Plenty of people in and around Centre County have been waiting years for the Penn State Men’s Hockey team to become a Division-1 sport, and now, the time is here. Coach Guy Gadowsky is kicking off the season in a pretty exciting way: a free, open practice at midnight followed by a free skate session with the team.

Things will get started at the aptly named “Midnight Ice Breaker” at Greenberg Ice Pavilion when doors open at 11 p.m. on Friday, October 5th. Free pizza and t-shirts will be provided to the first 200 students courtesy of the Code Blue student rewards program. There will be on-ice contests, and 2 signed hockey sticks will be given away (one to a current student, one to a non-student).

Coach Gadowsky will be introducing every member of his team, as well as giving a speech to the crowd in attendance. Soon after, practice will begin at 12 a.m. and last about an hour. Following practice, the public is allowed to ice skate with the team.

Why midnight? Well, NCAA rules state that practice can begin on October 6th. As mentioned before, this is the moment we’ve been waiting for, so it’s best to get the season started as soon as possible.