Nov. 12, 2008
Notre Dame, Ind. –
Complete Release in PDF Format 
• The Games: #9/#9 Notre Dame (6-3-0/2-2-0-0) vs. Lake Superior State (3-3-2/3-2-1-1)
• Date/Site/Time: Fri.-Sat., Nov. 14-15, 2008 • Joyce Center (2,713) • 7:35 p.m./7:05 p.m.
• Broadcast Information: Radio: Notre Dame hockey can be heard live on Cat Country 99.9 FM in South Bend. Mike Lockert, now in his seventh season, will call all the action for the Irish.
• Internet: All Notre Dame hockey games can be heard live on the internet via the Notre Dame website at www.und.com. Both games of the Lake Superior State series will be streamed live at und.com. All Notre Dame home games and all CCHA games are available via gametracker.
WELCOME HOME: When we last saw the Notre Dame hockey team at the Joyce Center, the Irish were smarting after dropping a weekend series to Miami to fall to 2-3-0 on the year with a road series at Northern Michigan and single games at Boston College and Providence College staring them in the face. What a difference two weeks can make! In that span, the Irish swept two games at Northern Michigan and returned from their East Coast swing last weekend, having knocked off No. 2 ranked Boston College, 4-1, and Providence by an identical 4-1 score. The four-game road winning streak has improved Notre Dame to 6-3-0 overall and 2-2-0-0 in the CCHA. The Irish are currently 10th in the conference with four points, but along with Nebraska-Omaha have played the fewest games. Lake Superior State makes its second consecutive visit to the Joyce Center after playing at Notre Dame last Nov. 1-2. The Lakers are 3-2-2 overall and 3-2-1-1 in the conference, good for eight points and a tie for second place. Last weekend, Lake Superior handed Bowling Green a 2-0 loss at Taffy Abel Arena, followed by a 5-4 shootout win in the second game. Notre Dame and Lake Superior are in the same rivalry cluster this season and will meet in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., Jan. 16-17.
IRISH VERSUS LAKERS: The two teams have met 59 times in the all-time series with the Lakers holding a narrow, 23-22-4 edge in the games played. At the Joyce Center, Notre Dame is 13-8-3 against Lake Superior and has won the last six consecutive meetings between the two schools. Over the last 10 meetings, the Irish are 7-2-1 versus the Lakers and since the start of the 2001-02 campaign, they are 14-3-2. Last season, the two teams met at the Joyce Center in early November with the Irish taking 7-3 and 4-1 wins over the Lakers.
CCHA OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Senior left wing Garrett Regan (Hastings, Minn.) was selected as the CCHA offensive player of the week for the week ending Nov. 9 as he scored three goals in Notre Dame’s weekend wins over Boston College and Providence College. Versus BC, Regan got the offense off to a fast start, scoring on a breakaway to make it 1-0 at 4:40 of the first period. He followed that by scoring the first two goals of the game in the 4-1 win at Providence. His goal at 7:36 of the second period proved to be the game winner.
BOSTON COLLEGE RECAP: Jordan Pearce (Sr., Anchorage, Alaska) stopped 27-of-28 shots and Notre Dame penalty killers stopped all eight Boston College power-play chances on the way to a 4-1 win versus the second-ranked Eagles. Garrett Regan, Christian Hanson (Sr., Venetia, Pa.), Billy Maday (Fr., Burr Ridge, Ill.) and Kevin Deeth (Jr., Gig Harbor, Wash.) scored for Notre Dame in the win. Regan started the scoring at 4:40 of the first period when he scored on a breakaway chance set up by Justin White (Sr., Traverse City, Mich.) at the BC blue line. The goal was Regan’s first of the year. Brock Bradford tied the game at 1-1 at 5:41 of the second with his seventh of the season. The Irish answered right back just 1:07 later when Hanson jammed the rebound of a Brett Blatchford (Jr., Temperance, Mich.) behind John Muse for a power-play goal at 6:48. Maday gave Notre Dame a 3-1 lead at 10:04 when his shot from the slot was stopped by Muse but hit a BC defender’s skate and deflected in for his fourth of the season. Deeth closed the scoring with an empty-net, short-handed goal at 17:49 of the third for the final of 4-1. The Eagles out shot the Irish, 28-23, on the night. BC’s power-play was ranked fourth in the nation coming into the game and scoring at a 27.1% clip.
