Nov. 17, 2011
Notre Dame, Ind. –
– The Games: #4/#4 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (8-2-2) vs. #3/#3 Boston College Eagles (9-3-0)
– Date/Site/Time: Friday, November 18, 2011 – Compton Family Ice Arena (5,022) – 7:42 p.m.
– Broadcast Information: Radio: Notre Dame hockey can be heard live on Real Country 99.9 FM, starting with the pre-game show 20 minutes before the opening faceoff. Darin Pritchett will call the action for the Irish. Television: Friday night’s game with Boston College will be televised nationally by CBS Sports Network. Matt McConnell and Dave Starman will call the action with Shireen Saski handling the rinkside duties.
– Internet: Audio: Notre Dame will stream the audio for the Boston College game free of charge at und.com. Gametracker: Follow the live scoring at und.com. Twitter: Follow the Irish icers on Twitter at ND_hockey.
HOLY WAR: Notre Dame and Boston College get together this weekend for their annual hockey-football weekend, this year battling on the ice and the gridiron in South Bend, Indiana. The football teams will do battle on Sat., Nov. 19 at 4:00 p.m. at Notre Dame Stadium. The Irish and Eagle icers will face off on Friday, November 18 at the Compton Family Ice Arena with the puck set to drop at 7:42 p.m. Matt McConnell and Dave Starman will call the action with Shireen Saski at rinkside. For the Irish, Friday is the “Dedication Game” for the new hockey home – The Compton Family Ice Arena. The new building will be blessed at 10:30 a.m., with a dedication Mass set for 3:30 p.m., at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. A reception and dinner at 4:45 p.m. and 5:15 p.m., at the South Dining Hall will follow. On the ice, Notre Dame enters Friday’s game in the midst of an eight-game unbeaten streak (6-0-2) that started on Oct. 21, the date of the first-ever game in the Compton Family Ice Arena. Overall, the Irish are ranked fourth in the nation in both polls and are 8-2-2 for the year. In the CCHA, Notre Dame is currently first in the conference with a 6-1-2-0 overall record, good for 20 points. Boston College enters Friday’s tilt ranked third in both polls with a 9-3-0 overall record. The Eagles are coming off a 5-0 loss to Boston University last Sunday at home. BC is 7-2-0 in Hockey East and enters the weekend in first place in the conference. Following Friday’s game, Notre Dame returns to action on Tuesday, Nov. 22, when the Irish travel to Kalamazoo, Mich., for a CCHA conference game against Western Michigan.
IRISH VERSUS EAGLES: The two teams have met 30 times in the all-time series with Boston College holding a 16-12-2 edge in those games. At Notre Dame, the Eagles are 7-3-1. The teams met last season at the Joyce Center with Notre Dame taking a 2-1 victory on a pair of goals by Calle Ridderwall `11. Mike Johnson (Jr., Verona, Wis.) made 28 saves in the victory. This is the third consecutive game in the series to be played at Notre Dame. Since the 2003-04 season, the Irish are 5-2 against the Eagles. In that span, Boston College has come into the game ranked No. 1 in the nation four times (2003, 2004, 2006 and 2010), and each time Notre Dame has won the game (2003 – at BC, 1-0; 2004 – at ND, 3-2; 2006 – at BC, 7-1 and in 2010 – at ND, 2-1). Of course in 2008, the two teams met in the national championship game in Denver, Colo., with the Eagles winning, 4-1, to claim the national championship.
HOT IRISH: Notre Dame’s eight-game unbeaten streak (6-0-2) is the longest for the Irish since Feb. 13-March 21, 2009 when the Irish were unbeaten in 10 straight games (10-0-0).
OPENING FACE OFF: A ceremonial face off will occur prior to the start of Friday’s game featuring the Compton Family – Kevin and Gayla Compton and their children, Cameron, Elena and Matthew. Cameron is a 2010 graduate of the University of Notre Dame and will drop the first puck. The Comptons are members of the ownership group of the San Jose Sharks.
