"By the Skin of Their Teeth!"

There's an old axiom in sports that "good teams find a way to win ugly."  Well, I'm not sure just how good this edition of the Penn State Icers is, but on Saturday they won UGLY, hanging on for a 5-4 victory over the Pitt Panthers.

The teams were tied 1-1 after the first and 2-2 after 40 minutes.  The Icers twice in the third period took a 2-goal lead, but both times they allowed Pitt to score with sloppy play in the defensive zone.

I gave first star honors to freshman Mike McDonagh.  Mike opened the scoring with his first goal as an Icer and added an assist on George Saad's second goal of the weekend.

Rich O'Brien notched his second of the season, doubling his total as an Icer, while Chris Cerutti and Marek Polidor added their first goals of the season.

Ted Hume added another win, tying him with Nick Signet with 53 career victories, 4th all-time for Icers netminders.  Ted is now 3 wins behind Scott Graham (1999-2003) and 12 back of career leaders John Gray (1989-93) and John Sixt (1995-99).

The coaches have some work ahead of them this week getting the team ready for the Drexel Dragons.  The Dragons have a nasty habit of rising to the occasion against the Icers, and with Friday's contest coming on Homecoming Weekend there will be some added distractions for this young team.

Here's a look at the Icers goals and the final half-minute of action from Saturday's contest.

Off on the Right Foot

It wasn't perfect, but a road victory to open the season is nothing to sneeze at.  The Icers scored 4 unanswered goals, 2 of them on the power play, as they rolled over the Pitt Panthers 5-1 on Friday night at the Blade Runners Arena in Harmarville, PA.

Chris Pronchik scored twice, with singles going to George Saad, Carey Bell and Rich O'Brien.

Ted Hume was not heavily tested, but was solid in net. The victory is Big Ted's 52nd career win, putting him just one behind Nick Signet (2005-09) for fourth all-time on the Icers' win list. He's four wins behind Scott Graham (1999-03) and he could become the Icers career wins leader by the end of his senior season. John Gray (1989-93)and John Sixt (1995-99) sit atop the list with 65 career victories.

I was impressed by the play of freshman Mike McDonough and sophomore Michael Longo.  Both were throwing the body around, set up some scoring opportunities and had a few of their own.

Here's the Penn State goals along with post game comments from Head Coach Scott Balboni.

Game two of the opening weekend for the Icers is this afternoon at 4pm EDT. We'll have the action live on our UStream channel.

Opening Night

It looks like we are good to go for our first road trip of the season as the boys head to da 'Burgh to take on the Panthers.

I've spent the past couple of days working on getting some new software installed that's going to improve our video webcasts.  Rodney Martin has pitched in with his expertise - adding some features that we know you'll enjoy.

I got some more good news on Wednesday.  It looks like the Icers and Panthers are going to be playing both games on the main rink at the Blade Runners arena in Harmerville.

That means we'll have a wifi signal and should not have any problems streaming both games.  According to the arena manager, the Saturday matinee is now scheduled for 5 pm, not 4.

Let's hope for a good weekend for the team and the broadcast team!  

Prepping for Pitt

The Icers open the 2010-11 season on the road this weekend, taking on the Pittsburgh Panthers on Friday and Saturday.  Assistant Coach Josh Hand put the team through a grueling practice session this afternoon, working on speed and some in-close drills designed to toughen the boys up.

Then, to top of their day, Josh had them skate, skate and skate some more -- so much so that the championship banners were flapping in the breeze!

I caught up with Coach Hand and junior forward Chris Cerutti to talk about the season ahead.

Blue - White Bonus

Friday's Blue - White game showed that the team needs some work heading into the 2010-11 season.  That's not really a surprise, given that they've had about a week of practice time.

For what it was worth, the Blues won 5-3.  Chris Cerutti notched two for the Blues, Tim O'Brien responded with two for the Whites in the two-period contest.

Coach Scott Balboni spoke with me after the first period and was concerned about the sloppy defensive play from both squads. I felt that there's some work needed on offense as well.  

Obviously, the coaches have had little or no time to work on special teams play, but there weren't any penalties called so that was a moot point.

The Icers open the season on the road next Friday night against Pittsburgh.  We'll have the game from the Blade Runners arena in Harmerville live on UStream.

We could have an issue with webcasting the Saturday matinee.  The game will be played in the secondary rink at Blade Runners, where there is no wifi signal.  Hopefully, I can get a cell signal in the rink so that we can bring you the action.

Now, on to the "bonus" part of this entry.  If you were at the game Friday night, you might have noticed a sweet new Shelby Mustang in the parking lot.  I recognized the car immediately as the one that was being raffled by the Penn State Coaches vs. Cancer.

Meet Scott and Sandy Balboni's new ride!  As Rod Stewart once put it, "Some guys have all the luck!"

Joe on the Radio

Not only is Joe Battista the face of Penn State hockey, he's quickly become the voice of the future of the Nittany Lions hockey program in the week since the "worst kept secret in college sports" became official.

Joe is doing radio interviews all around the state, including with my old friend and colleague Matt Leon at KYW Radio in Philadelphia.

Prepping for the Season

The players are gearing up for the 2010-11 season, and so am I. The annual Blue - White game is this Friday, one week before the Icers open the regular season on the road at Pittsburgh.

Head Coach Scott Balboni announced the team captains on Monday. Marek Polidor is the captain, with Tim O'Brien, Paul Daley and Eric Steinour serving as assistant captains.

Balboni told The Collegian's Anthony Barton that "what he saw in Polidor was an intelligent player, who with leading by example, was the best choice." No argument here.

We'll have the Blue - White game on UStream at 9:00pm Eastern time. If you are not going to be in front of your computer on Friday night, you can now watch the game on your smartphone.

You can download a UStream app for iPhone or Android phones. Isn't technology wonderful?