Nov. 24, 2010
Notre Dame, Ind. –
Complete Release in PDF Format
– Date/Site/Time: Fri.-Sat., Nov. 26-27, 2010 – 7:37/7:07 (CT) – Engelstad Arena (11.634) – Grand Forks, N.D.
– The Teams: #11/#11 Notre Dame (9-3-1/7-2-1-1) vs. #10/#9 North Dakota (8-5-1/7-3-0)
– Broadcast Information: Radio: Notre Dame hockey can be heard live on Cat Country 99.9 FM in South Bend. Darin Pritchett, the voice of the Irish will call the action with the pregame show beginning 20 minutes before the opening face off. Television: Both games of the series will be carried by Fox College Sports (available on Comcast sports tier – check local listings). Friday night’s game will be available on DirecTv Channel 623. Friday’s game also will be rebroadcast on the NHL Network at 3:00 p.m. on Sat., Nov. 27.
– Internet Broadcast: Audio: Both games of the Notre Dame-North Dakota series will have live audio streaming at the Notre Dame website – und.com. Video: Both games will have video streaming available at the North Dakota website – www.fightingsioux.com/liveEvents. Statistics: Gametracker will be available at the North Dakota website – www.fightingsioux.com.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Following a brief, two-game, homestand, the Notre Dame hockey team takes to the road for four consecutive games, starting with a trip to Grand Forks, N.D., on Nov. 26-27. The Irish will face the North Dakota Fighting Sioux for a pair of games with Friday’s game starting at 7:37 p.m. (CT) and Saturday’s contest beginning at 7:07 p.m. (CT). Notre Dame is coming off a weekend sweep of Michigan State at the Joyce Center as the Irish took 6-2 and 4-2 decisions from the Spartans on Nov. 19-20. The two wins improved Notre Dame to 9-3-1 overall and 7-2-1-1 in the CCHA, good for 23 points in league play and first place in the standings. The Irish are one point ahead of second-place Michigan and two ahead of third-place Miami. Only the RedHawks are playing in the CCHA this weekend as they visit Western Michigan this weekend. North Dakota comes into the weekend with an 8-5-1 overall record and a 7-3-0 mark in the WCHA. The Fighting Sioux are currently in third place in the WCHA with 14 points, just three points behind first-place Minnesota-Duluth. Following this weekend’s games, the Irish will travel to Oxford, Ohio to face #5/#5 Miami on Dec. 3-4.
IRISH VERSUS FIGHTING SIOUX: Notre Dame and North Dakota have met 33 times in the all-time series with the Irish holding a 16-15-2 edge in those games. At Grand Forks, North Dakota has a 9-7-0 edge in 16 games. This weekend’s series will mark the first time the Irish have played at Ralph Engelstad Arena. The last time that Notre Dame traveled to North Dakota was Jan. 2-3, 1999 where the Irish faced the No. 1 team in the nation at the time. The Fighting Sioux won the series opener, 8-1, only to see Notre Dame bounce back for a 4-3 win the following night. The last meeting between the two teams came on Jan. 3, 2010 in the championship game of the Shillelagh Tournament at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Ill. The teams played 65 minutes, getting a 3-3 tie with the Irish then winning the shootout, 2-1, to decide the champion. The first 30 meetings between the two schools came when both programs were members of the WCHA from 1970-81.
CCHA HONORS: Three members of the Notre Dame roster were selected as players of the week by the CCHA for their play in the series sweep of Michigan State. Senior center Ben Ryan (Brighton, Mich.) was named the conference’s offensive player of the week; senior defenseman Joe Lavin (Shrewsbury, Mass.) was the defensive player of the week and freshman right wing Mike Voran (Livonia, Mich.) took CCHA rookie of the week honors. Ryan had a goal and four assists for five points and was +4 in the two games. Lavin had a goal (shg) and two assists for three points, was +4 and had six blocked shots while Voran had a goal and three assists for four points and was +2 in the series.