RANKINGS: The Notre Dame -Boston College game will feature two of the nation’s top ranked teams. The Irish come into the game ranked fourth in both the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine and USCHO.com polls. Boston College is ranked third in both polls to start the week. Both teams have spent time at No. 1 this season.
TUESDAY NIGHT HOCKEY: Notre Dame started the week with a CCHA conference game on Tuesday, Nov. 15, when the Irish played host to the Western Michigan Broncos. Junior center Riley Sheahan (St. Catharine’s, Ont.) scored a pair of goals and sophomore defenseman Shayne Taker (Surrey, B.C.) added a single goal in a 3-2 win over the Broncos. Ian Slater and Shane Berschbach had Western Michigan’s goals. After a scoreless first period, Slater scored his third of the season at 9:30 of the second period for a 1-0 lead. The Irish would tie the score just nine seconds later when Taker beat goaltender Frank Slubowski with a great move for his first of the season at 9:39. On the play, Western was penalized and Notre Dame capitalized on the power play. Sheahan was set up for his first goal of the night by Robbie Russo (Fr., Westmont, Ill.) and T.J. Tynan (So., Orland Park, Ill.) at 10:39, just 40 seconds after Taker’s goal for a 2-1 lead. Sheahan wasn’t finished as he picked up his second goal of the night at 15:08, bangin a rebound of a Jeff Costello (So., Milwaukee, Wis.) deflection past Slubowski for his fourth of the year and a 3-1 lead. From there, goaltender Mike Johnson held the Broncos off, giving up just a goal to Berschback on 14 shots in the third period for his fifth win of the year. The Irish were out shot by Western Michigan, 25-21, in the game. Johnson finished with 23 saves while Slubowski had 18.
NEW HOME SWEET HOME: With the win over Western Michigan on Nov. 15, Notre Dame improved to 4-0-0 at the Compton Family Ice Arena and 5-1-0 at home overall. That includes a 1-1 mark at the Joyce Center where the Irish split with Ohio State on Oct. 14-15. The Boston College game closes out a four-game homestand for Notre Dame.
TWO IS BETTER THAN ONE: Riley Sheahan’s two-goal game against Western Michigan was the first multi-goal game of his Notre Dame career. Already this season, the 6-2, 212-pound center has five multiple-point games and now has 10 for his career. Sheahan has scored three goals in his last three games. After missing the first two games of the season with an injury, Sheahan has four goals and eight assists for 12 points in his 10 games played this season. He is tied for third in team scoring.
NATIONAL LEADERS: Center T.J. Tynan and left wing Anders Lee (So., Edina, Minn.) are among the nation’s leaders in goals, assists, points and points per game leading into the Boston College game. Tynan currently leads the CCHA and the nation in scoring with three goals and 17 assists for 20 points. His 17 assists are the best in the league and the nation as is his 1.67 points-per-game. Lee leads the CCHA and the nation in goals scored with 12 and is second in the CCHA in points (17) while being tied for third nationally. His five power-play goals are best in the CCHA and tie him for third nationally.
STILL UNBEATEN: Junior goaltender Mike Johnson got back on track with his 3-2 win over Western Michigan on Nov. 15. Johnson made 23 saves in the win to run his personal unbeaten streak to seven games (5-0-2). In Johnson’s last nine appearances, with eight starts, he has played 475:42, giving up 16 goals with 149 saves for a 2.02 goals-against average and a .903 save percentage. For the year, he is 5-1-2 with a 2.24 goals-against and a .903 save percentage.
GOING TO THE BULLPEN: Notre Dame head coach Jeff Jackson made the call to the bullpen in the Nov. 11, 5-4 win, over Alaska, calling on sophomore Steven Summerhays (Anchorage, Alaska) to start the second period. The Nanooks dented Irish starter Mike Johnson for four goals in the first period. Summerhays played the final 40 minutes, stopping all 16 shots he faced to pick up his second win of the season as the Irish came-from-behind to take the 5-4 victory. The former Green Bay Gambler got the start on Saturday night and again was equal to the task, stopping 25-of-27 shots in the 3-2 overtime win. For the weekend, Summerhays played 104:18 and had a 1.15 goals-against average and a .953 save percentage.
