Dec. 1, 2004
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Games to be televised by Fox Sports Detroit (Fri.) and Comcast Local (Sat.).
- The Series: Notre Dame Fighting Irish (3-6-4/2-5-3) vs. Michigan Wolverines (9-4-1/7-1-0)
- Date/Site/Times: Fri, Dec. 3, 2004 – 7:35 p.m. – Yost Arena (6,637)
Sat., Dec. 4, 2004 – 7:05 p.m. – Joyce Center (2,713) - Broadcast Information: Radio: Notre Dame hockey can be heard live on ESPN Radio 1580, South Bend’s SportsCenter. Mike Lockert, “the voice of Irish hockey” and Tom Nevala will bring you all the action both nights. Irish hockey can also be heard live via the internet at www.und.com.
Television: Friday night’s game will be televised live by Fox Sports Detroit at 7:35 p.m. Ken Daniels and Fred Pletsch will handle the play-by-play and color duties. Saturday’s game will be televised live by Comcast Local. Ben Holden and Lyle Phair will call the shots in this 7:05 p.m. game. The game will be seen live in South Bend (Comcast Cable channel – 99), Detroit and on CN-8 on the East Coast. Comcast Chicago will televise the game on tape delay.
NOTRE DAME MEETS MICHIGAN:
Notre Dame and Michigan renew their long-standing hockey rivalry this weekend with a home-and-home series on Dec. 3-4. Friday’s game will be played at Michigan’s Yost Arena with a 7:35 p.m. face off. That game will be televised live on Fox Sports Detroit. On Saturday, the two teams will meet at the Joyce Center in South Bend with face off set for 7:05 p.m. That game will be televised via Comcast Local in Detroit. South Bend Comcast subscribers can view the game on Channel 99. The Irish are coming off a weekend split versus Alaska Fairbanks that leaves them with a 3-6-4 overall record and a 2-5-3 mark in the CCHA. After a 27-hour trip on Wednesday and Thursday, the Irish downed the Nanooks, 3-2, before falling on Saturday, by the same 3-2 margin. Michigan comes into the game ranked fifth in the nation in both national polls after dropping a 5-1 contest at Minnesota and a 3-1 game to Wisconsin in the College Hockey Showcase. The Wolverines are 9-4-1 on the year and 7-1-0 in league play, good for second in the CCHA standings. The two games versus Michigan are the eighth and ninth games of the year for the Irish versus nationally ranked teams. Following the Michigan series, the Irish will play in another home-and-home series on Dec. 10-11 versus Michigan State. The Dec. 10 game is at the Joyce Center with the Dec. 11 contest at MSU’s Munn Arena.
THE SERIES:
Notre Dame and Michigan have met 101 times in the all-time series with the Wolverines holding a 55-41-5 edge in the series. At Ann Arbor, Michigan is 30-20-3 versus the Irish while at the Joyce Center, Notre Dame is 20-19-2 versus the Wolverines. The Irish have won three straight in the series, including a home sweep (4-1 and 5-2) last February. In their last visit to Yost Arena, Nov. 23, 2002, the Irish also won, a 4-3 victory. In the last 10 meetings between the two schools, Michigan is 5-3-2 versus Notre Dame.
BEATING MICHIGAN:
Notre Dame’s home sweep of Michigan last February marked the first time the Irish had swept the Wolverines since March 5-6, 1982, when they took 6-5 and 5-3 decisions at the Joyce Center. The sweep also gave Notre Dame three straight wins versus Michigan for the first time since Notre Dame won the March 5-6, 1982 series and followed with a win in the first meeting the following year, 1982-83.
