Oct. 26, 2011
Notre Dame, Ind. –
– The Games: #5/#5 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (3-2-0/1-1-0-0) at Bowling Green Falcons ( 4-1-1/1-1-0-0)
– Date/Site/Time: Friday-Saturday, October 28-29, 2011 – BGSU Ice Arena (5,000) – 7:05 p.m./7:05 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. Television: Friday night’s game will be televised by Comcast with Matt Shepard and Sean Ritchlin calling the action and Art Regner at rinkside.
– Internet: Audio: Notre Dame will stream the audio for both games of the Bowling Green series live and free of charge at und.com. Livestats: Available at bgsufalcons.com
BACK TO HOCKEY: The Notre Dame Fighting Irish return to the road this weekend for a pair of games versus the Bowling Green Falcons on Oct. 28-29 at the BGSU Ice Arena. Both games have 7:05 p.m. starting times. This weekend’s action will give the Irish a chance to concentrate on playing hockey. The opening week of the season, Notre Dame was part of Minnesota-Duluth’s 2010-11 national championship ceremony. The following week, the Irish dealt with their final weekend at the Joyce Center against Ohio State and then last weekend, the opening of the Compton Family Ice Arena versus Rensselaer. This week, it’s just hockey and the Bowling Green Falcons. Notre Dame enters the weekend with a 3-2-0 overall record and is 1-1-0-0 in the CCHA after splitting that series against Ohio State. The Irish will face a Bowling Green squad that is 4-1-1 on the year and also is 1-1-0-0 in conference play. Friday night’s game will be televised live by Comcast with Matt Shepard and Sean Ritchlin calling the action and Art Regner at rinkside. Following this weekend, the Irish will stay on the road to open November with a pair of games at Northern Michigan, Nov. 4-5.
IRISH VERSUS FALCONS: Notre Dame and Bowling Green have met 95 times in the all-time series with the Irish holding a 51-36-8 mark. Notre Dame has only played Michigan (125 times) and Michigan State (108 times) more in the program’s 44-year history. At Bowling Green, the Falcons have a 24-22-3 advantage between the two teams. Last season, the Irish won the season series, 3-1-0, splitting the two games at the BGSU Ice Arena, BG winning 3-2 on Nov. 5 with Notre Dame winning 6-3 the following night. The Irish then won twice in February at home (2-1 and 5-1). Notre Dame and Bowling Green will meet twice more this season with games on Feb. 3-4 at the Compton Family Ice Arena.
NEW ERA BEGINS: Notre Dame got the history of the brand, new Compton Family Ice Arena off to a fast start with a 5-2 win over Rensselaer on Friday, Oct. 21. Anders Lee (So., Edina, Minn.) put his mark on the building with his second career hat trick to give him a CCHA-leading eight goals on the young season. Sean Lorenz (Sr., Littleton, Colo.) and Riley Sheahan (Jr., St. Catharine’s, Ont.) scored Notre Dame’s other goals in the win. Junior goaltender Mike Johnson (Verona, Wis.) made 15 saves in the victory. Defenseman Sam Calabrese (Jr., Park Ridge, Ill.) had a career-high three assists while T.J. Tynan (So., Orland Park, Ill.) and freshman Austin Wuthrich (Anchorage, Alaska) added a pair of helper in the win.
