Gadowsky To Penn State

Bob McKenzie of TSN tweeted that Penn State will be hiring Princeton coach Guy Gadowsky to be their first ever D1 hockey coach. The news came as a surprise to me, as most of the speculation centered around Minnesota-Duluth coach Scott Sandelin and Wisconsin’s women’s coach Mark Johnson.

The other two are probably more high profile candidates, given how Sandelin won a national title and Johnson did as well, as well as was the head coach for the women’s 2010 Olympic team. But I am definitely on board with Gadowsky. I am sure he cost less than Sandelin, and I think he’s a better coach. Sandelin is still an under .500 coach (granted in the WCHA) and pre-Connolly/Connolly/Fontaine it was pretty ugly in Duluth, other than when they had Junior Lessard, who only won a Hobey. Gadowsky has taken much less talented teams with much lower profile recruits and had success. In the future, Penn State might be getting higher profile recruits, but for now it seems they are going to have to win without them. I probably would have backed up the truck for a higher profile, more expensive coach, but Gadowsky knows the area well, and has built a program. I think it will end up being a good hire for Penn State.