PROVIDENCE RECAP: Game two of the trip to the East Coast took the Irish to Providence, R.I., where they handed the Friars a 4-1 loss at Schneider Arena. Garrett Regan continued his hot weekend with the first two goals of the game while Calle Ridderwall (So., Stockholm, Sweden) and Ryan Thang (Jr., Edina, Minn.) added single goals in the win. Jordan Pearce stopped 26-of-27 Providence shots in the victory. After getting out shot 8-1 through the first nine minutes of the first period, Regan jump started the offense when he scored on the rebound of a shot by Justin White at 17:12 of the opening period. Regan got his second of the night and third of the weekend at 7:36 of the second period when he fired the rebound of a shot by Ryan Guentzel (So., Woodbury, Minn.) past goaltender Justin Gates to make it 2-0. Providence cut the lead to one goal at 8:47 of the second stanza on a goal by Matt Bergland but that was answered just 1:13 later at the 10:00-minute mark when Ridderwall beat the Friar defense at the blue line and scored from the high slot for his second of the year and a 3-1 Irish lead. Thang closed the scoring with an empty-net goal at 19:30 of the third period for the 4-1 final score.
ROAD WARRIORS: Notre Dame’s line of Garrett Regan, Justin White and Ryan Guentzel had its best week of the season in the games at Boston College and Providence College. The trio combined for eight points (3g, 5a) in the two wins with Regan scoring all three goals. White had three assists (1 vs. BC, 2 vs. PC) and Guentzel had an assist in each game for his two points. The line came into the game with just one point (a goal by White) through the first eight games of the season.
ROAD WARRIORS, PART II: As a team, the Irish have now won four games in a row on the road and are 4-1-0 this season away from the Joyce Center. The current four-game road streak is the first for Notre Dame since Feb. 2 – Feb. 17, 2007 when the Irish won weekend series at Bowling Green and Alaska as part of a five-game road winning streak.
STREAK SNAPPER: Garrett Regan’s first-period goal at Boston College snapped a 21-game goal-less drought for the senior from Hastings, Minn. His last goal came on Feb. 15, 2008 at Alaska. His two-goal game against Providence was the fifth multiple-goal game of his Notre Dame career.
HOME AWAY FROM HOME: Notre Dame’s 4-1 win at Boston College’s Kelley Rink on Nov. 7 was the third consecutive win for the Irish on BC’s home ice. In 2003-04, the Irish handed the then-No.1 Eagles a 1-0 loss. Two years ago (2006-07), Notre Dame downed the top-ranked Eagles, 7-1 and this year, they handed the second-ranked Eagles the 4-1 loss. In the last three wins at Kelley Rink, Notre Dame has outscored Boston College, 12-2. In the last six meetings between the two schools, the Irish are 4-1-1 against the Eagles.
DOWN A MAN: Notre Dame’s penalty-killing units turned in an outstanding weekend at Boston College and Providence, killing off all 10 power-play chances they faced. Against Boston College’s fourth-ranked power play (27.1% success rate), the Irish were 8-for-8. At Providence, they killed off both Friars’ power-play chances. Notre Dame has not given up a power-play goal since Oct. 25 versus Miami and has killed off 22 consecutive power-play chances over the last five games. For the year, the Irish have killed 49-of-53 chances for a 92.5% success rate.
THE KID’S ALRIGHT: Freshman right wing Billy Maday had a goal and an assist in the games at Boston College and Providence to run his early-season point streak to five games (2-4-6). Maday is tied for the team lead in scoring with four goals and four assists for eight points in his first nine games and ranks second in the CCHA in scoring among freshmen players.
MR. RELIABLE: Senior goaltender Jordan Pearce has been a regular in the Notre Dame goal over the last two seasons. Since Jan. 5, 2008, Pearce has appeared in 31 of the last 32 Irish games. Of those 31 games, 30 have been starts. Pearce saw his personal streak of 21 consecutive starts snapped on Oct. 18 of this season when junior Tom O’Brien (Mokena, Ill.) made his first career start versus Sacred Heart. Pearce has appeared in eight of Notre Dame’s first nine games this season and is 5-3-0 with a 2.02 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage. In his current four-game winning streak, Pearce owns a 1.50 goals-against average and a .941 save percentage.
GOING ON THE OFFENSIVE: Notre Dame’s defense has gone on the offensive during the first nine games of the 2008-09 season. Irish defensemen have scored five goals and 16 assists this year for 21 of the team’s 75 points. Sophomore Ian Cole (Ann Arbor, Mich.) is tied for the team lead in scoring with eight points on four goals and four assists. He is followed by Kyle Lawson (2g, 4a) and Brett Blatchford (0g, 6a). Freshman blueliner Sean Lorenz (Littleton, Colo.) has added one assist on the year.
