The Penn State hockey team will never know how the most promising season in program history would have turned out on the ice. The Big Ten and NCAA tournaments have, of course, been canceled.

On paper, though, the Nittany Lions finished as the eighth-best team in the country.

Penn State checked in at No. 8 in the final USCHO.com national poll released Monday afternoon, tying the 2016-17 team for the best finish in program history.

Cornell finished in the top spot. North Dakota, Minnesota State, Boston College and Minnesota Duluth rounded out the top five and also received at least one first-place vote.

Penn State went 20-10-4, 12-8-4-1 in conference play, earning the top seed for the Big Ten tournament. No. 10 Ohio State, No. 17 Michigan and No. 18 Minnesota were also included in the final poll.

Senior Nate Sucese finished as the team’s leading scorer, topping the Big Ten and finishing 15th in the country with 38 points. He signed with the Arizona Coyotes as an undrafted free agent.

Junior Cole Hults led the Big Ten and finished 10th in the country in defenseman scoring with 30 points.

Penguins prospect Nikita Pavlychev, a seventh-round pick in the 2015 draft, finished with seven goals and 14 points in 27 games.

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