Jan. 23, 2013
Notre Dame, Ind. –
Ferris State Hockey Game Notes
– The Teams: #8/#7 Notre Dame (15-9-0/11-5-0-0) vs. Ferris State (12-9-3/10-7-1-0)
– The Games: Friday, January 25, 2013 – Compton Family Ice Arena (5,022) – 7:38 p.m.
Saturday, January 26, 2013 – Compton Family Ice Arena (5,022) – 7:05 p.m.
– Broadcast Information: Radio: Notre Dame’s series versus Ferris State will be broadcast live on Real Country 99.9 FM in South Bend. Darin Pritchett, the voice of the Irish, will call the action. Television: Friday’s game versus the Bulldogs will be televised live by CBS Sports Network. Ben Holden, Dave Starman and Shireen Saski will provide play-by-play and analysis.
– Internet: Audio/Video: Live audio streaming for the Ferris State series is available on the Notre Dame website at UND.com free of charge. Live video streaming will be available for Saturday’s game on the Notre Dame website at UND.com, free of charge. Statistics: Livestats can be found at ccha.com or collegehockeyinc.com. Twitter: Follow Irish hockey on Twitter at ND_hockey.
GETTING BACK ON TRACK: The University of Notre Dame hockey team closes out its four-game home stand this weekend with a pair of games versus Ferris State at the Compton Family Ice Arena. The two teams meet at 7:38 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 25 in a game that will be televised by CBS Sports Network. Ben Holden, Dave Starman and Shireen Saski will handle the play-by-play and color commentary. Game two of the series is set for 7:05 p.m. on Sat., Jan. 26 and can be seen on the Notre Dame website at UND.com via live video streaming. After a pair of home losses to Alaska last weekend, the Irish will be looking to snap a four-game losing streak that has dropped them to 15-9-0 overall and 11-5-0-0 in the CCHA, good for 33 points and a first-place tie with Western Michigan. The conference race has turned into a four-team battle for the top as the Irish and Broncos lead third-place Miami (32) by one point and fourth-place Ferris State (31) by just two points in the standings. Notre Dame, Western Michigan and Miami have played 16 CCHA games while the Bulldogs have played 18. Notre Dame is currently ranked eighth in the nation in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll and seventh by USCHO.com. Ferris State brings a 12-9-3 overall record and a 10-7-1-0 league mark into the weekend series. The Bulldogs are coming off a pair of wins versus Michigan State last weekend and have won three in a row and five of their last six games.
IRISH VERSUS BULLDOGS: Notre Dame and Ferris State have met 73 times in the all-time series with the Bulldogs owning a 42-25-6 advantage to date. At home, the Irish trail Ferris State by a 24-13-5 margin. Last season, the two teams met four times in a pair of home-and-home series with the Bulldogs winning three of the four games. The lone Notre Dame win came at the Compton Family Ice Arena, a 4-1 victory on Dec. 10. Over the last 10 meetings, the two teams have each won five games (5-5-0).
NEXT FOR THE IRISH: Notre Dame will open February on the road as the Irish travel to Columbus, Ohio to face the Ohio State Buckeyes in a pair of 7:05 p.m. games on Feb. 2-3 at the Value City Arena. Six of Notre Dame’s eight games in February are on the road.
DEFENDING THE BLUE LINE: The Notre Dame hockey team will participate in a special online auction this week to benefit “Defending The Blue Line,” an organization that helps kids in military families stay in the game of hockey despite the significant family stresses brought about by additional training and deployment requirements. The Irish will wear specially designed jerseys that will then be available via an online auction on the Notre Dame website – UND.com with bidding open from Jan. 23 to Jan. 31. The fundraising effort is being spearheaded by Irish senior left wing Nick Larson (Apple Valley, Minn.) who got involved with Defending The Blue Line due to his father’s involvement with the organization. To date, Defending The Blue Line has helped over 5,000 military hockey families with equipment, hockey camps, special events like family NHL games, and financial assistance for fees associated with hockey. The group was recognized in 2011 by the White House in a special service hosted by Michelle Obama, and has been featured in major dailies across the nation. Brian Williams and NBC Nightly News ran a feature Defending The Blue Line in its popular program “People Making A Difference.” While the online auction is one way to contribute to this event, Notre Dame hockey will have several options available at the games versus Ferris State. Team memorobilia will be available in a silent auction that will be held each night during the Ferris State series. Fans can also just make donations to the cause online on the Irish website.
