Penn State has a confusing hockey team. Sometimes, goaltenders Matt Skoff, Eamon McAdam, and P.J. Musico will put on performances that are indicative of their almost-Big Ten-leading statistics, and sometimes they will give their team deficits that require three or four goal comebacks. The offense, led by Hobey Baker nominees Casey Bailey and Taylor Holstrom, might get held to one goal, or might drop 60-plus shots and/or seven goals. Despite consistent performances over the course of the season, on any given night, it’s difficult to predict how the team will fare.

Be that as it may, watching the team doesn’t have to be a confusing affair. Sure, on the surface, the Roar Zone has enough chants with enough lyrics to make your head spin.

Courtesy of Roar Zone President Kyle Hoke, here is the Hockey Valley Survival Guide.

Chants You Need to Know

• From the moment a penalty is called to as soon as the opposing player sets foot in the penalty box: “Ahhhhhhhh … see ya!”
• After a Penn State goal, directed at the opposing goalie: “It’s all your fault! It’s all your fault!”
• Singing the goalie’s first name. (i.e. “Robbie” or “Matty”)
• Sometimes, singing the goalie’s mom’s name.
• To the tune of “Hey Baby”: “Hey [goalie], you suck, I wanna know, why you suck so bad, just every night.”
• We Love Ya (sometimes known as the World Cup Chant)
• “If you’re blind and you know it, you’re a ref!”
• And some other Penn State staples, such as the “We Are” chant, Zombie Nation, etc.

Those are the major chants. The first few are pretty self-explanatory. We just want to get under the skin of the guy going to the box, and especially the goalie. I’m not exactly sure how we found the goalie’s mom a few weeks ago, but we stumbled upon it and decided to give her a shout-out. We’re not sure if this will become a thing, or if it was just a spur of the moment idea.

The “Hey Babe” song comes right after the “it’s all your fault” chant, which comes right after a goal. After a Penn State score, the announcement is made and ends with a “We Are!”

“It’s all your fault” is a popular college hockey chant, with each school having its own variation.

The “We Love Ya” song has become a staple at hockey, as well as other sports. The lyrics go:

“We love ya, We love ya, We love ya
And that is why we follow, we follow, we follow
Cause we support the Lions, the Lions, the Lions
And that’s the way we like it, we like it, we like it”

After the lyrics and the chanting of the “oohs” starts, everyone bounces along and it gets us all pumped up. A good example of the tune can be found here.

At the beginning of the first period, we usually try to get a “Hockey Valley” chant going or something else that could be relevant to the night. For example, after Coach Guy Gadowsky caught some heat on TSN radio, we started the game with a “Guy Gadowsky” chant to show him our support.

When the crowd quiets down, we have a member of the front row, Chris, introduce the opposing goalie. He yells, “Hey everyone, say hi to my friend [goalie’s name]” and we all respond “Hi [goalie’s name]” and then begin chanting his name. At the beginning of the third period, when the goalie returns to our end, Chris yells, “hey, [goalie’s name]!” and we all respond “we’re still here, and you still suck!” just to welcome him back to the business end of Pegula Ice Arena.

The refs are unfortunately, as of late, a popular target for us. Whenever a questionable call is made, we have a few options we like to use besides the obvious “bullshit” chants. We have “I’m blind, I’m deaf, I wanna be a ref!” Our second ref option goes like this, to the beat of “if you’re happy and you know it”:

“If you’re blind and you know it, you’re the ref!
If you’re blind and you know it, you’re the ref!
If you’re blind and you know it, and your calls really show it,
If you’re blind and you know it, you’re the ref!”

Any other Penn State staple chants are welcome. Anything we can do to make noise is good. We encourage anyone to start a funny, creative, and catchy chant. As always, win or lose, every student should stay and sing the Alma Mater with the team. For the Glory!

Five Questions with Kyle Hoke

Onward State: Why should someone come out and support the team/join the Roar Zone?

Kyle Hoke: People should come out, first and foremost, to support the team. If they’re not there to support our hockey team, the atmosphere will decline. The entire reason that the Roar Zone is as loud and crazy as it is, is because every single one of the students that comes to the games loves Penn State, and they all love hockey. Penn State fans are known for being very passionate and loyal. Hockey fans are known for the same traits. Put the two together, and you have the greatest student section in college hockey. If anything else, I want the Roar Zone to be something that every Penn State student should experience before they graduate. There’s nothing like it.

OS: How can someone get involved in say, sign-making, or brainstorming fun things that the Roar Zone can do?

KH: If anyone wants to get involved in sign-making, brainstorming, or anything else we do, just talk to us! Come up to us in the front row during intermissions. Everyone that sits in the front row on a regular basis is obsessed with this hockey program. Some show up hours before doors open just to get their spot on the glass. So feel free to come introduce yourself to us, tell us some of your ideas, and if you want to be involved all the time, just tell us. The more brains we get working on ideas for signs, chants, and taunts the better. Make a sign before the game and bring it to us or tell us your chant ideas, we love to hear them. You can also tweet to us @TheRoarZone with your ideas!

OS: On Twitter, you guys have mentioned some big plans for the Big Ten schedule. Any hints about what they might be?

KH: I can’t disclose much about this. Only the essential people know what our plans are. All I can say is, you won’t want to miss our game against Wisconsin on Feb. 6, and don’t forget your cameras.

OS: What are some of your favorite spontaneous chants and how do they come about? You mentioned “just like football” in our last story (referencing beating Michigan’s hockey team right after the football team’s 4OT win), and there were some other cool ones like “Joe Paterno,” “409,” and “Hobey Baker” recently.

KH: Obviously, the entire Penn State community was excited when the wins were restored. I can talk all day about that. We decided to start the night off with a “409” and “Joe Paterno” chant. Every student was excited about the news so we knew it’d be a strong start. We had a 409 sign as well. As for the “Hobey Baker” chant, every time one of our nominees (Bailey or Holstrom) makes a great play, we’ll chant it. It’s exciting to only be three years into Division I play and have two players nominated for the prestigious award.

Spontaneous chants are some of the best. Northern Michigan’s head coach was put on administrative leave, so we tried to get some chants joking about that. Also, their bus reportedly crashed on the way to the arena, so we tried to incorporate that as well. Often times, the chant will be about a specific event in the game and someone just starts it and everyone follows along. For example, during our series with Ohio State, before the National Football Championship game, we ended the game with a “Let’s Go Ducks!” chant.

OS: Anything else you’d like to share about the Roar Zone?

KH: Like I said above, bring your cameras to our Friday night game against Wisconsin coming up in a few weeks. We might be teasing more leading up to it, but expect something great.

Lastly, I’d like to thank everyone that comes to the games. I can’t thank everyone enough for turning the Roar Zone into what it is, I’m a pretty lucky guy to be in the position I’m in. I could never take full credit for the atmosphere of the Roar Zone because that wouldn’t be true. There’s no way I could ever come up with all these awesome signs, banners, chants, and taunts on my own. It’s incredible to look up and see the wall of students behind me. I love you all, and don’t ever stop being crazy. I can’t wait to keep the Roar Zone growing and evolving, and I don’t want to stop until Pegula Ice Arena becomes known as the premier venue not just in college hockey, but college athletics.