Penn State to host outdoor hockey game at Beaver Stadium vs. Michigan State, featuring top NHL prospects

Penn State will host an outdoor hockey doubleheader at Beaver Stadium on Jan. 31, 2026.

The Nittany Lions’ men’s hockey team will play Michigan State, while the women’s team will face Robert Morris as Happy Valley becomes “Hockey Valley.” The school officially announced the event on Friday.

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With a seating capacity over 106,000, the game is expected to be draw one of the largest crowds in college hockey history. The record is 113,411, set when Michigan played Michigan State at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Dec. 11, 2010.

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Fans will also get an opportunity to watch the player expected to the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, Penn State’s Gavin McKenna. In three seasons with Medicine Hat in the junior Western Hockey League, McKenna averaged 26 goals and 55 assists. During the 2024-25 season, he totaled 129 points (41 goals, 88 assists).

The game will also feature Michigan State’s Porter Martone, the Philadelphia Flyers’ top prospect who was their first-round pick (No. 6 overall) in the 2025 NHL Draft. He scored 98 points (37 goals, 61 assists) last season in the OHL. Penn State’s Aiden Fink, a Nashville Predators prospect, finished among the top 10 finalists for college hockey’s Hobey Baker Award last season, tallying 53 points (23 goals, 30 assists).

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Other top prospects likely to play in the game include:

Shane Vansaghi, MSU (Flyers)
Jackson Smith, PSU (Blue Jackets)
Luke Misa, PSU (Flames)
Trey Augustine, MSU (Red Wings)
Cayden Lindstrom, MSU (Blue Jackets)
Charlie Stramel, MSU (Wild)
Ryker Lee, MSU (Predators)

Penn State is undergoing a $700 million renovation that allows Beaver Stadium to host events in below-freezing temperatures. The hope is for the stadium to eventually host an NHL Winter Classic, as well.

“Our team and so many Penn Staters are extremely excited about this game in Beaver Stadium,” Penn State men’s hockey head coach Guy Gadowsky said in the official announcement.

“It has been consistently asked of me since I arrived at Penn State,” he added, “and I want to send thanks to Coach [James] Franklin for sharing his home with us, as well as (vice president for intercollegiate athletics] Dr. Pat Kraft, [deputy athletics director] Vinnie James, and the entire Penn State Athletics Department for making it happen. We can’t wait to take the field!”

Michigan State has won consecutive Big Ten championships, while Penn State finished 22-14-1, going 15-5-4 in the second half of the season and advanced to the program’s first Frozen Four last season.

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On the women’s side, Penn State won a school-record 31 games and earned an NCAA tournament berth, going 31-6-1 overall with a 19-1-0 record in the Atlantic Hockey America conference.