LAST MEETING: Notre Dame met sixth-ranked North Dakota in the championship game of the Shillelagh Tournament on Jan. 3, 2010 at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Ill. The Irish rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the second period to pull out a 3-3 tie. After a five-minute overtime period, the game went to a shootout to decide the winner with the Irish winning, 2-1, in five rounds. Ben Ryan opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 3:59 of the first period for a 1-0 Notre Dame lead. Chris VandeVelde tied the game at 16:54 and the first period ended tied, 1-1. The Fighting Sioux got a power-play goal from Brett Hextall (2:15) and an even-strength goal at 8:47 from Brett Bruneteau to build a 3-1 advantage. The Irish cut the lead to one goal when Kevin Deeth scored at 12:22 to make it 3-2 after two periods. In the final stanza, Billy Maday drilled a shot past goaltender Brad Eidsness just 1:36 into the third period to tie the game, 3-3. The score remained that way through regulation and overtime. Mike Johnson finished with 25 saves while Eidsness had 29 as Notre Dame out shot North Dakota, 32-28. In the shootout, the Sioux scored first when Evan Trupp beat Johnson for the lone North Dakota goal. Trailing 1-0, Dan Kissel scored to tie it 1-1 and then Ryan won the game when he beat Eidsness on Notre Dame’s fifth shootout shot of the game.
THE RANKINGS: For the fourth consecutive week, Notre Dame is ranked 11th in both the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine poll and the USCHO.com poll. North Dakota is ranked 10th in the USA Today poll and is 9th in the USCHO.com rankings.
TOUGH SCHEDULE: Notre Dame is currently in the toughest part of its schedule as the Irish play their third consecutive ranked opponent. Starting on Nov. 12-13 the Irish faced #9/#8 Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich. Last weekend, the Irish played host to rv/#17 Michigan State at the Joyce Center. This weekend, Notre Dame travels to Grand Forks, N.D., to face #10/#9 North Dakota and next weekend, Dec. 3-4, the Irish are at #5/#5 Miami. In the first four games of the eight-game run, Notre Dame is 3-1-0.
CORNERING THE MARKET: For the third consecutive week, a Notre Dame freshman has been named the CCHA rookie of the week. This past Monday, right wing Mike Voran took the honors after getting a goal and three assists for four points while being +2 in the wins over Michigan State. The previous two weeks, the honor went to freshman center T.J. Tynan (Orland Park, Ill.) who had two goals and two assists versus Bowling Green (Nov.5-6) and a goal and two assists at Michigan (Nov. 12-13). The Irish also have a fourth rookie of the week as Anders Lee (Edina, Minn.) took the honor the first week of the season with three goals and one assist at the Warrior IceBreaker Tournament in St. Louis, Mo.
MICHIGAN STATE RECAP: Friday, Nov. 19 – Notre Dame scored five times in the second period to snap a 0-0 tie on the way to a 6-2 win over Michigan State at the Joyce Center. Joe Lavin, Calle Ridderwall (Sr., Stockholm, Sweden), Jeff Costello (Fr., Milwaukee, Wis.), T.J. Tynan, Mike Voran and Anders Lee lit the lamp for the Irish in the win. Senior center Ben Ryan led all scorers with three assists in the game. Derek Grant and Greg Wolfe scored for the Spartans. Lavin got the scoring started at 2:47 of the first period, scoring his second short-handed goal of the season. Ridderwall made it a 2-0 game at 5:53 only to see Grant score for Michigan State seven seconds later at 6:00. Costello notched the eventual game winner at 10:15 for the Irish. Wolfe cut the lead to 3-2 at 14:36 only to see Tynan score on the power play and Voran to add an insurance goal in the final three minutes of the period. Lee closed the scoring at 6:18 of the third period for the 6-2 final. Notre Dame out shot Michigan State, 31-19, on the night. Mike Johnson (Sr., Verona, Wis.) made 17 saves in the win. Drew Palmisano played the first 40 minutes for the Spartans, making 13 saves while giving up five goals. Freshman Will Yanakeff played the final 20 minutes, giving up a goal with 12 saves.
