ALLENTOWN — If you’re looking to quantify Carson Dyck’s impact on the Penn State men’s hockey team this season, it’s not there on the stat sheet or even buried among some advanced analytics.
The senior forward has played in just 24 of the team’s 38 games and has taken only 13 shots. He’s scored one goal (it was a game-winner) and contributed two assists.
Otherwise, there are six blocked shots, no penalty minutes and nothing else. That’s it, pretty much a blank slate.
Still, the secret to Dyck’s success — the secret to the team’s success — goes far beyond what he does on the ice.
It’s not a blank slate at all. It’s a deep, rich, blue-and-white pattern of success.
When Penn State started the season 4-1, making a trip to Alaska for two games and then played a single game on the road against former national champ Quinnipiac, Dyck was consistently positive, a leader because of his approach. Later, as the team struggled and losses piled up during conference play, there was Dyck, consistent and positive as always.
Even when he was not playing, the alternate captain’s approach was unchanged.
“I’m not someone who plays a lot of minutes or does a lot on the ice,” Dyck says. “So, I have to find a way to make myself useful.”
Useful would be an understatement.
As Penn State prepares for its fifth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history, with a matchup at 4:30 p.m. Sunday against UConn in the regional final at PPL Center in Allentown, Dyck’s impact has been immense. There’s no way Penn State would be a victory away from its first Frozen Four appearance without Dyck.
Penn State put together a strong second half of the season, playing as well as any team in the nation and reaching the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament thanks to a 13-3-4 record from January to March. Dyck’s lone goal this season was a game-winner as the Nittany Lions swept the conference quarterfinal series at Michigan.
Dyck did so much more, though.
His consistent approach and unwavering positivity set a standard for others on the team. Those intangibles made an NCAA Tournament berth for the second time in the past three years possible.
“Carson Dyck was the main guy that refused to let anyone be negative,” Penn State coach Guy Godowsky says. “I have so much respect for him. His impact on this program — this was an amazing feat to come back from where this team was to make the tournament — and he deserves so much credit.
“It’s just the way he is. He’s a leader, through and through. He’s a positive influence, through and through. There’s no situation he doesn’t make better.”
Dyck, an Academic All-Big Ten selection and B1G Distinguished Scholar from Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, knows how to pile up assists off the ice. He graciously accepts such praise from Gadowsky and immediately points to his teammates — noting that any such success requires a team effort.
The lessons instilled by his father, longtime hockey coach Michael, and the lessons Dyck learned watching former teammate Adam Pilewicz, have clearly shaped his team-first mentality.
No player joins a program like Penn State’s expecting to be a role player, earning limited ice time and watching others put pucks in the net, but Dyck understood his situation quickly after arriving in Hockey Valley. Instead of chafing or complaining, he embraced what he saw as an opportunity.
Again, he’s a coach’s son and all-for-one, team-first messages are more than platitudes for him. They’re what make him tick — what makes the Penn State program tick — and what has been the foundation for the team’s tournament run.
So, as Penn State prepares for its game against UConn, Dyck plans to go about his work the same way as always, consistently and positively.
vs 
Time: 4:30 p.m.
TV: ESPN2
Radio: GoPSUSports.com
Noteable: UConn leads the all-time series, 2-1-1, although the teams have not played since 2014. … Penn State defeated Maine, 5-1, and UConn dropped Quinnipiac, 4-1, to reach the regional final. … Penn State starting goalie Arsenii Sergeev transferred to Penn State from UConn before this season. … In Penn State’s six previous NCAA Tournament games it has averaged 4.67 goals per game while allowing just 2.83.
