March 12, 2009
Notre Dame, Ind. –
Complete Release in PDF Format 
<>• The Series: #2/#2 Notre Dame (27-5-3) vs. Nebraska-Omaha (15-15-8)
• Date/Site/Time: Fri-Sun., March 13-15, 2009 • Joyce Center (2,713) • 7:35 pm/7:05 pm/7:05 pm
• Broadcast Information: Radio: Notre Dame hockey can be heard live on Cat Country 99.9 FM in South Bend. WSBT Radio Sports Director Darin Pritchett will call all the action for the Irish.
• Internet: All Notre Dame hockey games can be heard live on the internet via the Notre Dame website at www.und.com. All home games that are not televised will be streamed live on und.com. All Notre Dame home games and all CCHA games are available via gametracker.
THE SECOND SEASON: Notre Dame begins its second season as the Irish host the second round of the CCHA playoffs this weekend, facing Nebraska-Omaha in the best-of-three series March 13-15. Friday’s game has a 7:35 p.m. starting time with the remaining games set for 7:05 p.m. All games of the series can be seen on the Notre Dame website – und.com – with live video streaming free of charge. The Irish, regular-season CCHA champions with a 21-4-3-3 record, bring a 27-5-3 overall mark into the game. Notre Dame last played on Feb. 27-28 in a home-and-home series with Michigan State. The Irish won 5-0 at home and then took a 2-1 decision in the game at Munn Arena. They enter the playoffs with a six-game winning streak since Feb. 13. Nebraska-Omaha arrives in South Bend with a 15-15-8 overall record and was eighth in the CCHA with an 8-13-7-3 league record. The Mavericks advanced to the second round after taking two games from Ferris State last weekend in Omaha, winning 3-0 in game one and then 5-2 in the second contest. The winner of this series advances to Joe Louis Arena for the CCHA semifinals next Friday at Joe Louis Arena.
IRISH VERSUS MAVERICKS: The two teams have met 27 times in the all-time series with the Irish holding a 14-9-4 mark. At the Joyce Center, Notre Dame is 6-4-2. The two teams met earlier this season (Feb. 20-21) in Omaha, Neb., with the Irish winning a 4-3 overtime verdict followed by a 1-0 win in the second game. The last time the two teams played at Notre Dame was in the 2007-08 season with the Irish taking 5-4 and 5-0 wins. In the last six meetings between the two schools, Notre Dame has a 5-0-1 record. The last time UNO won at the Joyce Center was Feb. 5, 2005. Since then, the Mavs are 0-3-1 on Irish home ice.
POSTSEASON MEETINGS: Notre Dame and Nebraska-Omaha have met once in postseason play. That came in a first-round series during the 2001-02 season at the Omaha Civic Auditorium. The Irish won the series, two games to one, to advance to the CCHA Super Six in Detroit. The Mavericks won the series opener, 3-2, in double overtime, getting the winning goal, 40 seconds into the second overtime stanza. Notre Dame bounced back to win game two, 2-1, in overtime and then took the series with a 2-1 win in game three. Then freshman goaltender, Morgan Cey `05, stopped 99-of-104 shots (.952) in the series to send the Irish on to Detroit.
IRISH CCHA PLAYOFF HISTORY: The Irish have played 47 games in CCHA playoff history and are 19-28 in those games. Notre Dame goes into the 2009 CCHA playoffs with a two-game playoff losing streak.
