The game of hockey is viewed by many as an underappreciated game. It requires skill, speed, stamina, strength and toughness all at the same time. Imagine being a college student athlete who goes to class all day, does homework and then instead of going to bed between 10 p.m. and 12 a.m., goes to a two hour hockey practice at a facility that is not on campus. While it may not sound that tempting to most, there however is a group of men who make up the Penn State Behrend hockey team who make this commitment. One of these players is Harborcreek native Logan Conboy. Conboy is a junior center for the Behrend hockey team, and he has learned a lot of great lessons from growing up in Harborcreek as well as from attending Penn State Behrend.

“I have been attending soccer camps at Penn State Behrend my entire life, and I credit my competitive nature starting at these college camps,” Conboy said of his motivation. He also credits Erie, Pennsylvania for being a great hockey town, which is a huge reason why he started playing the game. Harbor Creek High School also has a great business curriculum, and this is what opened his eyes up to studying marketing and management information systems (MIS). Conboy’s father is also a long time salesman for Polar Beverages, and he has traveled with his dad to learn more about sales and customer service aspects of the business. His mother is also experienced in customer service, as she is an employee of the Bursar’s Office here at Behrend. While Conboy’s parents have been instrumental in his professional career, it was his brother who he mostly admired and learned about the game of hockey from.

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Conboy learned to skate at the age of three, and has been playing the center position in hockey ever since . “I look up to my brother because it gave me someone to learn the game of hockey from who was also playing it. It was fun watching him progress through his career and especially fun seeing him play junior hockey in Buffalo. He was a great player, and I miss watching him play,” he stated of his brother. Conboy has also enjoyed watching Carolina Hurricanes forward Jeff Skinner. He said of Skinner “He has a pretty cool story. He was a former figure skater turned hockey player. He is the Canes best player now, and he is one of the fastest skaters in the NHL. I especially like him because he just knows how to have fun and put on a show on the ice.” While Conboy has admired these two great players growing up, his time as a player, both at Harbor Creek High and Behrend has certainly been worthwhile.

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Conboy was a four year letterwinner in hockey in high school. Outside of hockey, Conboy also had great success in soccer, where he won three letters. Also, he joined the football team his senior year, which he also lettered in. In hockey, Conboy led the league in total points as a junior, and won the Bob Walter Team Leadership Award as a senior. He was also selected to play in the PIHL All-Star Team as a senior and participate in the All-Star Game. Conboy has continued to have great success at Behrend, in terms of scoring points and being a vital component in the team’s overall success. Conboy was selected to play in the ACHA All-Star Game, despite missing some games this season, which speaks to the kind of impact he has when he is on the ice. He also has made a lot of memories and met a lot of great people in his time as a Behrend student athlete.

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Ms. Linda Hajec is one person who Conboy admires as a professional. “Ms. Hajec is one of the funniest people I have ever met. I was not the best in her accounting class, but she saw the potential in me as a person and a professional. She recommended me for Business Ambassadors, and my favorite part about our relationship and her relationship with fellow students is her ability to talk to anyone on a friendly level outside of schoolwork,” he stated.

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While Hajec has had a great academic impact, Conboy’s coach at Behrend, Sam Stroud, has served as a tremendous example of how to work hard in athletics and around sports. Stroud serves as an assistant coach for Behrend Hockey after playing for the team for four years. He is responsible for a lot of different things things including fundraising, recruiting and preparing for games and practices. Conboy stated of his coach “Coach Stroud serves as our general manager and assistant coach. He has helped take our program to new heights, and our team gets a boost because he is a part of the program. We owe a lot to him.” While these two members of the Behrend community have served as great examples for Conboy, he is finding a way to serve as a great example to his peers and future Behrend students.

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When he is not playing hockey or serving as a Behrend Business Ambassador, Conboy has found the time to land an internship at Global Worx in Henrico, Virginia. He was involved in data organization and sales, which will likely serve him well going forward as he progresses as a marketing and MIS student.

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Conboy can seemingly do it all. He is a great business student and a great athlete who also serves the Behrend community. He is hopeful Behrend hockey will become a varsity sport in the near future, and he is thankful for the opportunity to be a collegiate student athlete. One more person Conboy wanted to thank is his best friend Justin Dedionisio. “We have been teammates since we were six years old, and it is pretty special that we have been teammates the entire way through our careers. It has been pretty special to play so many games on the same line as my best friend,” he said of his friend. Conboy has one more season as a college hockey player left. One thing is for certain, Conboy will continue to make an impact on the ice, but his impact on the Behrend community extends far beyond athletics.