Feb. 17, 2011
Notre Dame, Ind. –
Complete Release in PDF Format
– Date/Site/Time: Fri., February 18, 2011 – 7:05 p.m. – Ewigleben Arena (2,493) – Big Rapids, Mich. Sat., February 19, 2011 – 7:05 p.m. – Ewigleben Arena (2.493 – Big Rapids, Mich.
– The Teams: #8/#9 Notre Dame (18-9-5/15-6-3-2) at –/#20 Ferris State (16-12-4/11-10-3-2)
– Broadcast Information: Radio: Notre Dame hockey can be heard live on Cat Country 99.9 FM in South Bend. Darin Pritchett, the voice of the Irish will call the action with the pregame show beginning 20 minutes before the opening face off.
– Internet Broadcast: Audio/Video: The Notre Dame – Ferris State series will have live audio streaming at und.com. Video streaming is available at http://www.ferrisstatebulldogs.com/information/b2webcasts via America One live video streaming. There is a charge for this service. Livestats: Available at the CCHA website at ccha.com.
DOWN THE BACK STRETCH: Notre Dame and Ferris State will meet for the first time this season on Friday and Saturday, February 18-19 at Ewigleben Arena on the Ferris State campus in Big Rapids, Mich. Game time both nights is 7:05 p.m. Both teams enter the weekend with four games left on the regular-season schedule. The Irish play two at Ferris State and then close the schedule with a home-and-home series with Western Michigan. The Bulldogs will play two next weekend at Ohio State. Notre Dame is coming off a weekend sweep of Bowling Green that gives them a five-game unbeaten streak (3-0-2) since Jan. 22. Overall the Irish are 18-9-5 and in the CCHA sit alone in first place with a 15-6-3-2 mark, good for 50 points in the standings. Notre Dame leads Michigan (49) and Miami (49) by one point with the Wolverines and Irish having two games in hand on the RedHawks. Notre Dame leads fourth-place Western Michigan by nine points and fifth-place Ferris State by 12. The Bulldogs are coming off a non-league sweep of Alabama-Huntsville and are 16-12-4 overall and 11-10-3-2 in conference play. The Irish go into this weekend having clinched a bye in the first week of the playoffs. They have not clinched home ice for the second round of the playoffs.
CCHA PLAYOFFS: With 11 teams in the conference this season, the CCHA playoffs have a different look as the top five finishers will have a bye in the first round. In the opening round, No. 6 plays No. 11, No. 7 faces No. 10, with No. 8 playing No. 9. In the second round, No. 4 will host No. 5 with the top three teams hosting the the three remaining first round teams.
MAGIC NUMBERS: While having clinched a first round bye, Notre Dame is still in search of locking up home ice. Here are the “magic numbers” for the Irish to clinch a spot ahead of the four teams behind them: Vs. Ferris State – one point; with four games left the most the Bulldogs can finish with is 50 points. Vs. Western Michigan – four points; with four games left, the most points the Broncos can finish with is 53. Vs. Miami – six points; with two games left, the most the RedHawks can finish with is 55. Vs. Michigan – 12 points; with two games left the most the Wolverines can finish with is 61.
IRISH VERSUS BULLDOGS: Notre Dame and Ferris State have met 67 times in the all-time series with the Bulldogs holding a 39-22-6 advantage. At Big Rapids, Ferris State is 14-10-2 versus the Irish. The last time Notre Dame won at Big Rapids was the last time the Irish played there, Dec., 5-6, 2008, taking 3-1 and 1-0 decisions. They are 4-1-1 against the Bulldogs at Ewigleben Arena, dating back to the 2002-03 season. In the last 20 meetings between the two, just six have been in Big Rapids.
THE RANKINGS: Notre Dame enters the series with Ferris State ranked 8th in the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine poll and 9th in the USCHO.com poll. The Bulldogs are ranked 20th in the USCHO.com poll this week.
CCHA ROOKIE OF THE WEEK: Freshman left wing Anders Lee (Edina, Minn.) was named CCHA rookie of the week for the third time this season following Notre Dame’s series with Bowling Green. For the weekend, Lee had one goal (a game winner) and three assists for four points with 13 shots on goal and was +3 in the two games. In the Feb. 11, 2-1 win, Lee helped set up Bryan Rust’s (Fr., Novi, Mich.) first-period goal and then scored the game winner with 3:14 left in the game. He was +2 with seven shots on goal. In the Feb. 12, 5-1 win, the big left wing set up goals by Billy Maday (Jr., Burr Ridge, Ill.) on the power play and T.J. Tynan (Fr., Orland Park, Ill.). He was +1 with six shots on goal. The two multi-point games give Lee five in a row and in those games he has five goals and six assists for 11 points.
