After Penn State men’s ice hockey program achieved their highest rankings by United States College Hockey Online (USCHO) since January 2017, reaching No. 4, head coach Guy Gadowsky met with the media ahead of their first home series of the 2025-26 campaign against Clarkson. .
Here are some key takeaways from his Tuesday press conference.
Jackson Smith and Jared Crespo Updates
One of the notable absences from the Nittany Lions first road series against No. 14 Arizona State was defenseman Jackson Smith.
On the NHL Network broadcast/stream, it was revealed that Smith did not make the trip due to illness.
Gadowsky confirmed that on Tuesday, being optimistic Smith could go on either on Thursday or Friday but did not confirm Smith’s status or availability for Clarkson.
Another blue liner, Jared Crespo will have a few days off this week after crashing into the boards during last Friday’s game, where Crespo needed assistance off the ice and grinding it out in the second game, Gadowsky is wanting Crespo to get necessary rest ahead of a long season.
“It looked really bad. I was very, very happy (and) our staff was very happy to see him available on Saturday,” Gadowsky said. “I think he deserved a lot of credit. He gritted it out. Certainly wasn’t his best (game), but it wasn’t a situation where he hurt it more, so a couple days off this week.”
Addressing The Second Period Struggles
The Nittany Lions were outscored 5-0 in the first two games during the second period.
When asked about it Gadowsky didn’t want to attribute it to a “second period issue,” but more the team needed to have a better approach in the middle stanza.
‘It’s not necessarily adjustments for the second period, adjustments with our game. I do think the first night was a mentality issue, where we scored two at first, and then I think we took our eye off the ball a little bit,” Gadowsky said.
“(It was a) good learning experience, it’s great when you can win a game and learn.”
During the first game, the Nittany Lions were sent to the penalty box on four different occasions with the Sun Devils only able to score once on the power play.
Gadowsky ruled out the mental issues in Game 2 saying, “it’s a concept issue that we’re working on.”
Gadowsky Assesses McKenna, Addresses “Forks Down” Gesture
The hype that surrounds 17 year old Whitehorse, Yukon native Gavin McKenna was met on the big stage after a three point weekend.
Gadowsky marveled at McKenna’s ability to set up forward Charlie Cerrato’s Game 1 goal.
“You can’t teach that. It’s just fun to watch it. I think I’ve heard comments on (McKenna’s assist to Charlie Cerrato) more than any other, because if you played the game, you realize how insane that is,” Gadkowsky said. “He really does manipulate time and space differently than anybody I’ve ever seen. That’s a great example of when he has no time and space, how he creates something out of nothing. And then there’s times where he has a ton of time and space, and he will just make a one-touch pass through a tiny little opening.”
Gadowsky described McKenna as extremely quick, fast, possessing a ‘really good stick,’ and a ‘very smart player.’
After McKenna’s game winner in Game 2, he gestured to the Sun Devil crowd a “forks down” gesture, Gadowsky commented on McKenna’s actions.
“The crowd was on him from minute one: from him being introduced, every time he touched the puck, to chanting at him. I think he handled himself extremely well. I think the forks-down gesture was like, ‘Yeah you didn’t get to me.’”
Other Notes
Goaltender John Seifarth is no longer with the team. The third-string goaltender is focusing on his academics to be able to graduate on time per Gadowsky.
Gadowsky raved about forward Nic Chin-DeGraves weekend performance winning 63% of his faceoffs and had a big third period shorthanded goal in Game 2. Gadowsky commented these contributions are ‘massive’ to the team’s success.
Ahead of the home opener, Gadowsky praised “The Roar Zone” attributing it to a lot of recruiting success. “We know we have the best student section in the nation, The Roar Zone has played a part in every single recruitment we’ve had.”
Even McKenna is excited for the spectacle:
