Icecats planning a different kind of Homecoming

While the campus is celebrating its annual Homecoming weekend festivities, the No. 8 Icecats will head east to take on top-ranked Penn State.

The trip to the East Coast will be a homecoming of sorts for a number of Icecat players as well.

Defenseman and co-captain Bill Pardue, starting goaltender Bryan Aronchick, and forwards Don Holtz, Brian Pollock and Tim Wochok all call the state of Pennsylvania home, while defenseman Dan Whitlock can consider himself a "local" as well, being from nearby Mt. Laurel, N.J.

Goaltender Casey Leyva, defenseman Erik Kowalek and forward Wes Krisay also hail from the state, but are not on this week's traveling roster.

After their game against Penn State, the Icecats continue their road trip with a two-game set tomorrow and Saturday at No. 4 Delaware.

The preseason No. 1 Arizona men's hoops squad is not the only team on campus receiving national recognition on the newsstands.

The Icecats were featured in the Nov. 4 issue of Sports Illustrated, in the magazine's weekly "scorecard" section that is on newsstands now.

The section included the announcement of comedian Don Rickles as the team's honorary captain, along with an account of Rickles' friendship with Icecat head coach Leo Golembiewski.

Golembiewski met Rickles while watching one of his live performances, and the two have been close friends ever since.

After sweeping ASU two weeks ago and splitting games last weekend with a 12-3 win over Utah State on Saturday following Friday night's 4-3 overtime loss to Weber State, coach Leo Golembiewski has increased his career win total to 489, against 106 losses and 17 ties.

During his 24-year career at the helm of the Icecats, Golembiewski has taken UA to 19-straight national tournaments, including winning the National Championship in 1985.

With 23 regular-season games remaining on the Icecats' 2002-2003 schedule, Golembiewski is just 11 wins shy of 500 for his career, a mark he should reach by the end of January.