With the Winter Olympics in full swing, some of the best ice in the world has frozen over in Sochi, Russia. More than an ocean away from Happy Valley, the golden, silver and bronze dreams of hundreds of world-class athletes rest on the frosty surfaces of the Sochi Games’ ice rinks and tracks.
But thanks to the Pegula Ice Arena’s high-tech ice making tools, Penn State athletes and local community members have two top-notch ice rinks in their own backyards.
Some fans are even calling it the best, hardest and fastest college ice in America.
For Chris Whittemore, facilities coordinator at the Pegula Ice Arena and Penn State’s longtime ice expert, making top-quality ice is a daily endeavor. He and his team are almost always preparing for the next hockey match and spend their up to 12-hour days doing it all: maintaining the ice, fixing equipment and driving the Zamboni. Though Whittemore drinks a lot of coffee, the smile on a child’s face as he or she glides across the ice for the first time makes the long hours worth it.
“My goal is to create the best ice possible for our Penn State athletes and the community,” Whittemore said, as he arranges pairs of red and blue-lined ice skates in cubbies behind the rental counter. “The technology available to us in this brand new facility is no less than state-of-the-art.”
A hub for fans, athletes and the public, the Pegula Ice Arena is home to Penn State’s two Division I hockey teams and is open for community figure skating lessons, open skate, broomball and youth hockey practice.
The arena also has amenities many collegiate arenas can only dream of.
There is a set of interactive touchscreens fans can use to “meet” hockey players, a hi-tech synthetic ice training room for athletes, an LED ribbon surrounding the varsity rink, video replay technology for coaches and players, free Wi-Fi, a press room with a direct camera feed to the Big Ten channel and more.
“The Pegula family wanted to create a great environment for our hockey players, but were also insistent that we be a part of the local community,” Al Karosas, general manager at Pegula Ice Arena and the Bryce Jordan Center, said. “This imperative is why we’re open 360 days a year for up to 18 hours — we have a lot of ice time to fill, and we use it to give back with events like THON Skate.”