Nov. 14, 2011
Notre Dame, Ind. –
– The Games: #7/#7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (7-2-2/5-1-2-0) vs. #6/#5 Western Michigan Broncos (6-3-3/4-3-1-1)
– Date/Site/Time: Tuesday, November 15, 2011 – Compton Family Ice Arena (5,022) – 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: Tuesday’s Western Michigan game will be televised by Comcast and can be seen in the Michiana area on Comcast Cable Channel 3. Matt Shepard and Lyle Phair will call the action with Art Regner rinkside.
– Internet: Audio:/Video: Notre Dame will stream the audio for the Western Michigan game free of charge at und.com. Gametracker: Follow the live scoring at und.com. Twitter: Follow the Irish icers on Twitter at ND_hockey.
MIDWEEK HOCKEY ACTION: Notre Dame and Western Michigan will square off in a rare midweek game on Tuesday, Nov. 15 when the Irish play host to the Broncos at 7:05 p.m., at the Compton Family Ice Arena. The game will be televised by Comcast and can be seen in the South Bend/Michiana area on Comcast Cable Channel 3. Matt Shepard and Lyle Phair will call the action with Art Regner serving as the rinkside reporter. Notre Dame brings a seven-game unbeaten (5-0-2) streak into the game and is now 7-2-2 overall with a 5-1-2-0 mark in the CCHA, good for 17 points and a share of first place in the conference. Western Michigan is 6-3-3 overall with a 4-3-1-1 league mark, good for 14 points and fifth place in the CCHA. The Irish are coming off a weekend sweep of Alaska in a pair of games that went right down to the wire. Notre Dame had to come from behind on Friday night, scoring the winning goal with 48 seconds left and then won in overtime on Saturday. The Broncos dropped a pair of home games last weekend to Michigan State. The Irish also will be in action this Friday night (Nov. 18) when they play host to Boston College in the “Dedication Game,” for the Compton Family Ice Arena at 7:35 p.m. That game will be televised by CBS Sports Network.
IRISH VERSUS BRONCOS: Notre Dame and Western Michigan have met 76 times in the all-time series with the Broncos holding a 38-31-7 advantage. At the Joyce Center, the Irish hold a 20-13-2 record against Western Michigan. Last season, the teams met four times. Notre Dame took the series, 2-1-1, with the Irish getting the shootout point in the tie game. At Notre Dame, the Irish were 1-1-0. Western Michigan’s last win at Notre Dame came on Feb. 26, 2011 as the Broncos blanked the Irish, 2-0.
NEW HOME SWEET HOME: With the weekend sweep of Alaska, Notre Dame improved to 4-1-0 at home this season. That includes a 1-1 mark at the Joyce Center where the Irish split with Ohio State on Oct. 14-15. Notre Dame is now 3-0-0 at the Compton Family Ice Arena with a win against Rensselaer and two over Alaska. The Western Michigan game is the third in a four-game homestand for the Irish.
LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION: Tuesday night’s game will be the first game ever televised from the Compton Family Ice Arena. In fact, the Western Michigan game will be televised by Comcast, the same company that televised the final game ever played at the Joyce Center on Saturday, Oct. 15.
RANKINGS: These game notes are being produced before the new weekly rankings will come out. Western Michigan opened the week of Nov. 7 ranked sixth in the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine poll and fifth in the USCHO.com poll. Notre Dame began the week ranked seventh in both the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine and USCHO.com polls.
