While most middle-aged men were traveling to Florida to golf, John Surma and John Grainda made a visit to blustery State College with hockey sticks.

Grainda and Surma were inducted into the Penn State ACHA Division I Icers' Hall of Fame on Saturday, along with current coach Joe Battista.

"I was surprised and deeply honored for the organization recognizing me," Grainda said.

The three each competed in the alumni game that took place after the Hall of Fame banquet.

Former player Billy Downey presented Battista with a scrapbook compiled by players and parents over the years.

"I can't express how much it means to me to see you [get inducted]," Downey said at the banquet. "I think about you as a player, as a coach -- and as a friend."

The group reflected on a lot of past memories during the induction. Battista recalled how his young son, Jonathan, pulled the fire alarm during a hockey game -- twice. But the inductees also talked about how hockey remained an important part of their lives.

Surma, President and CEO of the United States Steel Corp., had a few anecdotes about how he'd schedule business life around adult hockey.

"We get to the locker room about 5:50 a.m. ... play three 20-minute periods ... and I'm in the office by 8:15," he said.

Surma also recalled how he once attended a meeting with a "busted up finger," and another with a broken foot.

"Our board's really not high about my playing," Surma said. "But I felt like I really beat the system."

Grainda remains active in hockey. He's coached 11 years and also competes in an adult league.

"I've pretty much structured my life around my passion -- and this is my passion," Grainda said. "That's probably the place I'm most happy."

Grainda's trademark was his consistent two-way play, but he may be best known for helping save the program back in the '70s when the old rink was converted into a practice facility for the football team. Subsequently, the Icers were without a rink for two years.

"I was the VP of the organization at the time, and we ended up getting a map one day at the HUB," Grainda said. "I'll never forget when we were sitting there, and we got out the map and said, 'Well, OK, where in the world are we going to play?'

"There was a brand new rink that opened in Mechanicsburg a year ago, and with some phone calls, we worked out a deal."

Grainda was a marketing major at the time, so he also helped "concoct the idea to advertise" to the student body. In turn, he hoped to get fans to drive two hours to home games.

"The first season not much happened," he said. "But in the second season, we kinda pulled it off where, near the end, there were some organized bus trips of students going to our home games."

The Icers' diverse 15th Hall of Fame class could all come to one agreement.

"We're all here because we all love the game," Grainda said. "And we could not put it down. That's what makes up the fiber of this organization."