Saturday, Nov. 20 – Junior defenseman Sean Lorenz (Littleton, Colo.) scored a short-handed goal with 2:23 left in the game and T.J. Tynan added a second short-handed goal with 25 seconds left to give Notre Dame a 4-2 win over Michigan State in game two of the series. The short-handed goals came as the Irish were forced to kill off two major penalties in the final eight minutes of the game. Ben Ryan and Jeff Costello scored the first two goals of the game for Notre Dame off-setting a goal by Dean Chelios for the Spartans. With the Irish on the power play, a scrum developed near the Michigan State goal where Ben Ryan was called for a five-minute major for grabbing the facemask at 11:58. During that major, Torey Krug scored on the power-play at 15:35. While the power-play continued, Calle Ridderwall was called for a major for boarding at 16:23. The Irish killed off the remainder of Ryan’s penalty and, down a man, Ryan and Ryan Guentzel (Woodbury, Minn.) carried the play to the Spartans’ zone. Guentzel found Lorenz coming late and the junior defenseman drilled a wrist shot past goaltender Will Yanakeff to make it 3-2. Michigan State pulled Yanakeff in the final minute and Tynan scored into the empty net for a 4-2 win. Notre Dame out shot the Spartans, 23-20, on the night. Mike Johnson finished with 18 saves for the Irish while Yanakeff had 20 in the Michigan State goal.
HOME WINNING STREAK: Notre Dame’s sweep of Michigan State gives the Irish six straight wins at home this season and an eight-game home winning streak dating back to Jan. 30 of last season. The last time that the Irish lost at home was on Jan. 29, 2010, a 5-3 loss to Nebraska-Omaha. The eight-game home win streak is the longest for Notre Dame since the Irish won eight in a row at home between Oct. 12, 2006 and Dec. 31, 2006.
GOT THEIR NUMBER: From 1992-93 through the 2007-08 season, Notre Dame struggled when it came to facing Michigan State. In that time span, the Irish were just 5-32-7 versus the Spartans. Since March 29, 2008, a span of 10 games, Notre Dame is 7-0-3 against Michigan State, including a 5-0-1 mark at the Joyce Center.
PENALTY SHOTS: Senior center Ben Ryan was awarded a penalty shot just 22 seconds into the Nov. 20 game with Michigan State and was stopped by goaltender Will Yanakeff. It was the first penalty shot by a Notre Dame player since Jan. 31, 2009 when Ryan Thang `10, scored in a 3-2 win at Michigan. It was the fourth for the Irish since the 2001-02 season. They are 2-for-4 in that span. The last time the opposition had a penalty shot against teh Irish came on Dec. 4, 2009 when Miami’s Carter Camper was stopped by Mike Johnson.
DOING IT SHORT-HANDED: With three short-handed goals in the series versus Michigan State – Joe Lavin, Sean Lorenz and T.J. Tynan – Notre Dame now has six short-handed goals on the season and is tied with Niagara for the most in the nation. Lavin leads the team with two while Bryan Rust (Fr., Novi, Mich.) and Billy Maday (Jr., Burr Ridge, Ill.) also have scored down a man. On the other hand, Notre Dame has given up just six power-play goals on the year. For the season, the Irish are 53-for-59 killing penalties for an 89.8% success rate. Lavin is tied for the lead in the CCHA in short-handed goals and leads the conference in short-handed points with two goals and two assists for four points.
BEST OFâ⒬ˆTHEâ⒬ˆBEST: Over the past four seasons, the Notre Dame hockey program ranks among the top five programs in the country. Since the start of the 2006-07 season, the Irish have won 112 games and have a .679 winning percentage. The Irish are third in that time period in wins, trailing Michigan (122) and Miamiâ⒬ˆ(117). Notre Dame’s .679 winning percentage is also third behind Miami (.694) and Michigan (.688). Here are the top five teams by wins and winning percentage since 2006-07.
