Oct. 7, 2012
Notre Dame, Ind. –
– The Game: #10/#14 Notre Dame (0-0-0) vs. USA Under-18 Team (3-1-0)
– Date/Site/Time: Sunday, October 7, 2012 – Compton Family Ice Arena (5,022) – 5:05 p.m.
– Broadcast Information: Radio: Notre Dame hockey can be heard live on Real Country 99.9 FM, starting with the pre-game show 20 minutes before the opening face off. Darin Pritchett will call the action for the Irish.
– Internet: Audio/Video: Notre Dame will provide video streaming on the Notre Dame website at UND.com. Twitter: Follow the Irish hockey team on Twitter at ND_hockey.
IT’S OCTOBER, LET’S PLAY HOCKEY: The Notre Dame Fighting Irish open the 2012-13 season on Sunday, Oct. 7 at 5:05 p.m., with an exhibition game versus USA National Under-18 Team at the Compton Family Ice Arena. This is the 45th year of the modern era of Notre Dame hockey and tonight’s exhibition is the first ever at the new Compton Family Ice Arena that opened on Oct. 18, 2011. In the 44-plus years of playing at the Joyce Center, the Irish were 374-290-59 (.558) all-time.
USA…USA…USA: The Irish will play host to the USA National Under-18 Team for the fifth time in the program’s history with the last meeting coming on Feb. 1, 2008 with Notre Dame taking a 2-1 win at the Joyce Center. All-time, the Irish are 3-1-0 against the NTDP. Team USA went into this weekend with a 3-1-0 record in four games against teams from the United States Hockey League. They opened their collegiate schedule on Saturday night at Wisconsin. Notre Dame and the U.S. National Developmental Program have had a strong relationship over the years. There are currently seven former USA Under-18 members on the Irish roster – senior Sam Calabrese, juniors Stephen Johns and Bryan Rust, sophomores Robbie Russo and Austin Wuthrich and freshmen Thomas DiPauli and Andy Ryan. Since the NTDP began in 1997, 31 players have gone on to play at Notre Dame. Another connection is head coach Jeff Jackson who served as the national coach and the senior director of the program from its beginning in 1996 through 2000.
NEXT FOR THE IRISH: Notre Dame opens the 2012-13 season on Friday, Oct. 12 in Kansas City, Mo., when the Irish face the University of Maine in the opening game of the Ice Breaker Tournament. The tournament will be played at the Spring Center with Notre Dame and the Black Bears facing off at 6:30 p.m. (CT). Army and Nebraska-Omaha are the other two teams and the Black Knights and Mavericks play at 9:30 p.m. (CT). Both games will be televised by the NBC Sports Network. On Saturday, the third-place game is set for 3:30 p.m. (CT) and the championship game starts at 6:30 p.m. (CT). Only the championship game will be televised by the NBC Sports Network.
CALL HIM THE CAPTAIN: Junior center Anders Lee (Edina, Minn.) has been selected as the lone captain of the 2012-13 Notre Dame hockey team. The talented forward served as an alternate captain during the 2011-12 season. As a sophomore, he led the Irish with 17 goals and added 17 assists to finish second in scoring with 34 points. In his first two seasons at Notre Dame, Lee has played in 84 career games with 41 goals and 37 assists for 78 points.
TYNAN TIME: Junior center T.J. Tynan (Orland Park, Ill.) returns to the Irish lineup to defend his 2011-12 CCHA co-scoring title. Tynan tied for the scoring championship with Michigan State’s Torey Krug as each player had 29 points in 28 conference games in `11-’12. The Irish scoring machine had nine goals and 20 assists on the year to become the first Notre Dame player to win or share a CCHA scoring title. He is just the second Irish player to ever win a conference scoring title as he follows Eddie Bumbacco `74 who won the 1972-73 WCHA scoring championship with 31 goals and 34 assists for 65 points in 28 games. Tynan led Notre Dame in scoring for the second consecutive year, notching 13 goals with 28 assists for 41 points in 39 games in 2011-12.
