2012-13 Schedule Finalized

when will penn state release their 2012-13 schedule. also, what kind of ticket prices do you think they will charge for the last year in the greenburg?

stackhouse wrote:when will penn state release their 2012-13 schedule. also, what kind of ticket prices do you think they will charge for the last year in the greenburg?

I wish we knew! Normally by now, most places have released their schedules, or at least more than have now. As of now, Northeastern, Bowling Green, Northern Michigan, St. Cloud State, Bemidji State, Colorado College, North Dakota, University of Massachusetts, and RPI have officially released their schedules, while Wisconsin and Denver have unofficially released theirs. A lot of peer institutions, in particular the rest of the future B1G conference (excepting Wisconsin) have not released anything. Part of why they wait so long is because they need the out of conference games to be officially signed (sometimes at neutral venues).

I'm personally hoping for something during Blue-White Weekend.

As far as tickets go, that's a good question. I imagine they might increase prices slightly, but I don't think they'll increase them a LOT. That's all speculation, though.

Brittany wrote:

stackhouse wrote:when will penn state release their 2012-13 schedule. also, what kind of ticket prices do you think they will charge for the last year in the greenburg?

I wish we knew! Normally by now, most places have released their schedules, or at least more than have now. As of now, Northeastern, Bowling Green, Northern Michigan, St. Cloud State, Bemidji State, Colorado College, North Dakota, University of Massachusetts, and RPI have officially released their schedules, while Wisconsin and Denver have unofficially released theirs. A lot of peer institutions, in particular the rest of the future B1G conference (excepting Wisconsin) have not released anything. Part of why they wait so long is because they need the out of conference games to be officially signed (sometimes at neutral venues).

I'm personally hoping for something during Blue-White Weekend.

As far as tickets go, that's a good question. I imagine they might increase prices slightly, but I don't think they'll increase them a LOT. That's all speculation, though.

When I got tickets last year I struck up a conversation with the ticket salesperson (who may or may not be in-the-know) and I mentioned that Cornell charges $18.00/ticket and Michigan charges $36.00/ticket in the contexts that the prices at Penn State are a real bargain, and she told me that in the foreseeable future (I think that she meant next season) that they will try to keep prices well below both of the levels of Cornell and Michigan. So, I would expect nothing more than a marginal price increase if any increase at all next season. I am not sure what we can expect after the move to Pegula Ice Arena.

Brittany wrote:

stackhouse wrote:when will penn state release their 2012-13 schedule. also, what kind of ticket prices do you think they will charge for the last year in the greenburg?

I wish we knew! Normally by now, most places have released their schedules, or at least more than have now. As of now, Northeastern, Bowling Green, Northern Michigan, St. Cloud State, Bemidji State, Colorado College, North Dakota, University of Massachusetts, and RPI have officially released their schedules, while Wisconsin and Denver have unofficially released theirs. A lot of peer institutions, in particular the rest of the future B1G conference (excepting Wisconsin) have not released anything. Part of why they wait so long is because they need the out of conference games to be officially signed (sometimes at neutral venues)

We can add Colgate to the list of teams that Penn State is not playing. Not that it was expected that Penn State would play Colgate, but I hope that Penn State begins cultivating some OOC rivalries with Eastern (ECAC and Hockey East) teams.

i would like to be able to easily attend some close away games. the fact that hockey plays 2 games in 2 days makes for a full weekend of the college action.

stackhouse wrote:i would like to be able to easily attend some close away games. the fact that hockey plays 2 games in 2 days makes for a full weekend of the college action.

Any specific teams close by that you'd like to see Penn State play away? I was pulling for a Cornell away game this season as Lynah and a visit to Pegula from Cornell next season, but that seems out of the cards now.

amg424 wrote:

Brittany wrote:

stackhouse wrote:when will penn state release their 2012-13 schedule. also, what kind of ticket prices do you think they will charge for the last year in the greenburg?

I wish we knew! Normally by now, most places have released their schedules, or at least more than have now. As of now, Northeastern, Bowling Green, Northern Michigan, St. Cloud State, Bemidji State, Colorado College, North Dakota, University of Massachusetts, and RPI have officially released their schedules, while Wisconsin and Denver have unofficially released theirs. A lot of peer institutions, in particular the rest of the future B1G conference (excepting Wisconsin) have not released anything. Part of why they wait so long is because they need the out of conference games to be officially signed (sometimes at neutral venues)

We can add Colgate to the list of teams that Penn State is not playing. Not that it was expected that Penn State would play Colgate, but I hope that Penn State begins cultivating some OOC rivalries with Eastern (ECAC and Hockey East) teams.