YOST BUSTERS:
Notre Dame’s 4-3 win at Michigan on Nov. 23, 2002 was the first regular-season win for the Irish at Yost Arena since they returned to the CCHA in 1992-93. Prior to that, the last time Notre Dame won in Ann Arbor was Oct. 22, 1982, a span of 14-regular season games. The Irish did win a CCHA playoff game at Yost in the 1998 playoffs. In the regular season, Notre Dame is now 1-14-1 in the last 16 meetings and since 1992-93, the Irish are 2-18-1 versus the Wolverines at Yost Arena. Over the last three meetings at Yost, Notre Dame is 1-1-1 versus Michigan.
ALASKA FAIRBANKS RECAP:
Saturday, Nov. 27 – On Saturday, the Irish saw their four-game unbeaten streak (2-0-2) come to an end in a 3-2 loss to Alaska Fairbanks. Ryan McLeod’s third-period goal proved to be the difference. The Nanooks jumped out to a 2-0 lead in this game on goals by Curtis Fraser (ppg) and Jason Grinevitch by the 2:05 mark of the second period. Freshman right wing Evan Rankin (Portage, Mich.) got the Irish back in the game with a power-play goal at 6:23 to cut the UAF lead to 2-1. McLeod answered back with his goal just 1:26 later at 7:49 to give UAF a 3-1 lead. The Irish cut the margin to 3-2 on Josh Sciba’s (So., Westland, Mich.) goal at 19:40. Sciba deflected a Wes O’Neill (So., Essex, Ont.) slap shot inside the right post with Morgan Cey (Sr., Wilkie, Sask.) pulled in favor of a sixth attacker. In the game, Alaska Fairbanks out shot the Irish by a 25-20 margin. Cey finished with 22 saves in the game.
Friday, Nov. 26 – Sophomore goaltender David Brown (Stoney Creek, Ont.) stopped 35 of 37 Alaska Fairbanks shots and Tim Wallace (Jr., Anchorage, Alaska) paced the Notre Dame offense with a goal and an assist in a 3-2 win over the Nanooks in the series opener. The win extended Notre Dame’s unbeaten streak to four games (2-0-2). Wallace got the Irish on the board first at 17:40 of the first period when he deflected a Brock Sheahan (Fr., Lethbridge, Alb.) shot past Wylie Rogers. The lead would go to 2-0 at 13:08 of the second period when Tony Gill (Jr., Rochester, Minn.) cashed in on a two-on-one with Wallace. The goal was the first of Gill’s Notre Dame career. UAF cut the lead to 2-1 at 18:15 of the second period when Darcy Campbell beat Brown from the top of the left wing circle. The Irish came back 52 seconds later on a power-play goal that was credited to Jason Paige (So., Saginaw, Mich.) at 19:07. Paige deflected a Mark Van Guilder (Fr., Roseville, Minn.) shot for the 3-1 lead. The Nanooks’ Corbin Schmidt got the lone goal of the third period when his blast from the left point found its way over Brown’s glove at 18:07. UAF out shot the Irish, 37-16, on the night. Notre Dame killed all nine Nanook power-play chances in the game while going 2-for-5 on its own chances.
PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES:
The Irish experienced their own version of Planes, Trains and Automobiles on their journey to Fairbanks, Alaska. The Irish hockey team left the Notre Dame campus at 1:30 p.m. (EST) on Wednesday, Nov. 24 and took five hours for the 112-mile trip to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (due to holiday traffic and weather). From there, the 7:20 p.m. (CST) flight to Anchorage, Alaska didn’t leave Chicago until midnight. The six-hour-and-thirty minute flight arrived at 3:30 a.m. (Alaska Standard Time – 7:30 a.m. EST). The Irish flight to Fairbanks left at 1:00 a.m. (AST), so the team had to stay in an Anchorage hotel for five hours before leaving for the airport at 9:45 a.m. (1:45 p.m. EST). The team arrived in Fairbanks at 12:30 p.m. (4:30 p.m. EST) making the normal 16-hour trip a 27-hour ordeal. The Irish went right from the airport to the Carlson Center to practice for an hour-and-a-half before enjoying Thanksgiving dinner at 3:30 p.m. (7:30 p.m. EST).
