Beyond the No. 2 Penn State ACHA Division I Icers' 5-1 and 5-3 victories over No. 15 Oakland University, the team received some good news this weekend. One might even say 'great.'
Standing in the Greenberg Ice Pavilion's lobby at the start of the second period Saturday night, and standing between a reporter and a fan, senior captain Frank Berry momentarily cracked a smile.
"It's actually very good news," he said while leaning against a wall and addressing the status of the injured knee he'd been awaiting test results on. "It's not as bad as I thought it was. I just sprained it, so I'll be back in two weeks or so.
"I mean I'd rather be out there, but I'm a little happy because I didn't tear anything -- it's not season ending. So that's the good news."
The injury, which occurred midway through last weekend's 7-1 win over Drexel, was originally feared to be much worse. Faced with a possible tear of the knee ligaments, Berry was seen in the lobby on crutches and devoid of emotion as the team celebrated the win a week ago.
If Berry returns at the end of the two-week timetable he provided, he'll have returned in time to captain his team through the national tournament.
Saturday, coaches and teammates shared Berry's excitement.
"It's great," coach Bill Downey said. "Obviously if we can get him back in the line-up, it's huge to have the leadership out there, but his play as well. He's a good defensive player in our own end.
"When we get to the national tournament and in the playoffs, we're going to have to play really well in our own end, more so than anything. The offense will take care of itself and if we don't give up any goals, we should win games.
"So having Frank back to help out with that will be key, because he's a good penalty kill guy as well. And the leadership thing, having the captain back in the line-up is going to hopefully be a huge bonus for us."
Junior Matt Kirstein also shared in the excitement.
"I think it's definitely awesome," Kirstein said of the captain's potential return. "He's a great player for us -- he's been on Team USA before and scored a bunch of big goals for us and made a bunch of big plays -- but the biggest thing is he's a great leader for us. On the ice, guys definitely rally around him. So the chance that we'll have him back is just awesome and great to hear, because from the initial outlook it didn't look too good and now it looks a lot better."
Back in the lobby, Berry said he still hasn't skated the injury occurred, and that at this point he's still only rehabbing and icing the knee in the training room. He added that he hopes to get on the ice this week and test the knee, but that he doesn't want to rush the return and miss nationals as a result.
"He went from thinking his season was over to actually getting ready to play here sometime soon, so obviously he's real excited," Kirstein said. "He's not a real emotional guy -- he doesn't get too up or down, he's really low key -- but he's excited."