BOWLING GREEN RECAP: Friday, Feb. 11 – Anders Lee and Brian Rust each had a goal and an assist and goaltender Mike Johnson (So., Verona, Wis.) stopped 21-of-22 Bowling Green shots as Notre Dame took a 2-1 win over the Falcons at the Joyce Center. Michael Fink had the lone goal for Bowling Green. Goaltender Andrew Hammond made 36 saves in the BG goal. Rust put Notre Dame ahead, 1-0, at 12:39 of the first period when he put the rebound of a T.J. Tynan shot past Hammond for his fifth of the season. Bowling Green tied the game at 1-1 when Fink scored on the power play at the eight-minute mark of the second period for his third goal of the season. Lee would get the game winner at 16:46 of the third period, beating Hammond with a wrist shot for his team-best 19th goal of the season. The Falcons were 1-for-4 on the power play while the Irish were 0-for-3. Notre Dame out shot Bowling Green, 38-22, in the game.
Saturday, Feb. 12 – Junior right wing Billy Maday scored a pair of goals while Jeff Costello (Fr., Milwaukee, Wis.), T.J. Tynan and Jared Beers (Fr., Mishawaka, Ind.) added single goals in a 5-1 win over Bowling Green. Tynan had a pair of assists for a three-point game while his linemates, Anders Lee and Bryan Rust each had a pair of assists. In the two games, the trio combined for three goals and six assists for a nine-point weekend. Freshman goaltender Steven Summerhays (Fr., Anchorage, Alaska) stopped 13-of-14 shots to record his fourth win of the season. Maday staked Notre Dame to a 1-0 lead at 7:59 of the first period with his sixth goal of the year. Costello made it 2-0 at 3:50 of the second with his eighth goal of the season and team-best sixth power-play goal. The Falcons answered back at 5:41 on a goal by Cameron Sinclair to make it 2-1, but that was as close as they would get. Maday got his second of the night on a breakaway at 9:56 as the second period ended with Notre Dame leading, 3-1. Tynan scored just 24 seconds into the third period and Beers scored his first collegiate goal at 4:02 of the final stanza for the final of 5-1. The Irish out shot Bowling Green, 35-14 in the game. Nick Eno made 30 saves for the Falcons. Notre Dame was 2-for-8 on the power play while BG was 0-for-6.
HOME SWEET HOME: Notre Dame’s weekend sweep of Bowling Green at the Joyce Center extended the Irish unbeaten streak versus the Falcons to 12 games (11-0-1) at home. The last time Notre Dame lost to Bowling Green at the Joyce Center was during the 2005-06 season. The Irish are 11-2-2 at home this year.
40 AND OVER: With his assist on Bryan Rust’s goal on Feb. 11 versus Bowling Green, freshman center T.J. Tynan reached the 40-point mark this season. He added three points in the Feb. 12 game and now has 19 goals and 24 assists for 43 points. He is the first Irish freshman to get over 40 points in his rookie year since the 2006-07 season when Ryan Thang `10 finished that year with 41 points on 20 goals and 21 assists in 42 games. Fellow freshman Anders Lee, with 19 goals and 18 assists for 37 points is closing in on the 40-point plateau.
Notre Dame Freshman Scoring LeadersDave Poulin (`78-'79) 28-31-59John Noble (`69-'70) 24-35-59Paul Regan (`69-'70) 27-20-47Kevin Hoene (`68-'69) 24-22-46Greg Meredith (`76-'77) 23-22-45David Bankoske (`88-'89) 11-34-45T.J. Tynan (`10-'11) 19-24-43Mike McNeill (`84-'85) 16-26-42Ryan Thang (`06-'07) 20-21-41Ian Williams (`70-'71) 15-26-41Jamie Ling (`92-'93) 14-26-40
MR. CLUTCH: Freshman left wing Anders Lee has had a banner freshman year for the Irish in 2010-11. He leads the Irish in goals with 19 and game-winning goals with five. His game winner on Feb. 11 versus Bowling Green made him the leader in the CCHA in game winners and he is tied for fourth nationally. Lee now has Notre Dame’s game-winning goal in two of the last three wins and in three of the last five Irish victories.
THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT: Notre Dame’s freshman class accounted for nine Irish points (3g, 6a) in the 5-1 win over Bowling Green. The group has played a key role in the 18-9-5 start for the Irish. Through the first 32 games this season, the freshman class has accounted for 65 of the team’s 117 goals (55.6%), 97 of the 210 assists (46.2%) and 163 of team’s 327 points this season (49.8%). Freshman goaltender Steven Summerhays (Anchorage, Alaska) has four of the team’s 18 wins in goal.