BY THE CLASSES: The Notre Dame roster has four seniors, 12 juniors, four sophomores and five freshmen on the roster this season. The Irish return 18 monogram winners from last season and have seven of their top 10 scorers back in 2012-13.
OH BROTHER: Freshman defenseman Andy Ryan (Brighton, Mich.) joins the Irish hockey roster this season to join his brother, Ben Ryan `11, as the 11th set of brothers to play hockey at Notre Dame. Ryan will be joined on the 2012-13 roster by brothers Mike (Sr.) and Eric (So.) Johnson (Verona, Wis.) who became the 10th set of brothers to play at for the Irish. They are the first set of brothers to play on the team at the same time since Aaron `04 and Tony Gill `06 who played together from 2002-04. The list of brothers:
Robert `89 and David Bankoske `93Joe `72 and Mike Bonk `79Jack `77 and Jeff Brownschidle `81Tim `76 and Dan Byers `78Ryan `01 and Kyle Dolder `03Don `78 and Terry Fairholm `78Aaron `04 and Tony Gill `06Mark `85 and Bruce Guay `90Bob `71, Dave `76 ad Dick Howe `78Mike and Eric JohnsonBen `11 and Andy Ryan
LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON: With the addition of freshman Mario Lucia (Plymouth, Minn.) to the Notre Dame roster in 2012-13, the Irish now have three sons who have followed in their father’s footsteps to play hockey at Notre Dame. Mario, follows his father, Don Lucia `81, who was a defenseman for the Irish from 1977-81. He is the head hockey coach at Minnesota. Current teammate, Kevin Nugent (Sr., New Canaan, Conn.) followed his dad – Kevin Nugent, Sr., `78 who played at Notre Dame from 1974-78 and was a teammate of Lucia’s for one season. The third father-son duo is goaltender Rory Walsh `06 who played for the Irish from 2002-06. He was the first to follow his dad – Brian Walsh `77, who played for the Irish from 1973-77 and was a teammate of Nugent’s for three seasons (1974-77).
FOREIGN EXCHANGE: Sophomore forward Peter Schneider (Vienna, Austria) is the third European to play at Notre Dame. As a freshman last season, Schneider played in 23 games with tow goals and four assists for six points. He played his junior hockey with one season (2009-10) in the United States Hockey League (USHL) for the Indiana Ice. With the Ice, he had 30 goals and 24 assists for 54 points in 55 games. He joins Swedish natives Calle Ridderwall `11 and Robin Bergman as the three Europeans to play at Notre Dame. Ridderwall spent four years with the Irish (2007-11) while Bergmann played part of the 2007-08 campaign.
NEW HOME: Notre Dame moved into its new home – The Compton Family Ice Arena – on October 18, 2011 and played the first game there on October 21, 2011, defeating Rensselaer, 5-2, in front of a sell-out crowd of 5,022. Anders Lee scored the first goal at 9:21 of the first period and finished with a hat trick in the game.The Irish won their first five games at the Compton and finished the year with a 12-7-0 record, including a 2-0 mark in the first round of the CCHA playoffs. In 19 games, Notre Dame played in front of 11 sellout crowds, drawing 91,793 fans through the turnstiles for an average of 4,793 per game.
