Oct. 1, 2009
Notre Dame Hockey Coach Jeff Jackson spoke with media during the CCHA Media Day teleconference held on Wednesday, September 30th.
You can listen to the entire conference call with Coach Jackson and members of the media covering the CCHA and Notre Dame Hockey.
Podcast: Coach Jackson CCHA Media DayCLICK HERE.
Here are a few quote provided by the CCHA.
Notre Dame Head Coach Jeff Jackson
Opening statement… We are returning a pretty good group of players and have some good incoming freshman so we are excited about the prospects for this coming season. I know the biggest thing for us will be the replacement of our captain Eric Condra, along with Christian Hanson and our goaltender Jordan Pearce. We are excited about the prospect of junior Brad Phillips, who was out with a knee injury last season. We expect him to be the guy that will start for us on opening night in goal. Our speed and our skill has improved quiet a bit and I am excited about us playing an up tempo game.
On CCHA competitiveness… I think the CCHA has several teams that could potentially make the national tournament. I think the conference will be more competitive than it has been in recent years and I expect every game to be a challenge for us. There are probably five or six teams for sure that could potentially win the conference and go on to the NCAA Tournament.
On Miami being one in a national poll but third in conference polls/depth of the CCHA… Miami, without question, certainly should be considered to be the top team in the country and in our conference. I think that Michigan, Northern Michigan, and Ohio State are all returning solid cores and there is potential for any of them to win our conference. Miami has to be one of the favorites to win our conference after coming within seconds of winning the national championship.
On what junior goalie Brad Phillips went through last season and how ready he is for this season… He is 100 percent recuperated from his knee surgery from last year. The biggest thing for him will be the loss of the experience that he wasn’t able to get last year. He has great athleticism and the biggest thing for him will be developing the mental side and getting confidence early in the year.