March 27, 2013
Notre Dame Hockey Game Notes 
| St. Cloud State Game Notes | ND Tourney Central
The Games: #4/#4 Notre Dame (25-12-3) vs. #11/#9 St. Cloud State (23-15-1) #5/#5 Miami (24-11-5) vs. #8/#11 Minnesota State (24-13-5)
– Date/Site/Times: Saturday, March 30, 2013 – Huntington Center (8,000) – 1:30 p.m./5:00 p.m.
Sunday, March 31, 2013 – Huntington Center (8,000) – 4:00 p.m.
– Broadcast Information: Radio: Notre Dame’s Midwest Regional game versus St. Cloud State can be heard live on Real Country 99.9 FM in South Bend and at UND.com. Darin Pritchett, the voice of the Irish, will call the action. Television: The CCHA Championship game will be televised live by ESPN Syndicated and ESPN3 and can be seen in South Bend on WHME-TV 46. Ben Holden and Darren Eliot will call the action.
– Internet: Audio/Video: Live audio streaming for the NCAA Midwest Regional is available on the Notre Dame website at UND.com free of charge. Video Streaming is available at ESPN3 (http://espn.go.com/watchespn/index/_/id/833461/st-cloud-state- vs-notre-dame-midwest-regional-semifinal-1) for both games on Saturday only. Statistics: Livestats can be found at GameTracker and at NCAA.com. Twitter:Follow Irish hockey on Twitter at ND_hockey.
NCAA MIDWEST REGIONAL: After a year’s absence from the NCAA Hockey Championships, Notre Dame returns in 2012-13 as the top-seeded team in the Midwest Regional that will be played on March 30-31, 2013 at the Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio. The Irish will face No. 4-seed St. Cloud State in the opening game at 1:30 p.m. on Sat., March 30. The second game of the day will feature second-seeded Miami versus No. 3-seed Minnesota State Mankato at 5:00 p.m. Both games on Saturday will be televised by ESPN Syndicated and ESPN3. Both games can be seen in the South Bend area on WHME-TV Channel 46. Sunday’s regional championship game will be televised on ESPNU. Ben Holden and Darren Eliot will call the action in all three games. The Midwest Regional survivor will advance to the Frozen Four at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pa., April 11-13. The Irish advanced to the regional and one of the tournament’s top four seeds by winning the CCHA Championship with wins over Ohio State and Michigan by identical 3-1 scores. They are 25-12-3 on the season and ranked fourth in both the USA Today/U.S. Hockey Magazine polls. Notre Dame’s opponent, the St. Cloud State Huskies enter the regional with a 23-15-1 record and finished the regular season as the co-champions of the WCHA along with Minnesota. The Huskies were upset in the WCHA semifinals with a 4-1 loss to Wisconsin to the NCAA Tournament.
IRISH NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY: Notre Dame is making its sixth NCAA Tournament appearance since the 2003-04 season (`03-’04, `06-’07, `07-’08, `08-’09, `10-11 and `12-’13) and the fifth with Coach Jeff Jackson behind the bench in eight seasons. . The last time the Irish were in the tournament was 2010-11 when they advanced to the Frozen Four. In 11 NCAA games, Notre Dame is 6-5 all-time with two trips to the Frozen Four (2008, 2011).