HAPPY HOMECOMING:
Junior right wing Tim Wallace, an Anchorage, Alaska native, enjoyed the trip back to his native Alaska by scoring a goal and an assist in the 3-2 win over the Nanooks and then added an assist the following night for a three-point weekend. Wallace is third on the team in scoring with two goals and five assists for seven points on the season.
WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU?:
Sophomore goaltender David Brown has put together back-to-back strong performances in his last two outings. He turned aside 35 of 37 shots in the 3-2 win over Alaska Fairbanks on Nov. 26 and is now 1-0-1 in his last two games. On Nov. 12, he made 28 saves in a 2-2 tie with Western Michigan. For the season, he is 1-3-1 with a 3.34 goals-against average and a .902 save percentage. Last season, as a freshman, Brown set Irish records for single-season goals-against average (2.32), save percentage (.925) and shutouts (4).
FINDING THE POWER:
After struggling on the power play through the first 10 games (7-for-80, 8.8%), the Irish have scored four times with the man-advantage in their last 11 chances (36.3%) over the last three games. On the year, they are now 11-for-91 (12.1%).
GILL THE THRILL:
Junior center Tony Gill scored the first goal of his Notre Dame career in the 3-2 win over Alaska Fairbanks. The brother of former Irish captain, Aaron Gill, Tony played in 33 career games before getting his first goal.
BROTHER ACTS:
Tony Gill is one of nine sets of brothers to play hockey at Notre Dame in the program’s history. He and his brother, Aaron (’00-’04), now rank fourth among brother acts in goal scoring for the Irish with 50 (Aaron – 49, Tony – 1). Of all the brothers listed, all were forwards except for Jack and Jeff Brownschidle, Mike Bonk and Dan Byers. Marc Guay was a goaltender.
GETTING ON TRACK:
After a slow start (1-5-2) over the first eight games of the season, the Irish are 2-1-2 in their last five games and for the year are now 3-6-4 overall.
ON THE SIDELINES:
Notre Dame will be without the services of center Matt Williams-Kovacs (So., Calgary, Alb.) who suffered a broken left ankle in the first period of the Oct. 16 game versus Miami and has missed the last nine games. He had surgery on Monday, Oct. 18 and was expected to miss six to eight weeks. Defenseman Dan VeNard (Fr., Vernon Hills, Ill.) went down with a separated right shoulder in the Nov. 13 game versus Western Michigan and has missed the last two games.
SCIBA SCORING:
Sophomore left wing Josh Sciba picked up a pair of points in the weekend series versus Alaska Fairbanks. Sciba had an assist in the 3-2 win and then followed it with his third goal of the year in the 3-2 loss on Nov. 27.
RANK-IN-FILE:
Freshman right wing Evan Rankin continues to show a nose for the net in his rookie season. The Portage, Mich., native returned to the lineup after missing two games (U.S. Under-18 Team and UAF) with a hip injury to score his fourth goal of the season (first on the power play) in the 3-2 loss to the Nanooks on Nov. 27. Rankin is tied with Wes O’Neill for the team lead in goals with four. He has a four-game point-scoring streak with three goals and two assists for five points. He leads Irish freshmen in scoring with four goals and two assists for six points in 11 games this season.
COMING AROUND:
Notre Dame’s penalty-killing unit led the CCHA and was fourth in the nation in 2003-04, killing penalties at an 87.4% success rate. Through the first nine games this season, the Irish were 57-of-71 (80.3% efficiency). Over the last four games, the Irish have killed 24 of the last 26 opponent power-play chances for a 92.3% success rate. Notre Dame killed 15-of-16 Alaska Fairbanks chances in the weekend series.
WES FOR THE DEFENSE:
Sophomore defenseman Wes O’Neill has become Notre Dame’s offensive and defensive leader this season. Through 13 games, O’Neill is tied for the team lead in goals (4), leads the team in assists (6), points (10), power-play goals (3) and is fourth in shots on goal (28).
