Being named captain of any team is a tremendous honor, but the older you get and the higher the level, the honor gets more and more prestigious.

Once you get to the collegiate level, especially in the era of NIL and playing for a team with national championship aspirations, the honor of being named team captain gets to a level that speaks wonders about the character and leadership skills of an individual.

That honor is amplified when Dane Dowiak became the first junior captain for Penn State men’s hockey in 12 years and the first forward to don the ‘C’ in five years. On a team with several tremendous returners from the best team in program history, Dowiak was the one who was awarded the prestigious honor.

The team will need his leadership more than ever this week, as they look to bounce back from a rough sweep in East Lansing that saw No. 1 Michigan State neutralize Penn State’s identity and show them the level that they have to get to as the season progresses.

“No, no, we didn’t,” head coach Guy Gadowsky said on Monday when asked if Penn State was able to play their version of hockey in East Lansing. “We did on Friday night, but on Saturday, there were a couple of aspects of what’s important to us that I think we just took for granted that it was going to happen.”

With everyone in that locker room knowing they need to be better going into a critical series against No. 2 Michigan, Gadowsky knows Dowiak will be an integral part of the team resetting and taking it one day at a time.

“He does his job, he never complains, he can play in every situation. He’s positive, he’s energetic, he lifts guys up, he’ll do whatever is asked of him to the best of his ability. Some of the newer players, I think, look up to Dane and see how he handles himself.”

Dowiak, himself, says that he wants the younger players to be themselves and not try to be someone they’re not as the competition ramps up.

“I would say just being themselves and not changing who they are,” he said prior to the Michigan State series about his advice to the team’s newcomers. “They’re all here for a reason, they’re all unbelievable players, and they wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t the right fit or they couldn’t play here. Don’t hold back, don’t yield, don’t be scared, just play their game and have fun.”

The leadership group from last year’s Frozen Four run, which included Carson Dyck and Simon Mack, led by example in Dowiak’s first two years on the team, and both he and Gadowsky believe he learned from them on how to lead a locker room at the collegiate level.

“He’s a special guy, and he’s learned from some excellent leaders. We had really high expectations of him, and he’s met every one of them so far,” Gadowsky said.

“Those guys were obviously tremendous people, tremendous hockey players, but they were really good leaders. They did everything the right way, on and off the ice and in the classroom,” Dowiak said back in September on Media Day, also referencing Christian Berger, who was captain when Dowiak was a freshman.

Dowiak himself has enjoyed some nice individual moments on the ice, as the junior from Pittsburgh has four goals in 12 games despite line volatility that has seen him play with a bunch of different forwards throughout the early going.

One of his best highlights as a Nittany Lion may have come in the team’s sweep-clinching victory over Ohio State on Halloween, when he recovered after his initial shot was blocked to put it in the back of the net.

HOLY SCHNIKES, WHAT A SHOT!!#WeAre #HockeyValley pic.twitter.com/5VTVDsOgUX

— Penn State Men’s Hockey (@PennStateMHKY) November 1, 2025

But even in admiring his own brilliant effort, the captain shifted the praise to his teammate for setting him up.

“It’s up there,” Dowiak said when asked about where that goal stacks up in terms of his nicest shots. “You’ve got to start with the play that Mac Gadowsky made. It doesn’t happen without him, the way he creates in transition and jumps in the play, pushes the defender back to open that shot lane, all the credit goes to him.”

Dowiak and the rest of the Nittany Lions will look to get back in the win column at Pegula Ice Arena against No. 2 Michigan at 7 p.m. on Friday, November 14. The game will be broadcast on Big Ten Plus.