LONG TIME COMING: Sophomore defenseman Shayne Taker (pronounced Tacker) scored his first goal of the season in the 3-2 win against Western Michigan on Nov. 15. The goal was the second of his career and snapped a 40-game goal less drought that started on October 10, 2010 when he scored last against Boston University in his second career game. He had one goal and nine assists in 31 games as a freshman.
OVERTIME STREAK: With the overtime win against Alaska on Nov. 12, Notre Dame has now played “extra hockey” in three of its last five games. The tie with Alaska extends the Irish unbeaten streak in overtime games to 24 (6-0-18) dating back to March 21, 2008 when the Irish dropped an overtime game to Miami, 2-1, in the CCHA semifinals. Notre Dame has not lost a CCHA regular-season game in overtime since a Jan. 8, 2005, 2-1 loss at Lake Superior. Last season, the Irish were 2-0-5 in overtime and this year they are 1-0-2.
SLOW STARTS: For some reason, Notre Dame has shown a penchant for getting off to a slow start in games this season. In the first 12 games of the season, the Irish have given up the first goal of the game seven times. In those games, Notre Dame is 5-1-1.
EVEN SLOWER STARTS: Notre Dame has trailed 2-0 in games four times this season and has rallied in three of them to be 3-1-0 in those contests. On Oct. 8 at Minnesota-Duluth, the Irish trailed 2-0 in the second period and rallied for a 5-3 win. On Oct. 14, Notre Dame trailed Ohio State, 2-0 in the first at home and came-from-behind to win 5-2. The following night, the Irish gave up two first-period goals and trailed 4-0 after two before scoring three in the third for a 4-3 loss. On Nov. 11, Alaska took a 2-0 lead 6:53 into the first period only to see Notre Dame rally for the 5-4 victory.
STRANGE START: Friday’s game (Nov. 11) between Notre Dame and Alaska had a strange start for a game between the Irish and the Nanooks. During the first 20 minutes of action, the two teams combined for seven goals with Alaska taking a 4-3 lead into the first intermission. The reason that is strange is that the previous week, in four games – two by Notre Dame against Northern Michigan and two by Alaska vs. Miami – the Irish and Nanooks combined to score five goals in 240 minutes.
FOUR IN THE FIRST: Alaska’s four-goal, first-period outburst on Nov. 11 are the most goals that Notre Dame has given up in one period since March 18, 2011, when Miami scored four against the Irish in the first period of the CCHA semifinals last season at Joe Louis Arena. The RedHawks went on to win that game, 6-2.
THE LAST TIME: Alaska’s Cody Kunyk scored three goals in the first period of the Nov. 11 game against the Irish. That was the first hat trick given up by Notre Dame since Dec. 4, 2010 when Miami’s Alden Hirschfeld scored three times in a 5-2 win at Miami.
PENALTY SHOT UPDATE: Riley Sheahan’s penalty shot in the Nov. 11 game with Alaska was the first taken by a Notre Dame player since last Feb. 26 when T.J. Tynan was awarded a shot against Western Michigan. He was stopped in a 2-0 Bronco win. Prior to Sheahan scoring against the Nanooks, the last time a Notre Dame player scored on a penalty shot was Jan. 31, 2009 when Ryan Thang `10 scored in a 3-2 win at Michigan.
TURNING ON THE POWER: The Irish go into Friday’s game with Boston College having scored at least one power-play goal in 11 of their first 12 games. Notre Dame struck for a season-high three power-play goals in the Nov. 11 game with Alaska. The last time the Irish had three power-play goals in a game came on Jan. 7, 2011 when they were 3-for-7 in an 8-1 win at Northern Michigan. For the two games with Alaska, Notre Dame was 4-for-11 on the power play and is now 14-for-59, a 23.7% success rate. That ranks the Irish second in the CCHA and tied for 11th on the national level.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Notre Dame saw its streak of killing off 15 straight opponent power plays snapped on Nov. 11 by Alaska at 6:31 of the first period. The Irish streak had covered the previous five games. Over the last 10 games, Notre Dame has now killed 30-of-33 (90.9%). For the year, the Irish are 38-of-44, for an 86.4% success rate. In Saturday’s win over the Nanooks, Notre Dame did not face one power-play attempt.
