania. With two NHL franchises at opposite ends of the state, State College was fertile ground for the development of a new team. And with Penn State being the benefactor of a new arena, it is no surprise how popular college hockey has become in the surrounding area.
The Nittany Lion men’s first full season as a Division I team did not go well. With a record of 8-26-2, it was evident that there would be a steep learning curve when it came to competing at this level.
Four years later, Penn State is coming off its first Big Ten tournament championship and a 10-3 victory over Union in its first NCAA tournament appearance. The Nittany Lions would lose to the eventual champion Denver Pioneers in their regional final, but their emergence onto the national scene was complete.
Penn State’s quick rise in the win column and the rankings speaks to its short-order success in recruiting, a development that goes back in no small part to Pegula Ice Arena.
The first two recruiting classes were sold on the university by head coach Guy Gadowsky solely through looking at the blueprints of the arena. Without Terry and Kim Pegula’s donation, Penn State likely would have never made the jump from club to Division I, much less built a successful program in just five years.
The Penn State women and Pegula Ice Arena will host the Frozen Four at the 10-year mark of their concurrent existence. Both entities learned of their upcoming privilege after only five years of operation. (Photo by Jenn Hoffman/Pucks and Recreation)
Now the men’s team has the opportunity to play in an NCAA tournament regional as the host, and to do so only 2.5 hours away from home. The program’s on-ice success likely played a large part in securing the rights to host the two future regionals.
The women’s program has not had the same level of on-ice success. Since winning a program-best 17 games in the 2014-2015 season, they have been on a downward trend, finishing this past season at 9-21-5.
But even without much to write home about at ice level, the Nittany Lion women were still awarded the 2022 Frozen Four due to having one of the newer arenas in the country. Hosting the event will also mark the program’s 10th season since making the jump from the ACHA to the top varsity tier.
Looking back even 15 years ago, nobody could have imagined that Penn State would be hosting a Women’s Frozen Four in 2022. Prior to this calendar decade, PSU was not even a blip on the radar for most college hockey programs.
Pegula Ice Arena has shown in the past its ability to host events other than Nitanny Lions games. This past September, it hosted an NHL preseason game between the Minnesota Wild and the Pegula-owned Buffalo Sabres.
Being able to secure a license to sell alcohol at that event means that there should be no issue dealing with that for the Frozen Four. In addition, with the surrounding area bringing in 100,000 people for football every other fall weekend, there will be plenty of lodging options for those coming in March of 2022.
The NCAA granting Pegula Ice Arena the Frozen Four is a sign of just how quickly Penn State hockey has grown in the eyes of the NCAA. With its unique game-day experience and increasing reputation as a college hockey hotbed, this was the perfect situation for the governing body to try and help the women’s program gain some momentum at Penn State.
Though it is unlikely the Nittany Lions will play in the first Frozen Four they are hosting, the fact that it is a mere possibility can be linked back to the generosity of the Pegula family. A name that will forever be etched in history at the university, the Pegulas have laid the groundwork for one of the most ideal ways to build a Division I program.
Leave a Reply