How Penn State Hockey Went From Winless in the Big Ten to the Frozen Four

After losing their first nine Big Ten games, the Nittany Lions were "looking up the mountain," coach Guy Gadowsky said. But they refused to get negative.

The Penn State Nittany Lions celebrate a goal against Michigan in a Big Ten Tournament game at Yost Ice Arena. | Brian Bradshaw Sevald-Imagn Images

After a two-game series loss to Ohio State in December, Penn State men’s hockey dropped to 0-8 in the Big Ten and appeared destined for disappointment. Yet in a matter of weeks, the Nittany Lions transformed those struggles into the most successful run in program history.

Following a dominant finish to the regular season and four impressive postseason victories in Ann Arbor and Allentown, Penn State will play in its first Frozen Four on April 10 in St. Louis. It’s a run that seemed unthinkable to everyone outside the Penn State locker room, which never allowed its record to become a negative.

Climbing out of the Big Ten basement

It’s difficult to turn around a season that’s nearly half over. By December, Penn State was getting beaten up in Big Ten play. The Nittany Lions endured a six-game losing skid in November, lost two more games against the Buckeyes before winter break, then went winless at home against top-ranked Michigan State in January.

Entering a Jan. 17 game against Canisius, the Nittany Lions were 8-10-2, with nine of those losses to Big Ten opponents. Penn State coach Guy Gadowsky had just 14 regular-season games remaining to turn a team that wasn’t capitalizing on its talent into a competitor. The players, notably senior Carson Dyck, were the catalysts.

“Really, the important part about the messaging [is that it] didn't come to the coaching staff,” Gadowsky said. “It came from Carson and the leadership group, and it was basically that we are absolutely refusing to let anybody get negative right now. We were winless in our first nine Big Ten games. Trust me, it's easy to get down at that point.”

Penn State was looking “up the mountain,” Gadowsky said, facing a second-half deficit that appeared insurmountable. Yet rather than dwell on their struggles, the Nittany Lions found inspiration in themselves and from elsewhere on campus. 

They watched as Penn State’s women’s volleyball team, led by head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley, staged a comeback from a 2-0 deficit against Nebraska in the NCAA Tournament semifinals and then beat Louisville for the national championship. That improbable volleyball run galvanized Gadowsky’s squad.

“The women's volleyball team had an amazing run and had to overcome incredible adversity,” Gadowsky said. “I think the [hockey] team was intrigued by that. … When you go through something like that, and the way they did it, it was very impactful.”

‘Move on and do it again’

Penn State responded to its early struggles with a blistering 10-2-2 run late in the regular season, beating the nation’s No. 1 and No. 2 teams along the way. But there was never a defining moment when the Nittany Lions knew they had reclaimed their season. They simply kept playing. 

“Because we were so far back, no one really said, ‘Oh boy, if we get this many wins, we have a chance to be an at-large team in the NCAA Tournament.’ It wasn't that,” Gadowsky said. “It was just, every week, let's work, let's take whatever we did in the past weekend, learn what we can from it, work at it, move on and do it again.”

That steady approach proved effective. As Penn State ascended from the bottom of the Big Ten standings, it didn’t overhaul its strategy, shake up its starting lineup or hold a dramatic team meeting. Instead, the Nittany Lions fueled a second-half turnaround that reached a crescendo with a 3-2 overtime win over UConn in the NCAA Tournament’s Allentown regional final. 

“The character we have in that locker and the mental toughness we have, that's something we talked about,” senior Simon Mack said after the win. “We learned a lot of lessons in that first half. Things weren't going well, and we made a push to put everything together.”

Approaching the Frozen Four

Even as the stakes rise in St. Louis for the Frozen Four, Penn State won’t change its mentality. It’s not a team that is “patting itself on the back,” as Gadowsky put it.  

“We feel very honored and privileged and blessed to be able to [go] to St Louis,” Gadowsky said. “It's certainly a business trip for us, but it's one that really, we're going to enjoy.”

Awaiting Penn State in the semifinals is Boston University, a program with five NCAA titles and 25 Frozen Four appearances. As of Tuesday, Gadowsky wasn’t yet concerned with understanding the ins and outs of his next opponent. 

“No matter what happens, you're going to be playing a great team who is playing extremely well, no matter what way you slice it,” Gadowsky said. “We're certainly prepared for that. We've always approached things that we're going to first deal with with our own game, and make sure that we focus on that first. … we're just going to enjoy this a little bit before concentrating on BU.”

For a team that spent December in the Big Ten cellar, reaching the Frozen Four rightfully is a cause for celebration. But Penn State is also two wins from a national championship. 

“We know what's made us successful this year,” Mack said. “In the first half [of the season], we had bits and pieces of our game. We felt there were some times where we should have won games, but I think in January, we just kind of put everything together. And we have learned a lot of lessons, one being staying positive. That's been one of the biggest reasons why we've had a lot of success in the second half.”

The 2025 Frozen Four will be played April 10-12 at Enterprise Center in St. Louis. Penn State will play Boston University in one semifinal April 10. Defending champ Denver faces Western Michigan in the other semifinal.