LARGEST HOME CROWD: Opening night at the Compton Family Ice Arena on Oct. 21 saw the Irish play in front of the largest home crowd for Division I hockey in the program’s history as a standing-room only gathering of 5,022 filled the new building for the 5-2 win over Rensselaer. The previous record crowd was 4,816 versus Wisconsin in the WCHA playoffs on March 10, 1973 at the Joyce Center. Notre Dame equaled the record on Nov. 11 when 5,022 saw the Irish beat Alaska, 5-4. The Joyce Center had various seating configurations in its 44-year history with the final sell-out mark being 2,713 seats and 2,857 being a standing-room sell out.
Top Home Crowds For Notre Dame HockeyDate Opp. Att. Result11/11/21 Alaska 5,022 W, 5-4 *10/21/11 Rensselaer 5,022 W, 5-2 *3/10/73 vs. Wisconsin 4,816 L, 3-4 (WCHA Playoffs)1/21/73 vs. Michigan St. 4,787 W, 13-52/24/73 vs. Wisconsin 4,787 W, 4-32/23/73 vs. Wisconsin 4,779 W, 8-51/26/73 vs. Michigan St. 4,722 W, 8-51/29/72 vs. Wisconsin 4,666 L, 3-53/9/73 vs. Wisconsin 4,586 T, 4-4 (WCHA Playoffs)2/3/73 vs. No. Dakota 4,566 L, 2-33/4/72 vs. Michigan St. 4,544 W, 6-21/28/72 vs. Wisconsin 4,494 L, 3-52/2/73 vs. No. Dakota 4,385 W, 9-3
* attendance at the Compton Family Ice Arena. All others at the Joyce Center.
CURRENT ATTENDANCE: In the first four games at the Compton Family Ice Arena, the Irish have drawn 18,634 fans for an average of 4,658. Capacity is 5,022. In the six home games to date, including the first two at the Joyce Center, Notre Dame is averaging 4,080 per game.
MADAY…MADAY…MADAY: Senior forward Billy Maday (Burr Ridge, Ill.) had a strong weekend in the series with Alaska, scoring two key goals with an assist for three points. In Friday’s come-from-behind win, Notre Dame’s captain scored the all-important game-tying goal at 7:30 of the second period to make it 4-4 and then help set up defenseman Stephen Johns’ game winner at 19:12 of the third period. On Saturday night, Maday scored the game winner with 41 seconds left in overtime. He is currently third in scoring for the Irish with four goals and eight assists for 12 points.
RBC FINANCIAL CCHA PLAYER OF THE MONTH: Sophomore left wing Anders Lee was named the RBC Financial CCHA player of the month for October as he had 10 goals and three assists for 13 points in seven games. His 10 goals were tops in the CCHA and led all Division I players at the national level. Lee scored at least one goal in all seven games during the month and added one two-goal game and a hat trick on Oct. 21 versus Rensselaer. His seven-game goal and point streaks are career bests for the 6-3, 227-pound left wing.
JOINING THE ATTACK: Sophomore defenseman Stephen Johns (Wampum, Pa.), who is known for his big hits, is starting to become known for his big plays. In the 5-4 win over Alaska, Johns scored the game-winning goal at 19:12 of the third period. The following night, he had a big assist on Anders Lee’s goal that tied the game at 2-2 with under five minutes left to play.
CONFERENCE CALL: The Hockey East Association and the University of Notre Dame announced on Wednesday, Oct. 5 that the Fighting Irish have been accepted into the league as the 11th member school and will begin play in the 2013-14 campaign. The announcement came at a press conference on the ice at Notre Dame’s new Compton Family Ice Arena.
In making the announcement, Hockey East commissioner Joe Bertagna said, “It is not an overstatement to say that this is one of the most significant days in the history of our conference. The addition of new institutions is always exciting but Notre Dame brings a unique set of qualities and circumstances to the continued growth of our league. We are proud to welcome Notre Dame into the fold and we look forward to getting to the many details that come with this announcement.”
