March 25, 2009
Notre Dame, Ind. –
Complete Release in PDF Format 
NCAA Midwest Regional • Van Andel Arena • Grand Rapids, Michigan
• The Games: #6/#6 Northeastern (25-11-4) vs. #9/#9 Cornell (21-9-4) #2/#2 Notre Dame (31-5-3) vs. Bemidji State (18-15-1)
• Date/Site/Time: Saturday, March 28, 2009 • 4:00 p.m./7:30 p.m. (EDT)
• Broadcast Information: Radio: Notre Dame hockey can be heard live on Cat Country 99.9 FM. Darin Pritchett will call the action for the Irish.
• Internet: Irish hockey can be heard on the internet at the Notre Dame website – www.und.com. All Notre Dame home games and all CCHA games are available via gametracker.
• Television: Saturday’s first game – Northeastern vs. Cornell will be available on ESPNU. Notre Dame’s game with Bemidji State will be carried on ESPN Classic and on ESPN 360. Calling the action will be Ben Holden and Sean Ritchlin. Sunday’s Midwest Regional championship game will be televised live by ESPNU.
THIRD TIME A CHARM: Notre Dame returns to the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive year and the fourth time in the program’s 41-year history. Notre Dame is the top seed in the Midwest Regional at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan and will be joined by No. 2 seed, Northeastern, No. 3 seed Cornell and the fourth seed, Bemidji State. The Irish will meet Bemidji State in the second game on Saturday, March 28 with faceoff set for 7:30 p.m. The game will be televised live on ESPN Classic and will be streamed on the internet via ESPN 360. Ben Holden and Sean Ritchlin will call the action. Saturday’s opening game will feature Northeastern and Cornell at 4:00 p.m. with that contest on ESPNU. Notre Dame enters the Midwest Regional on a 10-game winning streak that started on Feb. 13. Overall, the Irish are 31-5-3 on the season and are the CCHA regular-season and tournament champions. Bemidji State brings an 18-15-1 record into the regional and was the College Hockey America (CHA) regular season and tournament champion. Northeastern brings a 25-11-4 record into the tournament and finished second in Hockey East. The Huskies lost in the Hockey East semifinals to UMass.-Lowell. Cornell rounds out the field at Van Andel Arena and brings a 21-9-4 record into the tournament. The Big Red finished second in ECAC Hockey and lost in the conference title game to Yale. Three of the four teams in the regional are ranked in the top 10 with the Irish being second in both the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine poll while Northeastern is sixth in both and Cornell is ninth in both.
IRISH NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY: Notre Dame is 4-3 in the NCAA Tournament in its three previous appearnaces. In 2004, the Irish advanced to the Grand Rapids Regional to face two-time defending NCAA champion, Minnesota, dropping a 5-2 decision in the opening round game to the Gophers. In 2007, Notre Dame was the No. 1 seed in the tournament and again played in Grand Rapids. The Irish faced Alabama-Huntsville in the opening game and beat the Chargers, 3-2, in double overtime. In the regional championship game, they fell to Michigan State, 2-1, as the Spartans went on to win the 2007 NCAA title. Last March, the Irish were a fourth seed in the West Regional at Colorado Springs and advanced to the Frozen Four with wins over New Hampshire and Michigan State. In the Frozen Four at Denver, the Irish upset Michigan with a 5-4 overtime win to advance to the title game against Boston College where they lost, 4-1.
NOTRE DAME AT VAN ANDEL ARENA: Notre Dame has played a total of five games at Van Andel Arena, three in NCAA Tournament play and two versus CCHA opponent, Ferris State, and is 1-4-0 in those games. The Irish faced Ferris State in 1998-99 and 1999-2000, losing both games, 4-2. In 2004, Notre Dame, making its first NCAA appearance, dropped a 5-2 decision to Minnesota. In 2007, the Irish defeated Alabama-Huntsville, 3-2, in double overtime, before falling to Michigan State, 2-1, in the regional final.
