Jan. 16, 2008
Notre Dame, Ind. –
Complete Release in PDF Format 
• The Series: #8/#8 Notre Dame (18-7-1/11-4-1) vs. #1/#1 Michigan (20-2-0/13-1-0)
• Date/Site/Time: Friday, January 18 • Yost Arena (6,637) • 8:05 p.m. • CSTV
Saturday, January 19 • The Palace of Auburn Hills (20,182) • 7:05 p.m. • Comcast Local
• Broadcast Information: Radio: Notre Dame hockey can be heard live on WDND ESPN Sportscenter 1490 with Mike Lockert calling all the action for the Irish.
• Television: Friday’s game at Michigan will be televised by CSTV with Matt McConnell and Dave Starman handling the play-by-play and color commentary. Saturday’s game from The Palace will be broadcast by Comcast Local with Ben Holden and Sean Ritchlin calling the action.
• Internet: Irish hockey can be heard on the Internet at the Notre Dame website – www.und.com. All Notre Dame home games and all CCHA games are available via GameTracker.
BATTLING THE BEST: The CCHA schedule makers did Notre Dame no favors in the first three weeks of January, sending the Irish to Northern Michigan for two games and then giving them a home-and-home series with #9/#10 Michigan State, the defending national champions. Just to add to the fun, they threw in a pair of games against the No. 1 ranked Michigan Wolverines for a home and “home” series, Jan. 18-19. On Friday, Jan. 18, the Irish travel to Ann Arbor to face Michigan at Yost Arena in an 8:05 p.m. game. The contest will be televised by CSTV with Matt McConnell and Dave Starman calling the action. The following night, Notre Dame will play its “home” game at the Palace of Auburn Hills with face off set for 7:05 p.m. That came will be televised by Comcast Local with Ben Holden and Sean Ritchlin handling the play-by-play and color duties. Notre Dame comes into the week with an 18-7-1 record and is 11-4-1 in the CCHA, good for 23 points. The Irish are three points behind Michigan and Miami in third place while the Wolverines have two games in hand. Michigan is now 20-2-0 on the season and 13-1-0 in the conference and is tied for first place with the Miami RedHawks. Since the start of the second half, the Irish are 2-3-1 in six games while the Wolverines are 4-0-0.
RANKED TEAMS: Notre Dame fell two spots this week to eighth in both the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine and USCHO.com/CSTV polls. Michigan is ranked first in both polls for the fourth straight week.
IRISH VERSUS WOLVERINES: Michigan is Notre Dame’s oldest rival as the two teams have met 112 times in the series that began in 1921-22. All-time, the Wolverines hold a 63-44-5 edge in the series. At Yost Arena, Michigan has a 35-21-3 advantage and on neutral ice, Michigan has won seven-of-nine meetings. Last season, Notre Dame took all three meetings, winning 7-3 at Ann Arbor, 4-3 at Notre Dame and then 2-1 in the CCHA title game at Joe Louis Arena. Prior to last year’s three-game sweep by the Irish, Michigan had won eight straight games over the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons. Since Notre Dame returned to the CCHA in 1992-93, Michigan is 37-9-3 versus the Irish. Of those games, the Irish are 3-20-1 at Yost Arena with wins in (1997-98, 2002-03 and 2006-07).
A TRIP TO THE PALACE: Notre Dame and Michigan have met four times in the all-time series at The Palace of Auburn Hills with the Wolverines winning all four games. The Irish also played Lake Superior in a fifth visit to the Palace.
11/28/92 - Michigan 5, Notre Dame 1 1/29/94 - Michigan 3, Notre Dame 110/29/94 - Lake Superior 7, Notre Dame 4 1/21/95 - Michigan 9, Notre Dame 3 2/16/96 - Michigan 3, Notre Dame 1
The previous five games at The Palace have been played in front of some of the largest crowds ever to see the Irish play.
11/28/92 - 18,147 1/29/94 - 20,42710/29/94 - 13,274 1/21/95 - 20,899 2/16/96 - 11,193
At the time, the crowd of 20,899 on Jan. 21, 1995 was the largest crowd ever to watch an NCAA college hockey game. The five games in the 90s drew 83,940 or an average of 16,788 per game.