Notre Dame Vice President and Director of Athletics Jack Swarbrick said, “We are excited to be joining Hockey East beginning in the 2013-14 season. Many factors played a role in our decision, but three were of special importance to us. The first two were the critical issues of the student-athlete experience and Notre Dame’s fit with the other schools in the conference. But of special importance in this instance, was our goal of giving our hockey program an unprecedented level of national exposure through our expanded partnership with the NBC Sports Group. Athletics at Notre Dame has always served as a platform for promoting the University.”
Notre Dame head coach Jeff Jackson added, “We are honored and pleased to join Hockey East for the 2013-14 season. The conference is an established league with a great tradition and outstanding programs that share Notre Dame’s values. The exposure for our players and team in a major media and NHL market will be second to none. Hockey East’s commitment to playing a smaller league schedule will allow us to enhance our home and non-conference schedule with traditional western and Big Ten rivals. This will allow us to bring great games to the Compton Family Ice Arena and create a more diverse, nationally-televised schedule. We are grateful to Joe Bertagna and the Hockey East Association members for this tremendous opportunity.”
Notre Dame is currently a member of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) and has had two stints with the CCHA during its 44 years of Division I hockey. The Irish first joined the conference from 1981-83 and then again in 1992 through the 2012-13 season. During that time, Notre Dame has won two CCHA regular-season and postseason tournament titles (2007 and 2009).
The current shift in conferences began with the Big Ten’s decision to form their own hockey league beginning in 2013-14. That started the realignment process in both the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) and the CCHA that has occurred this past summer and fall.
THE KID IS ALRIGHT: Freshman right wing Austin Wuthrich (Anchorage, Alaska) continues to impress in the early part of the season as he recorded the first multiple-point game of his career in the win over Rensselaer on Oct. 21, assisting on a pair of goals. Wuthrich now has three goals and three assists for six points this season. He is also the answer to a Notre Dame trivial pursuit question – Who scored the last goal in the Joyce Center? Austin Wuthrich at 18:35 of the third period on Oct. 15.
PAT ON THE BACK: Senior center Patrick Gaul (Pittsburgh, Pa.) had the best weekend of his career at Bowling Green (Oct. 28-29), scoring a goal and an assist for two points. He now has career highs in goals (2), assists (3) and points (5) this season. In the Oct. 28, 3-1 win, Gaul assisted on Garrett Peterson’s game-winning goal. In Saturday’s 3-2 win over the Falcons, Gaul scored his second goal of the season, getting the third-period game winner. In 12 games this year, Gaul has five points after having just three points (a goal, two assists) in the first 48 games of his career.
CAREER HIGH: Junior defenseman Sam Calabrese (Park Ridge, Ill.) recorded a career-high three assists in the win over Rensselaer. The team’s top scoring blue liner in 2010-11 with six goals and 12 assists for 18 points, Calabrese has five assists in 12 games this season.
STREAK STOPPERS: Three different scoring streaks were snapped for the Irish in the series against Northern Michigan. On Nov. 4, T.J. Tynan and Anders Lee saw a pair of personal streaks snapped in the 2-2 tie. Tynan saw his career-high eight-game point streak (3-12-15) stopped as he was held scoreless for the first time this season. Tynan’s streak carried over from last season when he scored on April 7 in the Frozen Four versus Minnesota-Duluth. He then had a point in each of Notre Dame’s first seven games this season. Lee saw his career-high seven-game goal-scoring streak stopped by the Wildcats on Nov. 4. The sophomore from Edina, Minn., had scored at least one goal in each of Notre Dame’s first seven games this season and led the CCHA and the nation with 10 goals in that span. On Sat., Nov. 5, Lee saw his personal best eight-game point streak (10g, 4a) snapped in the 1-1 tie.