FORMER IRISH GREAT GREG MEREDITH TO RECEIVE NCAA HONOR:
Former Notre Dame hockey All-American, Greg Meredith (1976-80) is one of six NCAA Silver Anniversary Award recipients the NCAA has announced. The Silver Anniversary Award recognizes former student-athletes who have distinguished themselves since completing their college careers 25 years ago. The recipients will be honored on Jan. 9, 2005 during the NCAA convention in Dallas. Meredith is Notre Dame’s all-time leading goal scorer with 104 goals in 149 career games. He is also tops in power-play goals (43) and seventh in all-time points with 192 for his career. He is just one of two players ever to score 40 goals in a season (1979-80) at Notre Dame, the season he was named All-American. A four-year letterwinner with the Irish, Meredith was a finalist for a Rhodes Scholarship and was an NCAA postgraduate scholarship recipient. He is currently the managing director for Putnam Lovell NBF Securities Inc., and has held positions with Salomon Brothers, Inc., Nationsbanc Capital Markets, Inc., and Fenway Partners, Inc. From 2001 to 2003, he served as president and chief executive officer at HSBC Capital and was also president and CEO of Printvision, a software company from 2002-03. In addition, Meredith is the founder and president of Proctor Capital, a private investment and strategic advisory firm. He played four years in the NHL for the Calgary Flames and was an assistant coach at Harvard. Meredith currently coaches the St. David’s hockey program for boys and girls between 9 and 11 years of age. He formed the Meredith Family Foundation in 1997, which contributes to programs such as the LOGAN Center, which provides services to individuals with intellectual disabilities, the St. Joseph’s County Special Olympics, and Camp Millhouse, a summer camp for children with significant intellectual disabilities. In addition, the organization funds educational initiatives including the Paul E. Meredith scholarships at Notre Dame. Meredith becomes the 10th former Irish athlete to receive the award that was started in 1973.
FIT TO BE TIED:
The Nov. 12 tie with Western Michigan (2-2) is the fourth tie of the season for Notre Dame. Since the 1999-2000 season, Notre Dame has been involved in 45 overtime games. In those games, the Irish are 6-5-34. During the 2003-04 season, Notre Dame had a total of eight overtime contests, going 1-3-4 in those games. The lone overtime win came in game three of the first round of the CCHA playoffs versus Western Michigan. The Irish have not won a regular-season overtime game since Jan. 25, 2002 at Miami, a span of 16 regular-season overtime games (0-2-14).
ALL TIED UP:
The most ties the Irish have ever had in a season is eight and that came during the 1999-2000 campaign. The most overtime games the Irish have participated in is 11 and that came during the 1993-94 season. Notre Dame was 2-4-5 in those games.
GOAL-SCORING STRUGGLES:
The Irish have been held to just 25 goals in the first 13 games of the season (1.92 goals per game average). Notre Dame is showing signs of snapping out of the scoring slump that has plagued them all season as they have scored 14 goals in the last five games (2.80 per game). Notre Dame has scored four power-play goals in the last three games and scored two goals in the third period in two of the last four contests. On the year, the Irish have been out scored by a 16-6 margin in the final period of play.
THE PUCK STOPS HERE:
Notre Dame senior goaltender Morgan Cey (Wilkie, Sask.) was named the CCHA’s goaltender of the week and USCHO.com’s defensive player of the week for the week ending Oct. 24th. Cey recorded a career-high 50 saves in downing the top-ranked Boston College Eagles, 3-2, at the Joyce Center on Oct. 22. Twenty-eight of his saves came on 11 BC power-play chances. The 6-3, 177-pound goaltender made 20 saves in the first period, 10 in the second and 20 in the third period. He has gone 1-1-2 in his last four games since his outstanding performance versus Boston College. For the year, Cey is 2-3-3 with a 2.44 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage. Of the 20 goals he’s given up this year, 10 have been on the power play.