WINS WINNINGââ'¬Ë†.PCTMichigan (122) Miami (.694)Miami (117) Michigan (.688)Notre Dame (112) Notre Dame (.679)North Dakota (109) Boston College (.664)Boston College (109) North Dakota (.640)
CAREER YEAR: Senior right wing Ryan Guentzel is tied for the team lead in scoring after 13 games as he has one goal and 15 assists for 16 points on the year. The assist and points totals are career highs for Guentzel who had a seven-game point streak (1g, 9a) snapped at Michigan on Nov. 13. Guentzel scored his only goal of the season on Nov. 6 versus Bowling Green. The goal was Guentzel’s first since March 13, 2009 when he scored in a CCHA playoff game versus Nebraska-Omaha and snapped a 47-game, goal- less streak. Guentzel is coming off a junior year that saw him score just six points, all assists, in 36 games for the Irish. His previous best season was 2008-09 when he had four goals and seven assists for 11 points. He is currently tied for fourth in the CCHA in scoring with 16 points and his 15 assists are third in the conference.
ANOTHER MILESTONE: Notre Dame’s Oct. 30, 3-2 win over Western Michigan was the 200th CCHA win for Irish coach Jeff Jackson. Now in his 12th season at the Division I level, Jackson is 203-82-45 in his career in CCHA play in six seasons at Lake Superior State (1990-96) and six seasons at Notre Dame. Earlier in October (Oct. 14 vs. Lake Superior State), Jackson won his 300th career game as a Division I coach. His all-time record stands at 307-120-48 for a .697 winning percentage. His winning percentage is the tops among active coaches with 10 or more seasons.
FAST FRESHMEN: Freshmen T.J. Tynan and Anders Lee come into the Thanksgiving weekend ranked 1-2 among rookies in the CCHA in scoring. Tynan has seven goals and nine assists for 16 points while Lee has nine goals and three assists for 12 points. Lee’s nine goals are tops among CCHA freshmen. Fellow freshmen Mike Voran (2g, 6a, 8 pts) is tied for seventh among freshmen and defenseman Kevin Lind (1g, 5a) are tied for 10th with six points each. Lind’s six points rank him fourth among CCHA rookie defensemen. Tynan is tied for fourth overall in scoring in the league and his seven goals tie him for fifth among CCHA goal scorers. Lee’s nine goals are third overall
LATE ADDITIONS: Center T.J. Tynan’s fast start (7g, 9a) in the first 13 games has been a key to the 9-3-1 start for the Irish. The 5-8, 156-pound center has moved in to become one of the team’s quarterbacks on the power play. The Orland Park, Ill., native wasn’t even supposed to be on this year’s team. Even though he signed a national letter-of-intent in Nov. of 2009, Tynan was going to defer and play another year with the Des Moines Buccaneers in the USHL where he was the Bucs’ leading scorer in `09-’10 and a member of the USHL’s all-rookie team. When Kyle Palmieri decided to sign with the Anaheim Ducks in early August, the call went out to Tynan and he joined the Irish roster. Freshman defenseman Kevin Lind (Homer Glen, Ill.) also signed a letter-of-intent in Nov. of `09 and was going to be playing this season with Tri-Cities in the USHL. He was asked to join the team in mid-August after Jarred Tinordi opted to play in the OHL. The 6-3, 221-pound Lind has played in all 11 games and tops the defensemen in scoring with six points (one goal, five assists), and is second in plus-minus with a +8.
SHOOTING THE PUCK: Through the first 13 games of the season, Notre Dame has out shot the opposition 11 times with one other being tied. For the year, the Irish have 412 shots on goal for a 31.7 shots per game average. Opponents have 328 shots on goal for a 25.2 shots per game average. Notre Dame’s season high came on Oct. 15 when the Irish had 38 versus Lake Superior State. The most any opponent has had is 34 when Boston University did it on Oct. 10 in the championship game of the Ice Breaker Tournament.
