Feb. 22, 2007
Notre Dame, Ind. –
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
• The Series: #1/#1 Notre Dame (26-5-3/20-3-3) vs. Ferris State (12-19-3/9-15-2)
• Date/Site/Time: Fri.-Sat., February 23-24, 2007 • 7:35/7:05 p.m. • Joyce Center (2,713)
• Broadcast Information: Radio: Notre Dame hockey can be heard live on ESPN Radio 1490 South Bend’s SportsCenter. Mike Lockert calls the action for the Irish. Television: Saturday night’s game will be televised live by Comcast Local with Ben Holden and Lyle Phair calling the action. The game can be seen in South Bend on the local access station Channel 3 for Comcast cable subscribers.
• 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.
• Video Streaming: Friday’s game (Feb. 23) versus Ferris State will be available via Fighting Irish All-Access on the Notre Dame website at und.com. To view the game, the viewer will need to be using Internet Explorer 6 with Windows Media Player 9 or higher.
CCHA CHAMPIONS: The Notre Dame hockey team closes out the 2006-07 regular season this weekend when the Irish play host to the Ferris State Bulldogs on Feb. 23-24 at the Joyce Center. Friday’s game has a 7:35 p.m. start time and will be streamed live on the Notre Dame website at und. com. Saturday’s regular-season finale will start at 7:05 p.m. and will be televised live by Comcast Local. The game can be seen locally on Comcast Cable’s channel 3 local access station. The Irish come into the weekend with the title of CCHA regular-season champions as they clinched first place in the conference last weekend with the sweep at Alaska, by 1-0 and 3-2 (ot) scores. The title is first ever for Notre Dame in 17 seasons of CCHA play. For the third consecutive week, Notre Dame remains number one in the nation in both the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine and USCHO.com/CSTV college hockey polls. The Irish are 26-5-3 overall and 20-3-3 in conference play. They are unbeaten in their last nine games (7-0-2 ) since Jan. 20 and 16-2-2 since Dec. 2 with a 15-1-2 in mark in CCHA action. Ferris State comes into the weekend series as one of the hottest teams in the nation, winning three in a row and four of its’ last five games. The Bulldogs are 12-19-3 overall and 9-15-2 in the CCHA, good for ninth place, three points behind Lake Superior for the final home playoff spot in the first round of the CCHA playoffs.
IRISH VERSUS BULLDOGS: Notre Dame and Ferris State meet for the first time this year on the last weekend of the regular season. The teams have met 54 times in the all-time series with Ferris State owning a 33-16-5 edge. At the Joyce Center, the Bulldogs are 18-9-3 against the Irish. The Irish have won sixt of the last eight games in the all-time series, including both meetings last year. Fourteen of the last 17 games between the two schools have been played at the Joyce Center. Ferris State’s last wins at the Joyce came in 2004-05. In all, Notre Dame has won six of the last eight meetings between the two schools.
NEXT FOR THE IRISH: Having clinched first in the CCHA, Notre Dame has a first-round bye next weekend and will return to action at home on March 9-11 versus the lowest-remaining seed for the second round of the CCHA playoffs in a best two-of-three series.
HOBEY HOPEFULS: Two Notre Dame players – goaltender David Brown (Sr., Stoney Creek, Ont.) and right wing Mark Van Guilder (Jr., Roseville, Minn.) – are among 40 players listed by the Hobey Baker Award website as candidate’s for the prestigious honor. Phase one of – Vote For Hobey – is now underway. Fans now have the opportunity to select their favorite candidate for the list of top ten finalists on the new Hobey Baker Award website (www.hobeybaker.com). Fans may vote for one candidate at a time, but can vote multiple times per day. The standings will run concurrently on the Hobey Baker website. Voting in phase one will end on March 4. Phase two will begin on March 15 after the top ten finalists have been announced. To vote, visit the Vote For Hobey link on the Hobey Baker website, or just click on the Vote For Hobey button on the site’s homepage.