IN GOOD COMPANY: For the past three weeks, the Notre Dame hockey has been in good company with the Notre Dame men’s and women’s basketball teams. All three programs are ranked in the top 10 in the nation in their respective polls, making Notre Dame the only school in the country with a top 10 program in all three sports. With a 21-4 overall record, the Irish men’s basketball team entered the week ranked eighth in the Associated Press poll and seventh in the ESPN/USA Today rankings. The Notre Dame women’s team is 22-4 and ranked eighth in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today rankings. The week of Jan. 31 marked the first time since Dec. 9, 2002 that both basketball programs were ranked in the top 10 at the same time.
HOMETOWN HERO: Freshman defenseman Jared Beers (Mishawaka, Ind.) scored his first career goal in the 5-1 win over Bowling Green. The Michiana native has worked his way into the Notre Dame lineup and doesn’t seem to want to come out. In 17 games this season, Beers has a goal and five assists for six points and is +2 for the year. He picked up his first career points on Nov. 6 versus Bowling Green with a two-point night. Beers joins Mike McNeill `84-’88 (South Bend), Tommy Smith `88-89 (South Bend) and Carey Nemeth’93-’94 (Granger) as local players to play for the Irish. Beers played two seasons at Culver Academy and then saw action in the NAHL with the Kenai River Brown Bears (2008-09) and the Cedar Rapids Rough Riders in the USHL in 2009-10.
CLASS OF THE CLASS: Notre Dame senior left wing Calle Ridderwall (Stockholm, Sweden) was named one of 10 finalists 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. Ridderwall is fifth on the team in scoring with 11 goals and eight assists for 19 points. Former Notre Dame goaltender David Brown `07 won the award in 2007.
CLOSE ONES: The 2-1 win over Bowling Green was Notre Dame’s ninth game decided by one goal this season and the Irish are now 5-4 in those games. Notre Dame has been involved in 15 games this season that have been decided by two or fewer goals and is 10-5 in those games (5-1 in games decided by two goals).
PUT THE BISCUIT IN THE BASKET: Notre Dame is second in the nation in goals scored with 117 through the first 32 games. The Irish trail just Union College (119) with North Dakota right behind them with 115. Per game, Notre Dame is sixth overall with a 3.66 average. Yale is tops in the nation with 4.32 per game.
BUSY WEEK: For four former Notre Dame players, the week of Feb. 8 – Feb. 15 was a busy week, as all four were promoted to the National Hockey League. On Feb. 7, Victor Oreskovich `10 was recalled to the Vancouver Canucks. He was followed by Tim Wallace `06 on Feb. 12 when he was brought up by the Pittsburgh Penguins. On Feb. 15, both Erik Condra `09, by Ottawa, and Christian Hanson `09 by Toronto, were recalled to their respective clubs. For Condra it was his first game in the NHL while the other three have played previously in the NHL. Condra recorded an assist in his first NHL game against the New York Islanders.
HOBEY BAKER NOMINEE: Freshman center T.J. Tynan is one of 68 Division I college hockey players that have been nominated for the 2011 Hobey Baker Award. The first phase of the voting is now underway at hobeybakeraward.com. The fan voting phase will run through March 6. On March 17, the list of 10 finalists will be announced followed by the Hobey Hat Trick (3 finalists) on March 31. The winner of the award will be announced at the Frozen Four on April 8. Award criteria include candidates emulating the exceptional character traits exhibited by the award’s namesake, Hobey Baker, a World War I flying star better known as America’s greatest amateur athlete in his day. Award candidates must demonstrate strength of character both on and off the ice, contribute to the integrity of his team and display outstanding skills in all phases of the game. Consideration should be given to scholastic achievement and sportsmanship.
