Hey, State College, we’re back! Well, sort of. We recently made the trek north from the other SC (Sun City, South Carolina) up to Penn State, primarily for the annual Hockey Alumni Weekend at Pegula Ice Arena. I’d love to tell you we were escaping the record cold and snowfall that hit South Carolina – Sun City got 3 to 5 inches and low temps of 18! – but we simply traded one winter wonderland for another as snow and sub-zero temps hit Happy Valley when we visited.
But this trip to Happy Valley was also a “game-changer” for us that will impact all five members of our Penn State-centric family. Our oldest son, Jonathon (PSU ’16), closed last week on a rental property he recently had built out by the State College Regional Airport. The rest of the family (Heidi ’81, Brianna ’15, Ryan ’22) has already adopted it as “our family” townhouse. While we are all assisting with the project, make no mistake that my wife, Heidi, and I look at this as “ROI” for raising our kids in Happy Valley.
You have been given fair warning that the Battistas will be spending more time back in Happy Valley. I’m so glad our children have more courage than we did at their age to give this real estate thing a go. I talked a big game back in the early ‘90s about jumping into the rental market. Could’ve, would’ve, should’ve!
Let’s talk hockey reunion first. Saturday morning began with the annual alumni game, and while I no longer put on the gear to play in the game, I did don the black-and-white stripes to officiate. During warm-ups, one of my former players approached me and said, “Hey Coach, what are you going to do now? Yell at yourself?!” The he said, “I remember when you used to start getting mad at the officials. Your go-to line was, ‘Hey, Stripes, I’m starting to lose my sense of humor!’” We both got a big chuckle from that memory.
Two highlights of the alumni game stood out to me: calling my former teammate Randy Fardelmann for a penalty (he frequented the sinbin often in his career), and watching 8-year-old Robby Shaner score a goal that had to make his parents, Rob and Cara, and his grandparents gush with joy. Robby’s father was one of our captains for the 2000 team.
After the game we attended a reception in the Pegula Club, where more players and their families, as well as past and current hockey staff and booster members enjoyed some fellowship and more (embellished) stories. The Friends of Penn State Men’s Hockey Leaders presented a check from their golf classic to coach Guy Gadowsky. In a very classy moment, Coach Gadowsky recognized long-time arena PA announcer Rodney Martin with a No. 25 jersey to celebrate his 25 years of service dating back to the Icers’ ACHA days in the old Greenberg Ice Pavilion to the current Pegula Ice Arena.
Seeing former players and their families is always a treat. But this year was especially memorable because we celebrated the anniversaries of our 1990 and 2000 ACHA National Championship teams and had a great turnout of players and staff and their families. At the end of the first period, Rodney Martin’s familiar booming voice came over the arena PA and he told the story of the 1990 and 2000 teams who were then shown on the Pegula arena video board.
Why were these teams different? Because they were huge underdogs, and it was the remarkable ways that they pulled together to overcome adversity and find a way to win.
Neither team was expected to win a national title, as both had large freshman classes that played big roles in winning their respective titles. Our 1990 team, which featured State College native Gary “Midge” Hutchison, played a “bend but don’t break” style, erasing a three-goal deficit in the third period in a first round 6-5 victory over Arizona. We took advantage of the stellar play of rookie goalie John Gray, who made 49 saves and 45 saves respectively in victories over heavily favored host Ohio University, 5-3, and Iowa State in the finals, 4-3.
The appropriately named “Magic City Miracle” took place in March of 2000 in Minot, North Dakota. That Icer team won three straight come-from-behind games facing a one-goal deficit with less than one minute remaining. In all three contests we pulled our goalie, tournament co-MVP Mark Scally, to tie the games before winning in overtime, including the national championship game, a 3-2 marathon over top-ranked Eastern Michigan. State College resident Kyle Jordan assisted on the winning goal despite playing with a broken hand. Great memories of great games, for sure!
But it’s the enduring friendships that stand out most to me. Listening to the guys debate which class had the most CEOs, corporate executives and business owners was quite interesting and rewarding. So many of the guys owe a debt of gratitude to our academic advisors, including Paul “Doc” Cohen, Ray “Doc” Lombra, academic counselor extraordinaire Ruth Hussey and a group of other professors and counselors who volunteered to assist over the years.
After a fun night out with the guys and spouses on Saturday night, Sunday was a workday for us and our two oldest kids. Our mission: furnish the townhouse to prepare it for use. Putting together a TV stand, bed frames, hanging curtains and purchasing all the kitchenware and appliances were all on the docket.
Being back in State College in the winter brought back fun memories of the family skating outdoors, skiing at Tussey Mountain and hiking up Shingletown Gap and watching our dog Barkley running freely in the snow. He was in his glory! Getting to skate on Holdcroft Rink, my buddy Tim Holdcroft’s outdoor rink, despite the 4-degree temperatures was priceless. Any hockey player will tell you that skating outdoors on natural ice is as pure and joyful as it gets.
In a funny way I’m sad that we missed the big snow “event” in South Carolina. On average, Bluffton gets snow once a decade but we’ve been told it’s usually a dusting that melts by noon. Not with Winter Storm Enzo! The Lowcountry got 3-5 inches and temperatures were in the low 20s at night and no higher than 40 for a week. The snow would partially melt and then refreeze at night causing black ice patches that many natives of South Carolina simply don’t navigate very well. Everything was shut down from noon on Tuesday until Friday, when only the most intrepid locals dared to venture out. I don’t think you will see any pictures of our snow-covered golf courses in any brochures!
The good news is the thaw is on, and the roads are clear, but I don’t think we’ll be playing softball or golf for another week. That’s not good news for our Sun City 60s Travel Softball team to get practice in before we head to Tampa for the World Tournament of Champions Jan. 31. Thankfully the forecast for Tampa is high 70s and low 80s for our time in Florida.
My own hockey “reunion” is being extended. While in Florida we will meet up with our long time PSU hockey faculty advisor Dr. Paul Cohen and his wife, Sarah, and will visit our good friends from State College, former assistant hockey coach and advisor Dr. Ray Lombra and his wife Bobbi in Long Boat Key. There will be plenty of embellished stories rehashed with this group!
By the way, the current men’s varsity team is on a roll having upset then-No. 1 Michigan State, sweeping Canisius, and downing No. 9 Ohio State in a Friday night shootout 7-6 and winning Saturday in a 3-2 overtime thriller in front of the largest crowd in Pegula Arena history. Winter in State College is heating up!
Snow in my SCs at the same time is quite the anomaly. While the winter wonderland will be disappearing soon in our southern SC, our friends in the Pennsylvania SC will be turning their attention to that furry prognosticator Punxsutawney Phil to see if there will be six more weeks of winter!