2004 - Midwest Regional, Grand Rapids, Mich. 2008 Frozen Four, Denver, Colo.#1 Minnesota 5, #4 Notre Dame 2 #4 Notre Dame 5, #1 Michigan 4 (OT) #3 Boston College 4, #4 Notre Dame 1
2007 - Midwest Regional, Grand Rapids, Mich. 2009 Midwest Regional, Grand Rapids, Mich.#1 Notre Dame 3, #4 Ala.-Huntsville 2 (2ot) #4 Bemidji State 5, #1 Notre Dame 1#3 Michigan St. 2, #1 Notre Dame 1
2008 - West Regional, Colorado Springs, Colo. 2011 Northeast Regional, Manchester, N.H.#4 Notre Dame 7, #1 New Hampshire 3 #3 Notre Dame 4, #2 Merrimack 3 (OT)#4 Notre Dame, 3, #3 Michigan State 1 #3 Notre Dame 2, #4 New Hampshire 1
2011 Frozen Four, St. Paul, Minn. #3 Minnesota Duluth 4, #4 Notre Dame 3
IRISH VERSUS HUSKIES: Notre Dame and St. Cloud State have met 10 times in the two program’s histories with the series even at 5-5-0. The team’s first met in the 1988-89 season, splitting a series in St. Cloud, Minn., as the Huskies won the opener, 4-3, with the Irish taking a 3-2 decision in the second game. The following year, 1989-90, the teams met four times, twice at each school. St. Cloud won three of those four meetings. They would not meet again until the 1996-97 season, playing a pair of games at the Joyce Center with the team’s splitting two contests. The Irish won 5-2 with SCSU taking a 2-1 win in the second game. The last meeting came during the 1997-98 season with the Irish sweeping the Huskies, 4-3 in overtime and 4-1 in the second game. The teams are 3-3 at St. Cloud and 2-2 at Notre Dame. The Irish and the Huskies have never met in NCAA Tournament play.
THE RANKINGS: All four teams in the Midwest Regional come into the weekend ranked nationally. The Irish are ranked fourth in both the USA Today/US Hockey Magazine poll and the USCHO.com poll. Right behind Notre Dame is Miami as the RedHawks are fifth in both polls. Minnesota State is ranked eighth in the USA Today poll and 11th in the USCHO.com rankings. St. Cloud State is 11th in the USA Today poll and ninth in the USCHO.com poll.
JACKSON AND THE NCAAS: Irish head coach Jeff Jackson has seen his teams make the NCAA Tournament in 11 of his 14 seasons as a Division I head coach (five with Notre Dame and six with Lake Superior State). During that time, his teams own a record of 19-9 (.679) in the NCAA Tournament. That includes a 13-5 record at Lake State and a 6-4 record at Notre Dame. Jackson also has seen his teams make it to the Frozen Four five times (1992, 1993, 1994 at LSSU and 2008 and 2011 at Notre Dame), winning twice at Lake Superior. His record in the Frozen Four is 6-3 overall.
THE COACH AND THE PLAYOFFS: Irish head coach Jeff Jackson has had his share of success in the CCHA playoffs. In 14 CCHA seasons (six at Lake Superior State and eight at Notre Dame), Jackson is 42-14 (.750) in conference postseason play. At Lake Superior, his teams were 24-2 while at Notre Dame, he is 18-12. His teams have advanced to the finals in 11 of 14 seasons (six at LSSU and five at Notre Dame). In those previous 13 seasons, his teams won seven CCHA titles (four at LSSU and two at Notre Dame).
VERSUS WCHA: Notre Dame played six games against team’s from the WCHA during the 2012-13 season. They finished the six games with a 3-3-0 mark. Notre Dame opened the year with a 3-2 win over Nebraska Omaha in the championship game of the Ice Breaker Tournament (Oct. 13). The Irish then started their home schedule with two games against Minnesota Duluth (Oct. 18-19), splitting those contests, losing 3-1, and then taking a 4-1 decision. Notre Dame picked up another split versus North Dakota (Nov. 23-24), losing the first night, 2-1, before taking the second game, 5-2. The Irish closed out the WCHA portion of the schedule with a 4-1 loss at Minnesota on Jan. 8.
IRISH VERSUS REDHAWKS: Notre Dame and Miami have met 66 times in the all-time series with the RedHawks owning a 39-17-10 advantage. At Oxford, Ohio, Miami is 22-9-2 all-time while the RedHawks are 4-1-0 against the Irish on neutral ice. Notre Dame snapped a four-game losing streak in the series on Feb. 17 when the Irish took a 2-1 decision from the RedHawks outdoors at Soldier Field in Chicago. In the other meeting this season, on Feb. 15, Miami downed the Irish, 3-1, at Goggin Arena in Oxford, Ohio. Since the start of the 2007-08 season, the RedHawks have had their way with the Irish, going 11-2-2 in 15 games.