VERSUS THE BEST: Notre Dame’s series with Michigan marks the second time this season that the Irish will face the top-ranked team in the nation. On Nov. 9-10, Notre Dame met No. 1 ranked Miami twice in Oxford, Ohio, defeating the RedHawks, 2-1, on Nov. 9 befoe dropping a 3-1 decision at Miami on Nov. 10. The Nov. 9 win marked the 10th time in the program’s history that the Irish knocked off a top-ranked team. Before losing on Nov. 10, Notre Dame had won four straight versus top 10 teams. Here’s a list of Irish wins over No. 1 ranked teams in the 40-year history of the program.
11/9/07 - at Miami, 2-110/20/06 - at Boston College, 7-110/22/04 - vs. Boston College, 3-210/23/03 - at Boston College, 1-01/3/99 - at North Dakota, 4-311/20/78 - at Minnesota, 3-21/13/78 - vs. Denver, 5-31/18/74 - vs. Michigan Tech, 7-12/24/73 - vs. Wisconsin, 4-32/23/73 - vs. Wisconsin, 8-5
MICHIGAN STATE RECAP: Notre Dame played a home-and-home series last weekend with Michigan State, dropping a 3-1 decision at Munn Arena on Jan. 11 before battling to a 1-1 tie at the Joyce Center on Jan. 13. On Friday night, the Irish failed to win at Munn Arena for the seventh straight time (0-6-1) since Feb. 2002 as the Spartans took a 3-1 win. MSU’s Matt Schepke and Irish center Kevin Deeth (So., Gig Harbor, Wash.) traded second-period goals for a 1-1 tie after two periods. The score stayed that way until the 18:03 mark of the third period when Justin Abdelkader scored on a goal mouth scramble to give MSU a 2-1 lead. Nick Sucharski added an empty-net goal with 22 seconds left for the 3-1 victory. Notre Dame won the shots on goal battle, getting 31 to Michigan State’s 30. Jordan Pearce (Jr., Anchorage, Alaska) made 27 saves for Notre Dame while Jeff Lerg made 30 for the Spartans. The Irish were 0-for-5 on the power play (includes one of four seconds and one of two seconds) while Michigan State was 0-for-3. The loss dropped the Irish to 2-20-1 at Munn Arena since the 1992-93 season. On Sunday at the Joyce Center, Ryan Thang (So., Edina, Minn.) scored with 38 seconds left to salvage a 1-1 tie with the Spartans. Michigan State got a second-period, power-play goal from Nick Sucharski at 8:27 to take a 1-0 lead. The score stayed that way until Notre Dame pulled Jordan Pearce with 1:20 left in the game. Following a face off outside the Michigan State zone, the Irish fired the puck in to the left corner where Thang tracked it down. He banked it off the boards to Brett Blatchford (So., Temperance, Mich.) at the left point. Blatchford fired a shot on goal that hit Thang as he cut in front and deflected off his stick past Jeff Lerg. The goal was Thang’s 12th of the season. In overtime, Notre Dame out shot the Spartans, 8-1, and also had a shot off the post by Dan VeNard (Sr., Vernon Hills, Ill.) but could not score. The Irish had 35 shots on goal while Michigan State had 15. Lerg finished with 34 saves while Pearce had 14. The Irish were 0-for-5 on the power play.
SHORT CIRCUITED: Notre Dame’s power-play continued to struggle in the series with Michigan State. The Irish were 0-for-5 in each game and 0-for-10 on the weekend. Over the last six games, Notre Dame has not scored on the power play, going 0-for-30 since the Christmas break. The last time the Irish scored on the power play was Dec. 8 versus Princeton. The power-play woes actually started prior to the break as the Irish have just one power-play goal since Dec. 7 (eight games), going 1-for-36 (2.7%), including that series. Prior to that, Notre Dame was 21-for-109 with the man advanage for a 19.3% success rate. The Irish are now 22-for-146 (15.2%).
BERGMAN RETURNS TO USHL: Freshman left wing Robin Bergman (Stockholm, Sweden) has left the Notre Dame hockey team and returned to the United States Hockey League (USHL). He will play for the Cedar Rapids Rough Riders, the team he played for last season. In 20 games at Notre Dame, Bergman had one goal and six assists for seven points and was +3 on the year.With Cedear Rapids last season, Bergman had 26 goals and 17 assists for 43 points to finish fourth on the team in scoring.