Minnesota announced its schedule this afternoon. Penn State is not a scheduled opponent next season. It is not surprising at all considering how Gopher fans and the WCHA generally have treated the idea of B1G Hockey and Penn State hockey in general. I still appreciate that Wisconsin and Michigan State have agreed to play Penn State during the transitional year.

since we have never done this before, when do most schools announce their schedules?

stackhouse wrote:since we have never done this before, when do most schools announce their schedules?

They are trickling out now. I think I heard that PSU will announce theirs in early May, but I could be making that up.

The blog Thank you Terry is composing a schedule as info come out. Apparently, we'll play a bunch of ACHA (club) teams. I think we're likely to play fellow independent Alabama-Huntsville, possibly even home and away, since we'll both be looking for opponents, especially late in the season when everyone else is deep in conference play. Otherwise, I think it will be heavy on Atlantic Hockey and ECAC Hockey teams given the geography and given the level of play from those leagues (Atlantic Hockey has limited scholarships, so they are generally considered the weakest league).

Suffice to say, I think the home schedule in 2012-13 will be pretty unremarkable -- understandably, mind you, given that we are a new program and with the small rink size this season. We'll do a lot of away trips in 2012-13 and have return home ones in 2013-14 when the PIA is open.

sideshowbob wrote:

stackhouse wrote:since we have never done this before, when do most schools announce their schedules?

They are trickling out now. I think I heard that PSU will announce theirs in early May, but I could be making that up.

The blog Thank you Terry is composing a schedule as info come out. Apparently, we'll play a bunch of ACHA (club) teams. I think we're likely to play fellow independent Alabama-Huntsville, possibly even home and away, since we'll both be looking for opponents, especially late in the season when everyone else is deep in conference play. Otherwise, I think it will be heavy on Atlantic Hockey and ECAC Hockey teams given the geography and given the level of play from those leagues (Atlantic Hockey has limited scholarships, so they are generally considered the weakest league).

Suffice to say, I think the home schedule in 2012-13 will be pretty unremarkable -- understandably, mind you, given that we are a new program and with the small rink size this season. We'll do a lot of away trips in 2012-13 and have return home ones in 2013-14 when the PIA is open.

Agreed. Also, we have to take into consideration that a lot of the DI teams won't want to play us not only because of the size, but because of the silly "NCAA Transition" rule wherein we don't get to count as "NCAA eligible" in the tournament or PWR points, so basically, playing us wouldn't really get much out of things for the teams who play us, other than good will. Which is why it's really nice that Union and Wisconsin and some of the other teams have already agreed to play us.

sideshowbob wrote:

stackhouse wrote:since we have never done this before, when do most schools announce their schedules?

They are trickling out now. I think I heard that PSU will announce theirs in early May, but I could be making that up.

The blog Thank you Terry is composing a schedule as info come out.

Otherwise, I think it will be heavy on Atlantic Hockey and ECAC Hockey teams given the geography and given the level of play from those leagues (Atlantic Hockey has limited scholarships, so they are generally considered the weakest league).

TYT does a great job. I've added every announced game or reasonably substantiated rumor about a game to the calendar on the Forum.

I am not entirely unbiased, but I hope games occur with several ECAC Hockey opponents this next season with maybe some rivalries developing. The six Ivies in the ECAC, especially Cornell, Harvard, and Yale who have extended, for the formermost, and brief, for the latter two, periods of national prominence, likely will not agree to play Penn State next season because Ivies are limited to 7 OOC games and Penn State will have to serve the mandatory two-year transition period that does not allow awarding of PWR points for games against it. So, Penn State's next season opponents will gain nothing for their postseason hopes by playing Penn State.

UNH posted its schedule for next season. Penn State is not present on it.

