By Warren Kozireski —
Almost exactly one year ago Dylan Lugris was invited to the Frozen Four in St. Paul not to play, but to accept the Hockey Humanitarian Award representing a player’s commitment to the community as well as his or her team.
Fast forward one year and this time Lugris and his Penn State Nittany Lions earned their way to the first Frozen Four in program history by defeating Maine and the University of Connecticut in the Allentown Regional.
“A few ups and downs at the beginning coming off the summer and trying to find a role,” Lugris said about his season. “I think from what my career has been here, I’m super-proud of everything that I’ve been able to overcome from junior to high school hockey to get here. And I’m super-excited to be able to play at the Frozen Four—it’s been a dream of mine since I was a little kid.
I couldn’t be more blessed to be at Penn State and I’m so thankful to the coaches for giving me a chance.”
Lugris, a senior forward with four goals and eight assists in 39 games this season, was playing a third line right wing roll for Penn State, who lost their first six Big Ten conference games this season but rebounded in the second half.
“There wasn’t really that one defining moment, I think we just started putting wins together and just started rolling and it was a snowball effect where we just got better and better. We weren’t getting blown out, we just had to be more consistent and staying positive.
One of many little things that allowed Lugris to reach the top level of college hockey is attention to detail. On the practice day prior to the national semi-finals, he spent significant time back-handing puck after puck from his own end out of the zone and out of harm’s way.
“Whenever we go into a new building you never know how the ice is or board and how they bounce, so I just like to try to get in that area and put pucks off the glass as much as I can. When I over-complicate my game that’s when I get into trouble, so playing simple, hard hockey is what I’ve found the most success for me. So, every time in a new barn…kind of see how the boards are.”
Lugris was honored in part last year for his work with the Penn State Sled Hockey Classic, now in its third year. And just like that attention to detail, it will continue after Lugris leaves the Happy Valley campus soon.
“We had another great Hockey Classic and we raised more than we did last year. I’m super-thankful to be in a place like Penn State that’s been able to give us all the resources we can to provide an event like that and they’ve been able to grow and grow and I’m excited to see what’s next.”
(Photo by Koz, NY Hockey OnLine; photo taken April 2024)