ALL TIED UP: Notre Dame’s 1-1 overtime tie with Michigan State on Jan. 13 marked the first overtime game this season for the Irish. A year ago, Notre Dame was 3-1-3 in overtime. The three overtime wins were the most for the Irish in a single season. In two-plus seasons under head coach Jeff Jackson, Notre Dame is 3-1-8 in extra play.
CLUTCH SCORER: Ryan Thang’s goal with 38 seconds left versus Michigan State on Jan. 13 salvaged a 1-1 tie for the Irish. The sophomore left wing has now scored four game-winning goals this season and one game-tying goal among his team-high 12 goals. In 67 career games, Thang has scored 32 goal with 14 coming on the power play and 10 of them game winners. His 10 game winners tie him for sixth on the all-time game-winning goals list at Notre Dame.
TWO-IN-A-ROW: Notre Dame has not lost two games in a row since losing twice to Alaska, March 3-4, 2006, in the 2006 CCHA playoffs. That covers a span of 68 games over the last two seasons. Since then, the Irish are 50-14-4 (.765).
SECOND-HALF NUMBERS: Scoring has been a problem for Notre Dame in the second half of the season that started on Dec. 29. In the six games played, the Irish have scored just 11 goals (1.83) while giving up 12 (2.00). Notre Dame is 2-3-1 in those six games. In the first half of the year (20 games) the Irish averaged 3.55 goals per game and were ranked third in the country in scoring.
HOBEY HOPEFULS: Fan voting has begun for the 2008 Hobey Baker Award at www.hobeybaker.com. Two Notre Dame players are on the ballot – junior right wing Erik Condra (Livonia, Mich.) and senior right wing Mark Van Guilder (Roseville, Minn.).
PERSONAL STREAK: Notre Dame goaltender Jordan Pearce has surrendered five goals in his last three starts and is 0-2-1 in those games as the Irish have lost at Northern Michigan, 2-1, lost at Michigan State, 3-1 and then tied the Spartans, 1-1. In those three games, Notre Dame has scored just three goals. Earlier this season, Pearce had a personal seven-game winning streak between Nov. 16 and Dec. 8. During the streak, Pearce was 7-0-0 with a 1.72 goals-against average and a .902 save percentage. Since Nov. 1, Pearce is 10-4-1 with losses to No. 1 Miami, No. 9 Massachusetts and No. 9 Michigan State. For the season, Pearce is 14-7-1 with a 2.01 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage with two shutouts.
IRON MAN: Senior center Mark Van Guilder (Sr., Roseville, Minn.) has his sights set on Notre Dame’s all-time record for most consecutive games played. The record of 153 straight games was set by Tim Wallace `06 who played in every game of his career – 153 straight. Van Guilder has now played in every game of his career – 142 consecutive games played through the first 26 games this year.
ONE-GOAL LOSSES: During the first half of the season, Notre Dame was 6-0 in one-goal games. In the second half of the season, the Irish have seen three of their six games end in one-goal decisions with opponents winning two of the three. For the year, Notre Dame is now 7-2 in one-goal contests.
WELCOME BACK: Freshman defenseman Ian Cole (Ann Arbor, Mich.) returned to the Notre Dame lineup at Michigan State (Jan. 11) after participating in the World Junior Championships with the U.S. Junior National Team. At the World Championships, Cole played in all six games and had no points with six penalty minutes as the United States finished fourth in the tournament. He missed four games – the two games at the Lightning College Hockey Classic and the Northern Michigan series. Also returning on Friday night was fellow freshman defender Teddy Ruth (Naperville, Ill.). Ruth missed five games (Princeton, Lightning College Classic and two with Northern Michigan) due to an injury.
SECOND PERIOD PROWESS: The second period has been Notre Dame’s best period this season as the Irish have scored 37 goals while giving up just 13 for a +24 advantage in the middle stanza.
CENTURY CLUB: Notre Dame’s “Century Club” added its newest member on Nov. 24 when junior Erik Condra recorded an assist versus R.P.I. In 104 career games, Condra is now tied for 36th on the all-time points list with 30 goals and 79 assists for 109 points. His 79 assists rank him 24th on the all-time assist list. For the third season in a row, Condra leads the Irish in scoring with 10 goals and 17 assists for 27 points in 26 games. Here’s who is ahead of Condra on the all-time points list.
