At long last, Penn State men’s hockey returns from a six-week break to take on non-conference foe RIT in a home-and-home starting on Saturday in Rochester.

The most highly anticipated season in program history hasn’t quite yielded the individual and team dominance that some projected entering the year, but the team enters the second half with all of its goals still in reach and could be the healthiest they’ve been all season when conference play resumes on January 9.

With the season about to resume, let’s catch you up on the latest as the men’s hockey team gets ready for its push to get back to the Frozen Four.

Injury Report

Penn State entered this season without forward Keaton Peters or defenseman Cade Christenson, and they picked up another injury when Aiden Fink sustained a broken thumb on Halloween in Columbus.

While Peters will not return this season, it seems likely that both Christenson and Fink will be ready to open the second half.

Christenson, who emerged as a physical force on the blue line in his freshman year, appeared to have shed his red, non-contact practice sweater in exchange for a full-contact sweater over the break. The team’s social media posted a picture of Christenson practicing in normal colors on December 6, signaling a return in the near future.

Gearing up for January!! #WeAre #HockeyValley pic.twitter.com/Op0XJ07R6X

— Penn State Men’s Hockey (@PennStateMHKY) December 6, 2025

Head coach Guy Gadowsky said before the season that his timeline for return was after Christmas, so everything seems to have gone well with his rehab. As for Fink, he was a full go at the Spengler Cup (more on that in a minute) and seems to be ready to go when he returns.

All in all, it looks like Penn State will be as healthy as they can be when the season resumes.

Holiday Break Tournaments

Six Nittany Lions participated in international tournaments over the holiday break. Fink, JJ Wiebusch, Mac Gadowsky, Matt DiMarsico, and Charlie Cerrato played for the U.S. Collegiate Selects at the Spengler Cup in Switzerland, while Gavin McKenna played for Team Canada at the World Junior Championships in Minnesota. Guy Gadowsky also coached the Selects in their first-ever trip to Switzerland.

Fink, in his first action in two months, was arguably the best forward in the tournament, tallying eight points in four games and earning a spot on the all-star team. DiMarsico scored a pair of goals, Cerrato had a goal and an assist, and Mac Gadowsky had an assist. The Selects finished runner-up to the hosts, HC Davos.

The Penn State Connection

Fink DiMarsico #WeAre #HockeyValley pic.twitter.com/EBwz6dEysK

— Penn State Men’s Hockey (@PennStateMHKY) December 27, 2025

McKenna similarly starred for Canada. In the first four games of the tournament, the freshman phenom leads the group-winning Canadians with eight points, spearheaded by a dazzling hat trick against Denmark.

GAVIN MCKENNA, BEHAVE

THAT'S THE HAT-TRICK, AND IT'S 7-1 CANADA #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/xwtP3Ko0P9

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) December 30, 2025

The McKenna-Fink tandem only combined for six goals in the first half, but if they’re able to carry their stellar performance against stiff competition over, the team as a whole might take it to another gear.

While the six that went to the Spengler Cup are expected to be back for RIT on Saturday, McKenna will not. World Juniors runs through the weekend, so expect the top NHL prospect to make his return to the lineup on January 9 against Minnesota.

Big Ten Standings

Folks, the Big Ten might be the best conference in all of college hockey.

Penn State is a very respectable No. 8 in the nation, but that number looks less impressive when you realize the top three teams in the country are in the Big Ten. No. 1 Michigan, No. 2 Wisconsin, and No. 3 Michigan State are the teams that Penn State will be chasing.

Wisconsin sits at the top with 22 points and an 8-2-0 record in the conference, followed by Michigan at 7-3-0 and 20 points. Michigan State is third at 5-3-0 and 15 points, while Penn State and Minnesota are tied for fourth at 4-4-0 and 13 points. The Nittany Lions have two games in hand on the top two teams in the conference, allowing them to get closer.

Ohio State (2-6-0) and Notre Dame (0-8-0) bring up the rear, with the Fighting Irish having just one measly point.

The Big Ten Tournament’s format is changing this year, as the quarterfinal is no longer a best-of-three series. All games will be on campus sites, however, so Penn State will need to finish fourth or better in the conference to secure at least one postseason game at Pegula Ice Arena. The No. 1 seed gets a first-round bye and home-ice advantage.

NCAA Tournament Projections

For those who didn’t hear, the NCAA officially changed its methodology for selecting the 16 teams that make the NCAA Tournament, swapping out the Pairwise rankings for the NCAA Percentage Index (NPI). For an explainer on what goes into the NPI, click here.

As of New Year’s Day, Penn State ranks No. 8 in the NPI, firmly in the field for the NCAA Tournament. As we know from last season, when Penn State narrowly secured a spot at No. 14, it’s not as simple as the top 16 teams getting in, as all conference champions receive an automatic bid.

We won’t be able to tell bid stealers until March, but as of now, only the AHA seems likely to send a bid stealer to the tournament. Penn State would just need to finish top 15 in that scenario.

Even if the season ended today, we wouldn’t be able to accurately predict a bracket due to the juggling of regional sites, but here’s the best guess for what we currently have.

Albany Regional:

No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 4 UConn*

No. 2 Minnesota-Duluth vs. No. 3 Quinnipiac

Worcester Regional:

No. 1 Dartmouth* vs. No. 4 Holy Cross*

No. 2 Penn State vs. Western Michigan

Sioux Falls Regional:

No. 1 North Dakota* vs. Cornell

No. 2 Michigan State vs. Minnesota State*

Colorado Regional:

No. 1 Wisconsin* vs. No. 4 Providence

No. 2 Denver vs. Harvard

(* Automatic Bid)

The NCAA does not like stacking multiple conference rivals in the same regional. There are also two “hosts” automatically placed in the local regionals (similar to Penn State last year): Denver and Holy Cross.

Season Outlook

Penn State will play all but two of its remaining 18 games against Big Ten opponents. The first two games, a home-and-home on Saturday and Sunday with RIT, will be without McKenna, as previously mentioned. RIT started the season hot and is third in the AHA, but has lost six of seven.

Big Ten play resumes on January 9, when Minnesota comes to town. After that two-game set, the Nittany Lions stay home to host Notre Dame in a series that they need to dominate to keep pace in the standings.

After a brief two-game road trip to Wisconsin the following week, they return home to face Michigan State in the most highly anticipated series of the season, which concludes in the Beaver Stadium game on January 31, which Guy Gadowsky stated on his Spittin’ Chiclets appearance, has already sold over 60,000 tickets.

After a week off to start February, Penn State visits top-ranked Michigan on Valentine’s Weekend before hosting Ohio State the week after. It ends February in South Bend, facing Notre Dame.

The regular season concludes with a two-game set against Wisconsin on March 5 and 6, the only Thursday/Friday series of the semester due to the Big Ten wrestling tournament taking place in the Bryce Jordan Center on Saturday. The Big Ten tournament begins on March 11.

Penn State still has six games against Ohio State and Notre Dame and will need to use them to pick up wins to boost the NPI and give them a chance at home games in the Big Ten tournament. After some discouraging performances against Michigan and Michigan State, it would do a lot for the long-term confidence if Penn State were able to win a series against one of the teams in front of them.