Men’s hockey announces full 2023–24 recruiting class

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. Earlier this month, the head coach Guy Gadowsky and the Penn State men’s hockey team finalized its 2023-24 recruiting class. Comprised of five forwards and two defensemen, the class features five incoming freshmen and a couple of transfers.

Casey Aman // D // 6-0 // 185 // R // Johnstown, Pa. // Powell River Kings (BCHL)

A native of Pennsylvania, Aman returns to his home state after spending the last two seasons with the Powell River Kings of the British Columbia Hockey League. Aman played a total of 113 games for the River Kings from 2021-2023, scoring 17 goals and adding 46 assists for 63 points. This past season, the right-handed defenseman captained the River Kings to the BCHL playoffs. Aman had a career year with Powell in 2022-23, scoring 10 goals and adding 25 assists for 35 points in 54 regular season games, a good sign for the team’s sixth and defenseman. His 35 points were the 11th most among all defensemen in the BCHL for the 2022-23 season. Aman was named the River Kings’ MVP in each of his two seasons in the West, and was the team’s MVP in 2021-22.

Jacques Bouquot // F // 6-2 // 190 // L // South Windsor, Conn. // Vermont (Hockey East)

Bouquot comes to Hockey Valley after spending the last four seasons at Vermont, including serving as team captain in 2022-23. Bouquot has played in 109 career NCAA games and is coming off a career-best season with six goals and 10 assists for 16 points. In total, Bouquot has 50 career points with 17 goals and 33 assists and 31 points and 12 goals over the past two seasons. Prior to his time at Green Mountain State, Bouquot played in the 2018-19 BCHL split between the Wenatchee Wild and Chilliwack Chiefs, where he competed with the former Nittany Lion. Kevin Wall “23. Bouquot played in 47 career BCHL games and had 14 goals and 19 assists for 33 points.

Matt DiMarsico // F // 6-0 // 180 // L // Wexford, Pa. // Green Bay Gamblers (USHL)

A product of the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite, DiMarsico spent the 2022-23 season with the American Hockey League’s Green Bay Gamblers, scoring 25 goals while adding 21 assists for 46 points in 59 games. His 25 goals led the team and tied for the top 20 in the USHL, while his 46 points were good for fourth on the Gamblers. DiMarsico attended Avon Old Farms’ coaching academy for the 2021-22 season and scored 36 points in 27 games on 16 goals and 20 assists. In three years with Pens Elite, DiMarsico averaged 36 goals and just under 80 points per season.

Dane Dowiak // F // 5-10 // 180 // L // Pittsburgh, Pa. // Tri-City Storm (USHL)

Dowiak spent the previous two seasons in the USHL with the Tri-City Storm, playing in 116 games and scoring 32 goals and adding 31 assists for 63 points. Dowiak helped the Storm to a 47-11-0-4 record and the Anderson Cup (USHL regular season champion) in his first year in the Tri-City in 2021-22. Dowiak is also a Pens Elite alum who spent two years with the organization from 2016-18.

Aiden Fink // F // 5-10 // 160 // R // Calgary, Alberta // Brooks Bandits (AJHL)

Fink, the 63rd overall North American skater in this week’s NHL draft, comes to Hockey Valley after spending the past two seasons with the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s Brooks Bandits. This past season, Fink was named the AJHL and CJHL (Canadian Junior Hockey League) best forward and most valuable player after a league-best 97 points in just 54 games. Fink finished second and fourth in the AJHL with 41 goals and 56 assists during the regular season, then added eight goals and five assists for 13 points in 15 playoff games to lead the Bandits to the 2023 AJHL title, the seventh in team history. . Brooks was also named a second straight national champion when he won the 2023 Centennial Cup with a 4-0 win over the SJHL’s Battlefords North Stars. Fink led all players in six Centennial Cup games with six goals and seven assists for 13 points. The Calgary, Alberta native was also invited to compete for Team Canada at the World Junior A Challenge this season, where he led the tournament with 12 points on five goals and seven assists in six games.

Reese Laubach // F // 6-0 // 170 // R // San Jose, Calif. // Omaha Lancers (USHL)

A 2022 seventh-round pick (No. 217) of the San Jose Sharks, Laubach arrives at Penn State after spending parts of the last two seasons in the USHL, most recently with the Omaha Lancers following a midseason trade from the Youngstown Phantoms. In Omaha in the 2022-23 season, Laubach scored 20 points from nine goals and 11 assists. In 52 career USHL games, the California native from San Jose scored 11 goals and provided 13 assists and 24 points. Prior to his time in the USHL, Laubach played for Northstar Christian Academy in 2020-22, scoring nearly 100 goals and over 200 points in 139 games. Laubach is just the third Californian to lace up the skates at Hockey Valley, joining PJ Musico ’15 and Taylor Holstrom ’15.

Tanner Palocsik D 5-11 190 R Aliquippa, Pa. // Dartmouth (ECAC)

Palocsik arrives in the Hockey Valley after spending four years at Dartmouth College in the 2022-23 season with head coach Reid Cashman’s letter C. He played in 93 games on the blue line, scoring 13 goals while adding 53 assists for 66 points, averaging 20+ points each season in Hanover, Dartmouth did not compete in the 2020-21 season due to the CIS League canceling all sporting events due to COVID-19. pandemic. Palocsik is a two-time second-team All-Ivy League selection (2019-20, 2022-23) and was a third-team All-ECAC honoree this past season. Palocsik is also a product of Pens Elite, where he developed from 2012-2017 before playing a couple of seasons at NCDC with the Jersey Hitmen from 2017-2019 before enrolling at Dartmouth.

Recruiting classes are subject to change and more student-athletes may enroll throughout the 2022-23 signing period, which lasts until August 1, 2023.