SEN-CEY-TIONAL:
Morgan Cey’s 50-save performance versus Boston College was the first 50-save game for a Notre Dame goaltender since Lance Madson (’86-’90) turned in 57 saves in a 6-3 loss to Air Force on Nov. 12, 1988. Cey, now has 37 wins him his career to rank fifth on Notre Dame’s all-time wins list.
DOING IT THE HARD WAY:
Sophomore right wing T.J. Jindra picked up the third short-handed goal of his Notre Dame career versus Boston College. The goal was the third game winner of his career. He notched his second goal of the season on Nov. 13 at Western Michigan. That goal was also the game winner. In 52 career games, Jindra now has scored six goals with three of them coming a man down. He also has four game winners in his career with two of them coming short-handed.
BEATING THE BEST:
For the second year in a row, Notre Dame faced the Boston College Eagles when the Eagles were the top-ranked team in the nation. For the second year in a row, the Irish sent the Eagles home with a loss as they prevailed on Oct. 22 by a 3-2 score. The last time the Irish had defeated a top-ranked team at the Joyce Center was Jan. 13, 1978 when they upset Denver, 5-3. A year ago, in Boston, the Irish downed the top-ranked Eagles, 1-0. In the 37-year history of the program, Notre Dame owns eight wins over top-ranked teams. The list:
10/22/04 – vs. Boston College, 3-2
10/23/03 – at Boston College, 1-0
1/3/99 – at North Dakota, 4-3
11/20/78 – at Minnesota, 3-2
1/13/78 – vs. Denver, 5-3
1/18/74 – vs. Michigan Tech, 7-1
2/24/73 – vs. Wisconsin, 4-3
2/23/73 – vs. Wisconsin, 8-5
BLUE-LINE SCORING:
Sophomore defenseman Wes O’Neill leads the Irish in scoring after 13 games with four goals and six assists on the season. He is followed on the blue line by sophomore Noah Babin who has a two goals and an two assists for four points. Freshman Brock Sheahan has three assists while junior Chris Trick (Troy, Mich.) has two helpers. Freshman Dan VeNard has one assist for the Irish defensive corps. Through 13 games, the Irish defense has accounted for six of Notre Dame’s 25 goals (24.0%) and 20 of Notre Dame’s 67 points (29.9%).
SHOT MARGINS:
The Irish have out shot teams in just three of their first 13 games this season and are 0-0-3 in those games. Notre Dame out shot Bowling Green by a 38-30 margin last night (Nov. 12). On Nov. 5, the Irish out shot Bowling Green, 54-23 and on Oct. 29, Notre Dame out shot Northern Michigan by a 30-27 margin.
TOUGH PLACE TO WIN:
Notre Dame’s win at Western Michigan on Nov. 13th was just the fourth for the Irish at Lawson Arena since returning to the CCHA in 1992-93. Notre Dame is now 4-16-3 at Lawson since that season. Overall, the Irish are 7-19-4 in the all-time series versus the Broncos in Kalamazoo, Mich.
HOMECOMING HERO:
Notre Dame freshman right wing Evan Rankin (Portage, Mich.) made the most of his return to Kalamazoo, Mich., on Friday night. The Portage, Mich., native returned to Lawson Arena where he first learned to skate and scored the game-tying goal in the third period of the 2-2 tie. He then assisted on Notre Dame’s first goal in the 3-2 win on Saturday. For the year, Rankin leads all Irish freshmen in scoring with four goals and two assists for six points.
CAREER BESTS:
Junior left wing Mike Walsh had the first three-point game and the first three-assist game of his career in the 4-4 tie with Bowling Green. Defenseman Wes O’Neill recorded the first two-goal game of his career versus the Falcons. Freshman right wing Evan Rankin recorded the first multiple-point game of his career as he scored a goal and added an assist versus Bowling Green. Cory McLean equalled his career-high with three points versus the Falcons as he scored once and added two assists in the contest.
