Icers coach Scott Balboni of the Penn State ACHA Division I Icers is known for his vocal motivation and tough guy mentality.
The bulletin board in the Icers locker room tells of a more philosophical side.
On the board are assorted quotes from New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick's "Humble Pie" to Crazy Horse's concept of Homblachaah, which says, "A vision encapsulated and lived by a warrior in order to realized their long term goal." Just under it reads "Our Homblachaah is a national championship. What will you do to make your vision a reality?"
Balboni said he is a strong believer in the motivation of quotes.
"It's a saying that Ron Wilson, the current head coach of the San Jose Sharks, put inside his locker room on a video we watched," Balboni said. "He talked about having a long-term vision and ours was having the guys envision what we were going to do at nationals."
The motivation is lost on some Icers, but some like junior Kyle Mills and senior Sean Kenney came up with their own Native American names when Balboni posted the quote in the locker room two months ago.
Senior Matt Schwartz said he also buys into the mentality that a quote is a good motivational tool. He jokingly said his Indian name would probably be Weak Knee because of the injury he suffered in late January.
"I think it works just because it's something you tend to see everyday," Schwartz said. "You'll see it going out to the ice and you'll see it when you're taping your stick so I think it has a subliminal quality that just sticks with you."
Balboni not only posts quotes referring to hockey, but he also tacks up material that applies in life. A Linda Ellis quote on the bulletin board tells of reading a tombstone and celebrating the dash between the birth date and death date.
"It was one of those times that we weren't talking about hockey, but about life," Balboni said. "I just wanted the guys to realize that no one remembers before or after the dates on the stone, it's the dash in the middle that should make them appreciate their college hockey years are the best in their lives."
The Icers locker room has been quote heavy for numerous seasons. Assistant coach Matt Bertani said he posted a new quote every day starting in the 2005-2006 season for the players to see. He finds them in books or wherever he can in contrast to Balboni receiving words of wisdom twice a day on his BlackBerry.
"I think it really helps break guys out of the monotony of doing the same things over and over," Bertani said.
Bertani even uses specific quotes for different parts of the game in which some of the players may be struggling. On one such occasion when the Icers were having trouble scoring, he posted a Wayne Gretzky quote reading, "100 percent of the shots you don't take don't go in."
He says even though all the team members don't care about the quotes, it can help motivate them when they face rivals or it can simply just make them think.
"Some guys really like that stuff and some don't even look at it," Bertani said. "But whether they do or not, it's just something extra that breaks them out of the norm when they come to play hockey."
