Sept. 30, 2016
By Dan Colleran
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The ninth-ranked University of Notre Dame hockey team opens the 2016-17 season with an exhibition game against the USNTDP (U18) at 5:05 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 2 at the Compton Family Ice Arena.
Matchup: USNTDP (U18) at Notre Dame
Date: Sunday, Oct. 2, 2016
Time: 5:05 p.m. (ET)
Site: Notre Dame, Indiana
Arena: Compton Family Ice Arena (5,022)
Television: None
Live Streaming: WatchND App & Facebook
Play-by-Play: Tony Simeone
Analyst: Conor Clingen
Live Radio: WZOC 94.3 FM
Play-by-Play: Darin Pritchett
Live Audio: WatchND App
Play-by-Play: Darin Pritchett
Live Stats: und.com
Live Updates: @NDHockey
Series History: Notre Dame leads, 3-1-2
Game Notes
OVERVIEW
— The Notre Dame Fighting Irish hockey team opens the 2016-17 season with a home exhibition contest against the USNTDP (U18) team on Sunday afternoon. It will be the lone exhibition contest for the Irish, who will then play host to Arizona State next weekend (Oct. 7-8).
— This season will mark Notre Dame’s 49th year of varsity hockey, and the 12th under the guidance of Head Coach Jeff Jackson.
USNTDP CONNECTIONS
— Head Coach Jeff Jackson was one of the masterminds behind the U.S. National Development Program (he laid out the plan for what would become the USNTDP while interviewing with USA Hockey). Jackson then served as the first head coach of the USNTDP from 1996-2000.
— In addition to Jackson, 35 Notre Dame hockey players have come through the U.S. National Team Development Program, including current players Dawson Cook, Anders Bjork and Joe Wegwerth.
— Associate coach Andy Slaggert’s son, Graham, currently plays forward for the USNTDP team (he enters the weekend with a goal and two assists in five games played).
— Current USNTDP Head Coach John Wroblewski played hockey for the Irish from 1999-03 and graduated from Notre Dame in 2003.
— Wroblewski was named the USNTDP’s head coach on May 16, 2016, having previously served as the head coach of Youngstown (USHL).
— While at Youngstown, Wroblewski coached current Irish freshman forward Cam Morrison’s head coach.
LAST MEETING
— Last year, on Oct. 11 at the USA Hockey Arena, Notre Dame and the USNTDP (U18) team skated to a 2-2 overtime tie.
— Mario Lucia scored a power-play goal early in the third period to put the Irish up 2-1 but then Kieffer Bellows scored a power-play goal for Team USA later in the third.
— In the Notre Dame net, Cal Petersen finished with 33 saves, while Joseph Woll made 29 stops for Team USA.
— Both teams finished the game 1-for-2 on the power play.
— ND —
Dan Colleran, associate athletics communications director at the University of Notre Dame, has been a part of Fighting Irish Media since August 2015 and coordinates all media and publicity efforts surrounding the Notre Dame hockey and golf programs. A native of Walpole, Massachusetts, Colleran spent the previous three years working with the men’s hockey and soccer programs at Providence College. Colleran also spent two years as an Assistant Executive Director of Communications & Championships at the Ivy League and is a graduate of Providence College (’06 & ’08G).