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Penn State Hockey Readies for 'Historic Moment' at Beaver Stadium

Penn State's Beaver Stadium will host two outdoor hockey games for the first time in its history.
Chase Fisher|
Penn State Nittany Lions men's hockey head coach Guy Gadowsky watches the action against the Clarkson Golden Knights in the first period of a game at Pegula Ice Arena.
Penn State Nittany Lions men's hockey head coach Guy Gadowsky watches the action against the Clarkson Golden Knights in the first period of a game at Pegula Ice Arena. | Barry Reeger-Imagn Images

STATE COLLEGE | Penn State men’s hockey coach Guy Gadowsky said that the most frequent question he’s been asked over the past 15 years was, “When are you guys going to play a hockey game in Beaver Stadium?”

Even last summer, Vinnie James, Penn State’s deputy athletic director for internal operations, asked Gadowsky his thoughts on playing an outdoor game. “Of course,” the Penn State coach said, “that would be unbelievable.”

The idea becomes reality this weekend, as Beaver Stadium will host two hockey games for the first time. The fourth-ranked Penn State women’s team plays the inaugural outdoor game at Beaver Stadium against Robert Morris on Friday, when admission is free. The fifth-ranked men’s team then plays No. 2 Michigan State on Saturday. Both games are scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. ET.  

“I didn't think they would ever pull it off this quickly for this year,” Gadowsky said Tuesday at his weekly media availability. “I just didn't think it was possible. So it was really [Athletic Director] Pat Kraft, Vinnie James, and then, man, did they ever have to get a lot of departments on board for this to happen.

“Like this happening — this takes the entire university. It takes the entire community. Everything from [Intercollegiate Athletics] to, I mean, just think of all the things that go into this with facilities and parking and EMS and fire and police and the Pegula [Ice Arena] crew. I mean, just so many different departments have to come together to make this happen. I'm blown away that they're pulling it off.”

Penn State announced its long-awaited plan to host hockey at Beaver Stadium in August 2025, just one year into the venue's $700 million renovation project, which is expected to be completed in 2027. 

Penn State’s iconic football stadium has been the subject for years of a potential NHL outdoor game, particularly between the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins. Penn State still plans to pursue a Stadium Series game after the renovation is complete. But the first hockey games at Beaver Stadium will be played by the Nittany Lions. 

"This is a historic moment for Penn State Hockey, our fans and the entire Penn State community,” Kraft said in a statement last year announcing the games. “To bring the excitement of college hockey to Beaver Stadium is truly special."

RELATED: Penn State rolls into Beaver Stadium game on a win streak

Preparing for Beaver Stadium hockey

Gadowsky said the team will skate at Beaver Stadium on Wednesday to get a feel for the ice, which captain Dane Dowiak said will be important. However, the team was lucky enough to have some prior experience in an outdoor game, as Penn State played Notre Dame last January at Wrigley Field in Chicago. 

The temperature for that game hovered around 20 degrees, and attendance was 25,709. The circumstances will be quite different on Saturday. The temperature is expected to be 11 degrees at puck drop, yet Gadowsky said he’s anticipating around 65,000 in attendance. 

“I mean, I certainly have never played in front of 65,000 people before,” Gadowsky said. “It's an incredible event, and shows the power of Penn State and what an incredible university it is.”

While it doesn’t seem as if Gadowsky will be carrying much information over from last year’s Wrigley Field game to Saturday’s affair against Michigan State, he said the team will dress “very, very warm.”

“I think Ben [Kogut], our equipment guy, is pretty well equipped for anything we need,” Dowiak said. “I know last year [at Wrigley Field] you put some stuff on, more than you think you need. As you get hot, you just take it off, and it’s kind of just to test it out, and we'll see with the wind. I think once the adrenaline's going, I don't think the weather will be a problem because there's so much noise with Saturday's game."

An important series for the Nittany Lions

Saturday’s matchup will require a quick turnaround, as Penn State and Michigan State will play Game 1 of their series at 6 p.m. Friday at Pegula Ice Arena. Dowiak said that, while there’s plenty of anticipation for the outdoor contest, the team needs to make sure it’s locked in for Friday’s game first. 

Gadowsky repeated the need to focus on Game 1 and said that Penn State’s trainers will play a big role in helping the team recover with only 19 hours between the puck drop of both games.

Gadowsky is hyper-focused on a key matchup this weekend against No. 2 Michigan State, but if Saturday is a huge success, the likelihood is high that there will be another outdoor game in Beaver Stadium’s future.  

“No, I mean not to me. Maybe internally,” Gadowsky said. “But I think we're just all hands on board right now to pull this one off. So I think we're just looking forward to seeing if this one can actually be pulled off first. But yeah, we'll see.”

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Chase Fisher
CHASE FISHER

Chase Fisher is a student at Penn State University who has covered men's hockey and baseball for The Daily Collegian. He is covering football for Penn State on SI. Follow him on X @chase_fisher4.

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