ALASKA RECAP: Friday, November 11 – Notre Dame and Alaska got together on Friday, Nov. 11 at the Compton Family Ice Arena and put on an offensive show, at least in the first period, as the teams combined for seven goals. The Nanooks got three goals from Cody Kunyk in the opening stanza on the way to a 4-3 lead. The Irish batted back to tie the game in the second and then got a game-winning goal from defenseman Stephen Johns (So., Wampum, Pa.) with 42 seconds left in the 5-4 win. Notre Dame scored three times on the power play – Robbie Russo (Fr., Westmont, Ill.), Anders Lee (So., Edina, Minn.) and Johns – picked up a penalty-shot goal from Riley Sheahan (Jr., St. Catharine’s, Ont.) and an even-strength goal from Billy Maday (Sr., Burr Ridge, Ill.) in the win. Jarret Granberg joined Kunyk on the Alaska scoresheet in the opening period. Sophomore goaltender Steven Summerhays (Anchorage, Alaska) came on in relief of starter Mike Johnson in the second period and stopped all 16 shots he faced to pick up his second win of the year. Scott Greenham made 23 saves for Alaska. The Nanooks took a 2-0 lead in the first period, scoring a pair of goals 21 seconds apart with Kunyk getting his first of the game at 6:31 and Granberg making it 2-0 at 6:52. Russo cut the lead to 2-1 with a power-play goal at 8:17 and Sheahan tied the game when he scored on a penalty shot at 9:53. Lee put the Irish ahead, 3-2, at 12:38 with a power-play goal, his 11th score of the season. Kunyk answered back with pair of goals at 13:58 and 16:15 to give Alaska a 4-3 lead after one period. Maday would tie the game for Notre Dame with his third of the season at 7:30 of the second and Johns notched the game winner at 19:12 of the third on a power play to give the Irish a 5-4 victory.
Saturday, Nov. 12 – For the second night in a row, Notre Dame was forced to come from behind against Alaska and had to go to overtime before pulling out a 3-2 overtime win. The Irish got goals from Anders Lee (ppg), T. J. Tynan (So., Orland Park, Ill.) and Billy Maday in the win. Tynan added a pair of assists to have a hand in all three Irish goals. Alaska got goals from Carlo Finucci and Andy Taranto in the game. After a scoreless first period, Notre Dame took a 1-0 lead in the second on a power-play goal by Lee. The Irish nursed the lead until the Nanooks broke through on goaltender Steven Summerhays with a pair of goals 33 seconds apart in the third period. Finucci made it 1-1 at 4:32, scoring off an Irish turnover and Taranto whipped a shot past Summerhays at 5:05 for a 2-1 lead. Back up goaltender Steve Thompson held Notre Dame off the board until Tynan scored at 15:41, redirecting a centering feed by Lee behind Thompson to make it 2-2. In overtime, Tynan set Maday up in the slot and the senior captain tucked the game winner between Thompson’s pads. The Irish outshot the Nanooks, 35-27 in the game with Thompson making 32 saves and Summerhays stopping 25 for his second win on the weekend.
GOING TO THE BULLPEN: Notre Dame head coach Jeff Jackson made the call to the bullpen in Friday’s 5-4 win over Alaska, calling on sophomore Steven Summerhays to start the second period. The Nanooks dented Irish starter Mike Johnson (Jr., Verona, Wis.) for four goals in the first period. Summerhays played the final 40 minutes, stopping all 16 shots he faced to pick up his second win of the season as the Irish came-from-behind to take the 5-4 victory. The former Green Bay Gambler got the start on Saturday night and again was equal to the task, stopping 25-of-27 shots in the 3-2 overtime win. For the weekend, Summerhays played 104:18 and had a 1.15 goals-against average and a .953 save percentage.
UNBEATEN IN SEVEN: Notre Dame began its current seven-game unbeaten streak on Oct. 21, the opening night of the Compton Family Ice Arena. Since then, the Irish are 5-0-2. The seven-game unbeaten streak is the longest that Notre Dame has gone without a loss since a 10-game winning streak between Feb. 13-March 21, 2009.
OVERTIME STREAK: With the overtime win against Alaska on Nov. 12, Notre Dame has now played “extra hockey” in three of its last four games. The tie with Alaska extends the Irish unbeaten streak in overtime games to 24 (6-0-18) dating back to March 21, 2008 when the Irish dropped an overtime game to Miami, 2-1, in the CCHA semifinals. Notre Dame has not lost a CCHA regular-season game in overtime since a Jan. 8, 2005, 2-1 loss at Lake Superior. Last season, the Irish were 2-0-5 in overtime and this year they are 1-0-2.