BLASTING THE BISCUIT:
The Irish fired 54 shots at Bowling Green goaltender Jordan Sigalet on Nov. 5, including 29 in the second period. The last time the Irish had more than 54 shots on goal came on Oct. 17, 2003 when they fired 59 at – you guessed it – Jordan Sigalet of Bowling Green. He made 56 saves that night in a 5-3 Falcon win.
IRON MAN:
Sophomore right wing Tim Wallace (Anchorage, Alaska) has now played in all 92 games in his first two-plus seasons at Notre Dame. The Irish record for consecutive games played belongs to former defenseman Evan Nielsen (’03) who played in 114 consecutive games between his sophomore and senior seasons. Nielsen missed just two games in his career, playing in 156 of 158 games. Wallace played in all 40 games as a freshman and all 39 Irish games in 2003-04. The big left wing has a two goals and five assists for seven points in the first 13 games of 2004-05.
BISCUIT BARRAGE:
The 52 shots that Boston College fired at Morgan Cey on Oct. 22 was the most shots on goal the Irish have faced since Jan. 23, 2001 when Michigan fired 51 on the Notre Dame goal in a 9-0 Wolverine win.
THREE-GOAL LEADS:
Notre Dame led Bowling Green by a 3-0 score before giving up four goals to trail, 4-3, before Wes O’Neill’s heroics with three seconds left. The last time the Irish surrendered a three-goal lead was on Nov. 6, 1998. The Irish led Boston College, 5-2 after two periods before settling for a 5-5 tie.
GOLD-MEDAL IRISH:
Two former Notre Dame hockey players helped the United States win the gold medal in the recent Deutschland Cup tournament held in Hannover, Germany. Forward Yan Stastny, currently playing for the Nurnberg Ice Tigers in Germany, collected a goal and an assist in the four games. Defenseman Mark Eaton, currently a member of the Nashville Predators, scored a power-play goal in the gold medal game vrsus Slovakia. The U.S. defeated Germany, 5-1, lost to Canada, 5-3, defeated Switzerland, 4-2 and then shutout Slovakia, 4-0, to finish 3-1 in the tournament. The U.S. ended tied with Canada with 3-1 records, but received the gold medal due to greater goal differential over the four games.
INCOMING IRISH:
Notre Dame head coach Dave Poulin has announced the signing of seven players to national letters-of-intent. Four of the seven signees – Eric Condra, Christian Hanson, Jordan Pearce and Jamie Silverson – will join Notre Dame in the fall of 2005 while the other three- Kevin Deeth, Kyle Lawson and Ryan Thang – will defer their signing to 2006.
CENTRAL SCOUTING RANKINGS:
The National Hockey League’s Central Scouting has announced its preliminary rankings for the June, 2005 Entry Draft. Irish freshman right wing Evan Rankin was one of 10 CCHA players ranked and one of 35 collegiate players recognized. He was ranked 13th overall. Three incoming players were also ranked. Christian Hanson received an A-rating (possible 1st through 4th round draft choice) while goaltender Jordan Pearce was the only USHL goaltender to receive an A-rating. Defenseman Kyle Lawson of the U.S. Under-18 Team was given a B-rating (late round draft choice).
FRESHMAN FIRSTS:
Freshman left wing Mark Van Guilder (Roseville, Minn.) collected his first collegiate goal on Nov. 4 at Bowling Green. He became the second Irish freshman to get his first goal, following Evan Rankin who scored the first goal of his Notre Dame career with a second-period goal versus Boston College (Oct.22). Defenseman Brock Sheahan collected his first career point in Notre Dame’s season opener versus Minnesota-Duluth and fellow defenseman Dan VeNard got his first career point on Nov. 12 at Western Michigan.
