Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Official Athletics Website

#19 Irish Set To Open Season Saturday Against Long Island

WHO: Notre Dame (0-0-0) vs. Long Island (0-2-0)
WHEN: Saturday, October 9 | 6 p.m. ET
WHAT: Notre Dame’s season opener (non-conference)
WHERE: Compton Family Ice Arena | Tickets 
WATCH: NBCSports.com, NBC Sports app, NBC Sports Chicago, NBC Sports Philadelphia Plus, SNY
LISTEN: 94.3 FM | UND.com
NOTES (PDF)

SETTING THE STAGE

  • The University of Notre Dame hockey team opens the 2021-22 season at home on Saturday evening in its first ever meeting with Long Island University.
  • The Fighting Irish most recently dropped a 4-3 exhibition decision to the USNTDP on Sunday, October 3rd while the Sharks played a two-game series at Penn State (Oct. 3-4) and dropped both contests by scores of 3-1 and 5-2.
  • The Fighting Irish open the 17th season under head coach Jeff Jackson and their fifth season in the Big Ten.
  • Overall, it is the 53rd season of NCAA Division I hockey for Notre Dame.
  • The Irish are 8-7-1 in season openers under Jeff Jackson.
  • Current LIU assistant coach Will Messa served as Notre Dame’s intern assistan coach during the 2018-19 season.
  • Head Coach Jeff Jackson served as an assistant coach with the New York Islanders during the 2003-04 season. 
  • OT Note: if Saturday’s is tied after regulation, the teams would play a five minute 3-on-3 overtime period which could then result in a tie game (no shootout). 

CAPTAINS NAMED

  • Graduate student Adam Karashik and seniors Jake Pivonka and Graham Slaggert will serve as team captains for the Irish this season.
  • Additionally, seniors Nick Leivermann and Spencer Stastney will be alternate captains. 
  • Leivermann, Pivonka, Slaggert and Stastney will wear letters for the first time in their Notre Dame careers while Karashik served as UConn’s captain in 2020-21 before joining the Irish.

PRESEASON B1G: SLAGGERT & STASTNEY

  • Senior forward Graham Slaggert was named a Preseason Second Team All-Big Ten selection and senior defenseman Spencer Stastney earned Honorable Mention honors (Sept. 24)
  • Notre Dame was also tabbed fourth in the Big Ten Preseason Coaches Poll. 
  • Slaggert, a South Bend, Indiana native, played 27 games last season and was the team’s second-leading scorer with 25 points on seven goals and a team-best 18 assists.
  • Slaggert’s 25 points as a junior marked a season-best total and he enters his senior season with 15 goals and 29 assists for 44 points in 104 games played.
  • Stastney skated in all 29 games for the Irish last season, scoring a career-high five goals and adding seven assists for 12 points. 
  • A fifth round selection (131st overall) by the Nashville Predators in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, Stastney’s five goals were tied with teammate Nick Leivermann and Michigan’s Nick Blankenburg for the most by a Big Ten defenseman a season ago.
  • Stastney has now played in 104 career games while scoring nine goals and adding 27 assists for 36 points. He was an Academic All-Big Ten selection each of the past two seasons and earned Second Team All-BIg Ten honors last season.

QUICK HITS

  • The Fighting Irish are set to open the 53rd season of NCAA Division I hockey for Notre Dame and the 17th under head coach Jeff Jackson.
  • Notre Dame returns four of its top-five point getters from 2020-21, including Graham Slaggert (7-18-25), Landon Slaggert (8-14-22), Nick Leivermann (5-12-17) and Max Ellis (5-11-16).
  • The Irish welcome four graduate transfers into the fold for the 2021-22 campaign, including forward Jack Adams, defenseman Chase Blackmun, goaltender Matthew Galadja, and defenseman Adam Karashik. 
  • Five freshman also join the Irish this season in forward Tyler Carpenter, defenseman Ryan Helliwell, forward Justin Janicke, forward Hunter Strand and defenseman Hunter Weiss. 
  • Goaltender Josh Graziano also transferred into the program as a sophomore, having last played collegiately at Union. 
  • Including hosting Long Island, the Irish open the season with five consecutive non-conference matchups and are set to hit the road next weekend at Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan before hosting RIT for a pair of games inside Compton Family Ice Arena.
  • Notre Dame is also slated to host non-conference opponents Holy Cross (Nov. 4-5), Boston College (Nov. 26) and Niagara (Jan. 1-2).
  • Notre Dame has made each of the last five NCAA Tournaments, the longest streak in program history, and eight of the last 11 NCAA Tournaments overall.