Ohio and Penn State will resume relations this weekend in a rivalry that has been one of the fiercest and most-hotly contested in the 20-year history of the American Collegiate Hockey Association. But this weekend’s contests will be the last in the storied rivalry, at least at the ACHA level.
That’s because Penn State will be moving up to the NCAA Division I level next season thanks to an $88 million donation — the largest in the university’s history — from Buffalo Sabres owner and Penn State alum Terry Pegula.
The donation will establish both men’s and women’s varsity hockey teams and will help endow all 38 scholarships for both teams. It also will help fund the construction of a 200,000-square foot, 6,000-seat arena, complete with game and practice rinks, that is slated to open in December 2013. It will replace the 1,300-seat arena that is the current home of the Icers.
The new men’s team will be called the Nittany Lions, as are all other Penn State varsity teams. It will play one season as an independent at the Division I level before joining the brand new, six-team Big Ten hockey conference, which will start play in 2013.
Though Penn State has the chance to put Pennsylvania hockey on the map, the move means that Ohio will be left without its biggest rival and one of its primary barometers of performance.
“You really have to try to establish a rivalry to survive,” Ohio coach Dan Morris said. “Now we’re losing our biggest rivalry. People buy season tickets just so they’ll have tickets to the Penn State game. That goes away next year. My program’s based on budget, so that concerns me big time, and you can’t replace it.”
The two schools are the most successful in ACHA history, combining to win 10 national titles (Penn State’s six to Ohio’s four), playing each other four times in the championship game. It was Penn State that Ohio beat for its first championship in 1995, and also its last to date in 2004.
The rivalry wasn’t just fuel for the success of the two teams; it also was integral to the development of the ACHA. The league was created in 1991 with 15 founding schools, including Ohio and Penn State, and has since grown to include 450 teams from throughout the U.S., partly because of the stability the Ohio-Penn State rivalry provided early on.
“Really, for most of the ’90s, it was a fierce rivalry between the two programs in that it was either us winning or them winning, and if anyone else was trying, they had to go through one of us or both of us,” said Craig McCarthy, an assistant professor of psychology who coached the Bobcats from 1993 to 2001.
“It was a bitter rivalry, but at the same time, deep down, Penn State had to pull for Ohio and Ohio had to pull for Penn State. We had to get along for the survival of the ACHA and the growth of the ACHA.”
The feeling is the same from the other side of the divide.
“I think both programs really rely on having the other as a benchmark for testing each other each year,” said Bill Downey, director of hockey operations at Penn State. “They always say, ‘Rising water lifts all the boats.’ The better we all did, the better the league was going to become, and I think that’s what we have today.”
The proximity of the two schools helped build the enmity between the fan bases and has meant that the two frequently clashed in battles for recruits from Ohio and Pennsylvania. Seven players on the current Bobcats roster are Pennsylvania natives.
Morris, who has experienced the rivalry both as a player and coach, called the previous battles for players and championships “an arms race.”
“I distinctly remember sitting here in 2003 after they’d beaten us (in the national championship game) and being asked, ‘What do you need to beat them?’ ” Morris said. “And I said, ‘I need to be able to recruit more.’
“The next year, we beat them. There’s a lot of layers to the rivalry.”
Downey, a member of the 2003 and 2004 Penn State squads, said the games against Ohio were some of the most taxing and memorable of his collegiate career.
“Those games were always more important, and I think they stuck with me more than some of the other ones in the league,” he said. “There’s always a little bit of folklore behind it.”
Though the histories and statures of the two hockey programs make them integral, Ohio won’t be moving up to the NCAA level any time soon, Morris said, unless a donor makes a gargantuan contribution to the university.
He listed three main areas — financial, equity and facilities — that would have to be upgraded to make such a move possible, starting with the bulldozing of Bird Arena and the building of a new facility complete with extra locker rooms, a larger ice surface and a state-of-the-art cooling system.
The move to the NCAA would also require adding another’women’s sport, likely hockey, and the scholarships that go along with it to meet Title IX requirements. Considering the current financial state of Ohio Athletics, a move upward is outside the realm of possibilities, Morris said, adding that he’s never really even looked into it.
“You look at Penn State. (Its move) is ‘easy’ because they got a donation of $88 million, their scholarships are endowed, their rink is paid for in cash, so there’s no debt,” he said. “So if you’re looking at an athletic department that’s strapped and trying to cut a deficit, there’s no way they could swallow (two hockey teams). It just won’t happen.”
Because of the added scholarships, salaries, facilities and other logistical factors, hockey as a varsity sport isn’t a real possibility at this time, said Tom Symonds, assistant athletic director for Media Relations.
“Financially, Ohio Athletics is not in a position to fund another varsity athletic team,” Symonds said. “It would be a significant investment.”
Though Penn State will be moving up and Ohio will remain in the ACHA, the rivalry with the Bobcats is not quite over. Ohio will travel to State College, Pa., for two games next season, tentatively scheduled for February 2013.
But Penn State’s days facing Ohio in a raucous Bird Arena are over after Saturday night, and that simultaneously saddens and excites the people who have been part of the series for years.
“To me, it’s exciting,” McCarthy said of Penn State’s rise to the NCAA. “I know just how hard people have to work at the programs to keep them successful, and I think it’s a tribute to them and what they’ve done over the last 20 years.
“In one sense, it’s too bad to lose a premier program, but on the other, you shake their hand.”
The end has certainly grabbed the attention of Ohio’s fans, as officials at Bird Arena expect both games to sell out, with only limited tickets available at the door.
The conclusion also makes this weekend’s games a unique opportunity for both squads. Bragging rights are on the line every year, especially since many players on the two teams know each other. But this time, those bragging rights will last a little longer.
“Them coming here for the last time, we want to have them leave with a bad taste of Bird Arena,” Ohio forward Nick Rostek said. “We want the last say.”
cd211209@ohiou.edu