FIRST TIMER:
Noah Babin (So., Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) scored his first career goal for the Irish in the 1-1 tie with Northern Michigan. The sophomore defenseman has played in 41 career games for Notre Dame. He got his second career goal in the 2-2 with Western Michigan on Nov. 12. He is the first Notre Dame hockey player from the state of Florida.
THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME:
Notre Dame’s loss to Minnesota-Duluth on Oct. 8 snapped a 15-game (12-0-3) regular-season home unbeaten at the Joyce Center. The last time the Irish had lost a regular-season home game at the Joyce Center was on Oct. 17, 2003 versus Bowling Green. Notre Dame was 14-2-2 (.833) at the Joyce Center last season. This year, the Irish are 1-2-3 at home and 15-4-5 (.729) in their last 24 home games. The 2003-04 home record of 14-2-2 was the best for the Irish since 1987-88 when that year’s Irish squad was 18-2-0 on home ice.
CAPTAINS:
Senior Cory McLean (Fargo, N.D.) will serve as Notre Dame’s team captain this season. The team’s two alternate captains will be junior Mike Walsh (Northville, Mich.) and sophomore Jason Paige (Saginaw, Mich.). Paige is just the second sophomore in Dave Poulin’s 10 seasons at Notre Dame to be selected as an alternate captain. The first was Steve Noble (’98) who was selected an alternate for the 1995-96 season. He went on to serve as captain in 1996-97 and 1997-98.
SHUTOUT STREAKS:
Notre Dame goaltenders David Brown and Morgan Cey each turned in career-best shutout streaks during the 2003-04 season. Brown set a Notre Dame record with his streak of 193:27, set between Oct. 17 and Nov. 8. In his streak, Brown shutout Bowling Green (10/18), Boston College (10/24) and Nebraska-Omaha (10/31) over three consecutive starts. Cey set his mark of 158:53 between Dec. 29 and Jan. 9. Included in his back-to-back shutouts were 1-0 blankings of Maine (12/28) and Findlay (1/3). Cey previously held the Irish record with a run of 149:17 and set in the 2003 CCHA playoffs.
FAMILY MATTERS:
Two Irish junior hockey players – Rory Walsh and Mike Walsh – have fathers who played sports at Notre Dame while attending the University during the 1970’s. Rory Walsh’s father, Brian (’77), was an all-American hockey player for the Irish. A center iceman, the elder Walsh is Notre Dame’s all-time leading scorer after recording 234 career points on 89 goals and 145 assists. Mike Walsh’s father, Max (’74), was an offensive lineman on the Notre Dame football team and a member of the 1973 national championship team. Rory Walsh is one of Notre Dame’s goaltenders and Walsh plays left wing for the Irish.
NHL DRAFTEES:
In June of 2004, the Irish had three players selected in the NHL Entry Draft. Freshman right wing Victor Oreskovich (Oakville, Ont.) was a second-round selection, 55th overall by the Colorado Avalanche. Sophomore defenseman Wes O’Neill was chosen in the fourth round, 115th overall by the New York Islanders. Sophomore goaltender David Brown was selected in the eighth round, 228th overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins. Those three join junior Mike Walsh as Notre Dame players selected by in the draft. Walsh was picked in the fifth round of the 2002 draft by the New York Rangers.
OH CANADA:
Sophomore defenseman Wes O’Neill was one of 44 players invited to Canada’s National Junior Team Development Camp that was held in Calgary, Alberta from August 12-19. O’Neill is the lone collegiate player invited to the camp in hopes of being selected to Canada’s World Junior team this December. The 6-4, 217-pound blueliner was a member of Canada’s Under-18 team last April at the Under-18 World Championships in Belarus. He also played for Team Ontario at the Under-17 World Championships in February of 2003. As a freshman at Notre Dame, O’Neill played in all 39 games with two goals and 10 assists for 12 points. His +7 plus/minus rating was tops among Irish defensemen.
