Jan. 13, 2011
Notre Dame, Ind. –
Complete Release in PDF Format
– Date/Site/Time:Fri., January 14, 2011 – 7:35 p.m. – Joyce Center (2,713) – Notre Dame, Indiana Sat., January 15, 2011 – 7:05 p.m. – Joyce Center (2,713) – Notre Dame, Indiana
– The Teams: #8/#8 Notre Dame (14-7-3/11-4-1-1) vs. Alaska (9-7-4/6-6-4-2)
– 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.
– Internet Broadcast: Audio: The Notre Dame – Alaska series will have live audio streaming at the Notre Dame website – und.com. Video: The Notre Dame – Alaska series will be streamed live on the Notre Dame website – und.com. This is free of charge. Live Stats: Available on the Notre Dame website at und.com.
ALASKA INVADES THE JOYCE CENTER: Notre Dame and Alaska meet this weekend at the Joyce Center for the first and only meetings of the 2010-11 regular season. The two teams will meet in a 7:35 p.m. game on Friday, Jan. 14 and then again at 7:05 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 15. The Irish bring a 14-7-3 overall record into the series and are 11-4-1-1 in the CCHA, good for 35 points and first place in the conference standings. Notre Dame has a four-point lead on second-place Michigan with the Wolverines having one game in hand. The Irish are six points ahead of third-place Ferris State and eight ahead of Miami in fourth. Alaska is in the midst of a two-week road trip that sees the Nanooks face Notre Dame this weekend before traveling to Michigan next week. Alaska is 9-7-4 overall and currently in fifth place in the CCHA with a 6-6-4-2 record, good for 24 points. The Irish are coming off a sweep at Northern Michigan last weekend in Marquette, Mich., where they took 8-1 and 3-1 decisions from the Wildcats. Alaska was at home in Fairbanks where the Nanooks tied Western Michigan, 2-2, before falling in the shootout, 1-0. They then dropped a 2-0 decision in the second game of the series to the Broncos. Following this weekend’s home series, the Irish are back on the road as they travel to Ohio State for a pair of games with the Buckeyes on Jan. 21-22.
IRISH AND THE NANOOKS: Notre Dame and Alaska have met 51 times in the all-time series with the Irish holding a 26-21-4 lead. At the Joyce Center, Notre Dame is 15-8-1 in 24 games. The two teams met last season twice at the Carlson Center in Fairbanks where they split two games. The Irish won the series opener, 3-2, before Alaska won the second game, 3-1. The Nanooks win on Nov. 7, 2009, snapped an 11-game Notre Dame unbeaten streak (10-0-1)in the series that started in the 2006-07 season. The Irish have won six straight at home against Alaska. The last Nanook win at the Joyce Center came on March 4, 2006, a 1-0 win in the second game of the first round of the CCHA playoffs.
FOURTH TIME FOR TYNAN: Notre Dame freshman center T.J. Tynan (Orland Park, Ill.) was named the CCHA rookie of the week for his play in the Northern Michigan series on Jan. 7-8. That marked the second consecutive week that Tynan was named rookie of the week and fourth time this season. The 5-8, 156-pound center had a goal and three assists for four points and was +3 in the 8-1 and 3-1 wins over the Wildcats. Tynan is the top scoring freshman in the country with 15 goals and 18 assists for 33 points. He is third in the CCHA in scoring and leads the league in goals.
ROAD SWEEP: Notre Dame’s back-to-back road wins at Northern Michigan (Jan. 7-8) marked the first sweep for the Irish this season since Nov. 19-20, 2010 against Michigan State. The CCHA road sweep was the first for the Irish since winning twice at Nebraska-Omaha on Feb. 20-21, 2009, taking a 4-3 overtime win and a 1-0 victory over the Mavericks. Since then, the Irish have gone 10 road series overall and nine CCHA road series, covering a year-and-a-half, without winning consecutive games on the road.
THE RANKINGS: Notre Dame enters the series with Alaska ranked eightth in both the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine poll and the USCHO.com poll. Alaska is not ranked in the USA Today poll but is 20th in the USCHO.com rankings.
