Princeton's Gadowsky to Become First Men's Ice Hockey Head Coach at Penn State

Courtesy of Princeton Athletic Communications

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Guy Gadowsky has been hired as the first head coach of the Penn State men's hockey program after seven years at Princeton that included ECAC and Ivy League championships, two NCAA tournament appearances and five home-ice playoff series.

Gadowsky inherited a program at Princeton that had won eight games total the previous two seasons. At Princeton, Gadowsky won eight games in his first season and increased on his win total in each of the next five seasons, culminating with a program-high 22 wins in the 2008-09 season.

"We are thankful for the tremendous job that Guy has done as the head coach of hockey at Princeton over the last seven years," says Princeton Director of Athletics Gary Walters. "He has built a tremendous program and leaves us in a good place. Guy is the epitome of understanding the role athletics plays in the educational process at an Ivy League institution. He is a great role model and every constituency on our campus will sorely miss him. We wish him and his family nothing but the best."

Under Gadowsky, Princeton won its second ECAC hockey title in the 2007-08 season with a championship game win over Harvard in a 21-win season. A year later Princeton made its second-straight NCAA tournament appearance and earned its first at-large bid to the NCAAs.

Princeton has finished in the top half of the ECAC hockey standings in the past five seasons and has earned home-ice playoff series in all five years. This past season, Princeton finished tied for fourth in the final league standings after a preseason poll ranking of 10th.

Gadowsky finished his Princeton career with a record of 101-105-15.

"Princeton will immediately engage in conducting a national search for Guy's successor," Walters said. "I am confident that we will be able to attract a coach who is worthy of this great university and of our hockey program."