Jan. 11, 2006
Notre Dame, Ind. –
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• The Series: Notre Dame (7-11-2/5-7-2) vs. #3/#3 Miami (14-4-3/11-3-1)
• Date/Site/Times: Fri.-Sat., Jan. 13-14, 2006 – 7:35 p.m./7:00 p.m. – Joyce Center (2,713)
• Broadcast Information: Radio: Notre Dame hockey can be heard live on ESPN Radio 1580, South Bend’s SportsCenter. Mike Lockert, “the voice of Irish hockey” will bring you all the play-by-play action.
• Internet Broadcast: At the Notre Dame website – www.und.com.
IRISH SET TO HOST CCHA-LEADING MIAMI: The Notre Dame Fighting Irish will play their only home series during the month of January, this weekend, Jan. 13-14, when they play host to the third-ranked Miami RedHawks at the Joyce Center. Friday’s game has a 7:35 p.m. starting time while Saturday’s game will drop the puck at 7:00 p.m. The Irish come into the weekend series tied for seventh in the CCHA with a 7-11-2 overall mark and a 5-7-2 record in CCHA action, good for 12 points. Notre Dame opened the 2006 portion of the schedule last weekend with a 4-1 win and a 2-2 tie at Nebraska-Omaha and now have a three-game unbeaten streak (2-0-1) and are 4-2-1 over the last seven games dating back to Dec. 3. After starting the season 0-5-1 in their first six road games, the Irish are now 2-0-1 in their last three games away from the Joyce Center. Miami University comes into the weekend series ranked third in the nation with a 14-4-3 record and is first in the CCHA with an 11-3-1 mark, good for 23 points and a five-point lead over second-place Lake Superior State in the conference standings. The RedHawks played Tuesday night at Ohio State where they dropped a 3-0 decision to the Buckeyes. Miami is coming off a weekend split with Northern Michigan, dropping a 2-1 decision in Friday’s game before winning 6-3 on Saturday. Following the weekend series with Miami, the Irish will be on the road the next two weeks as they travel to Northern Michigan (Jan. 20-21) and Ohio State (Jan. 27-28).
IRISH VERSUS REDHAWKS: Notre Dame and Miami meet for the second time this season. On Nov. 18, at Oxford, Ohio, the Irish tied the RedHawks, 2-2 in overtime, in the first game of the series. Miami then won the second game (Nov. 19) of the series, 3-0. In the all-time series, Miami has a 27-13-6 lead in the first 46 meetings. At the Joyce Center, the RedHawks are 10-6-4 versus the Irish. The last nine meetings between the two teams have come at Oxford, Ohio. The last time the two teams played at Notre Dame was Nov. 8-9, 2002 with the last Irish home win coming on Nov. 9, 2002, a 2-1 victory.
THE PUCK STOPS HERE: Notre Dame goaltender David Brown (Jr., Stoney Creek, Ont.) turned in a stellar series at Nebraska-Omaha, giving up just three power-play goals on the weekend. Brown stopped 62-of-65 Maverick shots (.954) in the 4-1 win and 2-2 tie. Brown has now played in 13 consecutive games for the Irish, starting 12 of them. Since Dec. 2, Brown is 4-2-1 with a 1.89 goals-against average and a .935 save percentage. For the season, Brown is 5-8-2 with a 2.92 goals-against average and a .903 save percentage.