NOT A GOOD START TO 2013: The Irish are 1-5-0 to start the 2013 portion of the schedule. The current four-game losing streak is the longest for Notre Dame since a five-game streak from Feb. 4-Feb. 18 last season. After winning nine straight CCHA games from Nov. 4 through Jan. 11, the Irish have now lost four straight conference games.
ALASKA RECAP: Friday, Jan. 18 – Senior left wing Jarret Granberg scored his second goal of the night and the game winner with just three seconds left on the clock to give Alaska a 5-4 win over Notre Dame in front of a sellout crowd of 5,022 at the Compton Family Ice Arena. Granberg’s goal capped a wild shootout that saw the Irish rally from a two-goal deficit and a pair of one-goal deficits only to come up short as time ticked away in the third period. Joining Granberg, who had a three-point night, on the Nanooks side of the ledger, were Garrick Perry, Nik Yaremchuk and Andy Taranto. Junior captain Anders Lee (Edina, Minn.) led the Irish attack with a goal and two assists on the night. Austin Wuthrich (So., Anchorage, Alaska), T.J. Tynan (Jr., Orland Park, Ill.) and Mario Lucia (Fr., Plymouth, Minn.) also scored for Notre Dame. Lee got the offensive show underway with his 13th goal of the season at 5:27 of the opening period. The big center banged the rebound of a Bryan Rust (Jr., Novi, Mich.) shot past Alaska goaltender John Kenney to make it 1-0. The Irish enjoyed the lead for less than two minutes when Perry scored his first goal of the season at 7:03. Forty-five seconds later at 7:48, Alaska forged ahead with Yaremchuk picking up his third goal of the season converting another rebound, this time off the stick of Granberg to make it 2-1 after one period. Taranto made it 3-1 in favor of Alaska when his wrist shot from the high slot popped out of Steven Summerhays’ (Jr., Anchorage, Alaska) glove and trickled over the goal line. The goal was Taranto’s seventh of the season. Notre Dame answered back with Wuthrich scoring from his knees in front of the Alaska goal has he took the rebound of a Sam Calabrese (Sr., Park Ridge, Ill.) shot and flipped it behind Kenney. That cut the Nanook lead to 3-2 after two periods. The Irish tied the game for the first time on the night at 10:37 and they did it short-handed as Tynan scored on a breakaway to make it 3-3 with his seventh goal of the year. Alaska went ahead 4-3 as Granberg scored on the same power play at 11:16 for his first goal of the night with Yaremchuck and Campbell picking up the assists. Notre Dame wasn’t done though as the Irish were able to tie the game one more time with Lucia getting the equalizer at 15:58 to make it 4-4 with his sixth goal of the season. All that was left was the heartbreaking finish as Granberg pushed the rebound of a shot by Tyler Morley past Summerhays at 19:57 to give Alaska the 5-4 win. On the night, the Irish out shot Alaska by a 28-27 margin. Summerhays finished with 22 saves while Kenney had 24.
Saturday, Jan. 19 – The University of Alaska took advantage of a five-minute power play and scored the only two goals it needed in a span of 35 seconds to hand Notre Dame its fourth straight loss, a 2-1 decision on Saturday night. Nik Yaremchuk and Tyler Morley scored power-play goals for the Nanooks while Mario Lucia had the lone Irish goal in the game. After a wide-open game on Friday night, the two teams clamped down defensively as they combined for just 37 shots on the night with Notre Dame having a 20-17 advantage. Steven Summerhays finished with 15 saves in the Irish goal while John Keeney stopped 19-of-20 Irish shots. For the third straight game, Notre Dame scored first. Lucia put the Irish ahead 1-0 at 11:50 of the first when he banged the rebound of a Stephen Johns (Jr., Wampum, Pa.) slapshot past Kenney for his seventh of the season and second in as many nights. With the momentum, Notre Dame pressed the attack before Thomas DiPauli (Fr., Woodridge, Ill.) was called for a five-minute major for hitting from behind at 14:46. The Irish would kill the first 1:38 of the major when Alaska tied the game as Yaremchuk scored on a deflection at 16:24. Jarret Granberg, who assisted on both Nanook goals in the game, took a shot from the right point. Yaremchuck was just below the hash marks and deflected the shot over Summerhays for his fourth goal of the season. Just 35 seconds later at 16:59, Morley scored what proved to be the game winner when he tucked the rebound of a Granberg shot from the right side past Summerhays who had made the first save. The goal was Morley’s eighth of the season. That would be it for the scoring as neither team could muster a sustained attack the rest of the game. Alaska finished the night going 2-for-6 on the power play while Notre Dame was 0-for-4.
