June 17, 2005
Notre Dame, Ind. – University of Notre Dame hockey coach Jeff Jackson announced today that three more players will join the Irish hockey roster in September for the start of the 2005-06 season. The group includes forwards Garrett Regan (Hastings, Minn.) and Justin White (Traverse City, Mich.) and defenseman Tom Sawatske (Duluth, Minn.), a junior transfer from Wisconsin who played last season in the United States Hockey League (USHL).
The three newcomers will join Eric Condra (Livonia, Mich.), Christian Hanson (Venetia, Pa.), Jordan Pearce (Anchorage, Alaska) and Jamie Silverson (Thunder Bay, Ont.) on the 2005-06 roster, giving the Irish seven players for next season. The trio becomes part of a signing class of 10 that includes three players – Kevin Deeth (Gig Harbor, Wash.), Kyle Lawson (New Hudson, Mich.) and Ryan Thang (Edina, Minn.) – who have deferred their acceptance to the fall of 2006.
Assistant coach Andy Slaggert, who recruited the trio said, “Garrett (Regan), Justin (White) and Tom (Sawatske) really compliment the four players we signed in the November and give us a strong class for next season. They add scoring, depth, experience and a strong degree of competitiveness to the group. I really like the added experience these players bring to our roster.”
Garrett Regan is a 6-0, 185-pound left-handed shooting forward who played the last three seasons for the USHL’s Waterloo Black Hawks. Last year, Regan was third in scoring on the Black Hawks with 21 goals and 24 assists for 45 points while scoring eight power-play goals and a pair of game winners. The 45 points tied him for 24th in the USHL in scoring and the 21 goals tied him for 20th. He helped Waterloo to second place in the Eastern Division with a 29-25-6 record. In 2003-04, Regan was a member of Waterloo’s Clark Cup Championship team scoring 14 goals with 21 assists for 35 points while adding six goals and five assists in 12 playoff games in the Black Hawks run to the USHL title. In his rookie year in Waterloo, he had four goals and one assist in 21 games. Regan played two years of high school hockey at Hill-Murray School in Minnesota where he had 74 goals and 65 assists in two seasons.
Slaggert on Regan: “Garrett is a very competitive player who adds speed to the roster. He’s shown a knack for scoring big goals during his career especially in the postseason. He’s a tough, tenacious player who should contribute next season. He brings a great deal of experience after a strong career in the USHL with Waterloo.”
Justin White is a 6-0, 180-pound left-handed shooting forward who has spent parts of the last two seasons with the USHL’s Sioux Falls Stampede. This past season in 45 games, White was seventh in team scoring with 14 goals and 14 assists for 28 points with three power-play goals and three game winners. In 2003-04, White split time between Sioux Falls and the St. Louis Heartland Eagles. In 16 games with St. Louis he had nine goals and seven assists for 16 points. In 48 games in Sioux Falls, White added nine goals and 17 assists for 26 point, giving him 18 goals and 24 assists for 42 points on the year. His first season of junior hockey came in 2002-03 when he had a goal and five assists in 30 games for the Topeka Scarecrows.
Slaggert on White: “Justin is an offensively-skilled player who should give us depth in the scoring department. He’s had a solid career in the USHL and had a strong season this year with Sioux Falls despite missing time due to an injury.”
Tom Sawatske will join the Irish lineup as a junior after transferring from the University of Wisconsin where he played two seasons from 2002-04. Last season, Sawatske, a 6-0, 190-pound right-handed defenseman was a member of the Lincoln Stars where he was a teammate of incoming freshmen, Eric Condra and Jordan Pearce. He had a goal and nine assists for 10 points in 34 games with the Stars, helping them to a second-place tie in the USHL’s Western Division. A steady defenseman, Sawatske was selected to play in the 2005 USHL’s Top Prospects Game last January. In two seasons with the Badgers, he had three goals and 11 assists for 14 points in 54 games. A product of USA Hockey’s National Team Developmental Program, Sawatske was a teammate of current Irish players Tim Wallace and Noah Babin on the 2002 U.S. Under-18 Team that won the gold medal at the Under-18 world championship.
Slaggert on Sawatske: “Tom brings mobility and a great deal of experience to our defense. He’s played with the national program, two years at Wisconsin and last season with Lincoln. He’s a solid, steady defenseman who moves the puck well and makes that strong first pass out of the zone. He should be a strong contributor on our blue line this season.”
Notre Dame Hockey Recruits For 2005-06
Player Pos. DOB Ht. Wt. Sh Hometown/2004-05 TeamEric Condra RW 8/6/86 6-0 185 R Livonia, Mich./Lincoln (USHL)Kevin Deeth ** C 5/26/87 5-8 165 L Gig Harbor, Wash./Shattuck St. Mary'sChristian Hanson C 3/10/86 6-3 190 R Venetia, Pa./Tri-City (USHL)Kyle Lawson ** D 1/11/87 6-0 200 R New Hudson, Mich./U.S. U-18 TeamJordan Pearce G 10/10/86 6-1 195 L Anchorage, Alaska/Lincoln (USHL)Garrett Regan LW 4/23/85 6-0 180 L Hastings, Minn./Waterloo (USHL)Tom Sawatske D 1/12/84 6-0 190 R Duluth, Minn./Lincoln (USHL)Jamie Silverson D 3/26/86 6-4 225 L Thunder Bay, Ont./Salmon Arm (BCHL)Ryan Thang ** RW 5/11/87 6-1 185 R Edina, Minn./Sioux Falls (USHL)Justin White C 4/23/85 6-0 180 L Traverse City, Mich./Sioux Falls (USHL)
** deferred to 2006-07