STRANGE START: Friday’s game between Notre Dame and Alaska had a strange start for a game between the Irish and the Nanooks. During the first 20 minutes of action, the two teams combined for seven goals with Alaska taking a 4-3 lead into the first intermission. The reason that is strange is that the previous week, in four games – two by Notre Dame against Northern Michigan and two by Alaska vs. Miami – the Irish and Nanooks combined to score five goals in 240 minutes.
FOUR IN THE FIRST: Alaska’s four-goal, first-period outburst was the most goals that Notre Dame had given up in one period since March 18, 2011, when Miami scored four against the Irish in the first period of the CCHA semifinals last season at Joe Louis Arena. The RedHawks went on to win that game, 6-2.
THE LAST TIME: Alaska’s Cody Kunyk scored three goals in the first period of the Nov. 11 game against the Irish. That was the first hat trick given up by Notre Dame since Dec. 4, 2010 when Miami’s Alden Hirschfeld scored three times in a 5-2 win at Miami.
PENALTY SHOT UPDATE: Riley Sheahan’s penalty shot in the Nov. 11 game with Alaska was the first taken by a Notre Dame player since last Feb. 26 when T.J. Tynan was awarded a shot against Western Michigan. He was stopped in a 2-0 Bronco win. Prior to Sheahan scoring against the Nanooks, the last time a Notre Dame player scored on a penalty shot was Jan. 31, 2009 when Ryan Thang `10 scored in a 3-2 win at Michigan.
FALLING BEHIND: Notre Dame has trailed 2-0 in games four times this season and has rallied in three of them to be 3-1-0 in those games. On Oct. 8 at Minnesota-Duluth, the Irish trailed 2-0 in the second period and rallied for a 5-3 win. On Oct. 14, Notre Dame trailed Ohio State, 2-0 in the first at home and came-from-behind to win 5-2. The following night, the Irish gave up two first-period goals and trailed 4-0 after two before scoring three in the third for a 4-3 loss. On Nov. 11, Alaska took a 2-0 lead 6:53 into the first period only to see Notre Dame rally for the 5-4 victory.
STILL UNBEATEN: Despite giving up four goals in the first period of the Nov. 11, 5-4 win, over Alaska, junior goaltender Mike Johnson (Verona, Wis.) was able to keep his six-game unbeaten streak (4-0-2) alive as the Irish rallied for the win. In Johnson’s last eight appearances, with seven starts, he has played 415:48, giving up 14 goals with 126 saves for a 2.02 goals-against average and a .900 save percentage. For the year, he is 4-1-2 with a 2.27 goals-against and a .899 save percentage.
NATIONAL LEADERS: Center T.J. Tynan and left wing Anders Lee are among the nation’s leaders in goals, assists, points and points per game as they start the new week. Tynan currently leads the CCHA and the nation in scoring with three goals and 16 assists for 19 points. His 16 assists are the best in the league and the nation as is his 1.73 points-per-game. Lee leads the CCHA and the nation in goals scored with 12 and is second in the CCHA in points (17) and tied for third nationally. His five power-play goals are best in the CCHA and tie him for third nationally.
TURNING ON THE POWER: Notre Dame struck for a season-high three power-play goals in the Nov. 11 game with Alaska. The last time the Irish had three power-play goals in a game came on Jan. 7, 2011 when they were 3-for-7 in an 8-1 win at Northern Michigan. For the two games with Alaska, Notre Dame was 4-for-11 on the power play and is no 13-for-57, a 22.8% success rate. That ranks the Irish second in the CCHA and tied for 13th on the national level.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Notre Dame saw its streak of killing off 15 straight opponent power plays snapped on Nov. 11 by Alaska at 6:31 of the first period. The Irish streak had covered the previous five games. Over the last nine games, Notre Dame has now killed 28-of-31 (90.3%). For the year, the Irish are 36-of-42, for an 85.7% success rate. In Saturday’s win over the Nanooks, Notre Dame did not face one power-play attempt.