Goaltender David Brown leads the nation in wins (24) and goals-against average (1.66). He is sixth in save percentage (.929) as he continues his drive for the Hobey Baker Award.
|
 |
David Brown: Brown appeared in one game last weekend, making 28 saves in a 1-0 shutout win at Alaska. The shutout was Brown’s fourth of the season and tied his own record for single-season shutouts set in 2003-04. He is now 24-4-3 on the year with a 1.66 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage. His 24 wins lead the nation and his goals against is tops in the CCHA and the nation. His save percentage is second in the conference and sixth nationally. Brown and the Irish lead the nation with the best defense, giving up 1.71 goals per game. He is tied for the CCHA lead with four shutouts and tied for third in the nation in the shutout category. Over the last eight games, Brown is 6-0-2 with a 1.23 goals-against average and a .944 save percentage and two shutouts. Brown is currently ranked first by CSTV.com’s Hobey Watch and second by Inside College Hockey.com’s Hobey Tracker.
Mark Van Guilder: Van Guilder waited until the final moments of the Feb. 17 game at Alaska to pick up his lone point of the weekend. It came at 1:41 of overtime when he set up Garrett Regan’s game-winning goal. Van Guilder is currently fourth on the team in scoring with career highs in goals (15) and points (30). meet for the second time this season this weekend.
Captain T.J. Jindra is one of eight Irish seniors who will be honored following Saturday’s game in Senior Night ceremonies.
|
|
SENIOR NIGHT: Notre Dame will honor its’ eight-man senior class and their parents on Saturday night following the game with Ferris State. The eight seniors are Noah Babin (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.), Michael Bartlett (Morton Grove, Ill.), David Brown (Stoney Creek, Ont.), T.J. Jindra (Faribault, Minn.), Wes O’Neill (Essex, Ont.), Jason Paige (Saginaw, Mich.), Tom Sawatske (Duluth, Minn.) and Josh Sciba (Westland, Mich.).
HOT IRISH: Notre Dame comes into the series with Ferris State on a nine-game unbeaten streak (7-0-2). Notre Dame’s last loss came on Jan. 19, a 3-2 loss at Western Michigan. Since Dec. 2, the Irish are 15-1-2 in 18 CCHA games and 16-2-2 in all games.
ONLY THE SECOND: By guiding Notre Dame to its first-ever CCHA regular-season championship, Irish head coach Jeff Jackson became just the second coach in CCHA history to win titles with two different teams. Jackson won regular-season titles at Lake Superior State (1990-91, `94-’95) prior to this season’s title with Notre Dame. He joins Michigan State Athletics Director Ron Mason who won two league titles while coaching at Bowling Green (`77-’78 and `78-’79) and five while behind the bench at Michigan State (`88-’89, `89-’90, `97-’98, `98-’99 and 2000-01).
ALASKA RECAP: Notre Dame picked up its sixth series sweep of the season and second on the road last weekend when the Irish defeated Alaska, 1-0 and 3-2 in overtime. Friday night’s win clinched the CCHA title for Notre Dame. In Friday’s game, goaltender David Brown (Sr., Stoney Creek, Ont.) stopped all 28 shots he faced to record his fourth shutout of the year in the 1-0 win over the Nanooks. Freshman Ryan Thang (Edina, Minn.) got the only goal of the game at 4:47 of the third period when he stripped the puck from the Alaska defense and beat goaltender Wylie Rogers with a move at the top of the crease for his 17th goal of the year. Alaska out shot Notre Dame by a 28-24 margin in the game. On Saturday night, sophomore goaltender Jordan Pearce (Anchorage, Alaska) made his first start since Jan. 7 and stopped 33-of-35 Alaska shots on the way to a 3-2 win in overtime. Erik Condra (So., Livonia, Mich.) gave Notre Dame a 1-0 lead at 8:29 of the first period with a power-play goal. Alaska’s Kyle Greentree tied the game at 1-1 with a short-handed goal at 13:05 of the middle period. The Irish retook the lead at 14:11 on the same power play that they surrendered the short-handed goal when Garrett Regan (So, Hastings, Minn.) scored his 11th goal of the year to make it 2-1 after two periods of play. The Nanooks would tie the game with 2:15 left when Trevor Hyatt scored on a rebound to make it 2-2. That would send the game to overtime where Regan combined with Mark Van Guilder (Jr., Roseville, Minn.) on a two-on-one with Regan beating Wylie Rogers for his second of the game and the game winner at 1:41 of overtime. Defenseman Noah Babin (Sr., Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) and center Justin White (So.Traverse City, Mich.) each had a pair of assists in the game. Alaska out shot Notre Dame, 35-20, in the game. Rogers finished with 17 saves. The Irish were 2-for-5 on the power play while Alaska was 0-for-6 and 0-for-13 in the two-game series.
