Big Ten Hockey Announces Penn State Conference Schedule
The Big Ten released its hockey schedule for the 2023-2024 season on Monday afternoon as Penn State looks to return to the NCAA tournament for the second consecutive season.
The Nittany Lions open up conference play against Notre Dame at Pegula on a rare Saturday-Sunday series the first weekend of November.
The blue and white follow that series with a road trip to East Lansing to take on the Spartans.
Penn State struggled against Michigan State last season, finishing 1-2-1 on the season.
The Nittany Lions will stay in Michigan the following weekend to face a familiar foe in the Wolverines in a rematch of last year’s NCAA tournament regional final.
Penn State shocked the college hockey world last season when they upset No. 1 Michigan in November and will look to write a similar script to exact their revenge from last season’s heartbreaking overtime finish.
The next conference matchup will be at home against the Minnesota Golden Gophers to open the month of December.
Penn State defeated No. 1 Minnesota as well last November, their second upset in two weeks, before losing the final three matchups against the Golden Gophers.
The next weekend the Nittany Lions travel to Madison to take on a revamped Wisconsin Badgers team, led by former Minnesota State head coach Mike Hastings and a handful of Mavericks transfers.
The Badgers played spoiler against the Nittany Lions in the final series of the season, preventing the blue and white from getting a home Big Ten tournament series.
The first conference series in 2024 comes against the Spartans at Pegula Ice Arena on Jan. 12-13, before a road trip to South Bend to take on the Fighting Irish the following weekend.
Penn State’s first series against a completely new look Ohio State comes at home the final weekend of January, a potential “Whiteout” weekend.
The Buckeyes lost five key players to either the transfer portal or the NHL, including superstar goaltender Jakub Dobeš.
The bye week comes next for the Nittany Lions from Jan. 28 - Feb. 8, before a gauntlet down the stretch.
The month of February might prove to be the hardest for the blue and white, who will have to play Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin in back-to-back-to-back weeks.
Penn State finishes the regular season in Columbus for its second and final series against the Buckeyes on March 1-2, before the Big Ten Tournament kicks off March 8.
Joshua Bartosik is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jsb6137@psu.edu.