MADAY…MADAY…MADAY: Senior forward Billy Maday had a strong weekend in the series with Alaska, scoring two key goals with an assist for three points. In Friday’s come-from-behind win, Notre Dame’s captain scored the all-important game-tying goal at 7:30 of the second period to make it 4-4 and then help set up defenseman Stephen Johns’ game winner at 19:12 of the third period. On Saturday night, Maday scored the game winner with 41 seconds left in overtime. He is currently third in scoring for the Irish with four goals and eight assists for 12 points.
JOINING THE ATTACK: Sophomore defenseman Stephen Johns, who is known for his big hits, is starting to become known for his big plays. In the 5-4 win over Alaska, Johns scored the game-winning goal at 19:12 of the third period. The following night, he had a big assist on Anders Lee’s goal that tied the game at 2-2 with under five minutes left to play.
ON A TEAR: Junior center Riley Sheahan recorded his fourth multiple-point game with a goal (penalty shot) and an assist in the 5-4 win over Alaska on Nov. 11. After missing the first two regular-season games with a lower body injury, Sheahan has picked up a two goals and eight assists for 10 points in his first nine games of his season.
RBC FINANCIAL CCHA PLAYER OF THE MONTH: Sophomore left wing Anders Lee was named the RBC Financial CCHA player of the month for October as he had 10 goals and three assists for 13 points in seven games. His 10 goals were tops in the CCHA and led all Division I players at the national level. Lee scored at least one goal in all seven games during the month and added one two-goal game and a hat trick on Oct. 21 versus Rensselaer. His seven-game goal and point streaks are career bests for the 6-3, 227-pound left wing.
DEDICATION GAME: The University of Notre Dame will officially dedicate the Compton Family Ice Arena on Friday, Nov. 18 when the Irish play host to the Boston College Eagles at 7:35 p.m. The building will be blessed at 10:30 a.m. on Nov. 18 with a dedication mass at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at 3:30 p.m. and a reception and dinner at 4:45 and 5:15 p.m. at the South Dining Hall.
STREAK STOPPERS: Three different scoring streaks were snapped for the Irish in the series against Northern Michigan. On Nov. 4, T.J. Tynan and Anders Lee saw a pair of personal streaks snapped in the 2-2 tie. Tynan saw his career-high eight-game point streak (3-12-15) stopped as he was held scoreless for the first time this season. Tynan’s streak carried over from last season when he scored on April 7 in the Frozen Four versus Minnesota-Duluth. He then had a point in each of Notre Dame’s first seven games this season. Lee saw his career-high seven-game goal-scoring streak stopped by the Wildcats on Nov. 4. The sophomore from Edina, Minn., had scored at least one goal in each of Notre Dame’s first seven games this season and led the CCHA and the nation with 10 goals in that span. On Sat., Nov. 5, Lee saw his personal best eight-game point streak (10g, 4a) snapped in the 1-1 tie.
THE KID IS ALRIGHT: Freshman right wing Austin Wuthrich (Anchorage, Alaska) 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 on Oct. 21, assisting on a pair of goals. Wuthrich now has three goals and three assists for six points this season. 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.
PAT ON THE BACK: Senior center Patrick Gaul (Pittsburgh, Pa.) had the best weekend of his career at Bowling Green (Oct. 28-29), scoring a goal and an assist for two points. He now has career highs in goals (2), assists (3) and points (5) this season. In the Oct. 28, 3-1 win, Gaul assisted on Garrett Peterson’s game-winning goal. In Saturday’s 3-2 win over the Falcons, Gaul scored his second goal of the season, getting the third-period game winner. In 11 games this year, Gaul has five points after having just three points (a goal, two assists) in the first 48 games of his career.
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.
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.
FINAL TOTALS: With the Oct. 14-15 split versus Ohio State, the Joyce Center era for the Irish hockey program ended 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.
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.
CAREER HIGH: Junior defenseman Sam Calabrese (Park Ridge, Ill.) 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 nine games this season.
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.
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.