October is right around the corner, and that means college hockey season is upon us.

Penn State hockey begins its campaign on Sunday against Long Island University at Pegula Ice Arena.

So, what kind of season is this shaping up to be for the Nittany Lions?

Coach Guy Gadowsky and Penn State hockey is taking a page out of James Franklin's book this year.

Coming off the heels of the program's first losing season since 2013-14, the Nittany Lions are looking to make things right by learning from last season's failures, rather than distancing themselves from it at every opportunity.

"I'm not sure that we want to put [last season] behind us just yet, because there were a lot of lessons that we learned," Gadowsky said. "You can't just blame it all on COVID. There were a lot of things that we were not able to accomplish."

Gadowsky blamed himself for failing to adapt in some ways as his team went 10-12, including an 0-5 start.

He's not ready to say, "Oh, we learned that lesson, and let's go."

"We still revisit the deficiencies of last year," he said. "We make sure that we live it every day. We don't just say, 'Oh, we learned it and we're good.'"

For essentially the first time in program history, Penn State hockey has dealt with turnover on its coaching staff this offseason.

Longtime assistant Matt Lindsay left to join the coaching staff at UMass, the defending national champs.

The Nittany Lions added Juliano Pagliero as Linday's replacement.

Pagliero most recently coached at UMass-Lowell, where he oversaw recruiting and, notably, worked closely with the goaltenders. He has coached elite goaltenders at most of his stops — most recently New York Rangers draft pick Tyler Wall, who was excellent for Lowell.

Additionally, Penn State must sort out a replacement for Cam Davidson, who spent eight years with the program as its strength and conditioning guru.

Penn State must fill the sizable skates of Alex Limoges, who played his final season in Hockey Valley in 2020-21.

Limoges is the program's all-time leader in points per game with 0.98, and finished his career with 51 goals and seven assists.

Limoges led Penn State in goals and points last season. The Nittany Lions must also replace Tim Doherty, who finished third on the team in goals and assists.

Penn State will begin the season with Oskar Autio as its starting goaltender.

Autio, a senior, turned in a .894 save percentage and 3.13 goals against average in 18 games last season — his first as Penn State's primary option between the pipes — finishing with a 9-9 record.

The Finnish netminder will need to improve on those metrics this season if Penn State is to return to NCAA Tournament contention, and he's feeling confident heading into the new campaign.

"Honestly, just trusting my game," Autio said when asked about the steps he's taken this offseason. "Not trying to do anything crazy, just knowing that I can play on this level and I can compete with everyone else in this league."

Behind Autio will be Liam Souliere, who played five games as a freshman with an .844 save percentage a season ago.

Penn State hockey is entering its 10th season at the Division I level.

In that timespan, the Nittany Lions have spent time at the top of the polls, won a Big Ten Tournament, won a Big Ten regular season title, and qualified for an NCAA Tournament twice (three times if you count the 2020 season, in which they had qualification secured before the pandemic hit).

So, is this a program that is still evolving?

"It absolutely is," Gadowsky said. "Right now in this moment, we're evolving a lot from last year, the last two years. It really does feel new right now, I think because of that.

"We've accomplished a lot in the last 10 years, a lot that we're very proud of from a milestone standpoint, but also just an overall program, what's happening in the stands. But we still have work to do and other goals to reach."

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