It's a topic that can be easily overlooked in sports. It's why many coaches sit their star players in meaningless games to avoid injury -- especially games leading into the playoffs.

It's the difference between having a perennial championship team, as opposed to the squad that surprises everyone when it wins.

It's the reason why Penn State ACHA Division I Icers coach Joe Battista has a sore Band-Aid wrapped thumb because he had to spend the majority of his vacation dialing numbers on his cell phone to keep up with recruiting.

It's also why Jim Roach was brought in from Youngstown, Ohio, to play his first game as an Icer in front a hostile crowd at Bird Arena against rival Ohio. It's why coaches who have it sleep well at night, while those who don't toss-and-turn like college students during finals week. And Battista will have to deal with it at least until his three stars return from Austria.

That "it"? A lack of depth.

"Defensively I think we're OK, [but] we just don't have a lot of depth right now," Battista said.

Less than a month ago, Roach was playing for the Youngstown Phantoms in the North American Junior Hockey League. There he received word that the team wanted to ship him out west to Helena, Mont.

News like that was enough for the freshman-newcomer to decide he wanted to come to school.

News like that was enough for Penn State to welcome him whole-heartedly, too.

Roach, a Pittsburgh native, is no stranger to the Icers organization. In the past he's played against his new freshman teammate, Keith Jordan.

"Nasty" is an adjective that Battista used when describing what Roach brings to the Icers. It's a term usually reserved for guys who possess toughness and grit, the intangibles that every championship team needs to keep opposing teams on edge.

"I always go into a game thinking we're better than the team we're going to play," Roach said.

Battista called Roach one of the top-three fastest skaters on his team after watching him play only one weekend of hockey.

Roach is solid; he wears a Remington camouflage hat and talks with an accent that he could probably pass with in Montana, but will gladly settle for State College. When most players would refer to their home arena as their "house," Roach uses words like "barn" and "fire it up" to help his team get psyched for a win.

Battista believes his addition to the Icers is crucial in staying atop the ACHA down the stretch.

And Roach's addition couldn't come at a better time.

The scheduling gods of the ACHA must not be Icer fans. The team is in the midst of its toughest stretch of the season, having to play the No. 4- and No.1-ranked teams in the league on successive weekends.

In addition, the Icers are without the services of Kevin Jaeger -- their leading scorer -- and top defensemen Joe Maglaque and captain Eric Harbaugh, who are in Austria competing in the World University Games.

The No.1-ranked team, Rhode Island, will be at the Greenberg Ice Pavilion this weekend for a two-game set. The Rams handed the Icers their first loss of the season back on Nov. 5, primarily due to the performance of their reigning ACHA rookie of the year, goalie Anthony Feyock.

Roach, who wasn't an Icer at the time, feels the team is very different now.

"I wasn't here the last time they played Rhode Island, but from what I hear the first game that they lost to them was not Penn State's best game," Roach said. "I think them coming into our barn puts them at a disadvantage."