Icers No. 1 again; Erie up next

With the ACHA regular season over and the national tournament seedings established, you might expect the Penn State men's ice hockey team to take things a little easier going into this weekend's games.

Think again.

The newly crowned No. 1 Icers (23-5-1, 19-3-1 ACHA) are already on a high after tying Ohio University and demolishing West Virginia on last weekend's road trip. This is the second time this season the Icers have held the top spot in the ACHA.

"It's good to be thought of as the No. 1 team out there," defenseman Don Coyne said. "It definitely gives everyone else something to shoot for. Everybody is going to want to come after us, beat us and take it to us. So, it works both ways."

The last time the Icers played Erie, on Jan. 11, they were No. 1 and defeated the Kats, 7-2, on Erie's home ice. Overall, Penn State holds a 21-10-4 all-time mark against its rivals from the old ICHL. Although the Icers have dominated the Kats in the past, they do not intend to take Erie lightly.

"At this time of the year everybody is excited about nationals," Icer forward Tom Westfall said. "but, the way the coaching staff sets things up, we're not going to overlook (Erie)."

For the first time since early in the season, coach Battista will have the entire roster at his disposal. Key names returning to the lineup include forward Ed Bursich, who suffered a medial collateral ligament tear against Buffalo on Jan. 23, and defenseman Cameron Brown, who suffered a third-degree separation of his shoulder against West Virginia on Jan. 16.

"At the beginning of the year, we lost a lot of people to injuries, and that hasn't happened in a while," Westfall said. "Now, we're back to square one, playing hard and everyone's back. It's just great."

With the availability of a complete roster, Battista gets an excellent opportunity to give every player a chance to play and see which players are playing at the top level of performance, as well as who he can count on at nationals.

"We're at the stage of the season where performance counts," Battista said. "You have a bad day-- well, those are the breaks. You may have just lost your spot.

"At this point, we have to go with the guys who are the most consistent and the guys who can show that show us they want it. It's not just about effort. It's about effort and performance."

But the Icers need to remember that the national tournament is not for another two weeks. Erie College is this weekend.