Penn State Icers head coach Guy Gadowsky said that there are high fives all around the hockey office tucked away in the Bryce Jordan Center every time they feel a sonic boom, as it means they are one step closer to opening up shop inside the to-be Pegula Ice Arena, an $88 million project funded by Buffalo Sabres owner and Penn State graduate Terry Pegula.

So you can only imagine their reaction when a date for ground breaking was finally set to begin construction on the two-rink arena, which will commence at a ceremony on April 20th.

Penn State closed out their final year as a club program with a 5-2 loss to Oakland in the ACHA finals a week ago, and at the time, Gadowsky said the process of moving forward to the Division I level never ends, and that certainly is the case. Rodney Erickson and acting athletic director Dave Joyner are among the scheduled speakers, with Gadowsky, women’s coach Josh Brandwene and associate Athletic Director For Ice Arena and Hockey Development Joe Battista planning to be in attendance, as well as Pegula and wife Kim.

“Pegula Ice Arena will be a first-rate facility that will provide wonderful opportunities for the Centre County region,” Gadowsky said in a press release. “April’s ceremony will be a great opportunity to celebrate the construction progress and all the people who made it possible.”

“It’s exciting to look at the construction site and see the tremendous progress being made each day,” said Brandwene. “The ceremony will be a special moment for all of Penn State Hockey and the Penn State community as we will be one step closer to dropping the puck in September 2013.”

The Icers will play a year as an independent at the Division I level for the 2012-2013 season, continuing play at the Penn State Ice Pavilion before transferring to the Pegula Ice Arena and the Big Ten Conference for the 2013-2014 season. The 6,000-seat arena will be located at the corner of University Drive and Curtin Road across from the Bryce Jordan Center.