Dec. 28, 2009
Notre Dame, Ind. – Notre Dame head coach Jeff Jackson has announced the addition of junior defenseman Joe Lavin (Shrewsbury, Mass.) to the Irish hockey roster for the second half of the season. The 6-3, 200-pound left-handed shooting defenseman will be available for action beginning on Jan. 2 at the Shillelagh Tournament in Hoffman Estates, Ill.
“We’re excited to be adding a player of Joe Lavin’s caliber to the roster for the start of the second semester,” said Jackson.
“He should be a major contributor to our defense and in the locker room. Joe is a strong, two-way defenseman who has good size and skating ability. He is smart with the puck and makes good decisions on the ice.”
Lavin joins the Irish after starting his collegiate career at Providence College in 2007-08. He played a season-and-a-half with the Friars, playing in 36 games as a freshman (`07-’08) with no goals and eight assists for eight points. A product of the Boston Junior Bruins, he left Providence after the first semester of the 2008-09 campaign after playing in 12 games and recording one assist.
A fifth-round draft pick, 126th overall of the Chicago Black Hawks in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, Lavin moved on to play in the United States Hockey League (USHL) with the Omaha Lancers. During the second half of the 2008-09 campaign, he played in 33 games, scoring seven goals with 16 assists for 23 points while picking up 28 minutes in penalties. In three postseason games, Lavin recorded four assists for the Lancers. Omaha finished second in the USHL’s Western Division with a 32-21-7 record.
A product of USA Hockey’s National Team Developmental Program, Lavin saw action in 24 games for Omaha this season, scoring five goals with 12 assists for 17 points. Four of his goals came on the power play and one was a game winner. When he left the Lancers following play on Dec. 12, they were 19-4-1 for the season and in first place in the USHL’s Western Division. His +16 rating was third on the team.
The 20-year old Lavin was a teammate of current Notre Dame players Ian Cole (Jr., Ann Arbor, Mich.), Brad Phillips (Jr., Farmington Hills, Mich.) and Teddy Ruth (Jr., Naperville, Ill.) with the USA Under-18 Team in 2006-07, playing in 41 games with two goals and eight assists for 10 points. In 2005-06, with the Under-17 Team, Lavin played in 67 games with 13 goals and 14 assists for 27 points, including a team-high seven power-play goals.
The newest member of the Notre Dame defense will wear No. 33 and practiced with the team on Monday, Dec. 28 for the first time.