2020–21 Penn State Nittany Lions men's ice hockey season

As a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic the entire college ice hockey season was delayed. Because the NCAA had previously announced that all winter sports athletes would retain whatever eligibility they possessed through at least the following year, none of Penn State's players would lose a season of play.[1] However, the NCAA also approved a change in its transfer regulations that would allow players to transfer and play immediately rather than having to sit out a season, as the rules previously required.[2]

Penn State had a dreadful start to their season, losing their first five games while facing a murderers row of ranked teams. The team rebounded sharply in their sixth contest, scoring 9 goals and nearly doubling their season total to that point. After the Nittany Lions' first win of the year, the team played much better and slowly climbed back to respectability, winning nine of twelve and pulled themselves above .500 near the end of January. Just when it seemed like the team had turned a corner, their season was derailed by COVID-19. All of PSU's games were cancelled in February and the team didn't play again until the end of the regular season. The 34-day layoff hamstrung the team and it showed in their poor performance; despite outshooting Notre Dame in both games, the Nittany Lions lost both by a combined score of 3–12.

By losing an entire months-worth of games, Penn State couldn't overcome their bad start and the team's only path into the NCAA Tournament was by winning the Big Ten. They faced the same Fighting Irish team that had soundly beaten them a week earlier in the first round, but the game time appeared to have knocked the rust off of the Penn State and the Lions scored 5 consecutive goals to give themselves a solid 6–3 win. Their next game was against league-leading Wisconsin and Penn State showed no fear, overcoming an early deficit and outshooting the Badgers to take two separate leads in the game. Once the game got into overtime, the fast pace of regulation seemed to have caught up with PSU and they were overwhelmed by the Badgers, surrendering 10 shots in under 7 minutes and they could only watch as the nation's leading goal-scorer ended their season.

As of January 3, 2021.[3]

No.	S/P/C	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
3		Paul DeNaples (A)	Junior	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	184 lb (83 kg)	1998-09-19	Moscow, Pennsylvania	Sioux Falls (USHL)	—
5		Christian Berger	Freshman	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	182 lb (83 kg)	2000-05-22	St. Louis, Missouri	Omaha (USHL)	—
6		Jimmy Dowd Jr.	Freshman	D	5' 9" (1.75 m)	161 lb (73 kg)	2000-07-09	Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey	Chicago (USHL)	—
7		Evan Bell	Senior	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	191 lb (87 kg)	1997-06-25	Livonia, Michigan	Fargo (USHL)	—
9		Alex Limoges (C)	Senior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1997-09-16	Winchester, Virginia	Waterloo (USHL)	—
10		Christian Sarlo	Freshman	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	188 lb (85 kg)	2001-06-29	Lynbrook, New York	Lincoln (USHL)	—
11		Chase McLane	Freshman	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	183 lb (83 kg)	2000-04-22	Trenton, Michigan	Tri-City (USHL)	NSH, 209th overall 2020
12		Bobby Hampton	Junior (RS)	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	197 lb (89 kg)	1997-11-18	Middletown, New Jersey	Northeastern (HEA)	—
13		Xander Lamppa	Freshman	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	2000-04-30	Rochester, Minnesota	Waterloo (USHL)	—
14		Max Sauvé	Junior	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	1998-09-02	Acushnet, Massachusetts	Avon Old Farms (USHS–CT)	—
15		Kenny Johnson	Sophomore	D	6' 4" (1.93 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	1998-05-28	Ann Arbor, Michigan	Victoria (BCHL)	—
16		Mason Snell	Sophomore	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2000-06-18	Courtice, Ontario	Penticton (BCHL)	—
17		Tim Doherty	Graduate	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1995-07-10	Portsmouth, Rhode Island	Maine (HEA)	—
18		Clayton Phillips	Senior	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1999-09-09	Edina, Minnesota	Minnesota (Big Ten)	PIT, 93rd overall 2017
19		Connor McMenamin	Sophomore	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1999-02-25	Collegeville, Pennsylvania	Tri-City (USHL)	—
20		Aarne Talvitie (A)	Junior	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	198 lb (90 kg)	1999-02-11	Espoo, Finland	Blues U20 (Nuorten SM-liiga)	NJD, 160th overall 2017
21		Kevin Wall	Sophomore	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2000-02-01	Penfield, New York	Chilliwack (BCHL)	CAR, 181st overall 2019
22		Alex Stevens	Senior	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1997-02-27	Plymouth, Minnesota	Dubuque (USHL)	—
23		Tyler Paquette	Freshman	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	2001-03-18	Collegeville, Pennsylvania	Green Bay (USHL)	—
24		Adam Pilewicz	Senior	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1996-07-20	Sewickley, Pennsylvania	Johnstown (NAHL)	—
25		Jared Westcott	Freshman	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1999-07-18	Imperial, Missouri	Sioux Falls (USHL)	—
27		Sam Sternschein	Senior	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	204 lb (93 kg)	1998-04-27	Syosset, New York	Lincoln (USHL)	—
28		Tyler Gratton	Sophomore	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	187 lb (85 kg)	1999-08-06	Pottstown, Pennsylvania	Central Illinois (USHL)	—
29		Connor MacEachern	Sophomore	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1999-07-01	Brooklin, Ontario	Youngstown (USHL)	—
31		Liam Soulière	Freshman	G	5' 11" (1.8 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1999-03-16	Brampton, Ontario	Victoria (BCHL)	—
32		Will Holtforster	Graduate	G	5' 11" (1.8 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1998-03-12	Mississauga, Ontario	Upper Canada College (CISAA)	—
35		Oskar Autio	Junior	G	6' 0" (1.83 m)	183 lb (83 kg)	1999-10-06	Espoo, Finland	Chicago (USHL)	—

[4]

[5]

USCHO did not release a poll in week 20.[6]