2021-22 PENN STATE HOCKEY
NITTANY LION HOCKEY HISTORY HOCKEY VALLEY TIMELINE EARLY YEARS LATE 1800s-EARLY 1900s Many of Penn State’s 300 students play pickup hockey on flooded outdoor rinks. 1906-09 Students primarily from the Pittsburgh area organize a hockey team with the intent to seek official approval for an intercollegiate varsity team by the University’s Athletic Association, which oversaw all Penn State sports. DECEMBER 1909 On Christmas night, the first Penn State hockey team, led by captain Herb Baetz, plays its first-ever intercollegiate game against Carnegie Tech at the Duquesne Gardens in Pittsburgh. Less than a week later, Penn State travels to the Duquesne Gardens once more, and falls to Pittsburgh, 2-1. JANUARY 21, 1910 University’s Athletic Association rejects an official bid to sponsor ice hockey as an official varsity sport. Penn State students fight to elevate the program for the next two decades.
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WINTER 1938 Eight members of the Sigma Phi fraternity form an independent hockey team. FEBRUARY 1938 On Feb. 12, the team plays an exhibition game against Lakemont, an independent amateur team, in Altoona, Pennsylvania, with Al Hook, a physical education professor, serving as team coach. Ten days later, the independent squad suits up for its first intercollegiate game against Pittsburgh at the Duquesne Gardens, losing 4-0.
contest Jan. 27, when the team was finally able to play on flooded tennis courts. Three hundred bleachers were also put in for the event. The team competes in 11 games during the season and compiled a 3-8-0 record.
THE FIRST VARSITY ERA MARCH-MAY 1940 Hockey and skiing are put before the students at the All-College Elections. Two months later, hockey is voted as an official varsity sport as the Athletic Association approved the measure by a 651-35 majority vote. DECEMBER 6, 1940 Penn State plays its first game as a varsity sport at the Shaffer Ice Palace in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The Nittany Lions defeat Carnegie Tech, 3-1, with John Dufford scoring the first goal in Penn State varsity history. After the first season, the University’s Athletic Advisory Board granted hockey full status with full financial support. Up until that time, the team was able to make its own schedule and handle its own finances. The team uses Rec Hall as its practice facility as several attempts for an outdoor rink throughout the years is unsuccessful. 1940-44 SEASONS Although there is on-ice success, the United States’ involvement in World War II, combined with the lack of availability of ice on campus,
has a devastating effect on the viability of Penn State Hockey. With many teams dropping the sport, Penn State only plays four games during the 194243 season, including just two collegiate contests. Ravaged by the war, Coach Davis and Penn State prepared for the 1943-44 season with only three members from the previous year’s squad after losing most of its members to military and civilian enrollment. With the effects of the war being felt throughout the University, the Athletic Association announces that the suspensions of six sports as a war-time economy measure: hockey, cross country, swimming, gymnastics, tennis and golf. 1946-47 SEASON Following the end of World War II, the team returns for one final season. James O’Hora, a new addition to the football coaching staff, is selected to lead Penn State for the 194647 season. The Nittany Lions are scheduled to play seven games, but four contests are eventually cancelled due to warm weather. Following the season, the Athletic Association drops hockey once more, citing limited facilities. It will be 25 years until organized hockey returns to Penn State.
1938-39 SEASON Prior to the start of the 1938-39 campaign, Dr. Carl P. Schott, Dean of the School of Physical Education and Athletics, approves appropriations of $100 for the team. Dr. Arthur F. Davis, who also coached the first four seasons of varsity hockey at Penn State, is named the team’s head coach. In the beginning of the season, the team practices indoors at the Armory building or outside on the pond at Whipple Dam, and plays three games. 1939-40 SEASON Penn State joins the Pennsylvania Intercollegiate League with the University of Pennsylvania, Hershey Jr. Cubs, Lehigh and Lafayette. During the season, Rec Hall becomes the team’s indoor practice facility. The team’s “home” rink was more than 100 miles away in Hershey. Penn State plays its first true home
INAUGURAL VARSITY TEAM, 1940
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