THE PUCK STOPS HERE: Sophomore goaltender Mike Johnson has now appeared in 20 of Notre Dame’s last 22 games, making 19 starts in that span that began on Nov. 12 versus Michigan. In his last eight CCHA starts, Johnson is 5-2-1 with a 2.30 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage, dating back to Jan. 7 at Northern Michigan. Johnson is 14-7-4 on the year with a 2.57 goals against average and a .904 save percentage. His 14 wins are a career high for the sophomore puck stopper. As a freshman, Johnson took CCHA all-rookie team honors, playing in 29 games in `09-’10, going 10-13-5 with a 2.60 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage. Behind Johnson are a pair of freshmen – Steven Summerhays and Joe Rogers (Marysville, Mich.). Summerhays is now 4-2-1 with a 3.17 goals-against average and a .840 save percentage. In his last two starts – Jan. 29 vs. Miami and Feb. 12 versus Bowling Green, Summerhays is 1-0-1 with a 1.44 goals-against average and a .897 save percentage. When he faced Miami on Jan. 29 in a 2-2 tie, Summerhays made 13 saves, but in the shootout, stopped three of the nation’s top scorers – Andy Miele, Carter Camper and Reilly Smith – to earn the Irish the extra point in the standings. He then stopped 13-of-14 shots in a 5-1 win over Bowling Green. Summerhays joined the Irish after playing the last two seasons with the USHL’s Green Bay Gamblers. In `09-’10, Summerhays was a first team all-USHL selection and the USHL goaltender of the year after going 31-2-3 with a 2.17 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage. Joe Rogers made his first career appearance in the Canisius game, playing the final 20 minutes while stopping eight-of-nine shots. He is 0-0-0 with a 3.00 goals-against average and a .889 save percentage. Rogers joins the Notre Dame roster after playing last season in the North American Hockey League (NAHL) with the Albert Lea Thunder. Rogers was 13-19-2 with a 3.97 goals-against average and a .891 save percentage.
FABULOUS FRESHMEN: Freshmen T.J. Tynan and Anders Lee come into the series against Ferris State ranked first and second in the nation and the CCHA in rookie scoring. Tynan has 19 goals and 24 assists for 43 points while Lee has 19 goals and 18 assists for 37 points. The 19 goals are tops among freshmen goal scorers in the conference. Fellow freshman Mike Voran (4g, 13a, 17 pts) is tied for sixth and is followed by Bryan Rust (5g, 10a) who is eighth with 15 points. Jeff Costello (8g, 3a, 11 pts) is tied for 15th and defensemen Stephen Johns (1g, 9a) is tied for 20th with 10 points. David Gerths (7g, 2a, 9 pts) is 22nd with his nine points.
FATHER’S DAY GIFTS: When Notre Dame and Miami settled for 5-5 and 2-2 ties at the Joyce Center on Jan. 28-29, it marked the first time that the Irish had back-to-back ties in a weekend series since Nov. 6-7, 1987 when they battled Kent State to 5-5 and 6-6 ties.
EXTRA HOCKEY: Notre Dame’s back-to-back ties with Miami on Jan. 28-29 were the fourth and fifth ties of the season for the Irish. That extended their unbeaten streak in overtime to 19 games as they are now 3-0-16 in games that have gone to overtime since their last overtime loss on March 21, 2008, a 2-1 overtime loss to Miami at the CCHA semifinals. Notre Dame is now 0-0-5 in overtime this season. During the `09-’10 season, the Irish were involved in nine overtime contests, finishing 1-0-8 in those games. The eight ties equaled a Notre Dame record set during the 1999-2000 season. All eight ties in `09-’10 went to a shootout where the Irish were 3-5 in those games. The lone overtime win came on Nov. 27, 2009 versus Bowling Green (2-1) and was the first for the Irish since Feb. 20, 2009 at Nebraska-Omaha, a 4-3 win.
JOIN THE CLUB: Senior center Ben Ryan (Brighton, Mich.) is on the verge of becoming the 46th player in the history of the Notre Dame hockey program to score 100 or more points in his career. Going into the series with Bowling Green, Ryan needs just five more points to reach the “Century Club” as he has 34 goals and 61 assists for 95 points in 147 career games. Following Ryan, senior Calle Ridderwall also has a shot at the 100-point mark. He has 52 goals and 33 assists for 85 points in 144 career games.
"Century Club" Name (Seasons) G A Pts1. Brian Walsh (1973-77) 89 145 2342. John Noble (1969-73) 81 145 2263. Eddie Bumbacco (1970-74) 103 117 220
40. Tim Reilly (1981-86) 43 65 10841. Aniket Dhadphale (1995-99) 61 44 10542. Bob Thebeau (1982-86) 40 63 10343. Kevin Hoene (1968-71) 50 51 101 Matt Hanzel (1985-89) 50 51 10145. Paul Clarke (1973-77) 38 62 100 -- Ben Ryan (2007- ) 34 61 95 -- Calle Ridderwall (2007- ) 52 33 85
NATIONAL LEADERS: Freshman center T.J. Tynan has burst on to the national scene as he finds himself tied for fifth in the nation in points (43) and is tied for eighth with 19 goals on the year. Fellow freshman Anders Lee is tied for 16th in the nation in points (37) and is tied for eighth with 19 goals.