THREE POINTS FROM THE MAVERICKS: The Irish put together their best road weekend of the season at Omaha on Jan. 6-7, taking a 4-1 win and a 2-2 tie versus Nebraska-Omaha. In Saturday’s 2-2 tie, David Brown stopped 32 of 34 Maverick shots, including three in overtime for the 2-2 tie. The Irish scored first in the game after a scoreless first period. Wes O’Neill (Jr., Essex, Ont.) scored his third goal of the year at 2:44 of the second period on the power play for a 1-0 Irish lead. Mark Van Guilder (So., Roseville, Minn.) and Josh Sciba (Jr., Westland, Mich.) continued their big weekends with assists on O’Neill’s goal. Nebraska-Omaha evened the score at 6:39 of the second when Kaleb Betts scored on the power play. The Irish would retake the lead at 10:31 of the second when Tim Wallace (Sr., Anchorage, Alaska) picked off an errant UNO pass and whipped a shot past goaltender Jerad Kaufmann for his ninth of the season. The Mavericks would get the equalizer at 8:21 of the third period when Mick Lawrence scored on the power play for the 2-2 tie. On the night, Nebraska-Omaha out shot the Irish by a 34-30 margin. Notre Dame was 1-for-6 on the power play while the Mavericks were 2-for-7. On Friday night, Brown opened the weekend series with 30 saves while Van Guilder and Sciba had three-point games (1g, 2a) in the 4-1 win. Senior Mike Walsh (Northville, Mich.) opened the scoring at 13:47 of the first period with a power-play goal for a 1-0 Irish lead. Sciba made it 2-0 at 11:38 of the second period with a power-play goal. Van Guilder made it 3-0 with a short-handed tally at 16:24 of the second period after outstanding defensive plays by Noah Babin (Jr., Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) and Brock Sheahan (So., Lethbridge, Alb.) in the Irish zone. The Mavericks would break up Brown’s shutout bid at 19:52 of the second when Tomas Klempa scored on the power play to make it 3-1 after two periods. Evan Rankin (So., Portage, Mich.) closed out the scoring at 2:42 of the third period with his first goal of the season. Nebraska outshot the Irish by a 31-23 margin in the game. Notre Dame was 2-for-4 on the power play while Nebraska-Omaha was 1-for-4.
MAKING THE CLIMB: With the 4-1 win and 2-2 tie over Nebraska-Omaha last weekend, Notre Dame moved out of last place in the CCHA for the first time since Jan 15 of last season. The Irish already have two more CCHA wins (5 to 3) than last season and one more point (12 to 11) with 14 more league games left to play.
TOP CITIZEN: Notre Dame senior defenseman Chris Trick (Troy, Mich.) is one of 18 nominees for college hockey’s Humanitarian Award that is awarded each year to college hockey’s top citizen. An assistant captain with the Irish, Trick oversees the team’s community service projects. He has been a two-year member of Notre Dame’s Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) and has been the team’s organizer for various community service projects the last two seasons. Away from Notre Dame, Trick has worked with the Michigan Amateur Hockey Association’s (MAHA) Great Lakes Sled Dogs, a sled hockey program in Fraser, Mich. He has played with the team, helped coach and worked with outside organizations to get equipment donations for the program. The Hockey Humanitarian Award is awarded every year at the NCAA Frozen Four in April.
THREE FOR THE ROAD: Notre Dame’s three-point weekend versus Nebraska-Omaha was the first road series for the Irish with three or more points since Jan. 17-18, 2004 when Notre Dame won and tied at Wisconsin. It’s the most points the Irish have recorded in a CCHA road series since a sweep at Bowling Green on Feb. 14-15, 2003.
ROAD WARRIORS: Junior center Josh Sciba and sophomore right wing Mark Van Guilder each had three-point games at Nebraska-Omaha in Friday’s 4-1 win. Sciba had a power-play goal and two assists while Van Guilder scored a short-handed marker with two assists on the night. For both, it was the second three-point games of the season and their careers. Both players added an assist in Saturday’s 2-2 tie for four points on the weekend.
TURNING ON THE POWER: With three power-play goals on the weekend at Nebraska-Omaha, Notre Dame now has 24 power-play goals in 134 chances (17.9%) in 20 games. Last season, the Irish had 23 power-play goals in 238 chances (9.8%) in 38 games. The Irish power-play currently ranks fifth in the CCHA.
THE LAST TIME: Notre Dame started a New Year with three or more points was 1993 when they won back-to-back games versus Mankato State and Ohio State. The Irish are 2-0-1 in their last three games and 4-2-1 in the last seven contests.
FOUR IN THE NHL: When former Irish standout Ben Simon `00 was recalled by the Columbus BlueJackets on Jan. 6, it gave Notre Dame four alums playing in the National Hockey League. Simon joined Rob Globke `04 (Florida), Brett Lebda `04 (Detroit) and Mark Eaton (Nashville) as former Notre Dame players in the NHL this season. Only one other time, have the Irish had more players in the NHL in one season. That came during the 1982-83 season when the Irish had five players see time in the NHL. That group included: Jim Brown `82 (three games with Los Angeles), Jack Brownschidle `77 (72 games with St. Louis), Jeff Brownschidle `81 (four games with Hartford), Don Jackson `78 (71 games with Edmonton) and Dave Poulin `82 (two games with Philadelphia).
