Penn State entered the season with high hopes, and while everything is still on the table for the Nittany Lions — who were recently bumped up to No. 5 in the USCHO poll and are eyeing a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament — the roster has taken on water.
A flurry of injuries has left Penn State scrambling, with six players out for its most recent game, a 5-4 overtime win over Ohio State. To compensate, lines have been shuffled and defenseman Casey Aman has been playing forward.
Defenseman Nick Fascia had also been playing forward until his injury in Friday’s contest against the Buckeyes, an 11-4 victory. Gadowsky said Tuesday that Fascia will be “out this weekend for sure, day-to-day after that.”
Additionally, forward Charlie Cerrato “will not be ready this week” for the Nittany Lions’ Friday-Saturday series at Notre Dame, but there was some good news from Gadowsky:
“We’re hopeful that we’ll get Braedon Ford back, if not this week then next for sure.,” Gadowsky said. “We’re holding off right now. This weekend was tough, however we’re optimistic we’re going to get reinforcements.”
Forward Ben Schoen — who left the ice on Saturday and went to the locker room clutching his arm — will return to action after a “weird stinger,” Gadowsky added.
With more players set to return in the near future and postseason play just around the corner, the Nittany Lions could get healthy at the right time. But for now, putting together lines can be tough for the coaching staff.
“It’s just a matter of the synergy at the time, and who has played with who,” Gadowsky said. “There’s not always one criteria. The coaches get together and put their heads together … just sort of go with your gut.”
The team even considered elevating club players to the varsity squad temporarily to fill gaps, but “we will only do it on an absolute emergency basis.”
“You play all year, and you go through so many meetings, so many practices, so many video sessions, so much training … It’s very difficult to bring in a body and have them assimilated perfectly,” Gadowsky said.
Additionally, shift management has been critical. To keep their short bench fresh, the Nittany Lions have rotated more frequently, which can disrupt flow but delays fatigue.
In the team’s previous series at Michigan, which resulted in a loss and a tie, Gadowsky admitted he “didn’t do a good job of managing the bench,” but last weekend saw improvement.
“It’s something that I’ve never really had to think about,” forward Lev Katzin said. “Gads taught us, like, 40 seconds is the right cutoff, and I feel like we saw it on Saturday with our comeback.”
Two players who’ve been picking up extra shifts and maximizing their opportunities with different linemates are forwards Gavin McKenna and Aiden Fink, two of the team’s top point-getters.
“They’re very high-offensive players and everybody knows that, but they also have a lot of pride in working very hard,” Gadowsky said. “They’re both very smart, they have very high hockey IQs, that’s what allows them to have success on different lines.”
