Penn State hockey learns Big Ten schedule, completing 2024-25 slate

The final piece of the puzzle for the 2024-25 season came together for Penn State hockey last week, as the Big Ten revealed the conference calendar for the upcoming year. With the schedule release, the Nittany Lions now know the path ahead for this season. Can Guy Gadowsky navigate the slate to get the Nittany Lions back to the postseason after a down season a year ago?

Penn State hockey learns final piece of 2024-25 schedule

Penn State hockey announced its non-conference schedule last month, a ten-game stretch that features matchups against Alaska, Quinnipiac, St. Lawrence, Colgate, Army (Capital Hockey Classic), and Canisius.

However, the Big Ten schedule is where programs with postseason aspirations separate themselves. The conference has quickly become one of, if not the best, leagues in college hockey.

The Nittany Lions open Big Ten play with a two-game series against Minnesota at 3M Arena on November 1-2. Penn State goes on a bye before returning to Pegula Ice Arena for consecutive home series against Wisconsin on November 15-16 and Michigan on November 22-23. The final series before the winter break will be a road matchup against Ohio State on December 6-7.

The new year starts with The Frozen Confines Big Ten Hockey Series at Wrigley Field on January 3, where Penn State hockey will take on Notre Dame. The Nittany Lions then travel to South Bend to complete the series against the Irish on January 5.

Penn State will return to Hockey Valley to take on Michigan State on January 10-11 and Ohio State on January 24-25, with a series against Canisius in between. Guy Gadowsky’s squad will then face back-to-back road trips against Michigan and Wisconsin to open February.

The last month of the season will conclude with a home series at Notre Dame, an away series at Michigan State, and a home series against Minnesota on consecutive weekends between February 14/15 and February 28 and March 1.

Postseason 0utlook for 2025

© Mark Stewart / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

Penn State hockey fell below expectations in 2024. The Nittany Lions entered the year ranked No. 16 in the country but finished with a poor 15-18-3 record and failed to make the NCAA Tournament.

This season, the non-conference schedule is certainly manageable, and Penn State will be favored in almost all of its games outside of the road test at Quinnipiac.

However, the Big Ten schedule will once again be a bloodbath. While the preseason rankings haven’t come out yet, there will most likely be four ranked teams in the top 20 to enter the season. Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, and Michigan State are all in the mix to make the NCAA Tournament. That doesn’t even include Notre Dame, which should be on the tournament bubble as well.

If Gadowsky and Penn State hope to return to the postseason, they will have to find a way to get inside the conference’s top four. With only 16 teams making the NCAA Tournament, it’ll be difficult to make it as the conference’s fifth-place team, even with the strength of the Big Ten.

Going 10-0 in the non-conference would undoubtedly help, but Penn State will probably have to finish with at least an 11-13 conference record to have a chance. If the Nittany Lions trip up in the non-conference schedule, obviously, that margin for error decreases. A good rule for NCAA Tournament contention is to be at least .500 in conference play, a far cry from the Nittany Lions’ 7-14-3 record a year ago.

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