THE DEFENSE RESTS: Defensemen Noah Babin and Brock Sheahan turned in an outstanding weekend at Nebraska-Omaha as they helped shut down two of the CCHA’s top scorers in Scott Parse and Bill Thomas. In two games, the Irish duo held Parse to two assists and six shots on goal (both came in the 2-2 tie). Thomas had five shots (three on Friday, two on Saturday) with no points. Babin and Sheahan each finished the weekend with a +1 and an assist on Mark Van Guilder’s short-handed goal. Babin had seven shots on the weekend and Sheahan had one.
CLUTCH SCORER: With his game-winning goal versus Lake Superior State (Dec. 18), Irish left wing Mike Walsh has now scored seven game-winning goals in his career among his 20 career goals. He needs just two more game winners to break into the all-time top 10 at Notre Dame.
Name GWG1. Rob Globke (2000-04) 13 Brian Urick (1995-99) 13 Dave Poulin (1978-82) 134. David Bankoske (1988-93) 125. Paul Regan (1969-73) 116. Tim Kuehl (1986-90) 10 Tom Mooney (1984-88) 10 Greg Meredith (1976-80) 109. Dan Carlson (1997-01) 9 Kirt Bjork (1979-83) 9 -- Mike Walsh (2002-Present) 7
GETTING ON THE BOARD: Notre Dame’s four-goal outburst in the 4-3 win over Lake Superior State marked the first time the Irish had scored that many goals in a game since a Nov. 11, 4-2 win over Bowling Green (a span of nine games).
ALUMNI NOTES: Two former Notre Dame hockey players were busy during the Christmas holidays. Morgan Cey `05, who is currently a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning organization and playing in Johnstown of the ECHL was selected to play for Team Canada in the 2005 Spengler Cup Tournament in Davos, Switzerland. Cey, who saw limited playing time, collected a silver medal as Canada finished second in the tournament. Former Irish scoring standout Rob Globke `04 saw his hockey dream come true as he made his NHL debut with the Florida Panthers on Dec. 28 in a 6-4 win over Boston. Globke was recalled from the Rochester Americans of the AHL on Dec. 27. He is scoreless in six games with the Panthers.
NOAH KNOWS: Defenseman Noah Babin’s three-point game (1g, 2a) against Lake Superior State (Dec. 18) was a career-high for the junior defenseman. For the season, Babin now has two goals and eight assists for 10 points. His eight assists are also a career high for Babin.
NEW KID ON THE BLOCK: Freshman right wing Erik Condra (Livonia, Mich.) is tied for the team lead in scoring (3g, 15a, 18 pts.) after picking up two assists in the 4-1 win at Nebraska-Omaha. He is currently third in the CCHA among rookie scorers behind Michigan’s Jack Johnson and Andrew Cogliano. So far this season, Condra has recorded three, three-point games and five games with two or more points. His last came on Dec. 6 in a 3-2 Irish win at Minnesota State. Condra scored the first Irish goal of the game (ppg) and then got the game winner on the deflection of a Chris Trick (Sr., Troy, Mich.) shot with nine seconds left. In between, he assisted on Josh Sciba’s (Jr., Westland, Mich.) second-period power-play goal. His other three-point games came at Denver (10/22) and versus Bowling Green (11/11). He had three assists in both of those games. His two-goal game against Minnesota State was the first multiple-goal game of his career.
WALLY’S WORLD: Senior right wing Tim Wallace is having a career-year for the Irish in 2005-06. He already has career highs in goals (9), points (16) and power-play goals (3) in the first 20 games of the season. He is just two assists off his career high in that category (9, set last season). His personal-best five-game point streak (3-4-7) was snapped in the 3-0 shutout at Miami on Nov. 19. The senior right wing has three two-point games on the year and one game with three points (2g, 1a) – a career high. He has a pair of two-goal games to his credit – Oct. 28 vs. Princeton and Dec. 18 vs. Lake Superior – giving him three for his career. The third came on March 14, 2004 in the first round of the CCHA playoffs when he had a pair of goals in game three versus Western Michigan in Notre Dame’s 5-4 overtime win. Wallace continues to add to his “Iron Man” streak as he has now played in 137 consecutive games for the Irish.
ROAD WIN: The Dec. 10 win at Minnesota State snapped a 17-game road winless skid (0-15-2) for the Irish. It had been over a year since the last Notre Dame road win. That came on Nov. 26, 2004, a 3-2 win at Alaska Fairbanks. Since that win at Minnesota State, the Irish are 2-0-1 on the road. For the season, the Irish are 2-5-2 away from the Joyce Center and 5-6-0 at home.
