JOE BATTISTA
Joe Battista just completed his 11th season as head coach of the
Penn State Icers. The Icers are a Div. 1 college club team that
plays in the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA).
Battista is ranked first on the team's all-time win list and is
the only Penn State hockey coach to eclipse 250 victories.
Battista's Penn State teams have won numerous tournament
championships, including nine Nittany Lion Invitational
Tournament championships and five league titles: ICHL in '89 and
'92 and ACHL in '93, '94, and '98.
"Joe-Ba", as he is referred to around campus, attended Penn State
as an undergraduate and was a standout defenseman for the Icers
from 1978-82. He graduated from PSU with a degree in marketing.
Battista has been involved with hockey ever since his graduation
from Penn State. After college he took a job as the Director of
Amateur Hockey Development for the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was
also the coach of the Jr. Penguins and led them to three Mid-Am
championships and placed third at AHAUS National Championships
twice.
He then moved on to coaching positions at NCAA Division I Kent
State and prep school Culver Military Academy. He has also
coached at the Chicago Showcase three times. He coached Team
Pittsburgh to a third place finish in 1985 and also led the West
Squad to five gold medals at the Keystone State Games. He is
actively involved in various USA Hockey camps, including the
Midget Elite in Colorado Springs, Regional camps in Lake Placid,
and Bantam Development Camps at Penn State, as well as a JSA
Hockey Coaching Program Instructor. He is also a past president
of the ACHA.
Battista is also the director of the very successful Penn State
Hockey Camps, which are held each summer at the Penn State ice
pavilion on the University Park Campus. Battista was inducted
into the Penn Hills Sports Hall of Fame in 1997 and named to the
WPIHL Silver Anniversary All-Star Team.
Coaching Career Stats
Year GP W L T PCT.
1987-88 36 23 11 2 .667
1988-89 32 18 13 1 .580
1989-90 34 23 8 3 .720
1991-92 33 25 7 1 .756
1992-93 34 33 1 0 .971
1993-94 33 24 8 1 .742
1994-95 34 27 6 1 .808
1995-96 34 29 4 1 .868
1996-97 36 27 9 0 .750
1997-98 37 31 5 1 .851
Totals 378 286 78 14 .775
For more info on Coach Battista, check out this feature story Ace
Reporter Jim Iovino wrote back in the Fall of 1996.
SCOTT BALBONI
Also helping us will be Penn State assistant coach Scott Balboni. Scott
has just completed his first year as an Icers' full-time coach.
He was a defensemen for the Division I Providence Friars from
1992-96, and was in integral part in their capturing of the
Hockey Easy Championship his senior year. In 138 career games
with the Friars, Balboni scored 13 goals and 41 assists for 54
points and added 198 penalty minutes. He's tied for 15th all-
time in games played and led Providence with 65 penalty minutes
during the 1993-94 season.
His duties as a coach at Penn State include working with the
defense and special teams, and also recruiting. Balboni is a
native of Salem, NH.
back to main coaching page
|