SCORING FIRST: A positive stat for Notre Dame during the first half of the season was the fact that when the Irish scored the first goal of the game, they were 13-0-0. Over the last three games, Notre Dame has continued to score the first goal of the game but the results have not been the same. The Irish have scored the opening goal in each of the last three games and are 0-3-0 in those contests. For the season, Notre Dame is 13-3-0 when scoring first and 2-6-0 when opponents light the lamp first.
SWEPT AWAY: The two losses at home to Alaska (Jan. 18-19) marked the first time that the Irish have been swept at the Compton Family Ice Arena since Dec. 2-3, 2011 when Northeastern took 9-2 and 2-1 wins over the Irish. The last time the Nanooks swept Notre Dame in South Bend came on March 3-4, 2006, when they won both games of a first-round playoff series against the Irish.
HUMANITARIAN AWARD: Junior goaltender Mike Johnson (Verona, Wis.) has been selected as one of 11 nominees for the BNY Mellon Wealth Management College Hockey Humanitarian Award. The award honors college hockey’s top citizen and will be presented during the Frozen Four in Pittsburgh, Pa., on April 12. Johnson has been active in all the community service projects that the Notre Dame hockey team has been involved in during his four seasons at Notre Dame. As a senior in 2012-13, he oversees the team’s community service efforts and is in his second season as one of the hockey team’s liaisons to Notre Dame’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). This past summer and through the first half of this season, he participated in the Irish Experience Camp. The camp works with disadvantaged kids, teaching them to set goals and how to work towards them. As a junior, he was a member of Life Work’s Dream Teams that visited area schools, serving as mentors to elementary school children. Throughout his career at Notre Dame, Mike has been active in the Irish Youth Hockey League (IYHL), working with local youth hockey groups, teaching and helping grow the game in the local area. He has participated in team activities like the Junior Diabetes Walk, the Buddy Walk for kids with Downs Syndrome and has participated in Habitat for Humanity.
HOBEY HOPEFULS: Three members of the Notre Dame roster are under consideration for the Hobey Baker Award. Centers Anders Lee and T.J. Tynan along with goaltender Steven Summerhays are among the 78 players listed on the Hobey Baker voting website. Fans can vote for their top players at hobeybakeraward.com, now through March 10. From there, a top 10 list will be announced. That list will be paired to the Hobey Hat Trick of three finalists on April 3 with the winner announced on April 12 at the NCAA Frozen Four in Pittsburgh, Pa.
RUST NEVER SLEEPS: Junior right wing Bryan Rust is off to the best start of his Notre Dame career. In 24 games this season, Rust ranks third in scoring with 18 points on six goals and 12 assists. He has two power-play goals and three of his goals have been game winners. Rust leads the team with a +16 rating and he is second on the team with 65 shots on goal. As a sophomore, Rust had five goals and six assist for 11 points. His best season was his freshman campaign when he had six goals and 13 assists for 19 points and he is just one point off those totals now.
CLIMBING THE LADDER: Junior center Anders Lee became the 48th player in the history of the Notre Dame hockey program to score 100 points in his career as he did it on Jan. 18 with a goal and two assists versus Alaska. He enters tonight’s game tied for 47th overall with 54 goals and 46 assists for 100 points in 108 games. He joins teammate T.J. Tynan who reached the “Century” mark on November 15th. He is now tied for 34th on the scoring list with 43 goals and 72 assists for 115 points in 107 career games.