GETTING BETTER EVERY DAY: Notre Dame’s penalty-killing unit that has struggled all season long has now put together a solid performance over the last seven games. In those games, the Irish have killed 36 of 43 opponent power-play chances (83.7%), including three power-play shutout performances. On Dec. 17, Lake Superior scored three times on eight chances as the only blemish on the recent Notre Dame record. On the year, Notre Dame has killed 107 of 137 chances for a 78.1% penalty-killing ratio. The Irish have held teams without a power-play goal in just four of 20 games this season.
THE QUICKEST AND THE LATEST: Tim Wallace’s goal at 00:09 of the first period versus Western Michigan on Dec. 2 was the quickest goal at the start of a game in Notre Dame history. It broke the mark of 12 seconds set by Sterling Black on Jan. 6, 1990 versus Arizona. Erik Condra’s goal with nine seconds left on the clock versus Minnesota State (Dec. 6) was the latest regulation-time, game-winning goal ever for the Irish, edging T.J. Jindra’s (Jr., Faribault, Minn.) short-handed game winner against Boston College last season by six seconds (19:45).
POWER-PLAY PRODUCER: Wes O’Neill recorded his third goal of the season in the 2-2 tie at Nebraska-Omaha. All three of his goals this season have come with the man advantage. The big defenseman recorded the first three-point game of his career at Minnesota State (Dec. 6) with three assists on the night. On the year, O’Neill has four multiple-point games and for his career, now has nine games with two or more points. On the season, the 2004 New York Islander draft choice has three goals and 11 assists for 14 points. Of his 14 points, 12 have come on the power play (3g, 9a). In his two-plus seasons with the Irish, O’Neill now has 11 goals and 35 assists for 46 points with 28 of those coming via the power play (9g, 19a).
DOUBLE-DIGIT SCORER: Junior forward Josh Sciba now has a career-high 11 goals after scoring last weekend at Nebraska-Omaha. With 11 goals and seven assists for 18 points, Sciba has career highs in goals, points and power-play goals (6). His seven assists tie his career high set as a freshman. Of Sciba’s 24 career goals, 11 have come via the power play.
POWER SURGE: Notre Dame has scored two or more power-play goals in four of its last six games, going 10-for-40 (25.0%) in that span. After going 4-for-45 (8.9%) on the power play through the first six games of the season, the Irish have now scored 20 times on 89 chances (22.5%) with the man advantage in the last 14 contests. Overall, the Irish are 24-for-134 (17.9%) through the first 20 games of the season.
CAREER YEAR: Mark Van Guilder’s three-point game (1g, 2a) versus Nebraska-Omaha (Jan. 6) was the second of his Irish career and the fourth multiple-point game of his career. With three goals and 11 assists for 14 points, Van Guilder already has career highs in goals (3), assists (11) and points (14) in the first 20 games this season.
LOOKING FOR GOALS: After scoring 13 goals in the weekend series versus Bowling Green (Nov. 10-11), the Irish have been held to just 25 goals in the last 12 games (2.08), including 10 goals in the last three games. For the season, the Irish have 54 goals in 20 games (2.70).
ALL TIED UP: The Jan. 7 tie with Miami gives Notre Dame 51 overtime games that the Irish have been involved in since the start of the 1999-2000 season. In those games, they are 7-6-38. During the 2004-05 season, Notre Dame played in nine overtime contests, going 1-2-6 in those games. The lone overtime win came on Dec. 10 versus Michigan State and was the first regular-season overtime win since Jan. 25, 2002, snapping a 16-game winless (0-2-14) skid in regular-season overtime games. This season, the Irish are 0-0-2 in overtime.
IRON MEN: Junior right wing Tim Wallace has played in all 137 games during his three-plus seasons at Notre Dame. He became Notre Dame’s all-time “Iron Man,” passing former defenseman Evan Nielsen (`03) who held the record with 114 games between 2000-03. Other Irish consecutive game streaks of 35 games or more include:
Chris Trick – 59 games
Mark Van Guilder – 58 games
Mike Walsh – 53 games
Van Guilder joins Wallace as the only two players with two or more years experience on the Irish roster who have not missed a game during their careers.
GETTING INVOLVED: The Notre Dame defense continues to contribute to the Irish attack. Wes O’Neill scored once and Noah Babin and Brock Sheahan added assists in the weekend series at Nebraska-Omaha. In the series sweep versus Bowling Green (Nov. 10-11), the defense contributed 11 points (all assists). Babin and Sheahan led the way with three assists each. Chris Trick and Wes O’Neill had two points each while Tom Sawatske (Jr., Duluth, Minn.) had one assist in the two games. For Trick and Sheahan, the two-point games were the first multiple-point games of their careers. In 20 games this season, the Irish defense has five goals and 31 assists for 36 points.