IRISH AND MAVERICKS: Notre Dame and Minnesota State Mankato have met 10 times in the all-time series with the Irish holding a 6-4-0 advantage. The first meeting between the two schools came on Dec. 1-2, 1989 with Notre Dame sweeping the Mavericks, 5-0 and 5-3, at the Joyce Center. The teams met once in 1992-93 with the Irish taking a 6-3 win at Mankato, Minn. They would not meet again until 1996-97 when the teams each hosted a home game. Notre Dame lost at home in November, 4-3 in overtime but won in Minnesota in January, 3-2. Nine years later, in 2005-06, the two teams played a split series with the Irish winning at Minnesota State, 3-2, on Dec. 6 before losing 2-1, four days later in South Bend. The squads opened the 2006-07 season versus each other. On Oct. 12, Notre Dame hosted the Mavericks in South Bend and took a 6-1 win. On Oct. 14, Minnesota State won its home game, 3-2 in overtime. The last meeting came on Jan. 1, 2011 in Notre Dame’s Shillelagh Tournament. Held at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Ill., the Mavericks won 4-3 in the semifinals and have won two straight against the Irish. The Irish are 3-2 at home, 3-1 on the road and 0-1 on neutral ice against Minnesota State.
NCAA TOURNAMENT SCORING: Thirteen members of the 2012-13 Notre Dame hockey team have played in the NCAA Tournament during their careers. They were all members of the 2010-11 team that won the Northeast Regional in Manchester, N.H., to advance to the Frozen Four. There, the Irish lost a 4-3 decision to eventual national champion, Minnesota Duluth.
Name GP G A PTSAnders Lee 3 2 1 3T.J. Tynan 3 1 1 2Stephen Johns 3 1 0 1Bryan Rust 3 0 1 1Jeff Costello 3 1 0 1Nick Larson 3 0 1 1Shayne Taker 3 0 0 0Sam Calabrese 3 0 0 0David Gerths 3 0 0 0Mike Voran 3 0 0 0Kevin Lind 2 0 0 0Jared Beers 1 0 0 0
Goaltenders MIN W-L-T GA SVS SV% GAVGMike Johnson 183:48 2-1-0 8 86 .915 2.61
HOCKEY’S TURN: Notre Dame winter sports teams have had a strong 2012-13 season as they all have participated in NCAA Championships this March. The Notre Dame hockey team joins the University’s men’s and women’s basketball team in participating in their respective NCAA Championships this season. The men’s basketball team was beaten in the second round of their NCAA tournament on March 22nd while the women’s team advanced to the Sweet 16 on March 26. Notre Dame is the only Division I school in the country to send all three of its winter sports teams to the NCAA Championship this season. Notre Dame also had individuals participate in the NCAA men’s and women’s indoor track championships and in men’s and women’s swimming. The Notre Dame fencing program finished second at the NCAA Championship in that sport.
END OF AN ERA: Notre Dame’s 3-1 win in the CCHA Championship game on March 24 closed out the 42-year history of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. Next season, Notre Dame will play in Hockey East while Michigan, Ohio State and Michigan State will be in the Big 10 Conference. Miami and Western Michigan will join the National Collegiate Hockey Conference while Alaska, Bowling Green, Ferris State Lake Superior State and Northern Michigan will compete in the new look WCHA. The Irish were members of the CCHA twice – from 1981 to 1983 and again from 1992 through this season. In those 23 campaigns, Notre Dame finished the regular season with a 273-303-85 record in CCHA regular-season games. In the postseason, the Irish were 31-35 all-time and won two regular-season titles (2007 and 2009) and three CCHA tournament championships (2007, 2009, 2013).