DEFENSEMAN OF THE WEEK: Senior defenseman Noah Babin was named the CCHA’s defenseman of the week of his play in the series at Alaska. Babin set up a pair of power-play goals in the 3-2 overtime win and was +1 on the weekend. He was also part of a Notre Dame penalty-killing unit that was perfect on the weekend, killing off 13 consecutive Nanook power-play chances. Babin’s two assists give him two goals and 18 assists for 20 points on the season. He leads Notre Dame defensemen in scoring.
SICK BAY: Sophomore center Christian Hanson (Venetia, Pa.) returned to the Notre Dame lineup after missing eight games while sidelined since Jan. 15 with mononucleosis.
SWEEPING ALASKA: The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have been traveling to Fairbanks, Alaska since the 1985-86 season. In 20 games there, the Irish had never swept the Nanooks…until last weekend. The 1-0 and 3-2 overtime wins at the Carlson Center marked Notre Dame’s first-ever sweep of Alaska in Fairbanks.
WORST TO FIRST: Just two seasons ago, Notre Dame was 5-27-6 overall and finished last in the CCHA with a 3-20-5 record. In the CCHA’s 35-year history, no team has ever gone from worst-to-first in one season. There have been three teams go from worst to first in a two-season span. They are:
1975-76 Bowling Green – Falcons finished last in 1973-74 in a three team conference and finished first in ’75-’76 in a five-team league.
1992-93 Miami – RedHawks were last in 1990-91 with nine points in a nine-team conference. They finished first in 1992-93 with 49 points in a 12-team conference for a 40-point improvement over two seasons.
2006-07 Notre Dame – Irish were last in 2004-05 with 11 points in a 12-team conference. This season, the Irish take first place with 43 points (with two games remaining) for a 32-point improvement over two seasons.
MOVING TO THE TOP: Last season, Notre Dame tied for eighth in the CCHA with an 11-13-4 record for 26 points. Only one other CCHA team has made a bigger jump in a season to first place in the conference’s history over one season. In 2001-02, Ferris State finished in ninth place in the conference with 25 points. The following season (2002-03), the Bulldogs finished first with 45 points, going from ninth to first in one season.
JOYCE CENTER SELLOUTS: With two sellouts versus Ferris State this weekend, Notre Dame will have had six straight sold out Joyce Centers and sellouts in eight of the last nine games, dating back to Dec. 10. To date, the Irish have had seven sellouts at the Joyce Center and are averaging 2,390 fans per game in 13 home games this season.
FRIDAY NIGHT FUN: The Irish ran their record to 12-1-0 in the opening game of a CCHA series with the Feb. 16, 1-0 win at Alaska. The lone loss came on Jan. 19 at Western Michigan (3-2). Saturday’s win improved the Irish to 8-2-3 in the second game of the series.
ALL TIED UP: Notre Dame’s 3-2 overtime win at Alaska on Feb. 17 was the second overtime win for the Irish this season and they are now 2-1-3 in the extra session this year. The two wins mark the first time the Irish have won two overtime games since the 2001-02 season when they were 2-1-5. Notre Dame has never won more than two games in overtime in a season. The 2-2 tie with Nebraska-Omaha on Feb. 10 was the fifth overtime game for the Irish this season. On Jan. 27, the Irish battled back from a 2-0 deficit to tie Miami, 2-2. On Jan. 12, at Lake Superior, the Irish took a 4-3 overtime win that was the first for the Irish since Dec. 10, 2004 when the Irish defeated Michigan State, 3-2, at the Joyce Center. The last time that the Irish won an overtime game on the road was March 9, 2002, a 2-1 win at Nebraska-Omaha in the CCHA playoffs. In 58 overtime games since the start of the 1999-2000 season, the Irish are 9-7-42 in overtime.
PENALTY-KILLING SUPREME: Irish penalty killers shut down Alaska’s power-play, killing all 13 Nanook chances on the weekend. Since Jan. 13 (11 games), the Notre Dame has given up just three power-play goals. In that 11-game span, the Irish have killed 52-of-55 opponent power-play chances for a 94.5% success rate. Notre Dame has the top-rated penalty killers in the CCHA and the nation, killing penalties at a 90/6% success rate.