NEW HOME OF THE IRISH: The Compton Family Ice Arena became the new home of the Notre Dame hockey team on Tuesday, Oct. 18 when the Irish moved into the building at 5:30 p.m. that evening. The original announcement for the new building was made on Feb. 12, 2009 by Notre Dame executive vice-president John Affleck-Graves and Director of Athletics Jack Swarbrick after the University’s Board of Trustees approved the plan. Work began in the spring of 2010 with the first steel erected in July of that year. On Sept. 11, 2010, a project blessing ceremony for the $50-million facility was held with many of the key benefactors in attendance. At the ceremony, Swarbrick, announced that the building would be named the Compton Family Ice Arena in honor of the generous donation from Kevin and Gayla Compton and their family. The Comptons are part of the ownership group of the National Hockey League’s San Jose Sharks. The Compton Family Ice Arena houses both the Charles “Lefty” Smith rink, within the new 5,022-person capacity main arena with a second sheet of ice (Olympic-sized) with limited seating availability. The majority of the general public arena seating will be of the chair-back variety. The facility will include offices for the Notre Dame coaching staff, a state-of-the art locker room suite that includes both wet and dry locker rooms, meeting rooms, a sports medicine area that includes hot and cold hydrotherapy, cardio and weight rooms, a players’ lounge, equipment areas, video operations and a multi-purpose room that will be the location for weekly team Mass and serve as a study lounge and dining area. The arena also will feature a balcony level with a 200-seat, Irish pub-themed club called O’Briens, multiple concession areas on both levels, spacious restrooms and a merchandise shop. The Compton Family Ice Arena also will serve the Notre Dame and South Bend community as a place for the Irish Youth Hockey League (IYHL) and local figure skating groups to flourish. On campus it will become the home of club and interhall hockey, the figure skating club and intramural broomball, curling and physical education classes. Multiple locker rooms also will be available for campus and community use of the facility. Design and construction of the Compton Family Ice Arena are under the auspices of the Southfield, Mich., office of Barton Malow, a national design and construction services firm and their project partner Rossetti Architects, also of Southfield, Mich.
RANKINGS: Notre Dame enters the weekend ranked fifth in both the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine and USCHO.com polls. Bowling Green is receiving votes in the USCHO.com poll.
COMPTON FAMILY ICE ARENA FIRSTS:
Starting Lineups:Notre Dame RensselaerMike Johnson G Bryce MerriamShayne Taker D Mike BerginStephen Johns D Curtis LeonardAustin Wuthrich LW Alex Angers-GouletRiley Sheahan C Joel MalchukBilly Maday RW Justin Smith
First Face Off: Sheahan (ND) vs. Malchuk (RPR) Won by Malchuk
First Shot On Goal: Zach Schroeder (RPI)First Save: Mike Johnson (ND)First Notre Dame Shot: Riley SheahanFirst Penalty: Nick Larson (ND) - checking from behind (1:46 of 2nd period)First Goal: Anders Lee (ND) 9:21 off 1st periodFirst Assists: T.J. Tynan and Sam CalabreseFirst PPG: Riley Sheahan (ND) 1:39 of 3rd period.
LARGEST HOME CROWD: Opening night at the Compton Family Ice Arena on Oct. 21 saw the Irish play in front of the largest home crowd for Division I hockey in the program’s history as a standing-room only gathering of 5,022 filled the new building for the 5-2 win over Rensselaer. The previous record crowd was 4,816 versus Wisconsin in the WCHA playoffs on March 10, 1973 at the Joyce Center. The Joyce Center had various seating configurations in its 44-year history with the final sell-out mark being 2,713 seats and 2,857 being a standing-room sell out.
Top Home Crowds For Notre Dame HockeyDate Opp. Att Result10/21/11 Rensselaer 5,022 W, 5-2 *3/10/73 vs. Wisconsin 4,816 L, 3-4 (WCHA Playoffs)1/21/73 vs. Michigan St. 4,787 W, 13-52/24/73 vs. Wisconsin 4,787 W, 4-32/23/73 vs. Wisconsin 4,779 W, 8-51/26/73 vs. Michigan St. 4,722 W, 8-51/29/72 vs. Wisconsin 4,666 L, 3-53/9/73 vs. Wisconsin 4,586 T, 4-4 (WCHA Playoffs)2/3/73 vs. No. Dakota 4,566 L, 2-33/4/72 vs. Michigan St. 4,544 W, 6-21/28/72 vs. Wisconsin 4,494 L, 3-52/2/73 vs. No. Dakota 4,385 W, 9-3
Following the 1972-73 season, the seating configuration was changed to 4,287 being a sellout.
