Barnes rewarded for jack of all trades efforts

Icer forward Andrew Barnes scored his first hat trick, killed penalties and was named the tournament MVP.

For Icer forward Andrew Barnes, this weekend's Nittany Lion Invitational turned out to be very special.

The senior from Madison, Wis., was honored by his teammates before the championship game Saturday, as the team elected him an assistant captain. The superb all-around weekend was well-deserved for a player who has always taken pride in his defensive abilities.

"Not only did Andrew Barnes have a fantastic offensive weekend, but he was outstanding defensively as well," Icer coach Joe Battista said. "Before the game, the coaching staff and the team decided to reward his play this whole year by making him an assistant captain of the team. Pretty good weekend for the senior."

Being a senior, Barnes has always been a leader in the locker room and on the ice. The fact that he now will wear an "A" on his jersey will just give him that much more respect.

"I'm a pretty vocal guy," he said. "I leave a lot of the pumping up aspect to Eddie Kmit, but I like to use constructive criticism on the bench. I'm not a quiet individual. I like to speak my mind now and then. It's kind of been a role I've done the whole year. I just haven't had the A. I don't think it's going to change anything as far as how the team looks at me."

Barnes spoke of his increased scoring after the game. He has set a career high in goals this year with 11 in 20 games. Last year, he had 10 goals in 32 games.

"I've hoped to put a few more in this year. My role on the team, always since I've been here, has been more as a defensive forward," Barnes said. "I've always taken that role. It's never bothered me. It's just nice every once in a while, and it's kind of surprising to coach, too, that I'm actually scoring a little bit more than I was in previous years."

Barnes saw time on the power play as well this weekend, but that's not where his heart is.

"Coach is trying me out on the power play, and so far it's working out all right, but penalty killing I consider my specialty. I love penalty killing," he said. "Since I started playing hockey, I've always penalty killed. There's not any pressure on the penalty kill. That's the aspect I like about it. If they score, they're supposed to score. But if you do your job, you're keeping the other team off the board. I've always had a good time with it."

Born in Harrisburg, Barnes wanted to come back east to go to school. After a failed attempt to play junior hockey, the opportunity to play at Penn State presented itself.

"My relatives have always been huge Penn State fans," he said. "I've grown up liking Penn State, and this is just a great place to come. To come and play hockey and go to a great school academic-wise, I couldn't pass it by."

Barnes joined the team halfway through the season his freshman year, playing in 12 games for the Icers and notching a goal and one assist. The team was suffering from a lot of injuries at the time and, as a result, Barnes was able to step in right away.

This season, playing on a line with Joe Bassett and C.J. Patrick, Barnes and company have been a constant for the team most of the season. While the coaching staff has experimented with different combinations on the other three lines, it has left the Barnes' line intact. The trio routinely faces off against the opposing teams' number one line and are counted on to shut them down.

"It's nice to play with people when you know where they are going to be on the ice," Barnes said. "I think we have a good chemistry. Our role is to be a defensive-oriented line."

And though Barnes' main role might remain to prevent the other team from scoring goals, he also has shown, especially after this weekend, he can score them.