ON THE SIDELINES: The Irish will be without the services of sophomore goaltender Brad Phillips (Farmington Hills, Mich.) for the entire season. Phillips injured his right knee in the preseason and will be out of action for the year. He was 4-1-0 as a freshman with a 1.53 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage.
CHILL(ING) REUNION: When sophomore Calle Ridderwall and freshman Billy Maday were put on the same line with center Kevin Deeth in the second game of the Miami series, it marked the first time that Ridderwall and Maday played on the same line at Notre Dame. The two aren’t strangers as they spent the 2005-06 season as linemates with the Chicago Chill Midget AA program, helping the Chill to a second-place finish at the USA Midget AA championships. Maday had 38 goals and 87 assists for 125 points in 74 games with the Chill while Ridderwall had 52 goals and 66 assists for 118 points that season. In five games together the duo have combined for four goals and and five assists with Maday having two goals and four assists and Ridderwall two goals and one assist for three points.
FIRST TIMERS: Notre Dame’s weekend sweep at Northern Michigan (Oct. 31-Nov. 1) marked the first time that the Irish have ever won a two-game series in Marquette, Mich., since the teams began playing during the 1981-82 season. Last weekend’s sweep coupled with a 2-1 win on Jan. 5 of last season gives Notre Dame three straight wins at Northern Michigan.
CLIMBING THE CHARTS: Erik Condra (Sr., Livonia, Mich.) is fourth on the team in scoring with two goals and five assists for seven points. That has moved him into a tie for 25th on the all-time points list with Brian Urick `99 with 127 career points. Condra now has 37 goals and 90 assists for his 127 points. He is all alone in 14th place on the all-time assists list with 90.
POWER SURGE: After going 0-for-16 on the power play in the Miami series (Oct. 24-25), Notre Dame got back on track with the extra man versus Northern Michigan (Oct. 31-Nov. 1) as the Irish were 5-for-15 (33.3%) and scored once with the goaltender pulled and a delayed penalty called on the Wildcats. This season, the Irish are 10-for-41 (24.4%) on the power play in their six victories and 0-for-24 in the three losses, going 0-for-8 in each game versus Denver and two with Miami. On the season, the Irish are 10-for-65 (15.4%) with the man advantage.
HELPING THE CAUSE: Junior defenseman Brett Blatchford had one of the best weekends of his Notre Dame career, setting up a pair of goals in each game of the Northern Michigan series. Three of the four goals were power-play tallies. For his career, Blatchford now has four multiple-point games. The two this weekend were his first since his freshman year in 2006-07. He ran his assist streak to three straight games (0-5-5) with an assist on Christian Hanson’s power-play goal versus Boston College (11/7).
SHORT STUFF: Junior center Kevin Deeth recorded the third short-handed goal of his career in the 4-1 win at Boston College. His goal, of the empty-net variety, sealed the victory and gives Notre Dame three short-handed goals in its first nine games this season. A year ago, the Irish had nine shorties in 47 games. With three short-handed goals for his career, Deeth now ranks 14th on the all-time Irish short-handed goal list.
CCHA PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Goaltender Jordan Pearce and right wing Billy Maday were selected the CCHA’s goaltender and rookie of the week for the week ending Nov. 2. Pearce recorded both wins while stopping 43-of-47 shots (.915 sv.%) and helped the Irish kill all 11 Wildcat power-play chances. Maday took rookie of the week honors as he had a goal and two assists for three points in the two wins. In Friday’s 3-2 win, he helped set up a Dan Kissel power-play goal. On Saturday night, Maday scored a power-play goal and then helped set up Calle Ridderwall’s second-period goal. Maday has three goals and three assists for six points in the first seven games this season.
TWO IN A ROW: The two consecutive losses by Notre Dame to Miami on Oct. 24-25 marked the first time that the Irish have lost two in a row at home since March 3-4, 2006 when they lost both games of their first round, CCHA playoff series to Alaska, 3-1 and 1-0. The last time that Notre Dame was swept at home in a regular-season CCHA series was Nov. 25-26, 2005 when the Irish were swept at the Joyce Center by Ohio State, 4-1 and 5-2.
FIRST TIME OUT: Junior goaltender Tom O’Brien became the first Notre Dame goaltender to record a shutout in his first career start when he blanked Sacred Heart, 7-0, making 17 saves in the Oct. 18 contest. The previous earliest shutout was held by Jordan Pearce who recorded a shutout in just his second start in 2005. David Brown `07 had his first shutout in his third game as a freshman in October of 2003.