NOTRE DAME VERSUS BEMIDJI STATE: When the Irish and the Beavers faceoff on March 28th at Van Andel Arena, it will mark the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
NOTRE DAME VS. NORTHEASTERN: The Irish and the Huskies have met six times in the all-time series between the two schools with Notre Dame holding a 3-2-1 edge. The last time the two met was Oct. 28, 2002 at Matthews Arena in Boston with the teams playing to a 3-3 overtime tie.
Dec. 28, 1970 at Northeastern W, 4-1Dec. 27, 1997 # Northeastern L, 2-4Nov. 7, 1998 at Northeastern W, 4-3Oct. 20, 2000 Northeastern W, 6-4Oct. 21, 2000 Northeastern L, 3-5Oct. 28, 2002 at Northeastern T, 2-2 ot
#Mariucci Classic (Minneapolis, Minn.)
NOTRE DAME VERSUS CORNELL: The Irish and Big Red have met just four times in the all-time series with Notre Dame holding a 3-1-0 lead. The last time the two teams met was the opening game of the Everblades College Hockey Tournament in Estero, Fla. Cornell handed the Irish a 4-0 loss in that game.
Jan. 10, 1972 Cornell W, 5-4 otNov. 23, 1979 at Cornell W, 5-4Nov. 24, 1979 # Cornell W, 6-4Dec. 27, 2003 ^ Cornell L, 0-4
# War Memorial Coliseum (Rochester, N.Y.)^ Teco Arena (Estero, Fla.)
JACKSON AND THE NCAAS: Irish head coach Jeff Jackson has seen his teams make the NCAA Tournament in nine of his 10 seasons as a Division I head coach (three with Notre Dame and six with Lake Superior State). During that time, his teams own a record of 17-7 (.708) in the NCAA Tournament. That includes a 13-5 record at Lake State and a 4-2 record at Notre Dame. Jackson also has seen his teams make it to the Frozen Four four times (1992, 1993, 1994 at LSSU and 2008 at Notre Dame), winning twice at Lake Superior. His record in the Frozen Four is 6-2 overall.
THE COACH AND THE PLAYOFFS: Irish head coach Jeff Jackson has had his share of success in the CCHA playoffs. In this, his 10th CCHA playoff appearance (six at Lake Superior State and four at Notre Dame), Jackson is 34-7 (.829) all time in the playoffs. At Lake Superior, his teams were 24-2 while at Notre Dame, he is 10-5. His teams have advanced to Joe Louis Arena in nine of those 10 seasons (six at LSSU and three at Notre Dame). He has now coached in eight CCHA Championship contests, going 6-2 in those games, winning four times at Lake Superior and twice with Notre Dame.
CCHA RECAP: Notre Dame won its second CCHA postseason title in the last three years on March 20-21, knocking off Northern Michigan, 2-1, in one semifinal game, then taking a 5-2 victory in the title game against Michigan. Sophomore center Ben Ryan (Brighton, Mich.) was the hero in both games, getting the game winner each night. His first came with one minute left in the contest with Northern Michigan as he scored 23 seconds after the Wildcats had tied the game, 1-1. In the win over Michigan, Ryan got his game winner at 2:05 of the third period, just 20 seconds after Calle Ridderwall (So., Stockholm, Sweden) had tied the game. Goaltender Jordan Pearce (Sr., Anchorage, Alaska) made 21 saves in the win versus Northern Michigan and 28 versus the Wolverines to take MVP honors in the tournament. Pearce, Ryan, Ridderwall and defenseman Ian Cole (So., Ann Arbor, Mich.) were selected to the all-tournament team.
31-WIN SEASON: With two wins at the CCHA Tournament last weekend, Notre Dame improved to 31-5-3 on the season. That marks just the second time in the program’s 41-year history that the Irish have won 30 or more games. The previous time came in 2006-07 when Notre Dame was 32-7-3 on the season. For Jeff Jackson, this is the seventh time that his teams have reached the 30-win mark in a season (five times at Lake Superior and twice at Notre Dame.