NOTRE DAME AND “THE JOE”: Notre Dame made its10th trip to Joe Louis Arena in its 23rd season as members of the CCHA. The Irish played in the CCHA Championship in 1981-82, 1999-00, 2001-02, 2002-03, 2003-04, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2010-11. They won the tournament in 2007, 2009 and 2010. From 2001-04, Notre Dame played in the CCHA Super Six. In CCHA games, the Irish were 7-9 at Joe Louis Arena. All-time, Notre Dame has played 21 games at “The Joe,” including two Great Lakes Invitationals and a single game against Wayne State. The Irish are 10-11 at Joe Louis Arena all-time.
25 WINS: Notre Dame’s 25 wins marks the 12th time in the program’s history that the Irish have reached the 20-win plateau and the sixth time that they have recorded 25 or more victories in a season. This is the first time since the 2010-11 campaign that the Irish have won 20 or more as that team was 25-14-5. Notre Dame has won 20 or more games in five of the last seven seasons.
IRISH CCHA PLAYOFF HISTORY: The Irish have played 66 games in CCHA playoff history and are 31-35 in those games (19-8 at home, 5-18 on the road and 7-9 at Joe Louis Arena). Under coach Jeff Jackson, the Irish are 18-12 in the CCHA postseason, winning the championship in 2007, 2009 and 2013.
AMONG GOOD COMPANY: With the final championship played in the history of the CCHA, Notre Dame head coach Jeff Jackson finds himself in good company. Winning the 2013 title gives Jackson seven CCHA Championships to his credit (four with Lake Superior State and three at Notre Dame). He is third all-time in that category, trailing two other pretty good coaches – Michigan’s Red Berenson who has nine titles and former Michigan State coach Ron Mason who is first with 13 championships.
CCHA RECAP Michigan – Sunday, March 24 – The Notre Dame Fighting Irish sent the CCHA off in style on March 24 at Joe Louis Arena as they won their third CCHA championship since 2006-07 and the final one in the league’s 42-year history with a 3-1 win over Michigan. Sophomore right wing Austin Wuthrich (Anchorage, Alaska) snapped a 1-1 tie just 29 seconds into the third period to put Notre Dame ahead to stay with a 2-1 lead. Junior captain Anders Lee (Edina, Minn.) tied the game in the second stanza with his 20th goal of the year and Jeff Costello (Jr., Milwaukee, Wis.) sealed the victory with an unassisted tally with 1:07 left in the game. The Wolverines took the lead in the game on a short-handed goal by Derek DeBlois. For the second night in a row, the Irish outshot their opponent, this time by a 33-21 margin, including 18 shots in the first period. Michigan’s Steve Racine made 30 saves while Steven Summerhays (Jr., Anchorage, Alaska) had 20 in the Notre Dame goal. Notre Dame dominated the first period as the Irish out shot Michigan by an 18-6 margin but it was the Wolverines who scored the lone goal of the period and they did it short-handed at the 19:00-minute mark as DeBlois scored his 11th of the year off a pass from Jacob Trouba for the 1-0 lead. Notre Dame got the equalizer midway through the second period as Lee beat Racine from in front for his 20th goal of the year at 10:34. Defenseman Stephen Johns (Jr., Wampum, Pa.) fired a shot from the right point that went off the backboards to the left goal line where Costello stopped it. As he spun away from a Michigan defenseman, he centered a pass to Lee in the slot and he tucked a shot inside the right post to tie the game at 1-1. The Irish took the lead for good just 29 seconds into the third period as the trio of T.J. Tynan (Jr., Orland Park, Ill.), Mario Lucia (Fr., Plymouth, Minn.) and Wuthrich combined for a great passing play with Wuthrich getting his fifth of the season and the eventual game winner. As time ticked down near the one-minute mark of the third, Michigan looked to pull their goaltender for a sixth attacker. Racine got caught in no-man’s land trying to get off the ice just as Costello stole the puck at center and raced into the Wolverine zone. Before Racine could get back in the cage, the junior from Milwaukee, Wis., snapped a shot into the empty goal for his 11th of the season and the 3-1 victory and a CCHA championship.