NORTHERN MICHIGAN RECAP: Friday, Jan. 7 – Notre Dame’s special teams had a big night on Friday night as they scored two short-handed goals and three power-play tallies on the way to an 8-1 win at Northern Michigan. Eight different players scored for the Irish – Sean Lorenz (Jr., Littleton, Colo.), Anders Lee, Sam Calabrese, Mike Voran (Fr., Livonia, Mich.), Riley Sheahan (So., St. Catharine’s, Ont.), Calle Ridderwall (Sr., Stockholm, Sweden), Ben Ryan (Sr., Brighton, Mich.) and Joe Lavin (Sr., Shrewsbury, Mass.) – with Sheahan recording the first four-point game of his career with three assists. Billy Maday (Jr., Burr Ridge, Ill.) also had three assists, including setting up both short-handed goals. The Irish gave up the opening goal of the game as Northern Michigan’s Mike Maltese made it 1-0 at the 7:24 mark. From there it was all Irish as goals by Lorenz and Lee made it 2-1 after one period. Calabrese picked up his second short-handed goal in as many games in the second and Voran got his third of the year to give Notre Dame a 4-1 lead after two periods. Sheahan scored the second shorty of the night at 10:40 of the third and Ridderwall, Ryan and Lavin added power-play goals to close out the scoring at 8-1. Notre Dame out shot the Wildcats, 39-17, with Mike Johnson (So., Verona, Wis.) making 16 saves in the win. Jared Coreau gave up the first four goals for Northern, making 10 saves in 22:10. Reid Ellingson played the final 37:50, making 21 saves on 35 Irish shots. Notre Dame was 3-for-7 on the power -play while the Wildcats were 0-for-3.
Saturday, Jan. 8 – Notre Dame got a goal and an assist from T.J. Tynan and single goals from defensemen Sean Lorenz and Sam Calabrese on the way to a 3-1 win over Northern Michigan in game two of the weekend series at the Berry Events Center. Sophomore goaltender Mike Johnson stopped 24-of-25 shots in the win. Justin Florek had the lone Northern Michigan goal, breaking Johnson’s shutout bid at 19:49 of the second period with a power-play goal. Tynan opened the scoring just 2:20 into the game with Anders Lee getting his first of two assists in the game. Tynan and Lee then set up Lorenz for his fourth goal of the year at 19:31 of the first for the eventual game winner and a 2-0 lead. The Irish lead would go to 3-0 at 6:25 of the second period when defenseman Sam Calabrese scored on the power play, picking up his fifth goal of the season and third consecutive game with a goal. The Irish were out shot in a game for just the fourth time this season as the Wildcats had a 25-20 edge in the game. Jared Coreau made seven saves in 26:25 of playing time and Reid Ellingson stopped 10 shots in 32:55. The Irish were 1-for-7 on the power play while the Wildcats were 1-for-6.
SPECIAL TEAMS CLINIC: Notre Dame’s 8-1 win over Northern Michigan on Jan. 7 saw the Irish special teams have one of their best games of the season. Notre Dame scored two short-handed goals in the game and added three power-play goals in the victory. The two short-handed goals marked the second time this season that the Irish scored a pair of shorties in one game as they turned the trick for the first time on Nov. 20 versus Michigan State. The three power-play goals were a season high for Notre Dame.
SHORT-HAND SUCCESS: Notre Dame’s penalty killing unit has scored 11 short-handed goals this season, a mark that is tops in the nation and four more than Boston College as the Eagles are second in the nation with seven. The 11 short-handed goals are the most for the Irish since setting a school record with 19 during the 1981-82 season. Eight different players have scored short-handed goals for Notre Dame this season with defensemen Joe Lavin (Sr., Shrewsbury, Mass.) and Sam Calabrese joining T.J.Tynan with two each. For the year, the Irish have 11 shorties while giving up just 15 power-play goals.
NATIONAL LEADERS: Freshman center T.J. Tynan has burst on to the national scene as he finds himself third in the nation in points (33) and is tied for fourth with 15 goals on the year. Senior Ryan Guentzel is tied for 13th in the nation with 26 points.