1981-82 Michigan W, 6-5Michigan W, 5-3vs. Bowling Green (@JLA) W, 8-5vs. Michigan State (@JLA) L, 1-4
1982-83at Bowling Green L, 3-8at Bowling Green L, 2-7
1992-93at Michigan L, 2-13at Michigan L, 1-8
1993-94at Western Michigan L, 3-6at Western Michigan L, 1-7
1994-95at Bowling Green L, 2-7at Bowling Green L, 4-5
1997-98at Michigan W, 4-2at Michigan L, 1-2 (ot)at Michigan L, 3-4
1998-99Northern Michigan W, 3-2Northern Michigan L, 1-7Northern Michigan L, 2-3
1999-2000Ferris State W, 4-3Ferris State L, 1-6Ferris State W, 4-2vs. Michigan State (@JLA) L, 0-4
2001-2002at Nebraska-Omaha L, 2-3 (2ot)at Nebraska-Omaha W, 2-1 (ot)at Nebraska-Omaha W, 2-1vs. No. Michigan (@JLA) L, 1-3
2002-03at Miami (OH) L, 2-4at Miami (OH) W, 1-0at Miami (OH) W, 5-0vs. Ohio State (@JLA) L, 2-3
2003-04Western Michigan W, 4-2Western Michigan L, 0-4Western Michigan W, 5-4 (ot)vs. Ohio State (@JLA) L, 5-6 ot
2004-05at Michigan L, 1-10at Michigan L, 0-1 (ot)
2005-06Alaska L, 1-3Alaska L, 0-1
2006-07Alaska W, 7-1Alaska W, 3-1vs. Lake Superior (@JLA) W, 3-0vs. Michigan (@JLA) W, 2-1
2007-08Ferris State L, 1-2Ferris State W, 6-3Ferris State W, 2-1vs. Miami (at JLA) L, 1-2 (ot)vs. Northern Michigan (at JLA) L, 1-2
CCHA POSTSEASON SCORING: Sixteen members of the 2008-09 Notre Dame hockey team have seen CCHA playoff action. Those players have played a total of 108 games, scoring 17 goals with 43 assists for 60 points.
CCHA POSTSEASON SCORING:Name GP G A PTSErik Condra 9 2 9 11Kyle Lawson 9 2 5 7Ryan Thang 9 1 6 7Kevin Deeth 9 1 5 6Garrett Regan 11 2 3 5Justin White 7 0 5 5Ian Cole 5 3 1 4Ben Ryan 5 2 2 4Christian Hanson 11 2 1 3Dan Kissel 5 1 1 2Brett Blatchford 7 0 2 2Christiaan Minella 6 0 2 2Calle Ridderwall 5 1 0 1Teddy Ruth 5 0 1 1Ryan Guentzel 3 0 0 0Luke Lucyk 2 0 0 0
Goaltenders MIN W-L-T GA SVS SV% GAVGJordan Pearce 351:23 2-4-0 11 134 .924 1.88
THE COACH AND THE PLAYOFFS: Irish head coach Jeff Jackson has had his share of success in the CCHA playoffs. In his nine previous CCHA seasons (six at Lake Superior State and three at Notre Dame), Jackson is 30-7 (.811) in conference postseason play. At Lake Superior, his teams were 24-2 while at Notre Dame, he is 6-5. His teams have advanced to the finals in seven of eight seasons (six at LSSU and one at Notre Dame).
MILESTONE: Notre Dame head coach Jeff Jackson needs just one more win to give him 100 for his four seasons at Notre Dame. He comes into the series with Nebraska-Omaha sporting a 99-47-14 mark in his first three-plus seasons guiding the Irish.
A MOMENT OF SILENCE: The Notre Dame hockey program lost one its biggest ambassadors on Friday, Feb. 27. The “Voice of Notre Dame Hockey” Mike Lockert passed away in his sleep early that morning. The 43-year old Lockert had been Notre Dame’s hockey broadcaster for seven years (2002-09). He was buried in his hometown of Los Angeles, Calif., on Saturday, March 7th. Notre Dame held a memorial service for their voice on Thursday, March 12 in the Joyce Center.
RAISE A BANNER: Notre Dame clinched its second CCHA regular-season championship on Saturday, Feb. 21, with a 1-0 win at Nebraska-Omaha. This is the second regular season title won by the Irish in the last three years as they also won it in 2006-07. AWARDS TIME: The CCHA has started handing out its postseason awards heading into the second round of the CCHA playoffs. Earlier this week, Irish freshman right wing Billy Maday (Burr Ridge, Ill.) was named to the league’s all-rookie team. Senior goaltender Jordan Pearce (Anchorage, Alaska) was named to the CCHA’s Scholar-Athlete team for the second consecutive year. Four Irish players were named to the all-conference team. Sophomore defenseman Ian Cole (Ann Arbor, Mich.) was named first team all-CCHA, becoming the third Notre Dame player along with David Brown `07 and Benoit Cotnoir `99 to be named first team. Three players – Erik Condra (Sr., Livonia, Mich.), Christian Hanson (Sr., Venetia, Pa.) and Kyle Lawson (Jr., New Hudson, Mich.) – were selected second team. Pearce and sophomore Calle Ridderwall (Stockholm, Sweden) were honorable mention choices.