ECAC and Hockey East teams that have not announced:
BC (2012 National Champions)
Brown
BU (2012 NCAAs)
Cornell (2012 NCAAs)
Dartmouth
Harvard
Maine
Merrimack
Princeton
Providence
Quinnipiac
Saint Lawrence
UMass-Lowell (2012 NCAAs)
Vermont
Yale

amg424 wrote:ECAC and Hockey East teams that have not announced:
BC (2012 National Champions)
Brown
BU (2012 NCAAs)
Cornell (2012 NCAAs)
Dartmouth
Harvard
Maine
Merrimack
Princeton
Providence
Quinnipiac
Saint Lawrence
UMass-Lowell (2012 NCAAs)
Vermont
Yale

I've updated the list to include Merrimack's schedule that did not include Penn State. There is considerable evidence to assume that Cornell's schedule is complete too because six of its seven (an abbreviated number because it is an Ivy) allowed OOC games are booked, and most think that the seventh is a Michigan-Cornell game at Madison Square Garden in New York City, NY.

Also, not an East Coast team, but Miami University announced its schedule, and Penn State is not on it. The number of teams that have announced have reduced significantly the possible opponents pool for Penn State.

A large portion of the schedule was released today because of the announcement of many games from Atlantic Hockey. So far, Penn State has only six games against three opponents from the "Big Four" conferences of the CCHA (Michigan State), ECAC (Union), Hockey East (no team), and WCHA (Wisconsin). All of the games have been added to the PoPF Calendar. Of the teams known so far (and there won't be many additions after this considering Penn State has stated that it wants 20-22 games Division I games and this total is 19), the stats breakdown as follows:

Three made the 2012 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament: Air Force, Michigan State, Union

Five of the ten NCAA Division I opponents had winning records in 2011-12: RIT, Air Force, Union, Holy Cross, Michigan State

Also, people have expressed interest in traveling to away games. I've included the distance from Penn State to all unique road opponents. The average distance to an opponent that Penn State plays away is 355 miles. Not too unreasonable.

Average distance of away games: 355 miles

I am debating a weekend of college hockey with November 23 in Schenectady, NY with Penn State's key clash against Union, and then watching a college hockey game in New York City that Saturday. Also, UConn over Winter Break seems to be a good idea that will work into a lot of people's schedules. Downside to a UConn game is that they play in a really small barn now with only about 2,000 seats available. It would be really cool to have a noticeable Penn State presence there. Also, the UConn clash might help with the future with OOC PWR pts with fostering good will with a future Hockey East team.

Thank You Terry analyzed more thoroughly the schedule in a recent post.

There was talk of the Robert Morris Hockey Showcase, but it isn't listed on the AHA composite schedule. Is that happening (in general) and, if so, is PSU playing in it? Robert Morris does not seem to have a full compliment of games and is available the last week of December (when it was potentially planned) so it could still be going on; on the converse, Ohio State was a supposed participant and they are playing RMU on Dec 7-8, so that's a strike against the possibility.

As an aside (assuming the Robert Morris Hockey Showcase doesn't happen), I'm surprised to not see either of the fellow Pennsylvania schools (RMU and Mercyhurst)on PSU's schedule.

I guess we could still see an ECAC school or two show up, but I wouldn't be surprised if the only other Div 1 addition is Alabama-Huntsville. I've got to think we play Alabama-Huntsville late in the season given that we are both independents and will have room.

sideshowbob wrote:There was talk of the Robert Morris Hockey Showcase, but it isn't listed on the AHA composite schedule. Is that happening (in general) and, if so, is PSU playing in it? Robert Morris does not seem to have a full compliment of games and is available the last week of December (when it was potentially planned) so it could still be going on; on the converse, Ohio State was a supposed participant and they are playing RMU on Dec 7-8, so that's a strike against the possibility.

As an aside (assuming the Robert Morris Hockey Showcase doesn't happen), I'm surprised to not see either of the fellow Pennsylvania schools (RMU and Mercyhurst)on PSU's schedule.

I guess we could still see an ECAC school or two show up, but I wouldn't be surprised if the only other Div 1 addition is Alabama-Huntsville. I've got to think we play Alabama-Huntsville late in the season given that we are both independents and will have room.

