As players were sending the puck across the ice with more authority than usual Monday, Penn State coach Scott Balboni screamed, "Move the puck hard! Make it happen!"
Practicing to play No. 2 Illinois is never an easy task, but having to prepare for a rink that is 40 feet wider than normal is a monumental task.
Illinois' rink is 125 feet wide -- a stark contrast to Penn State's 85 feet, which is the average rink size. The ACHA has no regulation on rink size, which proves to be a huge advantage to the Fighting Illini. Over the past two seasons they went 40-2 at home, with one of the losses coming against an all-star team.
The Penn State ACHA Division I Icers are using their time this week to gear up for the upcoming challenge by adapting their game to the large ice surface.
"Special teams is the biggest thing we are working on this week," Balboni said. "Our power play and penalty kill have to be used to take advantage of our team speed. In one- or two-goal games it's important to capitalize on our power play opportunities."
The Icers must change strategy from playing on a normal sized rink to one that's significantly wider. This large difference plays an important role in the games.
Illinois' rink, the "Big Pond," presents interesting dilemmas for the Icers. Team speed plays a role in being able to cover the entire surface, but Penn State has to be aware of being fatigued late in the game because of the extra skating.
To get ready for the task at hand, the players have worked on drills that will increase their endurance. Balboni had them skate laps around the rink and do suicides.
There was also an emphasis placed on backchecking. The Icers worked on getting back into the play from deep in the defensive end, something that will be crucial to their success, Balboni said.
"Backchecking is one of the fundamentals of the game," Balboni said. "We have been doing a poor job of it so far this year, and it's something we must improve on against the better teams."
Penn State has also been concentrating on its longer cross-ice passes to counteract the rink disadvantage.
"Most of us have never played on a rink that big before," Penn State junior forward Steve Peck said. "The longer passes help us stretch out the rink and give us an advantage."
All throughout practice Balboni stressed communication. He could be heard yelling at the players to talk to each other while skating down ice.
With the power play being a large part of the outcome in close games, Balboni and some of the players took time after practice to discuss strategy.
The power play drills take place later in the week, but there was a part of preparation where the team worked on deflections and redirections from shots fired at the blue line.
The early part of practice was devoted to odd-man rushes and opportunities. Penn State ran 2-on-1 drills followed by 3-on-2 drills. With more open ice, there should be more scoring opportunities from odd-man rushes.
This week's practice is being looked at as a significant step for the upcoming weeks.
"We definitely need to work on backchecking and our defensive zone coverage," Peck said. "The mental part of the game will also play a big key in our success."