National Scoring Race (by points): GP G A PTSCarter Camper (MU) 22 13 25 38Andy Miele (MU) 22 11 23 34T.J. Tynan (ND) 24 15 18 33Jack Connolly (UMD) 21 9 22 31Justin Schultz (UW) 24 13 17 30Matt Frattin (UND) 23 20 8 28Justin Fontaine (UMD) 21 12 16 28Nathan Longore (RMU) 20 10 18 28Cam Atkinson (BC) 20 16 11 27Reilly Smith (MU) 21 13 14 27Carl Hagelin (UM) 23 12 15 27Andrew Favot (RIT) 22 7 20 27Paul Zanette (NIA) 20 16 10 26Mike Connolly (UMD) 21 12 14 26Stephen Schultz (CC) 20 12 14 26Jaden Schwartz (CC) 17 11 15 26Brian Gibbons (BC) 20 10 16 26Ryan Guentzel (ND) 24 6 20 26
OFFENSIVE JUGGERNAUT: Through the first 24 games of the season, Notre Dame leads both the CCHA and the nation in goals scored with 95 for an average of 3.96 goals per game. Last season in 38 games, Notre Dame scored 90 goals for a 2.36 goals per game average. The Irish are first in the CCHA in goals and have 15 more than second-place Michigan. Nationally, the Irish are second in goals-per game to Yale as the Bulldogs are averaging 5.00 per game (75 goals in 15 games). Wisconsin is second to the Irish in goals with 87. The last time the Irish averaged more that 3.96 goals per game was the 1990-91 season when they had 4.06 per game. SLOW STARTS: In eight of their last 11 games, the Irish have surrendered the first goal of the game. In those games, the Irish are 2-5-1. For the season, the Irish have given up the first goal of the game 11 times and are 3-6-2 in those contests. Notre Dame has scored the first goal of the game 13 times this season and is 11-1-1 in those games.
ROAD WINS: Notre Dame’s sweep at Northern Michigan improved the Irish to 5-4-2 on the road this season. A year ago, Notre Dame was 3-10-4 away from the Joyce Center.
HCA ROOKIE OF THE MONTH: Notre Dame freshman left wing Anders Lee (Edina, Minn.) was selected as the Hockey Commissioners’ Association national Rookie of the Month for December. The CCHA Rookie of the Month, Lee had two goals and six assists for eight points in five games during December to finish second to T.J. Tynan in scoring in the CCHA for the month. Lee had points in four of the five games, including three with two or more points. On Dec. 3, at Miami, he had a career-best three assists as he helped the Irish rally from a two-goal deficit to beat Miami, 5-4. The three-point game equaled a career-high for Lee who now has 13 goals and 10 assists for 23 points to rank third on the Irish in scoring and second to Tynan in the conference freshman scoring race.
CCHA PLAYER OF THE MONTH: Notre Dame freshman standout T.J. Tynan has been selected as the CCHA’s RBC Financial Group Player of the Month for December. The 5-8, 156-pound freshman center led all CCHA scorers in December in scoring as he had five goals and four assists for nine points in five games during the month. Tynan, who is the top rookie scorer in the nation, had points in four of the five games during the month and had three games with two or more points, including a career-best four-point game (2g, 2a) in a 10-2 win over Canisius on Dec. 29. Tynan currently leads Notre Dame in scoring with 14 goals and 17 assists for 31 points on the year. He was the CCHA rookie of the week for last week and was the conference’s and the nation’s rookie of the month for November. Tynan was an honorable mention selection for the HCA player of the month in December.
THEâ⒬ˆSPECIALIST: Senior left wing Calle Ridderwall is third on the team in goals with 11 through the first 24 games this season and tied for the team lead with four power-play goals. His goal versus Canisius on Dec. 29th was the 50th of his Notre Dame career. With 11 goals this season, Ridderwall has now been in double figures in goals in each of the last three seasons for the Irish after getting 17 in 2008-09 and 19 last season in 2009-10. Over the last two-plus seasons, Ridderwall has scored 47 goals with 26 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 26 power-play goals rank him sixth on Notre Dame’s all-time power-play goal list. For his career, Ridderwall has 52 goals and 33 assists for 85 career points in 141 games.
THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT: Notre Dame’s freshman class has played a key role in the 14-7-3 start for the Irish. In the first 24 games of this season, the freshman class has accounted for 50 of the team’s 95 goals (52.6%), 75 of the 167 assists (44.9%) and 125 of team’s 262 points this season (47.7%). Freshman goaltender Steven Summerhays (Anchorage, Alaska) has three of the team’s 14 wins in goal.