Yeah, TYT has mentioned that on good authority (JoeBa, I believe) has said that the RMU College Hockey Showcase will be expanded from one day of games (as it has been in the past) to two days of games. The rumored participants were Ohio State, RMU, and Penn State. If the two-day rumor is true, there would need to be a fourth team. The fact that RMU has Ohio State on its schedule already seems to cast some doubt on that. However, they could arrange so that the first round was RMU-Unknown Fourth Team and PSU-OSU, so that RMU could lessen the chance that it would play OSU three times in the same season. I think Ohio State would take the invite because attending a holiday/winter classic event is a huge element of prestige. RPI was distraught about the implications for its program this year when it was not invited to one. The first time RPI has been slighted in such a manner since the early 1950s.

I am really shocked too about the current exclusion of RMU and Mercyhurst. I feel that being the flagship public university and land-grant institution of Pennsylvania carries with it at least a partial responsibility to be involved in helping grow hockey in the Commonwealth. However, having said that, Pennsylvania with RMU and Mercyhurst is not Minnesota, Michigan, nor New York State with their prestigious college hockey programs, so one can debate the merits of tying oneself to such a commitments to opponents that will not pay PWR dividends in the future.

Now, I am looking forward to the games against Alabama-Huntsville that I think/hope are coming. I think he'd be nice to start something permanent with them. I hope Atlantic Hockey gives them an invite when UConn makes the jump to Hockey East.

I am curious when the USA National Development Team games will be scheduled. Most schools schedule them during the beginning of the year as exhibition games, but I think it would be very interesting to play two at the beginning of the year, and two at the end as a means of measuring progress made throughout the season.

So, Robert Morris is on the schedule, with at least single game at home for PSU on December 15. Also of note on the updated AHA composite schedule is that the Pittsburgh College Hockey Tournament at the Consol Energy Center is happening, scheduled for Dec 28-29. There was indications that PSU was going to take part in that, so the question would be what other teams (beyond RMU) might participate.

sideshowbob wrote:So, Robert Morris is on the schedule, with at least single game at home for PSU on December 15. Also of note on the updated AHA composite schedule is that the Pittsburgh College Hockey Tournament at the Consol Energy Center is happening, scheduled for Dec 28-29. There was indications that PSU was going to take part in that, so the question would be what other teams (beyond RMU) might participate.

PSU hockey announced that Penn State is playing in the College Hockey Showcase at Consol Energy Center on December 28 and 29, but did not reveal who the opponents were yet. I guess that I might have to consider making two trips to the home of the Penguins this coming season.

amg424 wrote:

sideshowbob wrote:So, Robert Morris is on the schedule, with at least single game at home for PSU on December 15. Also of note on the updated AHA composite schedule is that the Pittsburgh College Hockey Tournament at the Consol Energy Center is happening, scheduled for Dec 28-29. There was indications that PSU was going to take part in that, so the question would be what other teams (beyond RMU) might participate.

PSU hockey announced that Penn State is playing in the College Hockey Showcase at Consol Energy Center on December 28 and 29, but did not reveal who the opponents were yet. I guess that I might have to consider making two trips to the home of the Penguins this coming season.

That'd also bring the count down to one NCAA Division I game remaining with 21 of 22 possible games partially confirmed. It looks like a series with Alabama-Huntsville is increasingly unlikely.

RMU is listed as an attendant of the tournament at Consol Energy Center, that gives Penn State and RMU as teams. The other two teams are not known, but I would assume it is not an Atlantic Hockey team, or RPI (they have confirmed that they were not invited to any tournaments) or any other programs that are involved in holiday tournaments including Cornell (sadly), Ferris State, Maine, Minnesota-Duluth, Michigan, Michigan State, Michigan Tech, and Western Michigan.

So, we have some official confirmation about the Pittsburgh College Hockey Invitational tournament.

PSU will indeed participate along with host Robert Morris and Ohio State & Miami (OH) will be the other schools. I'm really excited by this slate. So, now the only question about it is what are the matchups. Robert Morris and tOSU are playing a home and home series earlier in December so I'm guessing they won't be paired up in the first round and I also suspect that the two CCHA teams won't meet in the first round since they already play in the regular season. Thus, I expect the matchups to be PSU vs tOSU and RMU vs. Miami (OH) in the first round.

Also, interesting from the article is that it seems like PSU will be involved in this tournament going forward (in addition to RMU) as they plan for it to be an annual event.

sideshowbob wrote:So, we have some official confirmation about the Pittsburgh College Hockey Invitational tournament.