THE KID LINE: Notre Dame’s line of Ryan Thang, Kevin Deeth and Erik Condra (two freshmen and a sophomore) has been the team’s top scoring trio this season. The threesome did their part in the weekend sweep at Alaska, scoring two big goals. Thang got the lone goal in the 1-0 shutout on Feb. 16 when he scored unassisted at 4:47 of the third period. Condra snapped a 0-0 tie with a power-play goal at 8:29 of the second period on Feb. 17 to give the Irish their first lead of the game. For the season the trio now has 45 goals and 58 assists for 103 points. Included in the 45 goals are 18 power-play goals, three short-handed goals and 12 game winners. The three players are a combined +58. Condra and Deeth are tied for second while Thang is tied for ninth in the CCHA +/- rankings.
WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU: Senior goaltender David Brown continues to be one of the leading contenders for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award for college hockey’s top player. Brown turned in his fourth shutout of the season, making 28 saves in the 1-0 win at Alaska on Feb. 16 in his lone start of the weekend. Since last losing on Jan. 19 at Western Michigan, Brown is 6-0-2 with a 1.23 goals-against average and a .944 save percentage. Overall, he has now appeared in 31 of Notre Dame’s 34 games and has a 1.66 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage to go with an 24-4-3 record. The Hobey Baker candidate is first among CCHA goaltenders in wins (24) and goals-against average (1.66), second in save percentage (.929) and second in minutes played (1,878:51). He ranks first nationally in wins, first in goals-against average, second in minutes played and sixth in save percentage. His .823 winning percentage is first in the CCHA and second nationally. Brown and the Irish defense are best in the nation, giving up just 1.71 goals-per-game (58 in 34 contests). The senior goaltender now has 49 career wins at Notre Dame to tie for second on the all-time wins list. A three-time CCHA goaltender of the week (Oct. 23, Nov. 6 and Jan. 29), Brown was also the all-tournament goaltender at the Lightning College Hockey Classic. This season, Brown has taken over Notre Dame’s all-time top spot for career goals-against average (2.41), save percentage (.914) and shutouts (10).
A WINNING RECORD: Notre Dame’s single-season record for wins is 27 and was set in 1987-88 when the Irish were 27-4-2 on the season. This year’s team is 26-5-3 and needs two more wins to set a new standard in the win column.
PEARCE’S TURN: Sophomore goaltender Jordan Pearce made his first start since Jan. 7 and just his third start of the season in the 3-2 overtime win at Alaska on Feb. 17. The Anchorage native put together an outstanding performance in the game, stopping 33 shots (the second highest-save total in his career) and helped stop six Nanook power plays in the win. The victory improved him to 2-1-0 on the year with a 2.01 goals-against average and a .895 save percentage.
SCORING IN BUNCHES: Through the first 34 games of the season, Notre Dame has scored two or more goals in a period a total of 34 times, including four goals in the third period versus Nebraska-Omaha on Feb. 9. The totals include 23 periods with two goals, nine periods with three goals, two periods with four goals and one with five lamplighters.
HOME SWEET HOME: Notre Dame is 10-1-2 at home this season for an .846 winning percentage that is the best since the 2003-04 season when the Irish were 14-2-2 at the Joyce Center for an .833 winning percentage. Only two other Irish teams have had better home records – 1987-88 team was 18-2-0 (.900) and the 1969-70 team was 12-1-1 (.893).
THE WHITE CALL: Sophomore center Justin White continued his strong play of recent weeks as he recorded his second multiple-point game of the season in the 3-2 overtime win at Alaska on Feb. 17. White set up a pair of goals, including the game winner in that game. On the season, he now has two goals and eight assists for 12 points, all career highs.
THE REAL THANG: Freshman right wing Ryan Thang continued his impressive rookie season at Alaska, getting the game-winning goal in the 1-0 shutout and adding an assist on an Erik Condra power-play goal on Saturday. He now leads Notre Dame in goals (17), power-play goals (8) and game winners (5). Thang’s 17 goals are most by an Irish freshman since Rob Globke `04 had 17 in 2000-01. He is now tied for tied for seventh on the Irish list for goals by a freshman with Globke and Brian Walsh `74, with 17. He is second in the CCHA among freshmen goal scorers, trailing Western Michigan’s Mark Letestu who has 18. Fellow freshman Kevin Deeth (Gig Harbor, Wash.), with 15 goals this season, needs just one to break into the top 10 among Irish rookie goal scorers.
