When the ice hockey club pays a visit to Canada this weekend -- first Niagara at 8 tonight and Conestoga at 1:30 tomorrow afternoon, a lot will be at stake -- including the top ranking in the ICHL.

After tonight's game, the No. 1 Icers face No. 2 Niagara two more times in the regular season, Feb. 16-17 at the Ice Pavilion, and Coach Joe Battista says that Penn State must win two of those games to come out No. 1 at the end of the season.

Winning the ICHL would give the Icers a bye in the quarterfinals and an extra day of rest. This extra day should be welcome as the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals are played on consecutive nights.

First, though, the Icers must beat Niagara and Jim Darling, the top goalie in the ICHL. Don't expect another score like Penn State's 16- 0 rout of Maryland last Friday; the most goals the Icers have ever scored against Darling is five.

Niagara, which emphasizes strength and size instead of speed, as Penn State does, will be helped out by its rink, which is smaller than the Ice Pavilion.

"It's more of a Boston Garden type of a rink, which, from a coaching standpoint, you would think, favors them," Battista said.

Battista said the offense must play more physically for the Icers to win. But the team still must use the speed that has been so effective for them this year; the last thing Battista wants is an all-out physical battle with the Knights.

Niagara has something else at stake -- revenge. Last year was the first time Penn State won at the Knights' home, and the Icers also removed Niagara from the ICHL playoffs last year, with a 5-3 win.

Following Niagara, the Icers travel to Conestoga, a team they have already played twice this year and beaten both times, 4-3 and 9-3. One thing they learned from those games, Battista said, is that this is the best Condor team ever -- a team that is currently No. 5 in the ICHL.

If Conestoga does have an Achilles' heel, it is penalties -- in their 9-3 victory, Penn State converted on six power plays. If the Condors can keep themselves under control, though, Battista expects this game to be a very close one.

Another advantage the Icers will have is Conestoga's rink -- quite the opposite of Niagara's, it is an Olympic-sized surface, beautifully suited to the Icers' wide-open attack, and Penn State has never lost there.

The Condors will have to take away the Icers' speed in order to win, Battista said, and try to keep the score low -- Penn State will likely win a shootout.

"Once we get the puck and we start on the offensive with all that room," Battista said, "(our forwards) . . . are just going to have a field day."

"We're going to have to stay out of the penalty box, pressure their defensemen, and play well in our defensive zone," Icer John O'Connor said.

The Icers enter this weekend having won their own Nittany Lion Invitational , beating Rhode Island and Maryland -- No. 7 and No. 12, respectively, at the time -- by a combined score of 27-2.