PSU will indeed participate along with host Robert Morris and Ohio State & Miami (OH) will be the other schools. I'm really excited by this slate. So, now the only question about it is what are the matchups. Robert Morris and tOSU are playing a home and home series earlier in December so I'm guessing they won't be paired up in the first round and I also suspect that the two CCHA teams won't meet in the first round since they already play in the regular season. Thus, I expect the matchups to be PSU vs tOSU and RMU vs. Miami (OH) in the first round.

Also, interesting from the article is that it seems like PSU will be involved in this tournament going forward (in addition to RMU) as they plan for it to be an annual event.

Yeah, I agree with your matchups. I think it suits the interests of what seems to be the two future hosts of the event (Robert Morris and Penn State) because Penn State will want to start a B1G rivalry of its own with Ohio State and Robert Morris won't want to play the same opponent again unless the tournament forces that result.

Robert Morris Athletics wrote:
...with Penn State entering NCAA Division 1 hockey, we thought it was a perfect opportunity to build an annual event around those two programs."

I think that implies that both Penn State and Robert Morris will be the hosts of this event into the future. That's really exciting for such a nascent NCAA Division I program as Penn State being the host, or co-host, of a holiday tournament. That puts Penn State hockey immediately on a level occupied by Minnesota and Minnesota-Duluth, Michigan and Michigan State, and Cornell and Maine.

It's amazing how the addition of one more elite program (Miami) to the schedule makes my perception of the schedule change from one of begrudging acceptance to sheer excitement. Penn State will have a few games in which it can make statements (RIT at BCA, Union, Michigan State, and Wisconsin), possibly Ohio State depending upon how much respect one thinks it gets in the college hockey world.

sideshowbob wrote:I expect the matchups to be PSU vs tOSU and RMU vs. Miami (OH) in the first round.

The Ohio State game is great in its own right because it will allow Penn State to begin its own hockey rivalry within the B1G akin to Minnesota-Wisconsin and Michigan-Michigan State. When thinking about college rivalries, I think always about Dryden's quote in The Game about the BU-Cornell rivalry:

Ken Dryden wrote:They were the necessary other side in many of my most fundamental moments, the inspiration and competitive prod for them, irrevocably and fondly associated with them...When a career ends, when the passion of the game subsides, towards a good opponent you only feel gratitude.

Union is officially official, as of today with their schedule release. They did slide it back to Saturday-Sunday after it was reported as Friday-Saturday back in December. Fine by me, since the original arrangement has me traveling on Thanksgiving.

As a whole, I really can't see a problem with the schedule. They're limited in several ways (PWR, the rink, conference schedules, top teams not seeing a new program as competitive enough to help them, etc.) but still managed to land an NCAA tournament team in the Ice Pavilion, and of course you have the Pittsburgh tournament, MSU, Wisconsin and Union away. NTDP games are fantastic for recruiting, so piling a bunch of those on early was a great idea. A body of mid-to-low pack AHA teams and a few ACHA/DIII games doesn't necessarily get anyone's blood pumping, but it does give us a chance to have a halfway respectable record. 4-28-2 year one isn't going to build a following.

Here's something that doesn't help my point, but whatever, the info is more important than being right. I always look to UNO for a lot of things, because they were the last completely new (not elevating from DII/III) NCAA program that signed up with the idea of joining a major conference (the CCHA, starting in their third year). Here's what they did in their inaugural year of 1997-98:

H (two games each unless noted): Princeton, UMass, Denver, Union, Michigan Tech, UNH (1), Wisconsin (1), Air Force, UAH, Minnesota State.

A (same deal): Air Force, Army, Duluth, St. Cloud, Wisconsin (1), UAH, Minnesota State, Maine.

It's important to note that UAH was still DII at the time and that Minnesota State, UMass, Union and St. Cloud joined DI within a decade of UNO (with MSU just elevating the year before), but yikes. Even outside of the opponents, there put 16 home DI games on that schedule and sold them all out, averaging 8314 fans at the Omaha Civic, their original barn. Impressively, they went 12-18-3 and even beat Maine - to be fair, the Black Bears won 11-0 the night before and it was on February 28th, so I imagine they had their Hockey East seed clinched and/or weren't really trying. Still, you beat Maine in your first year, you've done something worth excitement.

