His name has often appeared in the thin insert handed out at Penn State ACHA Div. I Icers home games each weekend, down at the bottom next to such questions as "Who would you want to be past or present for a day?", 'If you could have a superhero power, what would it be?", or 'Who do you attribute your success to as a hockey player?"

Each question, answered by current Icers players, has at one time named head strength coach Brad Pantall in one form or another.

But ask the players in person what they think of Pantall and you would think they just bit down on a juicy lemon, their faces cringing at the thought of the early morning workouts Pantall had put them through last fall as if they were yesterday.

"Some guys love him because they've already been through it, but the guys that haven't been through it yet, they hate it when we get in there and get killed, especially the 6 a.m. ones," senior co-captain Curtiss Patrick said.

Love him or hate him, they all respect him, if not fear him. Pantall, who packs muscle in every conceivable corner of his short frame, packs an even greater punch in his workouts. And he only has one rule: never say "I can't."

"I never want to hear that come out of an athlete's mouth and they know that," Pantall said. "They don't say I can't in this weight room because you can do anything."

The four-year run of national championships the Icers are currently on is a testament to that, and they are at it again this year and appear to be picking up steam on their runaway train to Iowa in March. Following consecutive hiccups to Ohio a month ago, the Icers have outscoring their opponents 69-7 during their current eight-game winning streak. Unusually injury-free at this time of the year, the No. 1 Icers (28-2-0) give credit to Pantall and his staff for this and the fact that they now have noticeably more jump in their step in the second and third period.

The fall workouts, which Penn State Icers coach Joe Battista said left some of his players "cursing [Pantall] up one side and down the next", now have the opposition faltering late in games. Case in point, the Icers recently rallied from a 1-0 deficit after the first period against No. 2 Rhode Island for a 7-2 win and did likewise to then No. 4 Michigan-Dearborn in late November, rallying from a two-goal deficit late in the second period for a 4-3 win.

And as Battista likes to say jokingly, the players hate Pantall 364 days a year and on the 365th day they are picking up their national championship rings. Told of the line, Pantall smiles slightly, saying the backward compliment is "awful kind." Besides, it is his job.

"He's black and white, he shows you exactly what he wants and he expects nothing less than that," Battista said.

Pantall know a thing or two about winning, having been apart of the National Championship the Penn State football team won in 1994. He also knows that as a strength coach, most of his relationships with the athletes are going to be of the love-hate variety. He said that he is fine with that, as long as they, the athletes, are as passionate about improving as he is about helping them do so.

"I tell all the athletes don't take it personally because that's not what it's about," Pantall said. "We're here to try and do something and hopefully you are too and let's get to work and do that."

Whether it's been bike sprints, jumping rope or plate pushes, Pantall has stressed endurance with the Icers, noting how long their season is and, at the end of the day, he knows the Icers will need to win several games in a row in the national tournament to garner a fifth straight title.

Pantall also knows he is not a miracle worker, and he thanks Battista for holding his players 100 percent accountable and for never tying Pantall and his staff's collective hands behind their backs -- though some of the players at times probably wished Battista would.

It seems to all finally be paying off for the Icers, who have outscored their opponents 80-18 in the second period and 66-24 in the third period this season, though Battista has often called off the dogs by that point.

And the players actually do have nice things to say about Pantall, once they get through the horror stories. Freshman goalie Chris Matteo said that for one day he wished to be Pantall because "The man is a beast... I have always wanted to be able to lift a school bus."

Fellow goalie and senior Brian Gratz said he wanted to be like the superhero Superman so that "I wouldn't die when [strength coach] Brad Pantall gets a hold of us".

Sophomore Brett Wilson said he gives credit to his parents and Pantall for his success as a hockey player.

All are compliments in Pantall's book. So too would another hockey national championship.

"Guys might not appreciate Brad, but deep down, when the end of the season comes around, they look back and they know why we're on top," senior co-captain Bill Downey said.

By then, those lemons will have turned into lemonade.