Standing in the shadow of Beaver Stadium, the 100,000-plus-seat venue for Penn State football, is Pegula Ice Arena, a 6,000-seat rink that is slowly transforming Happy Valley into “Hockey Valley,” writes Stephen Whyno for The Washington Post.

Penn State alum Terry Pegula and his wife, Kim, gave more than $100 million to his alma mater eight years ago to create men’s and women’s Division I hockey programs and build a facility to house them.

The hockey teams debuted in the 2012-13 season and quickly achieved success. The women’s team won 17 games in its third season. Last year, the men’s team won the Big Ten Tournament and fell one win short of reaching the NCAA Frozen Four.

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Pegula, who owns the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres and the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, wanted to help Penn State grow beyond football. He also wanted to grow the sport of hockey in Pennsylvania and across the U.S.

“Part of my rationale was to grow American hockey,” Pegula said. “The Big Ten has a big name – it’s been a national brand – and I thought that would be a good thing for hockey to grow the sport domestically.”

The PSU men’s program has already produced an NHL player. This year, it has players from 10 states, including several from Pennsylvania, as well as Canada, Finland, and Russia.

Read more about Penn State hockey in The Washington Post by clicking here.

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