CCHA POSTSEASON SCORING:
CCHA CAREER POSTSEASON SCORING:Name GP G A PTS
Erik Condra 14 2 12 14 Kyle Lawson 13 3 7 10 Ryan Thang 13 2 8 10 Ben Ryan 9 5 3 8 Ian Cole 9 3 5 8 Kevin Deeth 13 1 7 8 Justin White 11 1 5 6 Garrett Regan 15 2 3 5 Calle Ridderwall 9 4 0 4 Christian Hanson 15 2 2 4 Dan Kissel 9 1 3 4 Brett Blatchford 11 0 4 4 Billy Maday 4 2 1 3 Christiaan Minella 10 1 2 3 Ryan Guentzel 7 1 0 1 Teddy Ruth 9 0 1 1 Luke Lucyk 6 0 0 0 Sean Lorenz 4 0 0 0
Goaltenders MIN W-L-T GA SVS SV% GAVG Jordan Pearce 591:14 6-4-0 14 243 .946 1.42
NCAA TOURNAMENT CAREER SCORING: Name GP G A PTS Ryan Thang 6 4 3 7 Christian Hanson 6 3 1 4 Kevin Deeth 6 3 0 3 Ian Cole 4 1 2 3 Kyle Lawson 6 1 2 3 Justin White 6 0 3 3 Brett Blatchford 6 0 3 3 Dan Kissel 6 1 1 2 Ben Ryan 6 0 2 2 Garrett Regan 6 0 2 2 Teddy Ruth 4 1 0 1 Erik Condra 2 0 1 1 Christiaan Minella 4 0 0 0 Calle Ridderwall 4 0 0 0 Ryan Guentzel 3 0 0 0
Goaltenders MIN W-L-T GA SVS SV% GAVG Jordan Pearce 244:15 3-1-0 12 100 .893 2.95
MR. RELIABLE: Notre Dame’s All-American candidate and honorable mention all-CCHA selection – senior goaltender Jordan Pearce – has been Notre Dame’s No. 1 man in goal over the last two seasons. Since Jan. 5, 2008, Pearce has appeared in 61 of the last 62 Irish games. Of those 61 games, 60 have been starts. Pearce has now appeared in 36 straight games for the Irish, making 35 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 38 of Notre Dame’s 39 games this season and is 30-5-3 with a 1.61 goals-against average and a .934 save percentage with eight shutouts.
PEARCE POINTS: Some random points on goaltender Jordan Pearce.
** His 30 wins are a new single-season Notre Dame record, breaking the mark set by David Brown `07 in 2006-07 (29).
** Pearce is Notre Dame’s all-time career win leader with 59. Fifty-three of those wins have come in the last two years.
** The Anchorage, Alaska native set Notre Dame’s single-season record for shutouts with eight and is tied for the Irish career mark with 12 along with David Brown `07.
** Pearce, who led the CCHA in conference wins (21) and shutouts (5) and was second in goals-against average (1.76) and save percentage (.929) was left off the CCHA all-conference team and is not a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award.
** In the CCHA playoffs, Pearce was 4-0-0 with a 0.75 goals-against average and a .973 save percentage with two shutouts. He was named to the CCHA all-tournament team and was the tourney’s most valuable player.
** During Notre Dame’s current 10-game winning streak, Pearce is 10-0-0 with a 1.39 goals-against average, a .929 save percentage and four shutouts.
** Earlier this year, the Irish had a 20-game unbeaten streak, going 17-0-3 from Oct. 31 to Jan. 30. One of the main reasons was the play of Jordan Pearce. The senior was 17-0-3 with a 1.36 goals-against average with a .944 save percentage and three shutouts.
HOW GOOD IS PEARCE: Going into Saturday night’s NCAA game with Bemidji State, Notre Dame goaltender Jordan Pearce leads the nation in wins (30), goals-against average (1.61) and shutouts (8). He is seventh in minutes played (2,266:37), third in save percentage (.934) and third in winning percentage (.829).
