Irish Return Home To Host Badgers

WHO: Notre Dame (10-10-4, 5-3-3-2 B1G) vs. Wisconsin (9-12-1, 4-9-1-1 B1G)
WHEN: Friday, January 24 – 7 p.m. ET | Saturday, January 25 – 6 p.m. ET
WHERE: Compton Family Ice Arena
WATCH: Both – NBC Sports Chicago+, NBC Sports Philadelphia+ & NBC Sports Streaming
LISTEN: 94.3 FM | UND.com
TICKETS: Click here
GAME NOTES (PDF)

FOR STARTERS

• Notre Dame and Wisconsin close out their regular-season series with a pair of games at the Compton Family Ice Arena this weekend (Jan. 24-25).
• Last weekend, the Irish went 0-1-1 in a pair of tightly contested games at ninth-ranked Ohio State, while Wisconsin split a pair of home games versus Michigan State.
• With 20 points, Notre Dame sits in fourth in the Big Ten standings, while Wisconsin is seventh with 14 points.
• The top four teams in the standings, led by first-place Ohio State (26 points), are separated by just six points.
• Dating back to Notre Dame’s 3-0 shutout of Penn State on December 14, Cale Morris has stopped 243 of his last 258 shots against for a .942 save percentage over the eight-game stretch.
• In nine career starts against Wisconsin, Morris is 5-3-1 with a 2.75 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage.
• Freshman forward Max Ellis was the most recent Fighting Irish player to score a goal this season when he netted the game winner in Notre Dame’s 3-0 victory over Penn State (Dec. 14), becoming Notre Dame’s 17th goal scorer this season.
• The Fighting Irish have posted six comeback wins this season, including three third period comebacks (both wins over Ohio State and the overtime victory at Wisconsin) and added a third period comeback tie (and shootout win) at Michigan State on Nov. 22.
• The Irish are 2-0-4 in overtime this season, with game-winning goals from Pierce Crawford (vs. Ohio State on Nov. 8) and Alex Steeves (at Wisconsin on Nov. 16).
• Notre Dame is currently the nation’s least penalized team with a 7.4 PIM/game ranking (RPI is second-lowest in the country with a 7.7 average).

MORRIS UP FOR HOBEY VOTE

• Senior goaltender and alternate captain Cale Morris has been selected to Phase One of the Hobey Baker Memorial Award fan voting ballot (Jan. 15).
• To vote, visit the website www.hobeybaker.com.
• Awarded annually to college hockey’s top player, the Hobey Baker award includes candidates exhibiting the exceptional character traits, with consideration given to scholastic achievement and sportsmanship.
• The 2018 Mike Richter Award recipient as college hockey’s top goaltender, Morris was a Top-10 Finalist for the Hobey Baker Award in 2018.
• Morris was the fourth player in Notre Dame history to be among the 10 finalists for the Hobey Baker, joining Anders Bjork (2017), David Brown (2007) and Dave Poulin (1982).
• Morris, a Larkspur, Colorado native, was also the first player from the Centennial State to play his way into the Hobey Top 10.
• The Fan Balloting (Phase I) of the Hobey Baker award calendar will continue until March 9.
• On March 18, the Top 10 Finalists will be announced, at which time Phase II Fan Balloting will begin and run through March 29, 2020.
• The Hobey Hat Trick Finalist Announcement will be made on April 2. • The 2020 Hobey Baker Award winner will be announced from a field of three Hobey Hat Trick finalists on April 10, 2020 during the NCAA Frozen Four Championship in Detroit, Michigan.

BURKE A HOCKEY HUMANITARIAN NOMINEE

• For the second consecutive season, Cal Burke has been named a nominee for the Hockey Humanitarian Award, which was announced by The Hockey Humanitarian Foundation (Jan. 13).
• The award is presented annually to college hockey’s finest citizen — a student-athlete who makes significant contributions not only to his or her team but also to the community-at-large through leadership in volunteerism.
• Burke, a senior captain, is one of 13 nominees across all of college hockey (men’s and women’s).
• One of the leaders in regards to the team’s involvement with the Fighting Irish Fight for Life program, Burke is also a member of Notre Dame’s Student Athlete Advisory Council.
• The Boxborough, Massachusetts, native also serves on a mental health sub-group within the SAAC, working to reduce the stigma around mental health and help seeking and he helped develop and launch the Irish Strong Initiative.
• A season ago, Burke earned the Compton Family Leadership in Service Award and was Notre Dame’s 2019 Big Ten Sportsmanship honoree.
• Finalists for the 2020 Hockey Humanitarian Award will be announced in February.
• The 2020 recipient will be honored in a ceremony on Friday, April 10th as part of the NCAA Men’s Frozen Four weekend in Detroit, Michigan.
• The group of nominees includes nine seniors, three juniors and one sophomore, along with nine male (4 Div. I) and four female (1 Div. I) candidates.

THE NOTRE DAME – WISCONSIN SERIES

• Former opponents in the WCHA, Notre Dame and Wisconsin have met 72 times in program history with Wisconsin leading the all-time series 41-23-8.
• The Badgers also lead the series when playing at Notre Dame, 16-11-5.
• The first meeting between the two teams came during the 1921-22 season when the Irish skated away with a 3-0 victory at Badin Rink (outdoors at Notre Dame).
• The teams met once more, in 1925-26, before taking a 40 year hiatus and returning to competition when Notre Dame earned varsity status.
• Since Notre Dame joined the Big Ten, the Irish lead the series with Wisconsin 6-3-1.
• Earlier this season, the teams split a pair of games at the Kohl Center on Nov. 15-16.
• Wisconsin took game one, 3-0, behind a 22-save Daniel Lebedeff shutout.
• Notre Dame took a back-and-forth game two, 5-4 in overtime.
• Alex Steeves had the OT game winner (just moments after Nate Clurman cleared a puck off the Notre Dame goal line) and Trevor Janicke, Cam Burke and Colin Theisen also scored for the Irish.
• Clurman also had a pair of assists in that contest, while Steeves and Theisen each finished with a goal and an assist.
• As a head coach, Jeff Jackson is 7-4-1 all-time against the Badgers (1-1-0 at Lake Superior State).
• The one win Jackson had over the Badgers at Lake Superior State came on April 4, 1992, in Albany, New York, as the Lakers defeated Wisconsin 5-3 to win the NCAA Championship (the first of Jackson’s two NCAA Championships at Lake State).
• During the 2017-18 season in game two at Wisconsin (Dec. 9), Cal Burke recorded his first career hat trick en route to a 6-2 Notre Dame victory to extend Notre Dame’s winning streak to 13.
• That winning streak eventually reached a program-best mark of 16 before Wisconsin defeated the Irish at the United Center on Jan. 21 by a score of 5-0.
• Last season, current sophomore forward Michael Graham had a breakout weekend against the Badgers during their January series as he posted five points through two games with four goals and an assist, three of which came with the man-advantage.
• Graham earned both conference and national recognition following the weekend series against the Badgers, being named the Big Ten First Star of the Week and NCAA Second Star of the Week (Jan. 22).
• Notre Dame’s active career offensive leaders against the Badgers include Michael Graham (4 GP, 6-1-7), Cal Burke (8 GP, 4-3-7), Mike O’Leary (10 GP, 2-5-7), Colin Theisen (10 GP; 2-5-7), Cam Morrison (7 GP, 0-4-4) and Tory Dello (10 GP; 1-3-4).
• In net, Cale Morris has played nine games against Wisconsin over the past three seasons, posting a 5-3-1 record to go along with a 2.75 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage.

—ND—