CCHA MARKS: Notre Dame’s 2-1 win at Michigan State on Feb. 28 gave the Irish 21 league wins this season to tie their record of 21 set during the 2006-07 season when that team was 21-4-3. Notre Dame finished this season with a 21-4-3-3 mark in the CCHA, good for 48 points, a new team record for points in the CCHA. The Irish have three extra points in the league standings due to winning three shootouts this year.
MR. RELIABLE: Notre Dame’s All-American and Hobey Baker candidate and honorable mention all-CCHA selection – senior goaltender Jordan Pearce – has been a regular in the Notre Dame goal over the last two seasons. Since Jan. 5, 2008, Pearce has appeared in 57 of the last 58 Irish games. Of those 57 games, 56 have been starts. Pearce has now appeared in 32 straight games for the Irish, making 31 starts in that span. The last game he did not start was on Nov. 29 when Tommy O’Brien (Jr., Mokena, Ill.) made his second career start. Pearce came on in relief after 23:15 of action as O’Brien surrendered two goals on eight shots. Pearce has appeared in 34 of Notre Dame’s first 35 games this season and is 26-5-3 with a 1.72 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage with six shutouts. Pearce played in all 20 games of Notre Dame’s 20-game unbeaten streak, going 17-0-3 with a 1.36 goals-against average with a .944 save percentage and three shutouts.
HOW GOOD IS PEARCE: Going into the second round of the CCHA playoffs this weekend, Notre Dame goaltender Jordan Pearce leads the nation in wins (26), is sixth in minutes played (2,026:46), is fourth in goals-against average (1.72), eighth in save percentage (.929), 3rd in winning percentage (.803) and tied for first in shutouts (6).
NOTHING ON THE BOARD: With the 5-0 shutout on Feb. 27 versus Michigan State at the Joyce Center, Notre Dame recorded its seventh shutout of the season (Jordan Pearce – 6, Tom O’Brien -1). That ties the Irish record for shutouts in a season that was set in 2006-07 when David Brown `07 (6) and Pearce (1) combined for seven. Pearce’s six shutouts this season ties Brown’s single-season mark of six set in `06-’07. Pearce trails Brown, 12-10 on the career shutout list at Notre Dame. CLOSE ONES: With a 2-1 win over Michigan State in the regular-season finale, Notre Dame improved its record in one-goal games to 9-2 this season. The Irish also own a 6-1 mark in games decided by two goals. In overtime, Notre Dame is 2-0-3 and in the three ties, the Irish have been on the winning end of the CCHA’s shootout. Last season, the Irish were 11-6 in one-goal games. The .818 winning percentage this season is third best behind a pair of undefeated years – `87-’88 (6-0) and `68-’69 (4-0).
NOTRE DAME WIN MARK: Jordan Pearce’s enters the postseason with 26 wins this year and 55 for his career. The 26 wins are the second-best, single-season record at Notre Dame, surpassed only by David Brown’s 29-win season in 2006-07. His 55 career wins ties him with Brown for second on the all-time wins list. He needs just one win to equal the school record of 56 wins held by Lance Madson `90. Pearce is the only goaltender in Notre Dame history to have 20-or-more wins twice in his career. He now owns a career record of 55-25-7.
CAPTAIN CONDRA: With a three-goal weekend against Michigan State (Feb. 27-28), Erik Condra now leads the Irish in scoring with 13 goals and 22 assists for 35 points. He has led Notre Dame in scoring in each of his four seasons to date. For his career, Condra now has 48 goals and 107 assists for 155 points in 154 career games. He is now 13th on Notre Dame’s all-time points list and is tied for eighth on the all-time assists list with Dave Poulin `82. With his second winning goal of the year in the 5-0 win against Michigan State, he is tied for sixth all-time with 11 game winners in his career.
ON THE SIDELINES: Junior left wing Ryan Thang (Edina, Minn.) has missed the last seven games sidelined with a high ankle sprain, suffered on Feb. 6 at Ohio State. He has resumed skating and is listed as day-to-day. He is joined by sophomore goaltender Brad Phillips (Farmington Hills, Mich.), who has been out for the season, on the injured list. Phillips injured his right knee in the preseason and has not played this year. He was 4-1-0 as a freshman with a 1.53 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage.
