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2021-22 Penn State Nittany Lions

ZedLeppelin said:
Penn State has posted its roster for 2021-22 and there aren't any surprises, other than that it's missing any incoming freshmen. There should be two forwards and two defenders coming in the freshman class, for a total roster of 23 players, goalies included.

https://gopsusports.com/sports/womens-ice-hockey/roster/2021-22
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Hopeful we also see some transfer names populate the PSU roster for this coming year. Also hoping we get to see a schedule sometime soon as the other conferences have already released them. Perhaps the RMU news has delayed the scheduling.
 
EMPTYNETTER said:
Hopeful we also see some transfer names populate the PSU roster for this coming year. Also hoping we get to see a schedule sometime soon as the other conferences have already released them. Perhaps the RMU news has delayed the scheduling.
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Now Penn State has taken down the link to the 2021-22 roster, but there weren't any surprises on it. I kind of expected at least one transfer to jump to Penn State from Robert Morris, but there isn't really much room on the roster, or any huge holes to fill. Jessica Adolfsson is the only active player from last season who won't be back, so it's last season's roster with four new freshmen added to it.
 
ZedLeppelin said:
Now Penn State has taken down the link to the 2021-22 roster, but there weren't any surprises on it. I kind of expected at least one transfer to jump to Penn State from Robert Morris, but there isn't really much room on the roster, or any huge holes to fill. Jessica Adolfsson is the only active player from last season who won't be back, so it's last season's roster with four new freshmen added to it.
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Kind of funny it goes up and then down again. I recall them doing that in a prior year. I scanned their roster yesterday and counted 5 with U18 national team experience. I like how they put that right on the roster info instead of making a person dig.

23 seems like a normal Roster size, but not sure how typical for this year. In other words, like you I am surprised no RMU transfers. I tried to count Hurst yesterday and came up with 28 unless some people are transferring out. And they are def not only program with numbers like these.
 
Lindsay said:
23 seems like a normal Roster size, but not sure how typical for this year. In other words, like you I am surprised no RMU transfers. I tried to count Hurst yesterday and came up with 28 unless some people are transferring out. And they are def not only program with numbers like these.
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With 23 on the Penn State roster, it makes me wonder if Jeff Kampersal has declined requests for transfers that he may have gotten, choosing to go with what he has instead of adding a "bonus year senior" like Lexi Templeman from Robert Morris (who transferred to Ohio State). Kampersal is finally up and running with a group he recruited, and maybe he just wants to focus on whatever he had planned with them before Covid screwed everyone up. Adding a bonus-year senior really sounds more like it would be a wrench in the system, when she only gets one season with the team. Adding a transfer who has at least a couple seasons left sounds good, but again Kampersal may want to just stick with who he recruited and work the plan and systems he had for them.

I'm trying to think of holes in Penn State's game from last season, but I'm coming up short. The freshmen went out and overachieved to such a degree that I can't remember the shortcomings. Does anyone remember low spots for them to work on? Jessica Adolfsson is going to be missed on defense, for sure, so that's going to be some big skates to fill. That's all I have.
 
ZedLeppelin said:
Penn State has posted short intros for the four incoming freshmen that are on CollegeCommitments.com, but they keep saying six are coming. Any idea who the other two are?
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Perhaps you are getting transfers from RMU, and they are still working their way through the admissions office. Michaela Boyle has 2 yrs eligibility left, 22 points in 25 games this year. Ellie Marcovsky had 18 points, 4 yrs eligibility left, Maggy Burbidge had 17 points - 3 years eligibility left. It's possible the Canadian folks go back to Canada or all them could even stay at RMU and play club, but I suspect there will be at least another handful of RMU transfers announced and wouldn't be surprised to see Penn State on the receiving end.

