The words "Blue-White," bellowed by Ray Lombra, assistant coach for the ice hockey team, echo throughout the Ice Pavilion with regularity during the course of an ice hockey game. This signifies fresh troops. The Icers on the ice hustle to the bench to facilitate a line change.

Line changes are obviously an integral part of the game. Stoppages of play are far from commonplace, and Penn State's wide-open skating style only increases the fatigue experienced from nonstop movement.

And thus comes one of the many decisions faced by coaches. Creating workable lines, revising lines in practice and even switching lines during the game are necessary to have a harmonious unit on the ice.

And just when a coach thinks he's got the lines set, a scoring drought or a key injury gets mixed in and the whole process begins again.

Such is the life of Coach Joe Battista.

The Icers' third-leading point scorer, Ross Cowan, is sidelined with a chipped bone in his ankle. So the lines were juggled.

"You don't lose a guy of Ross's caliber and not expect it to make an impact on your team's play," Battista said. "We're shifting things around quite a bit. I think it's good for the soul to change lines every now and then. It puts a new look to things; a fresh approach."

The number of offensive lines remains at four, but the personnel composing the lines vary. As of this week in practice, Battista has restructured the lines. The blue line joins Andy McLaughlin, Chris Cervellero and Mark Konchar. In the last three games, Cervellero has notched ten points. The black line is composed of Brad Russell (27 points, 11 goals), Jim Adams and Jason Niedt.

"Everybody's at a level where you can mix and match players," Konchar said. "(Switching lines) is not a problem at all."

The white line is Dave Murphy (27 points, 12 goals), Don Lamison and freshman Ryan Geiges. Murphy has five goals in the last three games.

"Our best player right now is Dave Murphy," Battista said. "He's been our most consistent performer. He's been on fire lately."

The line undergoing the most change currently has Ben Bouma, Rich Filar and Mark Cervellero on it. Bouma is currently riding a four-game goal scoring streak and is experiencing what Battista calls a "resurgence."

The offensive lines are not set and can undergo further adjustment before the weekend games against ICHL opponent University of Buffalo. The lines could also return to what they were this past weekend. Battista's freedom is virtually limitless.

Battista is shooting for balance in his lines as opposed to having one top line. For instance, the current strong play of Murphy and Chris Cervellero has given Battista a "share-the-wealth" philosophy, and he has split the duo.

Having four balanced lines can prove to be a strong advantage, especially when the opposition is running only three lines. Penn State has always used four lines, and Battista attributes some of the Icers' success to the team's depth. The team currently is atop the ICHL standings with a 6-1-1 record (13-3-1 overall). Many teams could skate four lines against Penn State, but choose not to.

"I constantly scratch my head," Battista said. "I don't understand why teams give us that advantage."

Penalty killing and power plays tend to cause changes in lines. The lines starting a game could also be different from the lines at game's end.

"The whole complexity of the game changes as we change lines," Battista said. "It's never easy to guess who is or isn't on for a game. Within the game, you have to be willing to make adjustments."

Note:

-- Penn State remains third in the American Collegiate Hockey Association rankings. The University of Michigan-Dearborn and North Dakota State University are ranked one and two, respectively. No. 5 Ohio University will be the Icers' opponent in the semifinals of the Nittany Lion Invitational on Jan. 24.