NO. 1 TEAMS: Through the first 20 games of the season, the Irish will have played eight of them versus ranked teams. The Irish opened with No. 4 Colorado College and then played No. 9 Denver. The second week of the season, the Irish played No. 3 Michigan in a pair of games. All three of those teams have been ranked No. 1 in the nation at one time or another this year. On Nov. 18-19, the Irish played a pair of games versus No. 11/12 Miami at Oxford, Ohio. The Irish meet up with the RedHawks at home this weekend and they bring with them a No. 3 ranking in both polls.
IRISH ADD FOUR: Head coach Jeff Jackson has annouced that Christian Minella (Aurora, Colo.) has signed a national letter-of-intent to attend Notre Dame beginning in the fall of 2006. Minella is a 6-2, 200-pound right wing who is currently playing for the USHL’s Sioux City Musketeers. In 33 games for the Stampede, Minella has 12 goals and six assists for 18 points. Minella joins Kevin Deeth (Gig Harbor, Wash.), Kyle Lawson (New Hudson, Mich.) and Ryan Thang (Edina, Minn.) who signed national letters-of-intent to attend Notre Dame but deferred to the 2006-07 season. Deeth, a center, is currently the leading scorer for the Green Bay Gamblers (33 gp, 11-22-33); Lawson, a defenseman, is a member of the Tri-City Storm (29gp, 6-9-15) and Thang, a right wing, is in his second season with the Sioux Falls Stampede (32 gp, 8-14-22).
A SERIES SWEEP: Notre Dame’s sweep of Bowling Green on Nov. 10-11 (9-4 and 4-2) marked the first time since Feb. 27-28, 2004, that the Irish recorded a CCHA series sweep or a sweep of any kind. The two wins in a row were the first for the Irish since Nov. 13 and Nov. 26, 2005 when Notre Dame won back-to-back at Western Michigan (3-2) and at Alaska Fairbanks (3-2).
NOTRE DAME'S RECORD WHEN....
When Notre Dame scores first ................. 6-2-2When opponents score first ................... 1-9-0When Notre Dame leads after one period ....... 4-0-0When Notre Dame trails after one period ...... 0-6-0When score is tied after one period .......... 3-5-2When Notre Dame leads after two periods ...... 7-0-2When Notre Dame trails after two periods ..... 0-11-0When score is tied after two periods ......... 0-0-0When Notre Dame outshoots opponent ........... 3-2-0When opponent outshoots Notre Dame ........... 4-7-2When shots are even .......................... 0-2-0In Game 1 of CCHA weekend series ............. 2-4-1In Game 2 of CCHA weekend series ............. 3-3-1In one-goal games ............................ 2-2-0In two-goal games ............................ 2-4-0Notre Dame at home ........................... 5-6-0Notre Dame on the road ....................... 2-5-2Notre Dame on neutral ice .................... 0-0-0Notre Dame in overtime ....................... 0-0-2Notre Dame in October ........................ 1-3-0Notre Dame in November ....................... 2-5-1Notre Dame in December ....................... 3-3-0Notre Dame in January ........................ 1-0-1Notre Dame in February ....................... 0-0-0
IRISH SPECIAL TEAMSHere's a game-by-game look at Notre Dame's special teams this season:
POWER PLAY PEN. KILLINGGame G-Chances Kills-Opp@CC 0-4 6-7@DU 2-8 (2 SHG) 7-9PRINCE 0-10 5-7PRINCE 1-8 9-9MICH 1-10 3-7@MICH 0-5 3-6BGSU 4-10 5-7 (SHG)BGSU 1-8 8-9@MIA 2-4 5-6@MIA 0-4 (SHG) 2-3OSU 1-9 7-9OSU 2-10 7-9at WMU 0-4 4-6WMU 2-5 6-6at MSM 2-7 6-7MSM 0-7 (SHG) 7-7LSSU 0-4 5-8LSSU 3-7 4-4at UNO 2-4 3-4at UNO 1-6 5-7Home 15-88 (17.0%) 66-82 (80.5%)Away 9-46 (19.6%) 41-55 (74.5%)Neutral 0-0 (0.0%) 0-0 (0.0%)Totals 24-134 (17.9%) 107-137 (78.1%)