Cole Hults and Nate Sucese are officially Penn State hockey’s first-ever All-Americans.

The duo earned CCM/American Hockey Coaches’ Association’s second team west All-American honors on Saturday night. They were the only two players representing the Big Ten in any of this year’s All-American teams named by the AHCA.

Sucese is the program’s all-time leading scorer with 140 points (61 goals, 79 assists) in 147 appearances over the last four seasons. He’ll go down as perhaps the single most consistent scorer in program history after never finishing a full season with fewer than 29 points.

The center’s 27 assists and 38 points in 2019-20 both marked single-season career-highs, and he broke Andrew Sturtz’s record as the program’s top goal scorer against Minnesota in November. Sucese became one of college hockey’s most prolific scorers while playing a hard-nosed, 200-foot game and excelling in all three zones.

Elsewhere, Hults was one of the steadiest, most reliable defensemen to ever don the blue and white. He never missed a game over his three-season career in Hockey Valley, which came to a close after he signed a two-year, entry-level contract with the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday.

The Kings’ fifth-round draft choice in 2017 finished his collegiate career with 78 points (17 goals, 61 assists) — the most in program history among defensemen — and he finished his junior year as a finalist for the Big Ten’s defensive and overall player of the year awards. On top of his excellent offensive production, Hults was one of Penn State’s steadiest players in his own end of the ice. He and rising junior Paul DeNaples created a true shutdown pairing for perhaps the first time in Penn State hockey history.

Both players will get their pro hockey careers started once the 2020-21 NHL season gets going. In addition to Hults’ signing with the team that drafted him, Sucese put pen to paper on a one-year contract with the Arizona Coyotes as an undrafted free agent earlier this offseason.

Penn State finished the 2019-20 season as the Big Ten’s regular season champions with a 20-10-4 record. The team didn’t play a single postseason game after the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments were canceled amid the current coronavirus pandemic.

About the Author

Mikey Mandarino

In the most upsetting turn of events, Mikey graduated from Penn State with a digital & print journalism degree in the spring of 2020. He covered Penn State football and served as an editor for Onward State from 2018 until his graduation. Mikey is from Bedminster, New Jersey, so naturally, he spends lots of time yelling about all the best things his home state has to offer. Mikey also loves to play golf, but he sucks at it because golf is really hard. If you, for some reason, feel compelled to see what Mikey has to say on the internet, follow him on Twitter @Mikey_Mandarino. You can also get in touch with Mikey via his big-boy email address: michael.p.mandarino@gmail.com

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