HONORING LUKE: Notre Dame senior defenseman Luke Lucyk (Fox Point, Wis.) was honored by South Bend’s Robinson Center on Feb. 20 when he received the Rev. Don McNeill, C.S.C. Award presented each year to a Notre Dame student whose commitment to service has strengthened the relationship between Northeast neighborhood residents and the academic community by building relationships with youth and/or adult participants. The award was presented at the Robinson Center’s 8th anniversary party. The center presented Lucyk the award at the Joyce Center earlier in the week with his teammates in attendance. Lucyk was instrumental in starting a program with the Robinson Center to teach inner city kids about the game of hockey. The program was modeled after the NHL’s “Hockey in Harlem” program. Participants got a chance to skate at the Joyce Center, attend a Notre Dame hockey game and get weekly instruction from Lucyk and his teammates playing floor or street hockey at the Robinson Center.
LOWE’S SENIOR CLASS AWARD: Two members of the Notre Dame hockey team are among the list of 10 finalists for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. Named to the list are senior forward Erik Condra and goaltender Jordan Pearce. The award is given annually to an NCAA Division I student-athlete in nine sports based on achievement’s in the “Four C’s” of classroom, character, community and competition. CLASS is an acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School. Last season, senior Mark Van Guilder `08 was one of 10 finalists for the award and in 2007, goaltender David Brown `07 was selected as the first winner of the hockey award. Through March 10 in the fan voting, Pearce is the leader with 17% of the votes and Condra is second with 16%.
POWER OUTAGE: After scoring 10 power-play goals in the series against Northern Michigan (Feb. 13-14), the Irish were 0-for-10 in the series against Nebraska-Omaha and just 1-for-5 in the Michigan State series. In the four games prior to UNO series, the Irish were 14-for-27 (51.9%) when playing with the extra man. For the season, the Irish are 49-for-205 for a 23.9% success rate on the power play. They are second in the nation in power-play goals and percentage.
WINNING TEAMS: Since the start of the 2006-07 season, Notre Dame (86-28-10) has had the winningest hockey program in the country. The Irish have recorded 86 wins and a .734 winning percentage in that time frame. Michigan is second with an 85-30-5 record (.729) while Miami is third with a 76-32-10 record (.686). Here are the top six teams by wins and winning percentage (as of March 12).
Wins Winning Pct.Notre Dame 86 Notre Dame (.734)Michigan 85 Michigan (.729)Miami 76 Miami (.686)North Dakota 74 New Hampshire (.676)Boston College 70 North Dakota (.649)New Hampshire 70 Boston College (.642)
A CHILL (ING) REUNION: When sophomore Calle Ridderwall and freshman Billy Maday were put on the same line with center Kevin Deeth in the second game of the Miami series (Oct. 25), it marked the first time that Ridderwall and Maday played together at Notre Dame. The two aren’t strangers though as they spent the 2005-06 season as linemates with the Chicago Chill Midget AA program, helping the Chill to a second-place finish at the USA Midget AA championships. Maday had 38 goals and 87 assists for 125 points in 74 games with the Chill while Ridderwall had 52 goals and 66 assists for 118 points that season. In 31 games together this season, the duo has combined for 26 goals and and 28 assists with Maday having 12 goals and 13 assists for 25 points while Ridderwall has 14 goals and 15 assists for 29 points in those games.
BACK-TO-BACK BLANKINGS: The Irish recorded back-to-back shutouts between series, getting a 1-0 shutout at Nebraska-Omaha on Feb. 21 and following that with a 5-0 shutout of Michigan State on Feb. 27. That marked the third time this season that Notre Dame recorded shutouts in back-to-back games. Previously, the Irish had two shutouts at the Joyce Center on Jan. 9-10 versus Alaska by 2-0 and 3-0 scores. Senior goaltender Jordan Pearce was between the pipes for both blankings. In October, Notre Dame shut out Sacred Heart, 3-0 and 7-0, on Oct. 17-18. The last time the Irish had back-to-back shutouts in CCHA play came on March 15-16, 2003, when Morgan Cey `05 blanked Miami, 1-0 and 5-0, in games two and three of the CCHA playoffs. The Irish have never had back-to-back shutout wins in a CCHA regular-season series before this season.