Sept. 21, 2015
BOSTON, Mass. – The Hockey East Association held its annual media day at the TD Garden on Monday afternoon. Head Coach Jeff Jackson attended the event, met with members of the media and took part in television interviews.
“This year we will still be a young team with 16 underclassmen but the positive thing is a lot of those players now have a year under their belts,” Jackson shared with members of the media. “Especially the young blue liners and goaltending. We played four freshmen defensemen last year on a pretty regular basis and a freshman goaltender, so that bodes well for us and builds that excitement, knowing we have a group that has faced adversity together.”
“We have a good senior class and I’m hoping that they can help lead the young guys into a positive season,” Jackson continued. “I think we have a good opportunity ahead of us, but we have to take advantage of it.”
The Irish were picked to finish seventh in the Hockey East Preseason Coaches Poll, which was released prior to the start of media day. Notre Dame, which will embark on its third season in Hockey East in 2015-16, totaled 72 points in the coaches poll.
2015-16 Preseason Hockey East Coaches’ Poll
Rank. Team (first-place votes) — point total
1. Boston College (7) — 115
2. Boston University (3) — 107
3. Providence College (2) — 95
4. UMass Lowell — 92
5. Northeastern — 76
6. New Hampshire — 74
7. Notre Dame — 72
8. Vermont — 57
9. UConn — 34
10. Maine — 29
11. Merrimack — 27
12. UMass — 14
In the preseason Hockey East media poll, Notre Dame was picked to finish fifth, received one first-place vote and totaled 250 points.
2015-16 Preseason Hockey East Media Poll
Rank. Team (first-place votes) — point total
1. Boston College (20) 397
2. Boston University (7) 374
3. Massachusetts Lowell (5) 344
4. Providence (2) 328
5. Notre Dame (1) 250
6. Vermont 237
7. Northeastern 217
8. New Hampshire 187
9. Connecticut 142
10. Merrimack 119
11. Maine 87
12. Massachusetts 48
— Also as part of media day, Hockey East also announced a slate of games that will be televised through ASN, including Notre Dame’s home games against Minnesota Duluth (Oct. 23), Minnesota (Nov. 6) and Northeastern (Nov. 12). Specific networks where these games will be carried will be announced at a later date.
— Longtime Boston Globe writer Nancy Marrapese-Burrell was named the 24th recipient of the league’s Joe Concannon Award, which annually honors a member of the media who has done an outstanding job covering Hockey East. In her acceptance speech, Marrapese-Burrell referenced early in her career that she covered Jeff Jackson when he was the head coach at Lake Superior State (1990-96).
— The Irish will open the 2015-16 season by playing host to the University of Guelph in an exhibition game on Friday, Oct. 9 at the Compton Family Ice Arena. After playing a second exhibition game against the USNTDP U-18 team on Sunday, Oct. 11 at the US Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Michigan, Notre Dame opens the 2015-16 regular season with a weekend series at Penn State Oct. 16-17.
Learn about Notre Dame hockey season, half season and single-game ticket opportunities.
— by Dan Colleran, Athletics Communications Associate Director