Penn State men’s hockey has returned from a six-week holiday break and will enter Friday’s game against Minnesota as close to full strength as they have been all season.

Over the holiday break, several players played in international tournaments, including five in the Spengler Cup in late December.

Back in August, head coach Guy Gadowsky was announced as the leader of the first-ever U.S. Collegiate Selects team, which would travel to Switzerland for the Spengler Cup, the world’s oldest annual international hockey tournament. Prior to 2025, the only team based in the United States to ever compete in the Spengler Cup was in 1988.

Over the course of the fall semester, Gadowsky and co. gradually selected the roster for the historic team, eventually adding five Nittany Lions to the roster: forwards Aiden Fink, Charlie Cerrato, Matt DiMarsico, JJ Wiebusch, and defenseman Mac Gadowsky.

The Spengler Cup was an interesting opportunity to showcase college hockey as a growing force in the hockey world. The other teams at the tournament would comprise professional hockey players, including some of the best European teams and a Canadian team featuring players from the AHL, the NHL’s top minor league, as well as other top European teams. There was reason for optimism, however, as the Selects boasted 13 NHL draft picks.

One thing that was for sure was that, entering play, was that most did not expect them to succeed. The betting markets had the Selects dead last in terms of odds to win the tournament. Many international hockey fans dismissed the group of ragtag amateurs, who were going to mostly play teams that had played together for months, if not years.

The first game wasn’t so hot, as the Selects lost to Team Canada, 3-2. None of the five Nittany Lions registered a point, and all were a minus-one. It was a discouraging showing, one that did not change the perception of the team entering the tournament.

That perception changed the following night, when the hosts, HC Davos, were stunned by the Selects, 5-3. This game had Penn State fingerprints all over, including Guy Gadowsky, whose expletive-filled intermission speech to the team was broadcast for the world on YouTube.

Spengler Cup broadcasts are the best pic.twitter.com/IB8ruPpU2x

— World Hockey Report (@worldhockeyrpt) December 27, 2025

Fink assisted on the team’s first two goals, with the second one being a breakout feed to DiMarsico after he got a takeaway on the blue line. DiMarsico would score a second goal in the game, his only two goals of the tournament.

The Behind-The-Back Boys, Spengler Cup edition!!

That’s for DD, assisted by Cerrato and Wiebusch and #USCS takes the lead back!!#WeAre #HockeyValley pic.twitter.com/eBahdfBX5e

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

DiMarsico’s second goal was a Behind-the-Back Boys special, as Cerrato and Wiebusch picked up assists. Gadowsky used his five Nittany Lions in an innovative way during the tournament, creating an all-Penn State power play line that generated the go-ahead goal in the win over HC Davos.

That win showed they belonged. With the Selects off on December 28, HC Davos beat Canada by three goals, giving the Selects the group tiebreaker and a first-round bye. Despite losing the first game, the U.S. Collegiate Selects were Group Cattini champions.

The bye gave them an additional day off, in which the whole team decided to take in the scenery.

Boys spent the off say atop Jakobshorn, taking in the views #USCS x #ThePeakOfHockey pic.twitter.com/yp1lC144LC

— U.S. Collegiate Selects (@USCollegeSelect) December 28, 2025

The Selects returned to action on December 30 against HC Sparta Praha, a team based in Prague, Czechia, which won the regular season title in the Czech Extraliga in 2024-25. It was in this game that we saw Fink’s masterpiece.

The All-American and Hobey Baker finalist, who was playing his first hockey since breaking his thumb on Halloween against Ohio State, notched a hat trick. His first goal made it 2-0 in the first, while his second and third added insurance after HC Sparta Praha fought back to tie it at two.

FINKER HATTY after Finley throws a dart to his stick #USCS x #ThePeakOfHockey pic.twitter.com/w1HB1WWood

— U.S. Collegiate Selects (@USCollegeSelect) December 30, 2025

Fink, as well as Mac Gadowsky, also added an assist on Cerrato’s go-ahead power play goal in the second period that gave the Selects the lead for good. Just like that, a 5-3 victory sent the Selects to the Spengler Cup Final.

Cerrato SNIPE #USCS x #ThePeakOfHockey pic.twitter.com/gV8JcUeqes

— U.S. Collegiate Selects (@USCollegeSelect) December 30, 2025

It would be a common foe for the collegiates, as HC Davos had battled back to win three consecutive games in front of their home fans to earn a spot in the finals. Despite seemingly walking into a road game, the locals had taken a liking to the Selects, with their merchandise selling out despite almost every player hailing from North America.

Despite beating them the first time, HC Davos was full of talent, winning the Spengler Cup in 2023 and boasting legitimate talent. The final got off to a bad start, as Fink took a first-period slashing penalty and Davos scored three seconds later to take an early lead. Fink made up for it in the second period, tying the game at two by banking it off the goalie from behind the net.

FINK CALLED BANK #USCS x #ThePeakOfHockey pic.twitter.com/Xv5BJiQN1H

— U.S. Collegiate Selects (@USCollegeSelect) December 31, 2025

Davos re-took the lead shortly after, but the Selects sent the final into the third period tied after Fink set up Jack Musa for a game-tying goal. With five minutes left in the third period on New Year’s Eve, the Selects and HC Davos were tied at three.

Unfortunately, the cruel reality of playing professional teams is seeing legitimate talent on the other side. Filip Zadina, the No. 10 overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, scored a go-ahead goal with 4:39 to go. Zadina has 262 games of NHL experience and 41 NHL goals, but has gone overseas after spending last season with the San Jose Sharks.

That goal would be the dagger. Enzo Corvi scored with just over three minutes left to make it 5-3, and Matej Stransky scored a late power play goal to make it look like an uncompetitive game. In reality, it was a lot closer than the 6-3 deficit presented.

The Selects would come in second, falling short of the ultimate glory, but had captivated the hockey world.

Fink was named to the Spengler Cup All-Star Team as the tournament’s leading scorer with four goals and four assists in four games.

𝟵𝟳𝘁𝗵 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝘂𝗽 𝗔𝗹𝗹-𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺
Congratulations to the players selected by the media for their outstanding performances throughout the tournament. Well deserved! #SpenglerCup #ThePeakOfHockey #AllStarTeam pic.twitter.com/RL3kj4b4uM

— Spengler Cup Davos (@spenglercup) December 31, 2025

A full list of how the five Nittany Lions performed:

Aiden Fink: four goals, four assists, eight points, four penalty minutes, plus-four

Matt DiMarsico: two goals, two points, minus-two

Charlie Cerrato: one goal, one assist, two points, two penalty minutes, minus-one

Mac Gadowsky: one assist, one point, minus-two

JJ Wiebusch: one assist, one point, two penalty minutes, minus-two

The men’s hockey team resumes conference play at Pegula Ice Arena against Minnesota at 6 p.m. on Friday, January 9. The game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.