"Century Club"Name (Seasons) G A Pts1. Brian Walsh (1973-77) 89 145 2342. John Noble (1969-73) 81 145 2263. Eddie Bumbacco (1970-74) 103 117 2204. Ian Williams (1970-74) 92 119 211
31. Alex Pirus (1973-76) 57 66 123 John Schmidt (1978-82) 28 95 12333. Jeff Brownschidle (1977-81) 30 92 12234. T.J. Tynan (2009 - ) 43 72 115 Ryan Thang (2006-10) 57 58 11536. Kevin Deeth (2006-10) 35 79 114 Ray DeLorenzi (1971-74) 55 59 11438. Aaron Gill (2000-04) 49 62 111 Connor Dunlop (1999-03) 25 86 11140. Jack Brownschidle (1973-77) 31 78 10941. Tim Reilly (1981-86) 43 65 10842. Billy Maday (2008-12) 45 60 105 Aniket Dhadphale (1995-99) 61 44 10544. Bob Thebeau (1982-86) 40 63 10345. Matt Hanzel (1985-89) 50 51 101 Kevin Hoene (1968-71) 50 51 10147. Anders Lee (2009 -) 54 46 100 Paul Clarke (1973-77) 38 62 100
INTO THE TOP 10: Junior center T.J. Tynan scored his fifth career short-handed goal in the Jan. 18 loss to Alaska. The goal moved the speedy center iceman into a tie for 10th on Notre Dame’s all-time short-handed goals list.
SHORT-HANDED: For just the second time this season, Notre Dame surrendered two power-play goals in a game in the 2-1 loss to Alaska on Jan. 19. Since the start of 2013, the Irish have given up just four power-play goals in 31 chances (.871). Of those four power-play goals, Alaska had three of them. Since Nov. 2, the last time the Irish gave up two ppg in a game, Notre Dame is 66-for-73 (.904) killing penalties over the last 17 games. For the year, the Irish are 90-for-101 for a .891 success rate. That is tops in the CCHA and seventh in the nation.
WORK HORSE: Dating back to last Feb. 24, Irish goaltender Steven Summerhays has played in 27 of the last 31 games, making 26 starts. During those 27 games, Summerhays is 16-10-0 with a 1.69 goals-against average, a .934 save percentage and five shutouts. His shutout win versus Western Michigan (4-0) on Nov. 4 was the 20th win of his Notre Dame career. He is now 28-20-1 for his career with a 2.26 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage. This season, Summerhays is second in the CCHA in wins (13) and is third in goals-against average (1.79). He is sixth in save percentage (.927) and tied for the league lead with three shutouts.
THE PUCK STOPS HERE: Notre Dame junior goaltender Steven Summerhays (Anchorage, Alaska) made 30 saves in the Jan. 11, 1-0 win, over Michigan State to record his third shutout of the season and the fifth of his career. He is the first Irish goaltender to record three shutouts in one season since Jordan Pearce `09 had eight in the 2008-09 season. Summerhays has recorded all five of his shutouts in his last 24 starts, dating back to Feb. 24 of last season. His first career shutout came versus Michigan State, a 2-0, 25-save performance on that date.
CAREER YEAR: Sophomore defenseman Robbie Russo (Westmont, Ill.) now has career highs in goals (5), assists (12), points (17) and power-play goals (4) this season and he has done it in just 24 games. As a freshman, Russo had four goals and 11 assists for 15 points in 40 games. He leads all CCHA defensemen in scoring this season with his 17 points. His four power-play goals are tops on the team. Nationally, his 17 points is the sixth-best total by a defenseman.
LEAGUE LEADER: Junior center Anders Lee scored his 13th goal of the season in the Jan. 18 game versus Alaska. He continues to lead the CCHA in that category and is third in points with 22 (13g, 9a). Nationally, his 13 goals tie him for fifth in the country in goal scoring.
30 OR MORE: Through the first 24 games of the 2012-13 season, Notre Dame has outshot its opposition in 18 of them, getting 30 or more shots in a game 16 times. The Irish are averaging 30.9 shots per game to 24.9 for their opponents. The 41 shots against North Dakota on Nov. 24 was a season high for Notre Dame. The 20 shots that the Irish registered on Jan. 19 against Alaska tied Notre Dame for its season low in shots in a game. The previous time came on Nov. 9 against Boston College.
PUCKS TO THE NET: Through the first 24 games this season, Notre Dame has out shot the opposition 18 times and is 12-6-0 in those games. In games that opponents get more shots, the Irish are 3-3-0. For the year, Notre Dame is averaging 30.9 shots per game while the opposition is getting 24.9 per game.
THE OTHER GUY: Senior goaltender Mike Johnson made his first start since Dec. 1 in the Jan. 15 game versus Bowling Green. The Verona, Wis., native was injured against Lake Superior State on Dec. 1 at the 14:23 mark of the second period with a 4-1 lead in a game the Irish would win, 6-1. Versus Bowling Green, Johnson made 27 saves in a 4-2 loss to the Falcons. For the year, he is now 2-1-0 with a 2.76 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage. For his career, he has appeared in 94 games, making 88 starts and is 41-34-12 with a 2.64 goals-against average and a .901 save percentage with two shutouts. His 41 wins make him just one of seven Notre Dame goaltenders to win 40 or more games in his career.
