Penn State men’s hockey announced captains for the 2022-23 season on Wednesday as the Nittany Lions await the start of their season a few months away. As expected returning captain Paul DeNaples will once again don the ‘C’ this winter while senior classmates Connor McMenamin, Tyler Gratton, Connor MacEachern and Kevin Wall will serve as alternate captains on a rotating basis.
DeNaples opted to return for the upcoming season exercising his extra year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In addition to our captain Paul DeNaples, the team has voted numerous members of the senior class as leaders of this program,”head coach Guy Gadowsky said in a press release. “With so many of our seniors being identified as key leaders this season, we will be rotating alternate captains at home and on the road. This class will be relied upon to meet and exceed the level of Penn State Hockey standards that was evident during their freshmen year when the program won its first Big Ten Regular Season Title.”
McMenamin and Gratton will wear the ‘A’ during home games at Pegula Ice Arena while Wall and MacEachern will each don an ‘A’ on the road as all four, along with DeNaples, will serve as integral leaders throughout the entirety of the season regardless of uniform color.
DeNaples remains the ninth Nittany Lion captain in program history and becomes just the second player to wear the ‘C’ for multiple seasons joining Tommy Olczyk (2012-14). DeNaples is wearing a letter for the third-straight season after also serving as an alternate captain in 2020-21 before donning the ‘C’ last season. DeNaples hasn’t missed a game since stepping foot on campus in the fall of 2018, playing in 133 consecutive contests. Entering the 2022-23 campaign, the Moscow, Pennsylvania native currently ranks tied for first all-time in career plus/minus for the Nittany Lions at plus-50 including plus-31 as a freshman, the second-best single-season mark in program history.
“Having the opportunity to come back to such a special university and be able to represent this prestigious program as captain for another year is a true honor,” mentioned DeNaples. “This team has some unfinished business and eager players ready to compete and bring some more hardware to Hockey Valley.”
McMenamin will be wearing a letter for the second straight season while Gratton, MacEachern and Wall will enter the season as first-time Nittany Lion captains.