National Scoring Race (by points): GP G A PTSAndy Miele (MU) 32 17 39 56Carter Camper (MU) 32 15 32 47Paul Zanette (NIA) 30 24 22 46Paul Thompson (UNH) 28 24 20 44Chase Polacek (RPI) 30 18 25 43T.J. Tynan (ND) 32 19 24 43Jack Connolly (UMD) 29 12 30 42Bryan Haczyk (NIA) 30 26 15 41Justin Schultz (UW) 32 15 26 41Nathan Longpre (RMU) 30 14 26 40Reilly Smith (MU) 31 21 18 39Justin Fontaine (UMD) 29 18 21 39Carl Hagelin (UM) 32 13 25 38Mike Sislo (UNH) 28 10 28 38Denny Urban (RMU) 31 8 30 38Anders Lee (ND) 32 19 18 37Craig Smith (UW) 32 16 21 37Andrew Favot (RIT) 31 12 25 37
SHORT-HAND SUCCESS: Freshman left wing Anders Lee scored Notre Dame’s 12th short-handed goal of the season in the Jan. 14, 2-1 win over Alaska. The 12 short-handed goals are tops in the nation with two teams – Boston College is second with eight. With his goal, Lee became the ninth Notre Dame player to get a short-handed goal this season. Defensemen Joe Lavin (Sr., Shrewsbury, Mass.) and Sam Calabrese join T.J. Tynan with two each while Lee, Bryan Rust (Fr., Novi, Mich.), Riley Sheahan, Ryan Guentzel (Sr., Woodbury, Minn.), Billy Maday and Sean Lorenz (Jr., Littleton, Colo.) all have one each. The 12 short-handed goals are the most for the Irish since setting a school record with 19 during the 1981-82 season.
HOT IRISH: Three members of the Notre Dame hockey team carry scoring streaks into this weekend against Ferris State. T.J. Tynan has a six-game streak with four goals and six assists for 10 points in those games. Anders Lee has a five-game point streak with at least two points in every game, giving her five goals and six assists for 11 points. Fellow freshman Bryan Rust has a three-game streak with a goal and four assists for five points.
CAREER YEAR: Senior right wing Ryan Guentzel (Woodbury, Minn.) had the best game of his career with three goals and an assist in the win over Canisius (Dec. 29). He is currently third on the team in scoring with six goals and 24 assists for 31 points, all career highs. Earlier this season, Guentzel had a career-best, and a season high for the Irish, seven-game point streak (1g, 9a). His previous best season was 2008-09 when he had four goals and seven assists for 11 points. He is currently tied for eighth in the CCHA in scoring with 31 points and his 25 assists are third in the conference.
COMEBACK KID: Sophomore defenseman Sam Calabrese (Park Ridge, Ill.) has bounced back from a season he’d love to forget to become Notre Dame’s top scorer from the blue line this year. As a freshman in 2009-10, Calabrese saw action in just three games all season, suffering a broken leg on Dec. 4, 2009 at Miami. This season, Calabrese has five goals (two short-handed) with nine assists for 14 points and is tied for the lead among Irish defensemen in scoring. He also leads the team and the CCHA with a +22.
ALL-JOYCE CENTER VOTING: Fans can vote for the All-Joyce Center Team at und.com to select the top players to play at the Joyce Center over the 43-year history of the building. Teams were selected to cover four decades – 1968-80, 1980-90, 1990-2000 and 2000-10. Those players then went on the ballot that includes eight goaltenders, 17 defensemen and 24 forwards. Fan voting will select three goaltenders, six defensemen and nine forwards who will be named to the All-Joyce Center team that will be announced on Feb. 26 at the final regular-season home game versus Western Michigan.
SHOOTING THE PUCK: Through the first 32 games of the season, Notre Dame has out shot the opposition in 25 of those games. The Irish are 16-6-3 when they out shoot their opponent. In games the opposition has the most shots, Notre Dame is 2-3-2. For the year, the Irish are averaging 33.0 shots per game while giving up 25.6 per contest.
ROAD SWEEP: Notre Dame’s back-to-back road wins at Northern Michigan (Jan. 7-8) marked the first CCHA road sweep for the Irish since winning twice at Nebraska-Omaha on Feb. 20-21, 2009, taking a 4-3 overtime win and a 1-0 victory over the Mavericks. After the UNO sweep, the Irish went 10 road series overall and nine CCHA road series, covering a year-and-a-half, without winning consecutive games on the road.
ROAD WARRIORS: Notre Dame’s road win at Ohio State on Jan. 22 improved the Irish to 6-5-2 on the road this season. A year ago, Notre Dame was 3-10-4 away from the Joyce Center.