HOCKEY CITY CLASSIC: The Notre Dame hockey team will play its first-ever outdoor game during the program’s Division I era on Sunday, Feb. 17 when the Irish take part in the Hockey City Classic at Chicago’s historic Soldier Field. They will face CCHA-rival, Miami in the first game of the doubleheader while Minnesota will battle Wisconsin in the second game. The two games will be preceded by two weeks of winter festivities, including two days of free public skating, high school hockey events, youth and adult hockey events, private ice rentals and more. The Hockey City Classic is being organized by the Chicago-based sports and entertainment marketing agency Intersport, in partnership with Soldier Field and the Chicago Park District. Notre Dame hockey is no stranger to the city of Chicago as the Irish have played hockey in the Windy City on and off since the 1966-67 campaign when the Notre Dame club team played in the first-ever college hockey tournament at Chicago Stadium. Since then, the Irish have played more than 40 games in and around Chicago, playing at Lake Forest (1969-70 and from 1985-91), at Chicago Stadium (1971 and 1972), at the University of Illinois-Chicago (1979-82 and 1988-96 as CCHA rivals), at Allstate Arena (2003 and 2005) and most-recently, at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Ill., where Notre Dame hosted the Shillelagh Tournament from 2009-11. The 2012-13 Notre Dame hockey roster features six players with ties to the Chicago area: The group includes senior Sam Calabrese (Park Ridge), juniors Kevin Lind (Homer Glen) and T.J. Tynan (Orland Park), sophomore Robbie Russo (Westmont) and freshmen Thomas DiPauli (Woodridge) and Sam Herr (Hinsdale).The Irish have had 25 hockey monogram winners from the Chicago area in the program’s history. Current Notre Dame defenseman Stephen Johns (Wampum, Pa.) was selected by the Chicago Blackhawks in the second round, 60th overall in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft and the Hawks have drafted five Notre Dame players since 1971.
WINNERS: Four members of Notre Dame’s freshman class arrived on campus fresh of championship seasons in 2011-12. Thomas DiPauli (Woodridge, Ill.) joins the Irish after helping the `11-’12 USA Under-18 Team to a gold medal at the Under-18 World Championships last April. Sam Herr (Hinsdale, Ill.) was a member of the Green Bay Gamblers team that won the USHL’s Clark Cup championship with Herr being named the most valuable player of the tournament. Steven Fogarty (Edina, Minn.) and Mario Lucia (Plymouth, Minn.) played with the Penticton Vees of the BCHL and helped their team to a record-setting season. The Vees won the BCHL Interior Division regular-season title while establishing a junior hockey record with 42 consecutive wins. They then won the Fred Doyle Cup as the BCHL playoff champions and added an RBC Cup title to their resumes, winning the Canadian junior title.
THE FINAL COUNTDOWN: The 2012-13 season marks the final year for the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. Due to the shift in the college hockey landscape last season, the conference saw its teams shift as Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State will now play in the Big 10 hockey conference, beginning in 2013-14 along with Minnesota, Penn State and Wisconsin from the WCHA. When those teams pulled out of their respective conferences, the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) was created, taking in teams from the WCHA and the CCHA. That conference includes: Colorado College, Denver, Miami, Minnesota Duluth, Nebraska-Omaha, North Dakota, St. Cloud State and Western Michigan. The remaining CCHA teams then joined the remaining WCHA teams in the WCHA that now includes: Alaska, Bowling Green, Ferris State, Lake Superior State and Northern Michigan. Notre Dame then made its conference choice and joined Hockey East.
CONFERENCE CALL: Notre Dame begins its final season in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) in 2012-13. The Irish will begin play in the Hockey East Association beginning with the 2013-14 campaign. The change in conferences was announced on Oct. 5, 2011 with a press conference that was held at the Compton Family Ice Arena. In making the announcement, Hockey East commissioner Joe Bertagna said, “It is not an overstatement to say that this is one of the most significant days in the history of our conference. The addition of new institutions is always exciting but Notre Dame brings a unique set of qualities and circumstances to the continued growth of our league. We are proud to welcome Notre Dame into the fold and we look forward to getting to the many details that come with this announcement.” Notre Dame Vice President and Director of Athletics Jack Swarbrick said, “We are excited to be joining Hockey East beginning in the 2013-14 season. Many factors played a role in our decision, but three were of special importance to us. The first two were the critical issues of the student-athlete experience and Notre Dame’s fit with the other schools in the conference. But of special importance in this instance, was our goal of giving our hockey program an unprecedented level of national exposure through our expanded partnership with the NBC Sports Group. Athletics at Notre Dame has always served as a platform for promoting the University.” Notre Dame head coach Jeff Jackson added, “We are honored and pleased to join Hockey East for the 2013-14 season. The conference is an established league with a great tradition and outstanding programs that share Notre Dame’s values. The exposure for our players and team in a major media and NHL market will be second to none. Hockey East’s commitment to playing a smaller league schedule will allow us to enhance our home and non-conference schedule with traditional western and Big Ten rivals. This will allow us to bring great games to the Compton Family Ice Arena and create a more diverse, nationally-televised schedule. We are grateful to Joe Bertagna and the Hockey East Association members for this tremendous opportunity.” Notre Dame has been a member of the CCHA twice during its 45 years of Division I hockey. The Irish first joined the conference from 1981-83 and then again in 1992 through the 2012-13 season. During that time, Notre Dame has won two CCHA regular-season and postseason tournament titles (2007 and 2009).
