Grimacing in pain, Glenn Zuck slowly slid off the ice.

With his left arm draped over the shoulder of his teammate, the ACHA's leading scorer looked as if his season was done.

With only eight regular season games left, the Penn State ACHA Div. I Icers came out of last weekend's series against Illinois in desperate shape. Entering the home stretch of the season, and with four key players in Italy for the next week at the World University Games -- defensemen Josh Mandel and Curtiss Patrick, and forwards Neal Price and Bill Downey -- the Icers could ill-afford the three injuries they suffered in the games against the Fighting Illini.

After enjoying a relatively healthy season, with only senior co-captain Brandon Cook and Patrick missing significant time due to injury, the Icers lost sophomore defenseman Chris Rome for the next month to a torn medical collateral ligament in his left knee.

The team also may be without the services of its top two scorers for the upcoming Nittany Lion Invitational Tournament (NLIT) -- junior forward Zuck, whose ailing back may be too inflamed to play; and sophomore forward Kevin Jaeger, who was on the receiving end of some vicious Illinois body checks.

Penn State assistant coach Mike McNeill, who has temporarily taken the reins of the team from Joe Battista, said that Zuck will not practice, nor will he do any weightlifting this week.

Jaeger is likely to play this weekend, but may have to wear a light blue jersey in practice, meaning he is not to be hit.

"Jaeger's a small kid, and he gets bounced around a little bit out there," McNeill said. "Most teams know by know [Zuck and Jaeger] are the best, and they come after them."

After being carried off the ice in that first period of Saturday's game against Illinois, Zuck came back at the end of the second period and played several shifts, but still looked tender. He said the injury occurred when a defender caught him in a prone position against the boards.

"It was a kind of situation where my legs were one way, my back was another way, and I got my back snapped over the boards," Zuck said. "If I give myself a couple of days it might loosen up."

There was no indication of improvement on Monday, however, as Zuck gingerly limped into the training room, hunched over like an elderly man. With key regular season games remaining against some of the ACHA's top competition and the National Tournament to look forward to, Zuck said that recovery is the foremost thing on his mind.

"I'm trying to rest and get better," Zuck said. "The games this weekend are big games because it's the NLIT, but I feel confident my teammates will do well with or without me."

McNeill said that with all of the players gone, the team has a thin stable of defensemen with which to play. Consequently, freshman Luke Walker, who played as a forward on the second line this past Friday, but who has also seen time as a defenseman, will be back on defense for the next few games.

Following losses to Illinois, the first two of the season, McNeill said that the Icers will overcome the absences and redirect their focus toward nationals.

"The pressure is off and now we can just do our thing," McNeill said. "We just want to be hitting on all cylinders when the boys come back."