OHIO STATE RECAP Saturday, March 23 – Peter Schneider (So., Vienna, Austria), T.J. Tynan and Jeff Costello scored single goals while goaltender Steven Summerhays stopped 16-of-17 shots to lead Notre Dame to a 3-1 win over Ohio State in the CCHA semifinals to advance to the championship game on Sunday. Ryan Dzingel scored the lone goal for the Buckeyes while goaltender Brady Hjelle stopped 41 shots in the loss. Ohio State scored first with Dzingel scoring off a 2-on-1, beating Summerhays with a shot from the slot at 9:56. Notre Dame answered with a goal from Schneider at 10:52 as he scored off a 3-on-1, using his linemates as decoys before whipping a shot under Hjelle’s glove hand. The score stayed that way until the third period when Tynan scored his 10th of the season via the power play at 3:50. Costello closed out the game with his 10th of the year, scoring into an open net at 18:55 to seal the victory. On the night, Notre Dame out shot Ohio State by a 44-17 margin. The Irish were 1-for-3 on the power play while the Buckeyes were 0-for-2.
CCHA HONORS: Three members of the Notre Dame hockey team were selected to the all-tournament team. Junior center T.J. Tynan was named to the team and was selected as the tournament’s most valuable player as he had a goal and two assists, scoring the game winner versus Ohio State and then helping set up the game winner against Michigan. He was joined by sophomore right wing Austin Wuthrich who scored the winning goal and defenseman Stephen Johns who had one assist and was +4 for the weekend.
RUST NEVER SLEEPS: Bryan Rust saw his eight-game scoring streak (5g, 4a) snapped in the Championship game against Michigan but finished the CCHA playoffs with three goals and an assist for four points. For the season, he continues his career year with career highs in goals (15), assists (18), points (33), shots (117), power-play goals (5), game winners (4) and plus-minus (+22). In fact, his 33 points in 40 games this season more than doubles his career totals after two seasons (80 games). Rust entered this season with 11 goals and 19 assists for 30 points. He now has 26 goals and 37 assists for 63 points this season.
20 WINS: With his wins over Ohio State and Michigan, junior goaltender Steven Summerhays has now won 21 games this year with a 21-11-2 mark. He becomes the seventh goaltender in the program’s history to record 20 or more wins in a season. The last to do it was senior Mike Johnson (Verona, Wis.) who recorded 20 wins in the 2010-11 season. Summerhays joins: Jordan Pearce `09 who had 30 in 2008-09, David Brown `07 who won 30 games in 2006-07, Lance Madson `90 with 24 in 1987-88, Pearce with 23 in 2007-08, Mark Kronholm `74 with 20 in 1972-73 and Johnson with 20 in 2010-11. T.J. TIME: Junior center T.J. Tynan had a goal (GWG, PPG) and added an assist in the 3-1 win over Ohio State in the semifinals. The goal was his first since March 1 (four games) and his multiple-point game was his first since Feb. 2 when he had a pair of assists at Ohio State. For the season, Tynan is fourth in scoring for the Irish with 10 goals and 18 assists for 28 points. He is tied for the team lead with five power-play goals and four game winners. He now has eight multi-point games on the season.
WORK HORSE: Dating back to last Feb. 24, 2012, Irish goaltender Steven Summerhays has played in 41 of the last 46 Notre Dame games, making 40 starts. During those 41 games, Summerhays is 24-13-2 with a 1.85 goals-against average, a .927 save percentage and six shutouts. He is now 36-23-3 for his career with a 2.24 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage. This season, Summerhays is tops among CCHA goaltenders in wins (21) and is second in goals-against average (1.94). He is seventh in save percentage (.921) and tied for the league lead with four shutouts. He is the first Irish goaltender to record four shutouts in one season since Jordan Pearce `09 had eight in the 2008-09 season. Summerhays has recorded all six of his shutouts since Feb. 24, 2012 of last season. In the CCHA playoffs, Summerhays was 4-0 with a 1.25 goals-against average and a .946 save percentage.