MAD HATTER: Anders Lee recorded the second hat trick of his Notre Dame career in the 5-2 win over Rensselaer on Oct. 21. Lee scored the opening goal of the game, then broke a 1-1 tie with his second-period goal. He appeared to score his third goal in the third period but that was waved off on a questionable high stick on the puck call before he finished the trick with an empty net goal with 1:20 left in the game. His first hat trick came in his first career game on Oct. 8, 2010 versus Holy Cross in the Warrior Ice Breaker Classic in St. Louis, Mo.
FINAL TOTALS: With the Oct. 14-15 split versus Ohio State, the Joyce Center era for the Irish hockey program ended with Notre Dame being 361-286-57 (.553) at the Joyce Center. Under Jeff Jackson, the Irish had a 66-32-13 (.653) record under the north dome.
FULLâ⒬ˆHOUSE: With one sellout in the weekend series against Ohio State (Oct. 14-15), the Irish closed out the Joyce Center with sellouts in 17 of the last 21 games played there. During the 2010-11 season, Notre Dame sold out 16 of its 19 home games at the Joyce Center. A year ago, Notre Dame averaged 2,801 fans per game. Since Dec. 13, 2008, the Irish have recorded sellouts in 40 of their last 47 home games. A sellout at the Joyce Center is 2,713 with 2,857 capacity with standing room. Twice during the `09-’10 season – Jan. 15 vs. Michigan State and Jan. 29 against Nebraska-Omaha – 3,007 fans jammed into the Joyce Center. Prior to that number, the largest crowd to see an Irish hockey game was 3,310 on March of 1995 when Notre Dame play Illinois-Chicago. The following season, new seating was installed and capacity was reconfigured.
FOR OPENERS: The season-opening loss to Minnesota-Duluth, Notre Dame is now 21-21-2 in all-time season openers. In road season openers Notre Dame falls to 17-23-4 for the 44-year history of the program. After knocking off Ohio State at the Joyce Center on Oct. 14, the Irish are now 25-18-1 all-time in the home opener.
SHORT-HAND SUCCESS: T.J. Tynan’s first goal of the season came short-handed in the win over Minnesota-Duluth and was the third of his career. In 2010-11, Tynan had two of Notre Dame’s 13 short-handed goals. The 13 shorties tied Boston College for the national lead. The 13 short-handed tallies were the most for the Irish since setting a school record with 19 during the 1981-82 season.
CLUTCHâ⒬ˆSCORER: Sophomore left wing Anders Lee has continued his clutch scoring skills this season. His first goal in the win over Ohio State was the game winner, the first this season and the eighth of his career. Lee, who led the Irish with 24 goals, last season scored seven game winners to lead the team and the CCHA in `10-’11. Those seven game winners tied a Notre Dame single-season record that was set in 1989-90 by David Bankoske `93, who also had seven game-winning goals.
SHOOTING THE PUCK: Notre Dame’s 17 shots on goal against Minnesota-Duluth on Friday, Oct. 7 marked the fewest shots for the Irish in a game since Nov. 20, 2009 when they had 16 shots on goal in a 4-1 win over Michigan State. Last season, the fewest shots Notre Dame had in a game was 21, versus Western Michigan on Oct. 30, 2010. Against Rensselaer on Oct. 21, the Irish turned the tables as they held the Engineers to just 17 shots in the game. A year ago, the fewest shots given up by the Irish in a game was 13 on Nov. 6 versus Bowling Green.
RANKINGS UPDATE: Notre Dame entered the 2011-12 season ranked second in the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine poll and first in the USCHO.com poll. The Irish finished the 2010-11 campaign ranked fourth in the final USA Today and USCHO.com polls. The number one ranking marks the sixth time in the program’s history that the Irish were ranked at the top for at least a week during a season. During the `06-’07 season, Notre Dame was ranked No. 1 for seven straight weeks from Feb. 5 to March 25. During the `08-’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. The fifth time that Notre Dame was No. 1 came for one week in the 1976-77 season.
Week-by-week with the Irish this season:
2011-12 Irish National RankingsDate USA TODAY USCHO.com 9/26 2nd 1st10/06 no poll no poll10/10 2nd 2nd10/17 5th 6th10/24 5th 5th10/31 4th 6th11/7 7th 7th11/14 4th 4th