According to the saying, life is just a card game.
That little ditty can apply to the life of the ice hockey team, smack in the middle of a six-game in 10-day stretch.
The scheudle maker dealt the Icers a lousy hand, but Head Coach Joe Battista and his players aren't going to gripe about the cards they're holding -- even though it appears the deck is stacked against them.
Fresh from a weekend split with International Collegiate Hockey League foe Buffalo State, the Icers will host the University of Arizona tonight and tomorrow at 7:30 at the Ice Pavilion.
While the Wildcats -- runner-up to North Dakota State in last year's National Club Championships -- are struggling through a 5-12-1 campaign, Penn State is cruising along at a 16-6 clip. Before dismissing Arizona as a serious threat, consider the following:
-- The Wildcats have dropped four games to U.S.International, a Division I power that upset NCAA Champion North Dakota a year ago.
-- Two more losses were against teams from Sweeden and Czechoslavakia at the Viking Cup Tournament in Alberta.
-- The Wildcats have lost two contests with Notre Dame and one with Brandon University in Manitoba, a member of the Canada West Hockey League.
"We really don't know a lot about them," Battista said before yesterday's practice. "They were the runner-up at last year's nationals and they're a perennially strong team. Arizona has a number of Division I transfers including two from (No. 10-ranked) Univeristy of Minnesota-Duluth.
"They're playing a Division I-type schedule," he said. "They're obviously are attempting to go big time (by playing a Division I independent schedule)."
Penn State was handed its worst defeat of the year last Friday night at Buffalo State when the Bengals pummelled the Icers, 12-2. The visitors rebounded for a 5-3 win Saturday that wasn't as close as the score indicated.
The two teams meet again this Saturday and Sunday at the Ice Pavilion at 3:30 each day. Penn State must win both games and sweep Niagara- Welland the following weekend to claim the ICHL regular-season crown.
The pair of games with Arizona shape up as interesting contests. The Icers beat the host Wildcats, 5-3, to claim the 1983-84 National Club Championship. A year later, Arizona won its first title, beating Penn State by the same 5-3 score in Chicago.
"These games are important to us," Battista said. "We're playing for pride. Quite a rivalry is developing between the two schools and we might very well see this team at this year's nationals."
While pride is on the line, the team would probably rather have the practice time to prepare for Buffalo State.
"These two games throw everything off schedule," Icers' defenseman Kraig Stetzer said prior to yesterday's practice. "We're used to having a whole week to prepare for a team and now, we're going to have less than two hours to get ready for Arizona, one of the best teams we'll play all year."
While the defenseman said the mid-week games would throw things a little bit off course, he said the game action would be a pleasant change from the usually weekly practice grind.
"I'm looking forward to it," said Stetzer, who dished out three assists in Saturday's win over the Bengals. "Now there won't be a Tuesday and Wednesday practices, which are usually the longest of the week. This will also make the classes go faster since the game's will be on our minds."
Forward Ken Fatur said that playing Arizona in between the two games with Buffalo State could prove helpful in the long run.
"This is our biggest week of the season without a doubt," Fatur explained. "I'd rather have seen us practice, but having to play these games might work to our advantage. We may see this team at nationals, so we can use this in a positive way."