PROTECTING THE HOUSE: The Irish are 18-0-0 when taking a lead into the third period of a game during the 2012-13 season.
SCORING FIRST: Notre Dame has scored the first goal of the game in 27 of its first 40 contests this season and is 21-5-1 in those games. The Irish scored the first goal in six consecutive games between Jan. 15 and Feb. 1 but were just 1-5-0 in those games. In both games of the CCHA Championship versus Ohio State and Michigan, the Irish gave up the first goal and went on to win the game. When opponents score first, Notre Dame is 4-7-2.
TURNING THINGS AROUND: The Irish were just 2-6-0 in the month of January and started February with a 6-3 loss at Ohio State. Since falling to the Buckeyes on Feb. 1, Notre Dame has gone 9-1-3 in its last 13 games and is now unbeaten in its last nine (7-0-2) since Feb. 17. Since the beginning of March, the Irish are 6-0-0.
LEADER OF THE PACK: Junior left wing Anders Lee, the Notre Dame team captain, enters the NCAA Midwest Regional leading the Irish in scoring with 20 goals and 18 assists for 38 points. Among his 20 goals are four power-play goals and two game winners. He was a candidate for CCHA Player of the Year honors and the CCHA Top Defensive Forward award. In the CCHA, he was the top plus-minus man (+18) in the 28 regular-season CCHA games this season. Lee is currently tied for first among CCHA point getters with 38 with Miami’s Riley Barber and Austin Czarnik and Ohio State’s Ryan Dzingel in all games played. His 20 goals tie him for the most among CCHA goal scorers with Lake Superior’s Dominec Monardo (20).
OVERTIME INFO: Notre Dame’s overtime win versus Bowling Green (March 15) was the first for the Irish since beating Boston College, 3-2, in overtime on Nov. 18, 2011. Since then, the Irish were 0-1-4 in overtime. During the 2012-13 regular season, Notre Dame was 0-0-3 in extra time with all three of those games going to CCHA shootouts. The last time the Irish lost in overtime was March 9, 2012, a 2-1 double overtime loss at Michigan in the first game of the CCHA Quarterfinals. That game went 83:00 minutes.
FIVE STRAIGHT: With the win over Michigan in the CCHA Championship game, Notre Dame has now won all five games against the Wolverines this season, something that is a first for the program. Just once in the all-time series have the Irish won six straight (from 1971 to 1973) and that was over two years. Notre Dame recorded sweeps in each of its series versus Michigan during the 2012-13 season and then won the fifth meeting in the CCHA title game. The Irish also posted back-to-back wins versus Michigan on Nov. 15-16 at Yost Arena, just the fourth time in the program’s history that the Irish have swept in Ann Arbor.
SHOOTING THE BISCUIT: Through the first 40 games this season, Notre Dame has out shot the opposition in 30 of them while recording 30 or more shots 26 times. The Irish are averaging 31.6 shots per game to 25.1 by their opponents. They are 18-6-2 when getting 30 or more shots in a game and 20-7-3 when out shooting them in all games. Notre Dame’s season low for shots on goal is 21 and was set versus Boston College on Nov. 9 and against Miami on Feb. 15. The season high for shots on goal is 47 and came on Feb. 2 at Ohio State. The Irish added a 44-shot game against the Buckeyes in the CCHA semifinal game.
ONE IS THE LONELIEST NUMBER: Despite scoring 118 goals this season in 40 games, Notre Dame has been held to one goal in a game 13 times. When scoring just one goal in a game, the Irish are 3-9-1. With two or more goals in a game, the Irish are 22-3-2. In those 27 contests, Notre Dame has scored 105 goals or 3.89 per game.