FULLâ⒬ˆHOUSE: With sellout crowds in each of the first six home games, Notre Dame has now recorded 13 consecutive sellouts since Nov. 28, 2009. The Irish have had sell outs in 20 of the team’s last 24 home games and last year averaged 2,765 fans per game. Since Dec. 13, 2008, the Irish have recorded sellouts in 29 of their last 33 home games. A sellout at the Joyce Center is 2,713 with 2,857 capacity with standing room. Twice during the `09-’10 season – Jan. 15 vs. Michigan State and Jan. 29 against Nebraska-Omaha – 3,007 fans jammed into the Joyce Center. Prior to that number, the largest crowd to see an Irish hockey game was 3,310 on March of 1995 when Notre Dame play Illinois-Chicago. The following season, new seating was installed and capacity was reconfigured.
SHARING THE WEALTH: Through 13 games this season, the Irish are 9-3-1 on the year. In the nine wins, Notre Dame has had nine different players score the game-winning goal.
THE PUCK STOPS HERE: Sophomore goaltender Mike Johnson has now made four consecutive starts for the Irish, dating back to the start of the Michigan series (Nov. 12). In his last four starts, he is 3-1-0 with 2.53 goals-against average and a .896 save percentage. Johnson, who started the year with a 4-0-1 unbeaten streak in his first five starts is 7-2-1 on the year with a 2.30 goals against average and a .915 save percentage. As a freshman, Johnson took CCHA all-rookie team honors, playing in 29 games in `09-’10, going 10-13-5 with a 2.60 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage. Behind Johnson are a pair of freshmen – Steven Summerhays (Anchorage, Alaska) and Joe Rogers (Marysville, Mich.). Summerhays is now 2-1-0 with a 3.36 goals-against average and a .828 save percentage. He owns wins over Bowling Green and Western Michigan while his lone loss came to Boston University on Oct. 10. Summerhays joined the Irish after playing the last two seasons with the USHL’s Green Bay Gamblers. In `09-’10, Summerhays was a first team all-USHL selection and the USHL goaltender of the year after going 31-2-3 with a 2.17 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage. Joe Rogers who has yet to play this season. Rogers joins the Notre Dame roster after playing last season in the North American Hockey League (NAHL) with the Albert Lea Thunder. Rogers was 13-19-2 with a 3.97 goals-against average and a .891 save percentage.
THEâ⒬ˆSPECIALIST: Senior left wing Calle Ridderwall is second on the team in goals with seven through the first 13 games this season and tied for the team lead in power-play goals with three. He has led Notre Dame in goals in each of the last two seasons, getting 17 in 2008-09 and 19 last season in 2009-10. Over the last two-plus seasons, Ridderwall has scored 43 goals with 25 of them coming via the power play. Last season, his 11 power-play goals led the CCHA. Ridderwall had 11 power-play goals in `08-’09 to match last season’s total and has two this year. His 25 power-play goals move him into a tie for sixth on Notre Dame’s all-time power-play goal list with Aniket Dhadphale `99, Tim Kuehl `90 and Kirt Bjork `83, all of whom had 25 man-advantage goals in their careers. For his career, Ridderwall has 48 goals and 29 assists for 77 career points in 130 games.
Power-Play Goals Name (Seasons) PPG1. Greg Meredith (1976-80) 432. Dave Poulin (1978-82) 323. Mike McNeill (1984-88) 314. Lou Zadra (1988-92) 285. Ryan Thang (2006-10) 276. Calle Ridderwall (2008-) 25 Aniket Dhadphale (1995-99) 25 Tim Kuehl (1986-90) 25 Kirt Bjork (1979-83) 2510. Brian Walsh (1973-77) 24
POWER LESS: In Friday’s 3-1 win over Michigan (Nov. 12), Notre Dame did not have one power-play chance in the game. That marked the first time in seven seasons – since March 5, 2004 – a span of 258 games – that the Irish did not have a power-play opportunity in a game. In the weekend series at Michigan, the Irish did not get their first power-play on the weekend until there was 6:09 left in the third period, a span of 113:51 over the two games without a power play. In the final six minutes of Saturday’s game, the Irish did get three straight power plays.
