#1 Irish Open Stretch Run With Weekend Wisconsin Series

Jan. 17, 2018 | Game Notes

NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The No. 1 ranked Fighting Irish return from a bye week with a two-game series against Wisconsin this weekend, including a home game on Friday night and a neutral site game on Sunday afternoon at the United Center in Chicago. Earlier this season, Notre Dame, winners of 15 in a row dating back to a 5-4 victory over Omaha on Oct. 27, swept a two-game series at Wisconsin on Dec. 8 (3-2) and 9 (6-2).

Game one of the weekend series will be played at 7:35 p.m. ET on Friday, Jan. 19, in Notre Dame, Indiana (NBC Sports Chicago Plus), while the Irish and Badgers will play the final game of the season series at the United Center in Chicago at 3:05 p.m. ET on Sunday, Jan. 21. To purchase tickets, click here.

FOR STARTERS

• Notre Dame returns from a bye week with a two-game series against Wisconsin, including a home game on Friday night and a neutral site game on Sunday afternoon at the United Center in Chicago.
• The Fighting Irish, winners of 15 in a row dating back to a 5-4 victory over Omaha on Oct. 27, swept a two-game series at Wisconsin on Dec. 8 (3-2) and 9 (6-2).
• Notre Dame’s 15-game winning streak is the longest active winning streak in the country and also marks the longest in program history while competing in an NCAA Division I conference.
• When the puck drops on Friday night versus the Badgers, it will have been 85 days since the Irish last lost a game (6-4 to Omaha on Oct. 26).
• Notre Dame is also 12-0-0-0 in conference play this season, making it the first Big Ten team ever to win its first 12 conference contests of the season.
• The Fighting Irish are also the first Big Ten team to go undefeated through the first 12 games of the conference season and the second Big Ten team to go undefeated through 10 games (Minnesota started 2013-14 with an 8-0-2-0 record).
• The Irish have also won 16 of their last 17 games.
• Andrew Oglevie (3-3-6) and Dylan Malmquist (2-4-6) each have five-game point streaks, while Cam Morrison (0-4-4) has a three-game point streak and Matt Hellickson (2-0-2) has a two-game goal/point streak.
• Justin Wade has now skated in 99 career games.

#1

• For the second consecutive week, the Fighting Irish have been ranked No. 1 in both the USCHO.com and the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls.
• Prior to this season Notre Dame was last ranked No. 1 in the USCHO.com preseason poll released on Sept. 27, 2011.
• The number one ranking marks the seventh time in program history that the Irish have been ranked at the top for at least one week during a season.
• During the 2006-07 season, Notre Dame was ranked No. 1 for seven straight weeks from Feb. 5 to March 25.
• During the 2008-09 campaign, the Irish were No. 1 from Dec. 1 to Jan. 26, a span covering seven weeks.
• The Irish moved into first in the USA Today poll again on Feb. 23, 2009, for the second time that season and on March 15, 2009, were ranked No. 1 in the USCHO.com poll.
• Notre Dame was also No. 1 for one week during the 1976-77 season.
• It marks the first Big Ten team to achieve the top ranking since Penn State was ranked No. 1 in the Jan. 16, 2017 polls.

15-GAME WINNING STREAK

• Notre Dame is on a 15-game winning streak, which is the longest active winning streak in the country.
• It is the longest Fighting Irish winning streak under head coach Jeff Jackson and the longest winning streak during a season in which Notre Dame competed in an NCAA Div. I conference.
• The only other time Notre Dame won at least 15 games in a row occurred during the 1983-84 season (15 consecutive wins from Nov. 4, 1983 – Jan. 21, 1984).
• The Irish competed under club status for the 1983-84 season.
• Notre Dame’s previous longest winning streak under coach Jackson was 10 games from Feb. 13 – March 21, 2009.
• Jackson’s longest career winning streak came with Lake Superior when his team won 15 consecutive games from Jan. 19 – March 9, 1991 as part of a 28-game unbeaten stretch by the Lakers.
• It is also Notre Dame’s longest unbeaten streak since Oct. 31, 2008 – Jan. 17, 2009 when the Irish went 17-0-3 over a span of 20 games.
• Cale Morris has started each game during the current 15-game winning streak, posting a 1.33 goals-against average and a .962 save percentage to go along with four shutouts.
• Jake Evans (4-12-16) and Cal Burke (10-4-14) have led a balanced Irish offensive attack during the win streak.
• Twelve Irish skaters have totaled at least five points during the winning streak, while 14 players have scored at least two goals.

BACK TO THE UNITED CENTER

• Game two of this weekend’s series versus the Badgers will shift to the United Center on Sunday afternoon (3 p.m. ET/2 p.m. CT) in a game that will be televised on NBCSN.
• Home to the Chicago Blackhawks, the Irish played in the national semifinals at last season’s Frozen Four, which was also held at the United Center (6-1 loss to eventual 2017 NCAA Champion Denver).
• During Notre Dame’s recent bye week, the Irish practiced at the United Center once and also utilized the Blackhawks’ MB Ice Arena to practice as the team stayed in Chicago for several days of networking at local businesses and took part in meet and greets with program alums.
• Notre Dame and Wisconsin have also agreed to play a neutral site game at the United Center next season (one of Wisconsin’s home games).

CHICAGO CONNECTIONS

• Five current Notre Dame players hail from Illinois, including freshman Pierce Crawford (Park Ridge, Illinois), sophomore Tory Dello (Crystal Lake), juniors Jack Jenkins (Lake Bluff) and Bobby Nardella (Rosemont) and senior Justin Wade (Aurora).
• Dello (2010-13), Nardella (2010-13) and Wade (2007-10) each played for the Chicago Mission.
• Jenkins (2009-12) and Crawford (2010-11) played with the Chicago Young Americans organization.
• Junior defenseman Dennis Gilbert was selected in the third round (91st overall) by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.
• Gilbert played for the Chicago Steel (USHL) in 2014-15.
• Cale Morris played for the Chicago Steel (USHL) from 2013-15.
• Former Irish forward Vinnie Hinostroza (2013-15) is in his third professional season with the Chicago Blackhawks.
• Current Blackhawks Vice President and General Manager Stan Bowman is a 1995 University of Notre Dame graduate.
• The Blackhawks opened training camp at Notre Dame in 2013, 2014 and 2015 and also spent part of their 2017 training camp at the Compton Family Ice Arena.

HOBEY VOTE OPEN FOR IRISH TRIO

• On January 15, the fan voting ballot for the 2018 Hobey Baker Memorial Award was released and it includes senior forward Jake Evans, senior defenseman Jordan Gross and sophomore goaltender Cale Morris.
• The Hobey Fan Vote will once again be part of Phase I of the selection process for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award, which is given annually to the top player in college hockey.
• The list of players will be narrowed to a Top-10 and then Phase II voting on the Top-10 will begin (March 14-25).
• The Hobey Hat Trick will then be announced on March 29 and the Hobey Baker Memorial Award will be presented to the winner on April 6, 2018 during the NCAA Frozen Four Championship in St. Paul, Minnesota.

— ND —