PENALTY SHOT: Junior right wing Bryan Rust was awarded a penalty shot in the 4-3 win over Bowling Green (March 16) when Falcon defenseman Jose Delgadillo covered a puck in the crease at 8:28 of the third period. Rust scored on goaltender Andrew Hammond to give the Irish a 3-2 lead. His penalty shot was the second of the year for the Irish as center Anders Lee was awarded one on Jan. 26 versus Ferris State. His shot was stopped by goaltender Charles Williams. Lee’s penalty shot was the first in the Compton Family Ice Arena since Nov. 11, 2011 when Riley Sheahan was awarded one and scored on the shot in a 5-4 win over Alaska. There have now been four penalty shots at the Compton Family Ice Arena since it opened in Oct. of 2011. Boston College’s Chris Kreider scored on the second one on Nov. 18, 2011 in a 3-2 Notre Dame overtime win.
VETERANS: The 2012-13 Notre Dame team is definitely a veteran unit. Looking at the Irish roster, there are currently 11 players that have played 100 or more games in their careers. Senior Nick Larson had played the most – 151 career games – heading into the game with St. Cloud State on March 30.
AWARDS SHOW: The Notre Dame hockey team will hold its 2012-13 awards program on Sunday, April 7 at the Mendoza College of Business Atrium and Jordan Auditorium. The awards program will honor the graduating Irish senior class and individual team award winners from the past season. Hors d’oeuvres will be served at 3:00 p.m. with the awards program set to begin at 4:00 p.m. The event will include video highlights from the 2012-13 season, award presentations and remarks from head coach Jeff Jackson along with senior players Sam Calabrese, Mike Johnson, Nick Larson, Kevin Nugent plus senior manager John Madison. Tickets and registration for the awards program are available by going through the following Notre Dame Monogram Club website at – http://monogram.undgroup.org/hockey2013. Tickets are $15.00 for adults and $8.00 for children 12 and under. Please register by Monday, March 25. For more information contact Sue Halasz in the Notre Dame Hockey Office at 574-631-3630.
ALL-CCHA: Junior center Anders Lee was selected first team all-CCHA for the 2012-13 season. The 6-3, 220-pound center was second in the conference in goals scored with 14 in league games and tied for fourth in the league-scoring race with 26 points. He led the CCHA with a +18 mark in the 28 regular-season conference games. Overall, Lee currently leads the Irish in scoring with 20 goals and 18 assists for 38 points in 40 games and is third on the squad with a +18 mark. His 134 shots are tops on the team. Among his 20 goals are four power-play markers, one short-handed goal and two game winners. In three seasons at Notre Dame, Lee has played in 124 games with 61 goals and 55 assists for 116 career points. Lee, who was an honorable mention selection as a sophomore, finished second in the voting among conference forwards, as he received seven first-place votes for 44 points. This marks the second time that the Irish team captain has been selected to a CCHA all-conference team, as he was a second team choice as a freshman in 2010-11. He becomes the second Notre Dame player, joining T.J. Tynan, to be named to an all-CCHA team twice in his career and is the fifth Irish player in the 23 seasons that the Irish have played in the conference to be a first team selection as he joins Tynan, defenseman Ian Cole, goaltender David Brown `07 and defenseman Benoit Cotnoir `99. Lee, joins Tynan and defenseman Jack Brownschidle `77 as the only Notre Dame players ever selected to two all-conference teams as Brownschidle was a two-time, first-team all-WCHA selection in 1976 and 1977.
SCHOLAR-ATHLETE: Sophomore right wing Peter Schneider has been named to the CCHA all-academic team for the 2012-13 season. Schneider is a double major in Economics and Business and has a 3.945 grade-point average and has been named to the Dean’s List in each of his first three semesters at Notre Dame. On the ice, the speedy Schneider has appeared in 34 games and has five goals and four assists for nine points while picking up 20 minutes in penalties. He is +2 for the season. The native of Vienna, Austria got the Notre Dame offense going in the win over Ohio State as his first-period goal tied the game at 1-1.