FOUR OR MORE: When Notre Dame exploded for four goals in the third period of the CCHA Championship game with Michigan, it marked the sixth time this season that the Irish have scored four or more goals in a period. The season high was six in the third period versus Bowling Green on Nov. 22.
SPREAD IT AROUND: One look at the Notre Dame stat sheet gives a good indication of why the Irish have been successful this season. Heading into the NCAA Tournament, Notre Dame has no player with 40 or more points, but has 14 players with 15 or more. Six players have 10 or more goals but no one on the roster has more than 17. The Irish roster also features five players with 30 or more points.
RYAN’S STORY: Sophomore center Ben Ryan has gotten the hot hand at the right time this season. Over his last 10 games, Ryan is second in scoring for Notre Dame with five goals and seven assists for 12 points. After a slow start to the season, Ryan now has 27 points on 12 goals and 15 assists. He has five game-winning goals tie him for the team lead in that category. As a freshman last season, he had 10 goals and 16 assists for 26 points.
WOLVERINE KILLER: Sophomore left wing Calle Ridderwall saves his best for Michigan. On March 21, Ridderwall scored two goals in the 5-2 win over the Wolverines to give Notre Dame the CCHA championship. Last April, Ridderwall scored twice versus Michigan in the NCAA semifinal game with the second goal coming in overtime to give the Irish a 5-4 win to send them to the NCAA championship game against Boston College. Two of his four multiple-goal games have come against Michigan.
THE CENTURY MARK: On Friday, March 13, Notre Dame blanked Nebraska 5-0, to give head coach Jeff Jackson his 100th career win at Notre Dame.The 100 wins have come in less than four seasons as Jackson is now 103-47-14 (.671) since starting behind the Irish bench in 2005-06. Notre Dame’s six-man senior class also has that record of 103-47-14 in their four years at Notre Dame and they are the most successful class in the program’s 41-year history.
WINNING TEAMS: Since the start of the 2006-07 season, Notre Dame (90-28-10) has had the winningest hockey program in the country. The Irish have recorded 90 wins and a .742 winning percentage in that time frame. Michigan is second with an 88-31-5 record (.730) while Miami is third with a 77-34-10 record (.685). Here are the top six teams by wins and winning percentage (as of March 28).
Wins Winning Pct.Notre Dame 89 Notre Dame (.740)Michigan 88 Michigan (.730)Miami 77 Miami (.685)North Dakota 76 New Hampshire (.664)Boston College 72 North Dakota (.645)New Hampshire 70 Boston College (.642)
CLOSE ONES: Notre Dame’s 2-1 win over Northern Michigan on March 20 was the 13th game this season that the Irish have played that was decided by one goal. In those 13 games, the Irish are 11-2 (.846). The Irish also are 6-1 in games decided by two goals. In overtime, Notre Dame is 2-0-3 with the Irish winning three CCHA shootouts. Last season, the Irish were 11-6 in one-goal games. The .846 winning percentage this season is third best behind a pair of undefeated years – `87-’88 (6-0) and `68-’69 (4-0).
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.
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 24 in the fan voting, Pearce is tied for the lead with 19% of the votes and Condra is third with 18%.
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 35 games together this season, the duo has combined for 31 goals and and 29 assists with Maday having 14 goals and 14 assists for 28 points while Ridderwall has 17 goals and 15 assists for 32 points in those games.
CCHA POSTSEASON AWARDS:
Terry Flanagan Memorial Award (or perserverance, dedication and courage)Erik Condra (Sr.), Right Wing
CCHA Scholar-Athlete of the YearJordan Pearce (Sr.), Goaltender
CCHA Top Defensive DefensemanKyle Lawson (Jr.), Defenseman
First Team All-CCHAIan Cole (So.), Defenseman
Second Team All-CCHAErik Condra (Sr.), Right WingChristian Hanson (Sr.), CenterKyle Lawson (Jr.), Defenseman
Honorable Mention All-CCHAJordan Pearce (Sr.), GoaltenderCalle Ridderwall (So.), Left Wing
CCHA All-Rookie TeamBilly Maday (Fr.), Right Wing