According to a report in the Altoona Mirror, Penn State is close to building a new ice arena, followed by the creation of Division 1 mens and womens hockey teams. The arena would be by the Bryce Jordan Center, where the Nittany Lions play their basketball games.
A source admits that it’s not a done deal, but that announcement would probably be coming shortly. The arena is expected to cost somewhere between 60 and 80 million dollars. According to the Mirror, Penn State officials visited both Minnesota to look at Mariucci Arena and Notre Dame to look at their brand new building.
While this will be viewed as the first step towards the creation of a Big 10 hockey conference, it would be very attractive for the CCHA to add Penn State. This could potentially be the end of D1 hockey in Huntsville as Penn State would become the CCHA’s 12th member.
(h/t to Pro Hockey Talk’s Joe Yerdon)
Tags: Penn State


[...] Northern Michigan will look to build on their solid 2010 campaigns. The loss of Nebraska-Omaha and rumors about Penn State’s entry into the league combine to make this an intriguing year for the [...]
[...] It seems that speculation about Big Ten hockey comes up every year anymore. This year’s talk arose from the news that Penn State will be building a hockey arena and starting NCAA hockey programs. [...]