Re: Rating the Various Rumors of USCHO Posters in re: Penn State Hockey
Old news. It has been out there that it was a done deal for a few months, rumored at 95%+ well before that.
Penn State 'close' to adding
arena, Division I hockey
August 6, 2010 - By Cory Giger,
cgiger@altoonamirror.com
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Rumors and speculation have existed for more than a decade, but it
finally appears Penn State is on the verge of building a new ice
hockey arena near the Bryce Jordan Center and adding Division I
men's and women's hockey programs.
"We're close," a source close to the situation told the Mirror on
Thursday. "It won't be long before we'll be able to potentially make
some kind of announcement. But it's not a done deal yet."
The source spoke on the condition of anonymity, and when asked to
define what "close" means said, "probably within the next two
months" the wheels will be set in motion.
The first step is acquiring private funds to build a facility that would
seat 6,000-8,000 people. The cost for that is expected to be
between $60 million and $80 million.
Most, if not all, of that money would come from Penn State alum
Terry Pegula.
"We do have a donor that's got the capacity to do this, but there is
no agreement yet," the Mirror's source said.
Pegula is the founder of East Resources, a natural gas operator, and
in May he sold his company to Royal Dutch Shell for $4.7 billion.
Pegula, said to be an avid hockey fan, could not be reached for
comment Thursday.
The Mirror has learned that, in the past few weeks, Pegula and Penn
State athletic director Tim Curley visited the University of Minnesota
hockey facility and went to Notre Dame to examine the new arena
being built there.
A message left for Curley was not returned Thursday.
Pegula also was seen in Chicago earlier this week at Big Ten football
media days, along with Joe Battista, director of major gifts at PSU
and former hockey coach at the school. Their exact business there
isn't known, but they would not have needed to be there in any
official football capacity.
Aside from the arena, there are many additional costs to starting a
Division I hockey program, such as scholarship money and
equipment. While Pegula would be the benefactor for the arena
costs, he would not be alone in financial support.
"You don't add a program of this magnitude without there being
other issues," the Mirror source said. "You've got scholarships for
both a men's and a women's sport, and you've got operating
expenses. There would have to be a number of people donating to
this to make it work."
Penn State currently has men's and women's club hockey teams
called the Icers and Lady Icers. They compete in the American
Collegiate Hockey Association, which is not sanctioned by the NCAA,
and play in 1,350-seat Penn State Ice Rink.
This article on 8/6
http://www.altoonamirror.com/page/c...-adding-arena--Division-I-hockey.html?nav=746
CCHA commissioner Tom Anastos already is on record with the Detroit News in expressing his interest in the possibility of recruiting Penn State to the conference should it elect to feature a Division I program.