MOVING UP THE LIST: With his 3-0 shutout of Sacred Heart on Oct. 17, Jordan Pearce recorded the fifth shutout of his career, making 18 saves against the Pioneers. The shutout moves him into third on the all-time shutout list as he trails Morgan Cey `05, who has six, and David Brown `07, who finished his career with 12. Pearce’s shutout was the first at the Joyce Center since Dec. 1, 2007 when he whitewashed Nebraska-Omaha, 5-0.
CCHA DEFENSEMAN OF THE WEEK: Notre Dame sophomore defenseman Ian Cole was named the CCHA defenseman of the week ending Oct. 19 for his play against Sacred Heart. In the two games, Cole had a goal and three assists and was +4 on the weekend while helping the Irish to a pair of shutout wins. In Friday’s 3-0 win, Cole had one assist and was +1 in the contest. In Saturday’s 7-0 blanking of the Pioneers, Cole had the second three-point game of his career with a goal and two assists while being +3 on the evening.
CLUTCH SCORER: Ryan Thang’s game-winning goal in the Oct. 18 win over Sacred Heart gives him 12 for his career and moves him into a tie for fourth on the all-time list with David Bankoske `93. He is one off the school record of 13 for his career. Three people – Rob Globke `04, Brian Urick `99 and Dave Poulin `82 – hold that mark.
FINDING THE BACK OF THE NET: Junior Christiaan Minella (Aurora, Colo.) snapped a 46-game goal-scoring drought when he deflected a Brett Blatchford shot past Sacred Heart goaltender Olivier St. Onge in the second period of the 7-0 shutout of Sacred Heart on Oct. 18. The goal was the second of Minella’s career and his first since scoring on Nov. 11, 2006 against the Bowling Green Falcons.
OPENING ACTS: Notre Dame’s season-opening loss at Denver drops the Irish to 20-19-2 all-time in season openers. In the first road game of the season, they are now 16-22-3 in 41 road openers. Following the home-opening win against Sacred Heart, Notre Dame is now 23-17-1 in home lidlifters.
LOTS OF RUBBER: Notre Dame’s 42 shots on goal against Sacred Heart on Oct. 17 were the most in a game for the Irish since a 40-shot game against Northern Michigan on March 22, 2008 in the CCHA third-place game. Notre Dame lost that contest, 2-1. Pioneer goaltender Stefan Drew’s 39-save night was the most for an opposing goaltender since Western Michigan’s Riley Gill had 42 saves on Feb. 29, 2008, a 3-0 shutout for the Broncos.
THEY HAVE OUR NUMBER: Notre Dame’s loss to the University of Denver drops the Irish to just 10-35-3 all-time against the Pioneers. Playing at DU has been a problem for the Irish as they are now 2-22-2 in the all-time series at the Mile High City. The two teams were members of the WCHA from 1971-1981. Since leaving the WCHA following the 1980-81 season, the Irish are just 1-4-1 against Denver and 1-3-0 since Jeff Jackson took over as head coach in 2005-06.
RANKINGS UPDATE: Notre Dame entered the 2008-09 season ranked fourth in both the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine and USCHO.com/CBS College Sports polls. The Irish finished the 2007-08 campaign ranked third in the USA Today poll and 12th in the USCHO.com polls. During the `07-’08 season, the Irish were ranked every week of the season for the first time in the program’s 41-year history. Going back to the 2006-07 season, Notre Dame has been ranked in both polls for 43 consecutive weeks, the longest stretch for the Irish icers. During the `06-’07 season, Notre Dame was ranked No. 1 for seven straight weeks from Feb. 5 to March 25. Prior to that, the Irish had been No. 1 just one other time, for a week during the 1976-77 season.
Week-by-week with the Irish this season:
2008-09 Irish National RankingsDate USA TODAY USCHO.com10/01 3rd ---10/06 4th 4th10/13 8th 8th10/20 8th 8th10/27 13th 13th11/3 12th 12th11/10 9th 9th
NEW KIDS: Four freshmen made their collegiate debuts for Notre Dame at Denver on Oct. 11. Forwards Billy Maday and Patrick Gaul (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and defensemen Nick Condon (Wausau, Wis.) and Sean Lorenz (Littleton, Colo.) all saw action in the game. Maday scored a goal, had two shots on net and was +1. Gaul had one minor penalty and was -1 for the night. Condon also had a minor penalty and was even while Lorenz was -1 in the game. Freshman defenseman Eric Ringel (Hinckley, Ohio) made his first career appearance on the Notre Dame blue line on Friday, Oct. 17 against Sacred Heart. The sixth member of the class, Richard Ryan (Toronto, Ont.), saw his first career action on Oct. 25 versus Miami.