NATIONAL JUNIOR TEAM: Four current members of the Notre Dame hockey team were invited to the 2012 Junior National Evaluation Camp last summer with the goal of being selected for the 2012 United States Junior National team that will participate in the World Junior Championships. Sophomore defenseman Robbie Russo (Westmont, Ill.) was joined by freshmen Thomas DiPauli (Woodridge, Ill.), Steven Fogarty (Edina, Minn.) and Mario Lucia (Plymouth, Minn.). Last season, defenseman Stephen Johns and center T.J. Tynan played for the United States in the World Juniors held in Calgary and Edmonton, Alta., helping the U.S. to a 3-3-0 record. They became the 14th and 15th Notre Dame players to participate in the World Junior Championships. They joined Jack Brownschidle (`76-’77, `78-’79), Ben Simon (`96-’97, `97-’98), Joe Dusbabek (`97-’98), Dan Carlson (`98-’99), Connor Dunlop (`99-’00, `00-’01), Brett Henning (`99-’00), David Inman (`99-’00), Rob Globke (`00-’01, `01-’02), Brett Lebda (`01-’02), Kyle Lawson (`06-’07), Ian Cole (`07-’08, `08-’09), Teddy Ruth (`08-’09) and Kyle Palmieri (`09-’10, `10-’11) as former Irish players to play in the World Junior Championships.
NHL DRAFTEES: The Irish have 12 players on the 2012-13 roster who have been selected in the National Hockey League’s Entry Draft. Three Irish players were selected in the 2012 Entry Draft. Freshman Thomas DiPauli led the Notre Dame contingent as he was selected in the fourth round, 100th overall by the Washington Capitals. Seven picks later, Irish sophomore Austin Wuthrich (Anchorage, Alaska) also was selected in the fourth round, 107th overall by the Capitals. The third player, Vince Hinostroza (Bartlett, Ill.), who signed a national letter-of-intent in Nov. of 2011, was selected by his hometown, Chicago Blackhawks in the sixth round with the 169th pick. He will play junior hockey this season and join the Irish lineup in 2013-14. The previous year, freshman Mario Lucia was a second-round choice, 60th overall of the Minnesota Wild. He was followed by junior center T.J. Tynan who was a third-round pick, 66th overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets. Freshman Steven Fogarty went in the third round, 72nd overall to the New York Rangers and Robbie Russo was the fourth Notre Dame player selected as the New York Islanders chose him in the fourth round, 95th overall. In 2010, three Notre Dame players were chosen. Junior defenseman Stephen Johns went in the second round of the 2010 draft, 60th overall to the Chicago Black Hawks. One round later in the third round, with the 80th overall pick, junior forward Bryan Rust (Novi, Mich.)was chosen by the Pittsburgh Penguins. Notre Dame’s final player selected in 2010 was junior defenseman Kevin Lind (Homer Glen, Ill.) who was picked in the sixth round, 177th overall by the Anaheim Ducks. Selected in the 2009 NHL Entry draft were left wing Jeff Costello, (Milwaukee, Wis.) chosen by the Ottawa Senators in the fifth round, 146th overall and six picks later, Anders Lee was a New York Islanders’ choice in the sixth round, 152nd overall. That group joins senior left wing Nick Larson (Apple Valley, Minn.) who was a 2008 selection of the Calgary Flames in the fourth round, 108th overall.