WELCOME BACK: Notre Dame has added sophomore forward Garrett Peterson (Manhattan, Ill.) to the roster for the second half of the season. Peterson sat out the first semester for personal reasons. As a freshman during the 2011-12 season, the 5-11, 196-pound center/right wing played in 20 games with two goals and two assists for four points. He was whistled for eight penalties resulting in 24 minutes and led the Irish with a +6. Peterson has played in three games since his return to the Notre Dame roster.
MAKING UP FOR LOST TIME: Freshman left wing Mario Lucia missed the first nine games of the 2012-13 season with a broken leg that was suffered on Aug. 29 in preseason training. He returned to the lineup on Nov. 15 at Michigan and in 15 games back in action, he has scored seven goals with five assists for 12 points. He scored goals in each game of the Alaska series last weekend. Three of his goals have come on the power play. He was named the CCHA Rookie of the Week twice in December and was the Rookie of the Month for December.
USA-USA-USA: Freshman left wing Mario Lucia spent his Christmas break in Ufa, Russia as a member of the gold-medal winning United States World Junior Team. He is the 16th Notre Dame player to be selected to play in the championships and joins current teammates defenseman Stephen Johns and center T.J. Tynan who were members of the 2012 team that finished seventh in Calgary, Alta. Lucia became the second Irish player to win a gold medal and the fifth to earn a medal since the tournament started in 1977. He joins Kyle Palmieri as a gold medal winner (Palmieri won gold in 2010) and Palmieri (bronze in 2011), Kyle Lawson `10 (bronze in 2007) and Ben Simon `00 (silver in 1997) as all-time medal winners. Lucia finished with one assist for one point in the seven games.
VETERANS: The 2012-13 Notre Dame team is a definitely a veteran unit. Looking at the Irish roster, there are currently eight players that have played 100 or more games in their careers. Three others have played 91 or more games and, barring injury, should play in their 100th games this season.
PLAYER OF THE MONTH: Notre Dame junior center T.J. Tynan was named the CCHA Warrior Player of the Month for the month of December. In four games, Tynan helped the Irish to a 4-0-0 record by scoring three goals with four assists for seven points. He scored one power-play goal and had a pair of game winners while being +4 for the month. Tynan scored at least one point in each game and had three games with two or more points. On the season, he is now tied for second on the team in scoring with five goals and 10 assists for 15 points in 18 games.
ROOKIE OF THE MONTH: Notre Dame freshman left wing Mario Lucia was named the CCHA Gongshow Rookie of the Month for the month of December. The 6-3, 193-pound forward helped the Irish to a 4-0-0 month by scoring three goals with four assists for seven points. Two of his goals came on the power play and he was +4 over the four games. During November, Lucia recorded his first multiple-goal game (2 goals versus Lake Superior on Dec. 1) and had three multiple-point games overall. He was twice named the CCHA Gongshow Rookie of the Week (Dec. 3 and Dec. 10). In nine games this season, Lucia has five goals and five assists for 10 points and is tied for the team lead with three power-play goals.
SHARING THE WEALTH: In Notre Dame’s 5-1 win over Michigan State on Dec. 8, the Irish got goals from all four lines with the fourth line leading the way with a pair of goals. Through the first 22 games of the 2012-13 season, 16 different Notre Dame players have scored the team’s 68 goals with Anders Lee leading the way with 13. T.J. Tynan and Mario Lucia are next with seven goals. Nineteen of the team’s 22 skaters have scored at least one point with Lee leading the way with 22 points while Tynan follows with 20. Eight different players have scored game-winning goals for the Irish with Tynan and Rust leading the way with three.
MULTIPLE-GOAL GAMES: The Irish have turned in four multiple-goal games this season with Mario Lucia joining the list with his first career, two-goal game in the win over Lake Superior State (Dec. 1). Left wing Jeff Costello recorded the first multiple-goal game of his Notre Dame career in the 5-2 win over North Dakota (Nov. 24). Anders Lee recorded his second multiple-goal game this season in the same contest versus North Dakota and now has 10 games with two or more goals in his Irish hockey career.