TYTKyle wrote:Union is officially official, as of today with their schedule release. They did slide it back to Saturday-Sunday after it was reported as Friday-Saturday back in December. Fine by me, since the original arrangement has me traveling on Thanksgiving.

Yeah, I've done that. But, mine was to New York City for Red Hot Hockey (BU-Cornell) 2011. Schenectady does not have the same destination appeal that Manhattan does. If Michigan-Cornell at MSG falls through, I will be joining you at Messa Rink. I will be in Upstate New York for Thanksgiving anyways.

TYTKyle wrote:Here's something that doesn't help my point, but whatever, the info is more important than being right. I always look to UNO for a lot of things, because they were the last completely new (not elevating from DII/III) NCAA program that signed up with the idea of joining a major conference (the CCHA, starting in their third year). Here's what they did in their inaugural year of 1997-98:

H (two games each unless noted): Princeton, UMass, Denver, Union, Michigan Tech, UNH (1), Wisconsin (1), Air Force, UAH, Minnesota State.

A (same deal): Air Force, Army, Duluth, St. Cloud, Wisconsin (1), UAH, Minnesota State, Maine.

It's important to note that UAH was still DII at the time and that Minnesota State, UMass, Union and St. Cloud joined DI within a decade of UNO (with MSU just elevating the year before), but yikes. Even outside of the opponents, there put 16 home DI games on that schedule and sold them all out, averaging 8314 fans at the Omaha Civic, their original barn. Impressively, they went 12-18-3...

UNO didn't carry with it the excess baggage, deserved or undeserved, that Penn State does of being the "conference wrecker." I know that it is a foolish idea, but many in the CCHA and WCHA worlds view Penn State as the destroyer of conferences that they love. I think that is why Minnie fans have been deriding Penn State on USCHO and other posts about Penn State hockey and why Minnesota is one of two other programs from the future B1G that have not agreed to play Penn State. (Not to be a Michigan apologist, but the Wolverines don't have a great history of success in the CCHA Championship, so they go into each season viewing an at-large as their road into the NCAAs and that requires as strong a PWR OOC as they can get, Penn State does not fit into that paradigm.) That baggage discourages people from booking Penn State.

Penn State had also remaining obligations to SUNY Fredonia and ACHA programs like Ohio that UNO did not.

I'm very happy with the schedule after Penn State's cohosting of the Pittsburgh College Hockey Invitational and the teams participating.

TYTKyle wrote:...you beat Maine in your first year, you've done something worth excitement.

The three self-described highlights in Union hockey history are: 2012 Frozen Four, 2010 ECAC Semifinalists, and beating Cornell at Lynah their first year as NCAA Division I program (I think that they had less than five wins that season). Anyone who knows about Lynah knows how rare that is. So, I understand how big one win can be to defining a season.

I'm hoping for two statements wins for Penn State this coming season. A win over RIT is early enough in the season, because no conference will have settled into their conference play, that the whole college hockey world would take notice of Penn State if it beat the Tigers at Blue Cross Arena. The Ohio State game will be the second game. A win over Ohio State at Pittsburgh College Hockey Invitational would make waves and create excitement at Penn State and create a rivalry (hopefully) with the Buckeyes going into the future of B1G Hockey.

amg424 wrote:I'm hoping for two statements wins for Penn State this coming season. A win over RIT is early enough in the season, because no conference will have settled into their conference play, that the whole college hockey world would take notice of Penn State if it beat the Tigers at Blue Cross Arena. The Ohio State game will be the second game. A win over Ohio State at Pittsburgh College Hockey Invitational would make waves and create excitement at Penn State and create a rivalry (hopefully) with the Buckeyes going into the future of B1G Hockey.

You got me drooling over the Ohio State one. Man, that would absolutely make my season. I'm an Ohio lifer other than my time at PSU, so...most of the people I encounter probably aren't aware of OSU hockey, or OSU anything-besides-football for that matter, but still, *I'd* know, and that's all that matters.

I do think RIT is PSU's best chance to win a game that will draw national attention this coming year. It's early enough in the season that nobody's really found their legs yet. RIT's going to have a fairly young team and is down to four left from their Frozen Four team. PSU stands a decent chance of being 2-0 and still in "too stupid to know better mode," sort of the opposite of "beaten down and playing out the string" syndrome, which makes late-season upsets relatively rare.