The five seniors are no longer the only members of the No. 2 Penn State Icers who have just one more chance to win an ACHA championship.
Despite winning three titles in his four years as a player for Penn State, assistant coach Bill Downey will be making his final attempt to win one in his two years as a coach of the Icers this season.
After helping the Icers as an assistant coach for two years, Downey will be leaving Penn State at the end of this season after his wife, Amy Downey, accepted a job offer in Boston.
"The position I'm in right now," Downey said, "has always been looked at as a temporary thing to kind of grow and learn a little bit about myself as a coach."
Amy Downey, who used to work for Philadelphia Magazine as an associate editor, received a job offer from a former employer who also owns Boston Magazine, Bill Downey said.
For most of the players, it was an announcement that led to mixed emotions.
While the younger players will be losing a leader who has plenty of success and playing experience, they will also be seeing someone they considered a friend moving forward in his career.
"I was definitely disappointed when he told us," sophomore Paul Daley said, "but we have to understand it's a personal decision, and he has to do what he has to do. I was disappointed, yeah, but I had to be happy, too, that he was taking the next step in his life."
During his career at Penn State, whether as a player or coach, Downey has reached the championship game every season except one.
He captured ACHA titles in each of his first three seasons from 2000-01 to 2002-03 as a player before losing to Ohio in the championship game his senior year in 2004.
Last year, his first as a coach, the Icers lost in the semifinals to Illinois, falling one win shy of another national championship appearance.
"He puts his heart and soul into this team and our whole hockey family," senior captain Matt Kirstein said.
"It's going to be a loss for us. He works so hard and has such a good hockey mind. He cares a lot about what he does every day, and that's a big reason why he's had all the success that he has."
Downey's contributions to the team run much deeper than simply providing advice and experience, however.
Despite the label of assistant coach, Downey has run many of the team's practices over the last two seasons to allow head coach Scott Balboni to get a better view of the practice from the bleachers.
He also has put in many hours of scouting and recruiting players, while also helping run hockey camps at Penn State.
"It's an absolute loss for the Icers," said Joe Battista, who coached Downey during his playing career with the Icers.
"But the bottom line is he's put himself in a position to coach at a number of different levels, and he'll have plenty of opportunities in Boston."
Though he doesn't have a specific job lined up yet in Boston, Downey said going to a "hockey hotbed" like Boston can only help his career.
With the amount of coaching opportunities in Boston, the decision to leave was not nearly as hard as telling the team about the decision, Downey said.
"That was the most difficult part, telling the players," he said. "Day in, day out, you see these guys and see them grow not just as players, but people, too. I just hope they know in the future they can still lean on me, and anything I can help them with, I definitely will."
