TGIF because that means its another Hockey Friday! Melissa Burgess from The Ice Garden here this week. College hockey is officially back, with several exhibition games and non-conference action on the slate for today.
In Atlantic Hockey America, the Penn State Nittany Lions prepare to defend their title and aim for an NCAA championship. Their campaign kicks off today with a scrimmage against RIT at 4:00 p.m. ET, before next week’s opening series against Ohio State.
Earlier this week, I spoke with captain Grace Outwater about preparing for the season and her expectations for the year ahead. The junior forward was second on the team last year in scoring, with 24 goals and 16 assists for 40 points.
The interview below has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
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The Ice Garden: Before we get into the upcoming season, what have the last few months looked like for you since last season ended in March?
Grace Outwater: After the season, I kind of took the month off from hockey, working out, everything. I find it’s really essential for everyone to just hit the reset button and actually be a normal student and have a life outside of hockey, so that was great. June, I started getting back into it in terms of on the ice, and then started skating once a week in June, and then twice or three times a week. Then I really focused on training in the gym all throughout the offseason.
It’s hard to maintain strength throughout the season. You can do as good as you can, but I mean, with so many games, it’s really difficult. So I really focused on getting a lot of strength training sessions in, and then speed training, conditioning. You need everything for hockey. I think the offseason is the best time to get ready, to completely reset. It was great to be at home training, but then also having my friends and family around. The offseason is one of my favorite times. Even though I love the winter and being here, I just love being on the grind and getting ready for the upcoming season.
I’m really motivated, especially how last season ended. I think with every workout in the back of my head, I was like, ‘This is what I’m working towards, winning that national championship.’
TIG: How was your experience with Hockey Canada’s development team last month?
Outwater: It was such an amazing experience. Getting that email and the invite to go there was surreal, and then making the series was so cool. Playing against the U.S., it was just amazing … wearing the jersey and representing Canada, I can’t really explain the feelings. I was so nervous all the time, but so excited. It was a mix of emotions. Being able to play with the top girls in the U.S. and Canada, learning from other girls on the team and older girls … it was really cool to have that experience, and then bring that back to Penn State and help the younger girls out here.
TIG: What does training look like for you since you got back on campus?
Outwater: We got right into it with preseason [training]. We do a lot of workouts. We only have eight0hour weeks, so it’s kind of not as much ice, but we we try and get on the ice as much as we can. There’s a lot of open ice where a bunch of us girls just go on, and then with training, we’re pretty much in the gym every day besides the weekend. It’s a lot, and it can be intense at times, but I think that’s what preps us to be a top three team.
This year, we really emphasized conditioning, so we did a lot of conditioning skates, a lot of conditioning in the gym. We were doing so many conditioning tests just to really prep us for those big teams, so we can last in the third period and overtime, whatever it might be. I think our focus this year, obviously, is to get stronger, but we want to be the most conditioned team. And everyone’s like, ‘why won’t they stop?’ You know, they’re in the third period and we’re still going. So, this preseason, that focus has really just been on becoming the best at everything. We’ve really focused on lifting as a team and practicing as a team, and just hanging outside the rink as a team. We’ve been doing everything together, and bonding and finding chemistry has been really important.
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TIG: How good will it be to finally get on the ice together this Friday against RIT?
Outwater: It’ll be so much fun. We’ve been waiting to just play, we’ve been craving a game. It’ll be so exciting just to see how this new team is. We have so many new girls, so it’ll be exciting to see who works well with who, the chemistry, everything. Throughout the practices, I’ve been so impressed with everyone. Everyone’s been hard at work and been trying so hard. So I’m excited to see how that will go into a game.
TIG: There are seven freshmen on the Nittany Lions this season. What advice do you give to those girls?
Outwater: This might sound like a cliché, but just — enjoy it. When I was a freshman, everyone was like, ‘wow, it goes by so fast,’ and I was like, ‘my gosh, this is my freshman year’, and it was feeling so long. But then next thing you know, I’m done two years. I’m already in my junior year, and I still feel like a freshman … just enjoy it, and everything happens for a reason. It’s hard at times, and it’s gonna be probably hard, your first month of college, balancing school and going to the NCAA. It’s such a big change from junior hockey, but you’ve really just gotta trust yourself, keep putting in the work, and put your head down. If you put your head down and you keep working, you’re gonna get to the top and you’re gonna make your way up. Everything will work out in the end.
TIG: What does it mean to you to be named captain at this point in your career?
Outwater: Finding out that I was being named captain, it was another incredible feeling. I just was so happy to know the coaches had trusted me and want to put me in this position. I really want to lead this team to a national championship. Our whole leadership group that was chosen, every one of us really wants what’s best for the team and just to get to that next level. We want to beat Ohio State. We want to beat Wisconsin. We want to be named a top team. We’ve been fighting for that position for a few years now. Sometimes it’s hard, we don’t get that respect. But I think everyone on our team has really adapted to being a great leader. Our whole upperclassmen group leads in their own way. I’m really glad I get to do it with all of them.
TIG: What does Penn State need to do to reach that national championship level?
Outwater: We want to be that team. I know how skilled the girls on our team are. When it comes down to it, yes, you need to be skilled, but we need to be the strongest, the most conditioned team, to win everything. That’s really the goal this year: finish hard out of every drill. Skate back to the line. Be aggressive and practice. We always need to be competing and push each other to our best, and then also take care of each other off the ice … making sure we’re getting our workouts in and our recovery.
The facilities we have now … the recovery center and the cafeteria, has been huge. The school has set us up for so much success. We just really need to use everything that’s given to us. We need to use open ice, the shooting room, the smoothie bar. We have everything we have. Everyone just really needs to buy in, and I think so far this year and the past years, we’ve done a really good job at it. But this year especially, we may continue doing such a good job at it because we’ll just build off of that and just keep getting better throughout the year.
TIG: How much are you looking forward to the opening series against Ohio State?
Outwater: I’m so excited. It’s going to be a great series. I unfortunately missed the series against them last year. I’m really excited to play them for the first time, and be able to show what we can do. We can play top three teams, and we showed that against Wisconsin last year. So I hope that we can show that again within the next few weeks. I think we’re really ready. Everyone is super pumped and so excited to play them. It’ll be a great opportunity for us.
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More from the world of women’s hockey:
Middlebury assistant hockey coach dies months after snowy Vt. car crash by NBC Boston
Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey searches for second straight ECAC Championship by Emily Marquis
NCAA roundtable: Insights and predictions for 2026-27 – part 1 and part 2 by The Ice Garden staff
Gabriella Durante’s winding road to Seattle Torrent draft pick by Silvia Leija Rosas
PWHL training camps to open November 18 by PWHL
Soccer: Annie Peterson, @AnnieMPeterson, AP Women’s Soccer
Tennis: Joey Dillon, @JoeyDillon, Freelance Tennis Writer
Basketball: Howard Megdal, @HowardMegdal, The IX Sports
Softball: Maren Angus-Coombs, @Maren-Angus, The IX Sports
Golf: Marin Dremock, @MDremock, The IX Sports
Hockey: @TheIceGarden, The Ice Garden
Gymnastics: Jessica Taylor Price, @jesstaylorprice, Freelance Writer