To answer your q about bonus years from the Hurst thread - I'm fine with them! Short story - competitive hockey, if its within the rules, and a coach thinks its right for their program go for it. I could go on and on about it, but will stop myself for once lol. What do you think?
 
zambonidriver said:
Five are Freshmen. This is the one transfer I know that is coming. https://clarksonathletics.com/sports...-mitchell/6801
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Okay, thanks for that. Maybe the fifth freshman is a former Robert Morris commit, as Lindsay says below:

Lindsay said:
Perhaps you are getting transfers from RMU, and they are still working their way through the admissions office. Michaela Boyle has 2 yrs eligibility left, 22 points in 25 games this year. Ellie Marcovsky had 18 points, 4 yrs eligibility left, Maggy Burbidge had 17 points - 3 years eligibility left.
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To answer your q about bonus years from the Hurst thread - I'm fine with them! Short story - competitive hockey, if its within the rules, and a coach thinks its right for their program go for it.
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I guess I'm having a hard time imagining a player making any lasting impact on a program when she will only be there for one season. She has to acclimate to a whole new team and coaching staff, new climate, new playbook, new team chemistry, all the intangibles, etc. I guess it depends on the player and what she wants to accomplish in that season, too. I look at UMD, who had a good season, and now has Elizabeth Giguere from Clarkson for her bonus senior season - I don't think a player of her caliber would have any problem going anywhere else and doing big things. Regardless of where she went she is going to make some noise, and probably make everyone around her better for it, at least for this season. But what about after she leaves? What will her year at UMD have done for UMD?

Just to be clear, I'm just talking in "normal season" terms, not this "Covid/bonus" season, especially now with the cancelled Robert Morris program added to it, too (and I hope all of their seniors from last season find a home for this season). Also, I'm talking lasting impact, beyond any lift a player brings for a season.

I could go on and on about it, but will stop myself for once lol. What do you think?
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Please go on and on about it!
 
Two things jump out at me: Players are leaving Clarkson in droves. And Diffendahl from RMU can be to PSU as Hoppner was to Syracuse. I'm shocked that girl has not been picked up by anyone let alone PSU. I have to agree with some of the other posters on the extra year of eligibility throwing things into a tumult. If you think the girls side is something, the boys side is really the wild west.
 
ZedLeppelin said:
I guess I'm having a hard time imagining a player making any lasting impact on a program when she will only be there for one season.
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"Lasting impact" is a rather high standard. How many four-year players make a lasting impact that extends beyond their graduation?

For an example, looks to men's NCAA BB. Teams like Kentucky have featured one-and-done freshmen for years. Duke won a title recently featuring freshmen who were gone a year later. Granted a single player can impact a basketball team more than a hockey team, but by the same token, there are far more programs in the hunt in BB. If freshmen can come into a program and make a big splash, why can't seniors?
 
My take is there are some schools that seem like junior national programs, and then there is everyone else trying to get to that level. The teams trying to get to that level need to find their edge where they can within the rules of course.

I wouldn’t take just any player for a 5th year, for the reasons Zed describes. But for an unranked team, if there’s a 5th year that might help you win a few games and get you ranked, that’s a data point “top ten team last year” that might help you pick up some future recruits. Then maybe those recruits get you into an NCAA game, maybe your coaching staff gets to work for USA Hockey/ Hockey Canada which doesn’t hurt recruiting, maybe you eventually win an NCAA game etc. Takes years of course. Maybe we get real parity and the same 4 teams don’t win national championships repeatedly. When I played we had a junior transfer in who I believe accelerated the upward arc of the program. Probably cost me some ice time though, lol. But Im proud to have hopefully contributed to making the program something she’d want to be a part of. I’m sure other schools have similar stories.

Obviously coaches need to balance what is best for their program, need to keep credibility in the recruiting circles, but good to give off a vibe that you are actually trying to win and constantly better your team as well and not just signing players based on high school performance and calling it good and collecting a pay check, also.

I’m not connected to the recruiting scene in anyway, I assume it’s more complex than I understand, but my initial thought is coaches should stand by the $ and college admissions they commit to, but ice time and dressing for games isn’t guaranteed. Chasing off good humans who follow team rules and work hard on the ice that you once committed to doesn’t seem right either. Also think as a coach it might be nice to coach a player four years rather than constant churn.

Tl:dr 5th years / transfers have their place, and a small thing like a couple big wins can have a lasting impact on a program. Just my thoughts and I’m sure there are angles I haven’t considered and always interested in others thoughts too.
 
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CHA players Marmen, Harley, Polaski, Diffendahl and Jenna Brenneman all drafted in the NWHL. Could be others but these ones I am familiar with. Also former Lindewood player T Girard taken first overall. There is talent in the CHA.
 
