No official announcement has been made, but signs suggest that Army will indeed be the opponent for Penn State’s opening game at Pegula Ice Arena on Friday.
Sources indicated Tuesday that the Black Knights would be able to make the trip to State College, Pa., despite a government shutdown that has put a number of personnel on furlough.
Canisius had been involved in preliminary discussions about replacing Army in the game, which is scheduled to be broadcast by the Big Ten Network, going so far as to ask the NCAA for a waiver to play a 35th game this season, according to Buffalo Business First.
Air Force, meanwhile, is still in a holding pattern on its scheduled trip to Anchorage, Alaska, for the Kendall Hockey Classic. The Falcons are scheduled to play Alaska on Friday and host Alaska-Anchorage on Saturday but the Air Force athletic department said Monday that all intercollegiate athletic events have been postponed because of the shutdown.
An Alaska-Anchorage spokesperson said last week that the school was monitoring the situation and had contingencies in mind, but the spokesperson would not reveal them.