HOMETOWN HERO: Freshman defenseman Jared Beers (Mishawaka, Ind.) has worked his way into the Notre Dame lineup and doesn’t seem to want to come out. In six games this season, Beers has four assists for four points and is +2 for the year. He picked up his first career points on Nov. 6 versus Bowling Green with a two-point night. Beers joins Mike McNeill `84-’88 (South Bend), Tommy Smith `88-89 (South Bend) and Carey Nemeth’93-’94 (Granger) as local players to play for the Irish. Beers played two seasons at Culver Academy and then saw action in the NAHL with the Kenai River Brown Bears (2008-09) and the Cedar Rapids Rough Riders in the USHL in 2009-10.
THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT: Notre Dame’s freshmen class has played a key role in the 9-3-1 start for the Irish. In the series versus Michigan State, 10 of the 12 rookies saw action as only goaltenders Steven Summerhays (Anchorage, Alaska) and Joe Rogers (Marysville, Mich.) did not play. The freshmen had 11 points (6g, 5a) in the series versus the Wolverines. In the first 13 games of this season, the freshman class has accounted for 29 of the team’s 49 goals (59.2%), 35 of the 88 assists (39.8%) and 64 of team’s 137 points this season (46.7%). Summerhays has two of the team’s nine wins in goal. For the year, only Rogers has yet to play in any games.
FAST START: Notre Dame freshman left wing Anders Lee knows how to get his career off to a fast start. The 6-3, 218-pounder scored a goal on his first shot in the 6-3 win over Holy Cross (Oct. 8), just 1:58 into the first period. He went on to record two more goals for a hat trick in his first-ever collegiate game. Lee then added an assist in the 5-4 loss to Boston University in the championship game of the Warrior Ice Breaker Tournament. For his efforts, Anders Lee was named the CCHA rookie of the week for the week ending Oct. 10. He joins John Noble `73 as the only other freshman to score three goals in his first game as Noble did the trick on Nov. 15, 1969 in an 8-3 win over Windsor. He joins recent Irish players – Billy Maday, Christiaan Minella `10 and Tim Wallace `06 – as freshmen who scored on their first shot on goal. Lee added a goal and an assist in the Oct. 15 win over Lake Superior State and through the first 11 games of the season, he leads the team with eight goals, is tied for the top spot with three power-play goals and is fourth in points with 12 (9g, 3a). He was named the CCHA rookie of the month for October.
FRESH START: Sophomore defenseman Sam Calabrese (Park Ridge, Ill.) had a freshman season that he would love to forget. The product of the USA Under-18 Team, Calabrese played in just three games, registering no points. Last Dec. 4, on the first shift of his third game, he suffered a broken leg at Miami that sidelined him for most of the season. This year, in 11 games, Calabrese has three assists with a +6 rating.
LOWE’S SENIOR CLASS AWARD: Senior left wing Calle Ridderwall is one of 20 Division I hockey players to be selected as a candidate for the 2010-11 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. The award is presented annually to an NCAA Division I student-athlete in 10 sports based on achievement’s in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition. CLASS is an acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School and the award focuses and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. This is the fifth year that Lowe’s has sponsored an award for hockey. In 2006-07, former Irish goaltender David Brown `07 won the Senior CLASS Award while in 2007-08, Mark Van Guilder `08 and in 2008-09, Jordan Pearce `09 and Erik Condra `09 were among the top 10 finalists. Team captain Ryan Thang `10 was the team’s nominee last season.
EXTRA HOCKEY: During the `09-’10 season, the Irish were involved in nine overtime contests, finishing 1-0-8 in those games. The eight ties equaled a Notre Dame record set during the 1999-2000 season. All eight ties in `09-’10 went to a shootout where the Irish were 3-5 in those games. The lone overtime win came on Nov. 27, 2009 versus Bowling Green (2-1) and was the first for the Irish since Feb. 20, 2009 at Nebraska-Omaha, a 4-3 win. Through the first nine games of the 2010-11 season, the Irish have played one overtime game – on Oct. 30 at Western Michigan. That game ended in a 2-2 tie and the Irish won the overtime shootout, 1-0. Notre Dame is now 3-0-12 in overtime since its last overtime loss, a 2-1 decision to Miami on March 21, 2008, in the CCHA semifinal game.