ARM said:
"Lasting impact" is a rather high standard. How many four-year players make a lasting impact that extends beyond their graduation?
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I think it depends on where a program is when that player starts her four years, her attitude, and how far apart her skills are from the rest of the team. One higher-skilled player isn't going to carry a whole team, but in four years she can make a difference in other players' drive and work ethic, and be the player who changed a team's personality and focus. That's going to translate into better things for the program after she's gone. Or maybe I'm a dreamer.

If freshmen can come into a program and make a big splash, why can't seniors?
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Absolutely, a senior transfer can make a big splash, but then she's done and gone after a season. A hotshot senior on a mediocre team will be a star for a season - a hotshot senior on a hotshot team will just blend in. Either way, I just don't think it's enough time to make any real difference for a program. Freshmen having a great season, as Penn State got from last year's freshmen, have three more years to make seasons like that the standard at Penn State. They have time on their side.
 
Beyond performance on the ice, I think that a person can impact a program off the ice. Consider someone like Catherine Ward playing one season at BU in 2010-11. Sure, that team had Poulin, but she was a freshman, where Ward was a bit older and also coming off winning Olympic gold. Her presence, and helping the Terriers reach the NCAA Championship, was bound to make some impression on her teammates going forward. Maybe the other D learn something about stick positioning or when to pinch or not. Or how to train off the ice, or deal with a loss in the biggest game of the year. Having quality student athletes come through a program is never a bad thing.

If one of your star freshmen suffered a career-ending injury over the summer and never played another shift for PSU, would you dismiss her impact on Penn State's program moving forward? I understand that four years is great, but by the same token, a single season is still something.
 
ARM said:
Consider someone like Catherine Ward playing one season at BU in 2010-11. Sure, that team had Poulin, but she was a freshman, where Ward was a bit older and also coming off winning Olympic gold.
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Marie-Philip Poulin was on the same 2010 Olympic gold medal team with Ward, so a duo like that would definitely put a spark in an NCAA team.

Her presence, and helping the Terriers reach the NCAA Championship, was bound to make some impression on her teammates going forward. Maybe the other D learn something about stick positioning or when to pinch or not. Or how to train off the ice, or deal with a loss in the biggest game of the year. Having quality student athletes come through a program is never a bad thing.
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I agree. Any player of a high caliber should make at least some difference - I just think any lingering impression she makes in one year would depend on what level the program is at. It would be like Elizabeth Giguere transferring to Penn State for a fifth year, at the start of Penn State's D-1 era, when struggle was the name of the game. Sure, Giguere would have been fun to watch, but the players coming back the next season just weren't the same caliber as she is. She'd have an influence for that season, for sure, but those early teams were what they were.

If one of your star freshmen suffered a career-ending injury over the summer and never played another shift for PSU, would you dismiss her impact on Penn State's program moving forward?
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Not at all, if she remains involved with the team, like Jenna Brenneman did. Actually, losing her could maybe even be a motivating factor.

I understand that four years is great, but by the same token, a single season is still something.
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I'm really not unconditionally dismissing a senior transfer. I just think her impact depends on a lot of things.
 
ZedLeppelin said:
It would be like Elizabeth Giguere transferring to Penn State for a fifth year, at the start of Penn State's D-1 era, when struggle was the name of the game. Sure, Giguere would have been fun to watch, but the players coming back the next season just weren't the same caliber as she is.
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That is an excellent example. You're right that the first Penn State team was never going to contend, based on the talent on the roster. However, one of the problems with the first Penn State team was that the coach really hadn't been around a D-I hockey program. Had you been able to expose that roster to E.G. for a year, that would have been an eye-opening experience. If you want to be an All-American, this is what you have to do every day.
 
[TABLE="border: 0, cellpadding: 6, cellspacing: 1"]
[TR]
[TD]Alexis Bedier[/TD]
[TD]L[/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD]06/11/03[/TD]
[TD]Lake Country, B.C.[/TD]
[TD]Pursuit of Excellence (CSSHL) former Ohio State commit Causality of Muzzy de-comitting her incoming Freshman class. Picked up in Place of Emma Conner who decomitted to go to Minnesota.[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
 
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