Penn State men’s ice hockey will be entering the 2015-16 season with new captains leading the Nittany Lions on the ice. Senior forward, David Glen, was selected as captain for the season and is also the third voted captain in the ice hockey program’s history.
Alongside Glen, fellow senior defender Luke Juha and junior defender David Thompson, will both serve the team as alternate captains.
“For me it was always an honor to be named captain,” said Glen. “It shows a lot of I guess what your teammates feel about you. Hopefully you did a good job over the past few years and are deserving of it and I think [Juha and Thompson] as much so. We’re just honored and really proud to be picked.”
The Western-Canadian native has served as an alternate captain the past two years and will now be taking on an even greater leadership role this season. Juha and Thompson are both new to the alternate captain roles but have quickly embraced their new duties and are eager to assist leading the team.
“So one of our biggest roles right now is to get everybody on the same page as far as systems and having really good practices and having a good tempo on the ice to make sure that we’re improving every day,” said Juha.
Thompson also mentioned, similarly, that the roles of captain are displayed through performance in the rink, but off the ice their roles serve a more holistic purpose.
“When there’s something that needs to be presented to the team, instead of them [marketing department, coaching staff, or hockey operations] going out of their way or having to take time out of their busy schedules, they’ll contact us and it’s our job to relay that message and make sure that everyone is on the same page from top to bottom,” said Thompson.
The 2015-2016 campaign will be bringing in eight freshmen. When the players returned for the summer and fall semesters it fell on Glen, Juha, and Thompson to get the freshmen in rhythm of the new obstacles and busy schedules of being a Division I athlete. However on a brighter side, Glen spoke highly of this campaign’s freshmen stating that they are smart hockey players and people, are good listeners, and bring positive energy to the team.
Each captain has demonstrated qualities of high character themselves. Glen’s sincere selflessness led him to donate bone marrow in the middle of the 2013-14 season. They all have proved themselves to be solid players, leaving Glen with having high hopes as he leads the team his senior year.
“I think for me it’s more about leading by example,” said Glen. “I’m not a big yeller or screamer or anything like that and I just try to go about my business and hopefully show guys how to do it and do everything the right way.”
As for Juha and Thompson, they both want to lead the team with a positive morale, especially in the locker room to encourage the new comers both on and off the ice. Not only do they want to serve as leaders, but also strongly encouraged the team that they can be used as an outlet to talk to whether it is hockey related or on a more personal level with academics or individual issues.
The captains have expressed which game they are most looking forward too and mutually agreed that Big Ten rivals are most thrilling, especially when playing at Pegula because of the dedicated fan base, The Roar Zone.
They also all agreed that they are looking forward to their first matchup against Windsor, as it will set the tone for the remainder of the season. The game is scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 4 at 12 p.m. ET at the Pegula Ice Arena.
To have a successful season, the captains are hoping that all their hard work during the preseason will show, both on and off the ice. The Nittany Lions have formed a solid foundation and only plan to continue moving upwards.
Until then, the captains will continue leading the team in preparation for what they hope will be the best season in program history to date.