ALL-ROOKIE HONORS: Freshman left wing Mario Lucia was selected to the CCHA all-rookie team for the 2012-13 season. Lucia leads Notre Dame freshmen in scoring with 12 goals and 11 assists for 23 points in 31 games this season. He missed the first nine games of the season with a broken leg suffered in preseason training. His 12 goals tie him for second on the team and his five power-play goals lead the team in that category. He is currently fourth in the CCHA among rookie scorers with his 22 points. He was named the CCHA Rookie of the Week twice in December and was the CCHA Postgame offensive player of the week for the week ending March 3. He also was the CCHA rookie of the month for December.
THE OTHER GUY: Senior goaltender Mike Johnson (Verona, Wis.) got the start on Senior Night in Notre Dame’s last game on March 2 versus Bowling Green. He stopped 26-of-27 shots in a 4-1 win over the Falcons. The win improved Johnson to 4-1-1 with a 2.36 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage. For his career, he has appeared in 98 games, making 91 starts and is 43-34-13 with a 2.61 goals-against average and a .901 save percentage with two shutouts. His 43 wins make him just one of seven Notre Dame goaltenders to win 40 or more games in his career.
CAREER YEAR: Sophomore defenseman Robbie Russo now has career highs in goals (5), assists (18), points (23) and power-play goals (4) this season in 38 games. As a freshman, Russo had four goals and 11 assists for 15 points in 40 games. He is second among CCHA defensemen in points overall and his four power-play goals tie him for second on the team.
THE PLAYMAKER: Junior left wing Jeff Costello had a career-high three-assist game in the Feb. 8, 7-4, win over Michigan. Costello now has career highs in assists (19) and points (30) for the Irish this season.
HELPING HAND: Senior defenseman Sam Calabrese (Sr., Park Ridge, Ill.) has had a career season offensively for the Irish on the blue line. He has established career highs in assists (19) and points (20) in his senior year. His lone goal came on the power play in the 2-2 tie with the Ohio State on Feb. 2 . For the year, Calabrese is second among Irish defensemen in scoring with 20 points, trailing Russo and his 23 points. For his career, the lone senior on the Notre Dame defense now has 10 goals and 44 assists for 54 points in 125 career games.
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.
PLUS-MINUS LEADERS: A pair of juniors lead the Irish in plus-minus this season. Right wing Bryan Rust is tops on the team with a +24. Right behind him is defenseman Kevin Lind (Homer Glen, Ill., who has a +23.
BRIGHT KIDS: University of Notre Dame athletic programs again rank as the best in the country in graduation rates, based on Graduation Success Rate (GSR) figures released by the NCAA — including first-place ratings in the sports of football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball and ice hockey. Among the 120 Football Bowl Subdivision institutions, Notre Dame had the highest percentage of its sports with 100 percent scores (for the seventh time in eight years), with a .863 figure (19 of 22). In hockey, Notre Dame achieved a 100 GSR rating, to rank first (tied with Bowling Green) among Division I-A football-playing institutions. Here are the FBS institutions with scores of 65 or higher in that category:
Score Institution100 Notre Dame, Bowling Green96 U.S. Air Force Academy94 Michigan85 U.S. Military Academy, Boston College, Connecticut83 Miami (Ohio)73 Western Michigan65 Michigan State
The four-year GSR data is based upon the entering classes from 2002 to 2005. In addition to men’s and women’s basketball and hockey, other Notre Dame programs recording 100 GSR scores in the 2012 listings were baseball, men’s cross country/track, women’s cross country/track, men’s fencing, women’s fencing, men’s golf, women’s golf, women’s lacrosse, women’s rowing, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, women’s softball, men’s swimming, women’s swimming, women’s tennis and women’s volleyball.
SHARING THE WEALTH: Through the first 40 games of the season, the Irish have been good at spreading the scoring around. In those games, 19 different Notre Dame players have scored the team’s 118 goals with Anders Lee leading the way with 20 while Bryan Rust has 15 and Mario Lucia has 12. Twenty-one of the team’s 23 skaters have scored at least one point with Lee leading the way with 38 points while Rust is next with 33. Thirteen different players have scored game-winning goals for the Irish with Rust and T.J. Tynan notching four. The Irish have 13 players on the roster with 10 or more points this season.