CAREER NIGHT: Sophomore center Riley Sheahan had the best game of his Notre Dame career on Jan. 7 against Northern Michigan when he scored his first goal of the season (shg) and added three points for the first four-point game of his career. Sheahan has one goal and 10 assists this season for 11 points in 20 games.
FABULOUS FRESHMEN: Freshmen T.J. Tynan and Anders Lee come into the series against Alaska ranked first and second in the CCHA in rookie scoring. Tynan has 15 goals and 18 assists for 33 points while Lee has 13 goals and 12 assists for 25 points. With 15 and 13 goals respectively, Lee and Tynan are tops among freshman goal scorers. Fellow freshman Mike Voran (3g, 11a, 14 pts) is seventh and is followed by Bryan Rust (4g, 6a) who is tied for 11th with 10 points. Jeff Costello (6g, 3a, 9 pts) is tied for 14th while center David Gerths (6g, 2a) and defensemen Stephen Johns (1g, 7a) are tied for 18th with eight points. Tynan is third overall in scoring in the league while Lee is seventh.
GOING ON THE OFFENSIVE: Two of Notre Dame’s defensemen – Sam Calabrese and Sean Lorenz – go into the series with Alaska on goal-scoring streaks. Calabrese, who saw action in just three games last season, has scored goals in three straight games and in four of his last five games, including a pair of short-handed goals. Lorenz has scored a goal in each of his last two games. For the year, Calabrese has five goals and six assists for 11 points, all career highs. Lorenz has four goals and four assists for eight points with all three being career highs. Lorenz and Calabrese are Notre Dame’s plus-minus leaders with +18 and +17 respectively.
CAREER YEAR: Senior right wing Ryan Guentzel (Woodbury, Minn.) had the best game of his career with three goals and an assist in the win over Canisius (Dec. 29). He is currently second on the team in scoring with six goals and 20 assists for 26 points, all career highs. Earlier this season, Guentzel had a career-best and a season high for the Irish seven-game point streak (1g, 9a). His previous best season was 2008-09 when he had four goals and seven assists for 11 points. He is currently sixth in the CCHA in scoring with 26 points and his 20 assists are third in the conference.
THE PUCK STOPS HERE: Sophomore goaltender Mike Johnson (Verona, Wis.) has now appeared in 14 of Notre Dame’s last 15 games, making 13 starts in that span that began on Nov. 12 versus Michigan. In his last 14 appearances, he is 7-4-2 with a 2.68 goals-against average and a .890 save percentage. Johnson is 11-5-3 on the year with a 2.52 goals against average and a .902 save percentage. His 11 wins are a career high for the sophomore puck stopper. 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 and Joe Rogers (Marysville, Mich.). Summerhays is now 3-2-0 with a 3.71 goals-against average and a .818 save percentage. He played the first 40 minutes on Dec. 29 in the 10-2 win over Canisius, stopping 14-of-15 shots. He owns wins over Canisius, Bowling Green and Western Michigan while his losses have been to Boston University (10/10) and Miami (12/4). 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 made his first career appearance in the Canisius game, playing the final 20 minutes while stopping eight-of-nine shots. He is 0-0-0 with a 3.00 goals-against average and a .889 save percentage. 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.
BOMBS AWAY: In the Jan. 8 game against Northern Michigan, the Wildcats out shot Notre Dame by a 25-20 margin. That marked just the fourth time this season that the Irish have been outshot in a game. In those games, Notre Dame is 1-1-2. In the 20 games that Notre Dame has out shot their opponents, the Irish are 13-6-1. For the season, Notre Dame is averaging 33.5 shots per game while giving up an average of 24.9 to their opponents.
TEN SPOT: Notre Dame’s 10-goal out burst against Canisius on Dec. 29 marked the first time the Irish had 10 or more goals in a game since Oct. 14, 1995 when the Irish defeated St. Francis Xavier by a 10-2 score.
