When nine Penn State men’s hockey seniors graduated last season, it was tough to imagine seven incoming freshmen filling their shoes.

Although this year’s youngest additions haven’t completely plugged those holes, they are certainly on their way after an impressive start.

As a group, the freshmen have tallied five goals and nine assists for 14 points throughout the first six games, and their impact on the team goes much deeper than that.

Penn State’s season didn’t start out well. The Nittany Lions lost both of their first games against Minnesota. While head coach Guy Gadowsky wasn’t happy with the way his upperclassmen played, he praised the efforts of his freshmen.

“I actually was impressed with all our freshmen and with how comfortable they looked,” Gadowsky said after the team’s first series. “It really takes a little bit of time to get used to the speed of the game, and I thought all new players look very comfortable. It justifies our optimism.”

Sophomore forward Kevin Wall was also impressed with the freshmen after the Minnesota series.

“I thought they did a great job,” Wall said. “They played the system well. All of them have pretty big roles this year, and I’m excited to see what they’re gonna do for the rest of the season.”

The young players carried their performances over to Penn State’s last series against Michigan. Following the team’s 3-1 loss to the Wolverines, captain Alex Limoges complimented the freshmen once again.

“Normally, for freshmen, there’s a learning curve,” Limoges said. “These guys got thrown into the fire pretty quickly. I liked a lot of their games tonight. They are doing what they need to do, and we want them to keep playing that way.”

The best performance as a group was during last Thursday’s 9-5 win over Michigan. Three freshmen scored the first goals of their careers, while others scored their first points to help give Penn State its first victory of the season.

Despite their recent success, it’s been harder for younger players to fit into a new team this year as opposed to other seasons due to the coronavirus pandemic. With the current restrictions in place, the team has two different locker rooms and can barely get together off the ice for an in-person hangout.

“With the leadership we had last year, you can ask them any question and they would be happy to answer since we are a team with one goal,” Wall said. “A couple of us have taken that initiative this year to tell the freshman to not be afraid to talk to us if they have a question. Being there for them and letting them know that you’ll have their back and help them with anything they need makes them feel really comfortable and fit into the room well.”

Even though most people will look at the team’s 1-5 record with pessimism after last year’s success, the future is bright if these freshmen continue developing into stars.