Penn State men’s hockey announced its schedule for the 2017-18 season. There are a few differences from previous years, but the overall outlook stays similar with 34 games total and the start coming in early October.

Of the 34 games, 10 will be non-conference matchups against Clarkson, St. Lawrence, American International, Mercyhurst, Arizona State, and Robert Morris.

There will be an exhibition game against Ottawa on October 1 for the Nittany Lions to open Pegula for the 2017-18 slate, but the first regular season home matchup will come three weeks later against American International in a two-game set October 19-20.

With the addition of Notre Dame to the Big Ten for this season, Penn State will play four more games in conference. The format stays the same with four games — two home and two away — against each conference opponent.

The addition of the Fighting Irish will add an uneven number of teams to the conference — meaning that the Big Ten slate begins earlier, Penn State will play more non-conference opponents during conference play than it has in previous years, and there will also be a bye week in the middle of February.

The reigning Big Ten Tournament champions will begin its conference title defense October 12-13 with a two-game set at Minnesota — almost two months earlier than the Nittany Lions started Big Ten play in 2016. The first conference home series is against Michigan October 27-28.

The regular season comes to a close February 24 against Minnesota at Pegula.

The Big Ten Tournament has undergone a few changes for this season. It will move to campus sites for each of the three rounds and will be spread out over the course of three weekends.

Opening weekend (March 2-4) will be a best-of-three series with the top seed receiving a bye to the semifinals. The semifinals (March 10) and the championship (March 17) will still just be a one-game playoff.

The 2018 NCAA Hockey Tournament will begin March 23, and Allentown’s PPL Center is hosting one of the four regions. 

The full schedule is listed here.