Irish Freshman Goal Scoring Leaders
Player Goals1. Dave Poulin (78-79) 282. Paul Regan (69-70) 273. Kevin Hoene (68-69) 24 John Noble (68-69) 245. Greg Meredith (76-77) 236. Tom Mooney (84-85) 197. Ryan Thang (06-07) 17 Brian Walsh (73-74) 17 Rob Globke (00-01) 1710. Mike McNeill (84-85) 1611. Kevin Deeth (06-07) 15
FRESHMEN POINT PRODUCERS: Irish freshmen Kevin Deeth and Ryan Thang are ted for second on the Irish with 32 points as freshmen. Thang leads the team with 17 goals and his 15 assists give him 32 on the year. Deeth with 15 goals and 17 assists for 32 points is tied with Thang for second on the team. The dynamic duo are rapidly climbing the charts on Notre Dame’s single-season freshman scoring list. They currently rank second among CCHA freshmen scorers and tied for 13th nationally.
Irish Freshman Point Scoring Leaders Player Points1. John Noble (69-70) 24-35-59 Dave Poulin (78-79) 28-31-593. Paul Regan (69-70) 27-20-474. Kevin Hoene (68-69) 24-22-465. Greg Meredith (76-77) 23-22-45 David Bankoske (88-89) 11-34-457. Mike McNeill (84-85) 16-26-428. Ian Williams (70-71) 15-26-419. Jamie Ling (92-93) 14-26-4010. Tom Mooney (84-85) 19-20-3911. Jim Cordes (68-69) 12-24-3612. Bill Green (68-69) 14-21-35 Joe Bonk (68-69) 11-24-3514. Brian Walsh (73-74) 17-17-34 Erik Condra (05-06) 6-28-3416. Kevin Deeth (06-07) 15-17-32 Ryan Thang (06-07) 16-14-30
ROAD SWEEPS: After not having a road sweep for over four years, the Irish now have three road sweeps this season and all came against CCHA teams. Notre Dame won two at Alaska (Feb. 16-17), two at Bowling Green (Feb. 2-3) and two at Lake Superior (Jan. 12-13). Prior to this season, the last road sweep came on Feb. 14-15, 2003 when they won a pair of games at Bowling Green.
LOST LEADS: The Irish have lost just two third-period leads this season with the 2-2 tie on Feb. 10 with Nebraska-Omaha being the first two-goal lead that Notre Dame has surrendered this season. The other time was on Jan. 7 when the Irish took a 2-1 lead into the third period and gave up three goals to Robert Morris in a 4-2 loss. Notre Dame is 20-1-1 when they lead after two periods of play.
COMING FROM BEHIND: Notre Dame’s 4-2 win versus Nebraska-Omaha (Feb. 9) marked the fifth time this season that the Irish rallied from a third-period deficit as they trailed 2-1 before scoring the final three goals of the game. On Dec. 2 versus Alaska, the Irish trailed 1-0 going into the third period and scored three times for a 3-1 win. On Dec. 10, ND trailed Michigan, 3-2, entering the third period and scored twice for a 4-3 win. On Dec. 30, the Irish trailed Northern Michigan, 2-1 entering the third and scored three times in a 4-3 win. On Jan. 27, Notre Dame trailed Miami, 2-0 entering the third and scored twice for a 2-2 tie. On the year, when trailing going into the third period, the Irish are 3-3-1.
TURN THE PAIGE: Senior center Jason Paige (Saginaw, Mich.) saw his career-best five-game point streak (0-5-5) snapped at Alaska as he was held scoreless in both games. On the year, Paige has career highs in assists (10) and points (18). His previous best season came in 2003-04 when he had 10 goals and six assists for 16 points. He recorded the second two-goal game of his career in the win over Michigan State on Nov. 17. He has already surpassed his totals from last season (4g, 1a, 5pts). One of the top defensive forwards in the CCHA, Paige continues as Notre Dame’s top face-off man winning 390-of-678 for a 57.5% success rate.
DYNAMIC DEETH: With two goals in the win over Nebraska-Omaha on Feb. 9, freshman center Kevin Deeth is now second on the Irish in scoring with 15 goals and 17 assists for 32 points. Included in his 15 goals are six power-play goals and two game winners. He has now scored back-to-back game-winning goals for the Irish. He has four multiple-goal games and seven multiple-point games this season.