STREAK SNAPPED: Northern Michigan’s 3-2 win on Dec. 11, snapped an eight-game home winning streak for the Irish that went back to Jan. 30 of last season. The Irish came into the series with the Wildcats with six straight wins at home during the 2010-11 season. Since the Dec. 11 loss, the Irish have won two straight at home and are now 8-1-0 at home this year.
FUTURE IRISH: Notre Dame head coach Jeff Jackson announced in early December that five players had signed national letters-of-intent to play hockey at the University beginning for the 2011-12 season. The group includes three defensemen and two forwards. the defensemen are Eric Johnson (Verona, Wis.), Robbie Russo (Westmont, Ill.) and Andrew Ryan (Brighton, Mich.). The forwards are Peter Schnedier (Vienna, Austria) and Garrett Peterson (Manhattan, Ill.). Peterson signed his letter-of-intent in Nov. of 2009 but returned to the USHL this season with the Lincoln Stars. In making the announcement, Jackson said, “We’re very excited about this group of players. We think they have the potential to step in and play. What I like most about them is that they are all strong skaters that play with a little grit to their game.” Two of the players – Russo and Ryan – play for USA Hockey’s National Team Developmental Program. The other three are all currently playing in the United States Hockey League (USHL). Russo was ranked 72nd and Ryan 188th by the National Hockey League’s Central Scouting in their midseason rankings. For more information on the five players check the Notre Dame website at und.com
TYNAN HONORED: Notre Dame freshman center T.J. Tynan was named the Hockey Commissioners’ Association rookie of the month for November to add to his honors this month after being named CCHA rookie of the month for the month of November. In eight games during November, Tynan led all CCHA rookies with six goals and six assists for 12 points. Two goals came on the power play, two were short-handed and one was a game winner. He was +5 for the month and took just 19 shots for a .316 shooting percentage. During November, Tynan scored in seven of the team’s eight games with five of the contests being multiple-point games. He was named the CCHA rookie of the month on two occasions – for games the week of Nov. 1 and Nov. 8. Tynan is the second Irish player to take CCHA rookie of the month honors this season as teammate Anders Lee (Edina, Minn.) was October’s winner.
LATE ADDITIONS: Center T.J. Tynan’s fast start (15g, 18a) in the first 24 games has been a key to the 12-7-3 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 17 games and has six points (one goal, five assists) with a +6 for the year.
TOUGH SCHEDULE: From Oct. 31 through Dec. 4, Notre Dame played nine of 11 games on the road, including a streak of eight straight games versus nationally ranked teams. The Irish came through that streak with a 4-3-1 record. Starting on Nov. 12-13 the Irish faced #9/#8 Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich where they split with the Wolverines. On Nov. 19-20, the Irish played host to rv/#17 Michigan State at the Joyce Center, taking two wins versus the Spartans. The weekend of Nov. 26-27 saw the Irish face #10/#9 North Dakota in Grand Forks where they had a loss and a tie. Against #6/#6 Miami Dec. 3-4, the Irish again had a split to give them a 4-3-1 record in the eight games against ranked teams.
GOING TO THE GOAL: Freshman centerDavid Gerths (Ankeny, Iowa) has become a specialist when it comes to scoring those “dirty” goals. The 6-0, 208-pounder does his best work right in front of the goal. He picked up his sixth goal of the season in the Dec. 11 game with Northern Michigan as he jammed a rebound past Jared Coreau in the third period. In 22 games this season, he has scored six goals with two assist for eight points. In 55 games last season in the USHL with Lincoln and Green Bay, Gerths scored just five goals. His six goals are tied for fourth most for Notre Dame this season.
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 208-84-45 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 312-124-50 for a .693 winning percentage. His winning percentage is the tops among active coaches with 10 or more seasons.
COMING FROM BEHIND: Notre Dame rallied from two-goal deficits twice in the Shillelagh Tournament. The Irish trailed Minnesota State, 2-0 after one period and went ahead 3-2, before falling 4-3 in that game. Notre Dame trailed Boston University 3-1 entering the third period on Jan. 2 and scored twice to pull out the 3-3 tie. On Dec. 3, at Miami, the Irish overcame a pair of two-goal deficits (2-0 after one period and 3-1 in the second period) and won for the first time this season when trailing after two periods of play. The Irish are now 1-4-1 when trailing after two periods.