Big Ten Hockey: Penn State breaks in the new Pegula Ice Arena ice sheet

Like it or not, the ads which were booed in certain arenas last year do speak the truth. Big Ten hockey is coming soon. And with it means Penn State's brand new Pegula Ice Arena.

While Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany was in Minneapolis and presented with a #1 Gophers jersey Thursday, nearly 1000 miles away at State College, PA the first skate at the 6000 seat arena took place. Penn State head coach Guy Gadowsky was one of several people who got the chance to lace up skates and break in the 200 by 85 foot sheet of ice.

Construction crews built the ice surface over the past week by continuing to flood and add layers. After enough layers were made to get a base, crews painted the lines and face-off circles before finishing with more layers of ice. That includes the notorious B1G logo on either side of the blue line.

The $90 million new arena will open in October although you can see its progress on a webcam here. Penn State, who spent its inaugural season at the smaller Greenberg Ice Pavillion and neutral sites across Pennsylvania, is just 49 days away from taking on Army October 11th.

"There are exciting parts to come but this is the coolest thing," Gadowsky said in a Instagram Video.

At the very least, a new ice surface and hockey jersey are better gifts than what Iowa gave Delany.

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