* attendance at the Compton Family Ice Arena. All others at the Joyce Center.
FINAL TOTALS: With the Oct. 14-15 split versus Ohio State, the Joyce Center era for the Irish hockey program ends with Notre Dame being 361-286-57 (.553) at the Joyce Center. Under Jeff Jackson, the Irish had a 66-32-13 (.653) record under the north dome.
FAST STARTS: Sophomores Anders Lee and T.J. Tynan picked up where they left off last season as the dynamic duo leads the CCHA in scoring after the first three weeks. Lee has eight goals and three assists for 11 points with his eight goals leading the conference and tying him for the national lead. Tynan has 11 points on two goals and nine assists and leads the CCHA in assists while being tied for the national lead with nine helpers.
WELCOME BACK RILEY: Junior center Riley Sheahan scored his first goal of the season in the win over Rensselaer, notching a third-period power-play marker. After missing the first three games of the season with a lower body injury, Sheahan has a goal and four assists for five points in three games this season.
SUCCESS OFF THE ICE: The NCAA released its annual Graduation Success Rate (GSR) measurements on Oct. 25 and the Notre Dame hockey team achieved a 95 GSR rating to rank second to Air Force among Division 1-A football playing institutions. Here are the FBS institutions with scores of 65 or higher in that category:
Score Institution97 U.S. Air Force Academy95 Notre Dame94 Bowling Green92 Boston College84 U.S. Military Academy82 Connecticut77 Western Michigan75 Michigan73 Miami (Ohio)68 Michigan State, Minnesota
Among the top institutions overall, Notre Dame ranked first overall among FBS institutions with 50 or more percent of their sports registering 100 marks. The Irish had an 81.8% success rate to lead Wake Forest in second with a 78.5% mark.
CAREER HIGH: Junior defenseman Sam Calabrese recorded a career-high three assists in the win over Rensselaer. The team’s top scoring blue liner in 2010-11 with six goals and 12 assists for 18 points, Calabrese has five assists in five games this season.
MAD HATTER: Anders Lee recorded the second hat trick of his Notre Dame career in the 5-2 win over Rensselaer on Oct. 21. Lee scored the opening goal of the game, then broke a 1-1 tie with his second-period goal. He appeared to score his third goal in the third period but that was waved off on a questionable high stick on the puck call before he finished the trick with an empty net goal with 1:20 left in the game. His first hat trick came in his first career game on Oct. 8, 2010 versus Holy Cross in the Warrior Ice Breaker Classic in St. Louis, Mo.
THE KID IS ALRIGHT: Freshman right wing Austin Wuthrich continues to impress in the early part of the season as he recorded the first multiple-point game of his career in the win over Rensselaer as he assisted on a pair of goals. Wuthrich has now scored in three straight games after getting goals in both games of the Ohio State series the previous week. In four games this season, he has two goals and two assists. He is also the answer to a Notre Dame trivial pursuit question – Who scored the last goal in the Joyce Center? Austin Wuthrich at 18:35 of the third period on Oct. 15.
CONFERENCE CALL: The Hockey East Association and the University of Notre Dame announced on Wednesday, Oct. 5 that the Fighting Irish have been accepted into the league as the 11th member school and will begin play in the 2013-14 campaign. The announcement came at a press conference on the ice at Notre Dame’s new 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 is currently a member of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) and has had two stints with the CCHA during its 44 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).
The current shift in conferences began with the Big Ten’s decision to form their own hockey league beginning in 2013-14. That started the realignment process in both the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) and the CCHA that has occurred this past summer and fall.
A PLUS FOR LORENZ: Defenseman Sean Lorenz has picked up where he left off last season in the plus-minus category. The senior blue liner who is the reigning CCHA defensive defenseman of the year after recording a +33 last season, leads the Irish with a +5 this year after five games. He also has two goals and two assists for four points.