FOUR OF FIVE:
Notre Dame has advanced to Joe Louis Arena and the CCHA finals in four of the last five seasons (2000, 2002, 2003, 2004). Only two other CCHA teams – Michigan and Michigan State – have been there all four years since the 1999-2000 campaign. The Irish also are one of five teams, joining Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State and Northern Michigan, to make it to the CCHA Super Six in each of the last three seasons.
NCAA ACTION:
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish hockey team had a season to remember in 2003-04. The Irish advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in the program’s 36-year history with a 20-15-4 overall record. In their first trip to the tournament, the Irish dropped a 5-2 decision to two-time NCAA defending champion Minnesota in the Grand Rapids Regional.
FROZEN TUNDRA:
Notre Dame has had a steady flow of players in recent years that played their junior hockey with the Green Bay Gamblers of the United State’s Hockey League. Six members of the current Notre Dame team have played in the Land of Lombardi. Senior defenseman Joe Zurenko (Palatine, Ill.) played there during the ’00-’01 season and sophomore blueliners Noah Babin (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) and Wes O’Neill were teammates there in ’02-’03. Second-year assistant coach Layne LeBel also spent two seasons (’01-’03) with the Gamblers. Joining the Irish this season is right wing Victor Oreskovich and defenseman Dan VeNard (Vernon Hills, Ill). In 58 games with the Gamblers, Oreskovich had 11 goals and 26 assists for 37 points and played in the league’s Top Prospects all-star game. VeNard spent three seasons in Green Bay. His 2003-04 campaign was cut short by injuries as he had two goals and two assists for four points in 22 games. During the 2004-05 season, the Irish will play a game in Green Bay as they will face Michigan Tech on Tuesday, Jan. 18 at the Resch Center.
STORM WARNINGS:
Three members of the Notre Dame freshman class saw action with the USHL’s Tri-City Storm during the ’03-’04 season. Defensemen Brian D’Arcy (Western Springs, Ill.) and Luke Lucyk (Fox Point, Wis.) were members of the Storm’s highly ranked defense. Forward Mark Van Guilder (Roseville, Minn.) was a key contributor to the USHL’s regular-season champions. Van Guilder was fifth on the team in scoring with 17 goals and 22 assists for 39 points in 60 games. In 11 playoff games, Van Guilder added three goals and two assists for five points. D’Arcy saw his season cut short due to injuries, playing in 32 games with no goals and two assists to go with 36 penalty minutes. Lucyk was a regular on the defense with a goal and nine assists for 10 points in 60 games.
THE IRISH AND THE U.S. DEVELOPMENTAL PROGRAM:
Notre Dame’s current roster includes four players who have past experience with USA Hockey, as members of the National Team Development Program (NTDP). Since the program began, the Irish have had a total of 13 NTDP alums grace their roster. The current contingent includes junior Tim Wallace and sophomores Noah Babin, Michael Bartlett (Morton Grove, Ill.) and Josh Sciba (Westland, Mich.). Other former NTDP players who played at Notre Dame and their years in the national program include: Brett Henning (1997-98), Michael Chin (1997-98), Connor Dunlop (1997-99), Paul Harris (1997-99), John Wroblewski (1997-99), Neil Komadoski (1998-2000), Brett Lebda (1998-2000), Rob Globke (1998-2000) and Derek Smith (2000-01).
INTERNATIONAL LEADER:
Notre Dame assistant coach, Andy Slaggert, served as the head coach of the U.S. Under-17 Select Team that finished second at the Five Nation’s Tournament from Aug. 24-28 in Halle, Germany. The U.S. Team’s lone loss came to the Czech Republic (the eventual winners). This was Slaggert’s second international appearance with USA Hockey as he served as assistant coach on the 2003 gold-medal winning team at the World Under-18 Select Tournament held in the Czech Republic. The 12-year assistant at Notre Dame has been involved in coaching with USA Hockey since the 1996-97 season.