Penn State hockey honors Joe Paterno with '409' helmet stickers

Penn State men's hockey players wearing "409" stickers on their helmets for Friday night's game against Michigan State in honor of former football coach Joe Paterno.

Penn State men's hockey players are wearing "409" stickers on their helmets for Friday night's game against Michigan State. The number symbolizes the 409 wins former Nittany Lions coach Joe Paterno once again has as a head football coach after the NCAA reached a settlement to restore his vacated wins on Friday.

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With the restoration, Paterno is back to being the winningest​ coach in major college football history. The former coach died in January 2012 at the age of 85. 

The school was forced to vacate 112 victories from 1998 through 2011, all but one of which came under Paterno, as part of the sanctions following the release of the Freeh Report in 2012. The NCAA penalized the school for the Jerry Sandusky scandal, in which the longtime Penn State assistant football coach was convicted on 45 counts of sex abuse earlier that year.​

Nittany Lions and Spartans set to face off in 33 minutes. Warmups underway. Penn State with 409 stickers on helmets. pic.twitter.com/Iq6aGBBTWO

— matt online (@MattyNest) January 16, 2015

According to Dennis Dodd of CBSSports, Penn State basketball players will wear "409" on their pregame T-shirts on Saturday when they host Purdue. 

- Molly Geary