"Century Club"Name (Seasons) G A Pts1. Brian Walsh (1973-77) 89 145 2342. John Noble (1969-73) 81 145 226
30. Alex Pirus (1973-76) 57 66 123 John Schmidt (1978-82) 28 95 12332. Jeff Brownschidle (1977-81) 30 92 12233. Ray DeLorenzi (1971-74) 55 59 11434. Aaron Gill (2000-04) 49 62 111 Connor Dunlop (1999-03) 25 86 11136. Erik Condra (2005-) 30 79 109 Jack Brownschidle (1973-77) 31 78 10938. Tim Reilly (1981-86) 43 65 10839. Aniket Dhadphale (1995-99) 61 44 10540. Bob Thebeau (1982-86) 40 63 10341. Kevin Hoene (1968-71) 50 51 101 Matt Hanzel (1985-89) 50 51 10143. Paul Clarke (1973-77) 38 62 100
HOT HANDS: Notre Dame’s trio of left wing Dan Kissel (So., Crestwood, Ill.), center Christian Hanson (Jr., Venetia, Pa.) and right wing Evan Rankin (Sr., Portage, Mich.) have carried the offensive attack over the last seven games for the Irish. The threesome has scored eight goals and added 11 assists for 19 points since Dec. 8 at Princeton. Kissel has three goals and four assists for seven points; Hanson checks in with three goals and three assists for six points and Rankin has two goals and four assists for six points. All three players have career highs in goals, assists and points this season. Kissel has six goals, eight assists and 14 points, Hanson has seven goals, six assists and 13 points and Rankin has six goals, seven assists and 13 points so far this year.
FAST START: Freshman goaltender Brad Phillips (Farmington Hills, Mich.) has gotten his career off to a fast start between the pipes for the Irish. Phillips has won his first four collegiate starts while allowing just three goals and stopping 69 of 72 shots he’s faced. Phillips is 4-0-0 with a 0.75 goals-against average and a .958 save percentage and one shutout.
SCORING BY CLASS: Here’s how Notre Dame scoring breaks down by classes this season.
Class (Skaters) Goals Assists PointsSophomores (7) 26 47 73Juniors (5) 27 32 59Seniors (5) 19 27 46Freshmen (5) 10 22 32Totals 82 127 209
RECORD STREAK: Notre Dame’s nine-game winning streak from Nov. 16 through Dec. 8 was the longest for the Irish since a 14-game streak from Dec. 11, 1987 to Feb. 13, 1988. During that time, the Irish were a Division I Independent. The streak is the longest for the Irish as a member of the CCHA or the WCHA.
THE REPLACEMENTS: With Ian Cole at the World Junior Championships and Teddy Ruth sidelined with an injury, junior Luke Lucyk (Fox Point, Wis.) and sophomore Stewart Carlin (Jeannette, Pa.) stepped into the Notre Dame lineup and did yeoman’s work on the blue line. In five games, Lucyk had a goal and an assist, had one shot on goal and was +3. Carlin played in four games, had eight shots on goal and was +1 in his playing time. He remained in the lineup for the Jan. 11 game at Michigan State.
THE PENALTY KILL: Through the first 26 games of the season, Notre Dame ranks third in the CCHA and seventh in the nation killing penalties. The Irish have killed 108-of-121 opponent power plays for an 89.2% success rate. Over the last six games, Notre Dame has given up six power-play goals in 25 chances for a 76.0% success rate. Over the first 20 games, the Irish led the nation in penalty killing, killing 89-of-96 for a 92.7 % success rate. At the time, they had given up seven power-play goals while scoring seven short-handed tallies.
THREE PPG AGAINST: In the 4-3 loss to Massachusetts on Dec. 29, the Irish gave up three power-play goals to the Minutemen, the first time that has happened since Dec. 17, 2005, in a 4-0 loss to Lake Superior. For the year, the Irish are still fifth in the nation on the penalty kill, stopping 105 of 117 chances for an 89.7% success rate.
BALANCED ATTACK: Notre Dame comes into the series with Michigan ranked 12th in the nation in scoring with 3.15 goals per game. Through the first 20 games, the Irish were third in the nation, averaging 3.55 goals per game. Despite the ranking, the Irish have just two players on the roster with 10 or more goals this season – Ryan Thang with 12 and Erik Condra with 10. The Irish have accumulated their 82 goals this year with 10 players on the roster having five goals or more.