FOR OPENERS: The season-opening loss to Minnesota-Duluth, Notre Dame is now 21-21-2 in all-time season openers. In road season openers Notre Dame falls to 17-23-4 for the 44-year history of the program. After knocking off Ohio State at the Joyce Center on Oct. 14, the Irish are now 25-18-1 all-time in the home opener.
FULLâ⒬ˆHOUSE: With one sellout in the weekend series against Ohio State (Oct. 14-15), the Irish closed out the Joyce Center with sellouts in 17 of the last 21 games played there. During the 2010-11 season, Notre Dame sold out 16 of its 19 home games at the Joyce Center. A year ago, Notre Dame averaged 2,801 fans per game. Since Dec. 13, 2008, the Irish have recorded sellouts in 40 of their last 47 home games. A sellout at the Joyce Center is 2,713 with 2,857 capacity with standing room. Twice during the `09-’10 season – Jan. 15 vs. Michigan State and Jan. 29 against Nebraska-Omaha – 3,007 fans jammed into the Joyce Center. Prior to that number, the largest crowd to see an Irish hockey game was 3,310 on March of 1995 when Notre Dame play Illinois-Chicago. The following season, new seating was installed and capacity was reconfigured.
SPECIAL NUMBERS TO WATCH: Two important areas for the Irish this season will be the power play and the penalty kill as they had some issues with both areas in 2010-11. The Irish were 33-for-209 on the power play a year ago for a 15.8% success rate. That ranked them 9th in the CCHA and 42nd in the nation. The penalty-killing unit gave up 37 power-play goals and was 155-of-192 for an 80.7% success rate. That was eighth-best in the conference and 39th nationally. This year, the Irish are 5-for-27 on the power play (18.5%) – good for fourth in the CCHA and tied for 23rd nationally – and have killed 22-of-27 opponent chances for an 81.5% mark after five games to rank ninth in the conference and 28th nationally.
SHORT-HAND SUCCESS: T.J. Tynan’s first goal of the season came short-handed in the win over Minnesota-Duluth and was the third of his career. In 2010-11, Tynan had two of Notre Dame’s 13 short-handed goals. The 13 shorties tied Boston College for the national lead. The 13 short-handed tallies were the most for the Irish since setting a school record with 19 during the 1981-82 season.
CLASS OF THE CLASS: Notre Dame senior defenseman Sean Lorenz has been named one of 20 candidates for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award that honors student athletes who excel both on and off the ice and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. Lorenz is a three-time monogram winner for the Irish and serves as one of Notre Dame’s alternate captains in 2011-12. He is coming off a career year for the Irish where he played in 44 games with career highs in goal (4), assists (11) and points (15) while being +33 on the year. He also was the CCHA defensive, defenseman of the year and the winner of Notre Dame’s William Donald Nyrop Award as the team’s top defenseman. Last year’s candidate, Calle Ridderwall `11, was a finalist for the award. Former Notre Dame goaltender David Brown `07 won the award in 2007.
CLUTCHâ⒬ˆSCORER: Sophomore left wing Anders Lee has continued his clutch scoring skills this season. His first goal in the win over Ohio State was the game winner, the first this season and the eighth of his career. Lee, who led the Irish with 24 goals, last season scored seven game winners to lead the team and the CCHA. Those seven game winners tied a Notre Dame single-season record that was set in 1989-90 by David Bankoske `93, who also had seven game-winning goals.
SHOOTING THE PUCK: Notre Dame’s 17 shots on goal against Minnesota-Duluth on Friday, Oct. 7 marked the fewest shots for the Irish in a game since Nov. 20, 2009 when they had 16 shots on goal in a 4-1 win over Michigan State. Last season, the fewest shots Notre Dame had in a game was 21, versus Western Michigan on Oct. 30, 2010. Against Rensselaer on Oct. 21, the Irish turned the tables as they held the Engineers to just 17 shots in the game. A year ago, the fewest shots given up by the Irish in a game was 13 on Nov. 6 versus Bowling Green.