Dec. 29, 2004
The Series:
Notre Dame Fighting Irish (4-9-4/3-8-3) vs. Rensselaer Engineers (8-9-2/2-5-1 in ECAC)
Date/Site/Times:
Sat.-Sun., Jan. 1-2, 2005 – 7:05 p.m./5:05 p.m. – Joyce Center (2,713)
Broadcast Information:
Radio: Notre Dame hockey can be heard live on ESPN Radio 1580, South Bend’s SportsCenter. Mike Lockert, “the voice of Irish hockey” and Tom Nevala will bring you all the action both nights. Irish hockey can also be heard live via the internet at www.und.com.
RESTARTING THE SEASON:
The Notre Dame hockey team returns to action following a 20-day break for finals and the Christmas holidays on Sat.-Sun., January 1-2 when the Rensselaer Engineers make their first-ever appearance at the Joyce Center. Saturday’s New Year’s Day game will start at 7:05 p.m. with Sunday’s game set for 5:05 p.m. The series is the first for both teams since closing out the 2004 portion of the schedule on the weekend of Dec. 10-11. The Irish come into the weekend series with a 4-9-4 overall record and a 3-8-3 record in CCHA play that ties them for ninth in the league with Western Michigan as both teams have nine points in conference play. Rensselaer comes to Notre Dame with an 8-9-2 overall record and is 2-5-1 in the ECAC Hockey League, good for 10th in the league standings. Following the weekend series with the Engineers, the Irish return to CCHA play when they travel to Lake Superior on Jan. 7-8.
THE SERIES:
Notre Dame and Rensselaer have met twice in the all-time series with both games being played in Troy, N.Y. as part of R.P.I’s annual Christmas Tournament. The Engineers have won both meetings. The first meeting came on Dec. 29, 1988 in the first round of the tournament with R.P.I. taking a 6-0 victory. The last meeting came on Dec. 30, 2000 in the third-place game with the Engineers taking a 6-2 win from the Irish.
VERSUS THE ECAC:
Rensselaer is the lone team from the ECACHL that the Irish will face in the regular season this year. All-time, the Irish are 14-30-1 versus the current teams in the ECACHL. Last year, the Irish faced Cornell from the ECAC and lost to the Big Red, 4-0, in the first game of the Florida Everblades Tournament for their lone game versus the ECAC. In the last five meetings versus ECAC squads, Notre Dame is 0-4-1. The last Irish win came on Dec. 29, 2001 when Notre Dame capped a weekend sweep at Princeton with a 4-2 win. The Dec. 29 game was played at Trenton, N.J.’s Sovereign Center.
NEW YEAR’S DAY MATCH UPS:
Notre Dame’s game with Rensselaer on Jan. 1 marks just the second time in Irish hockey history that they will be in action on New Year’s Day. The previous time came on Jan. 1, 2000, when Notre Dame played Colorado College in the third-place game of the Norwest Cup in Denver. The Irish dropped a 5-2 decision to the Tigers. The Irish have played 10 times on Jan. 2 with the last time coming on Jan. 2, 1999 at North Dakota. Notre Dame is 3-7-0 on Jan. 2 in the 10 games.
HOME FOR CHRISTMAS:
The Irish will not be playing in a Christmas Tournament for the first time since the 2001-02 season this year. Last season, Notre Dame played in the Everblades College Hockey Classic in Estero, Fla., where the Irish finished third. During the 2002-03 season, the Irish competed in the Ledyard Bank Classic at Dartmouth where they finished in a third-place tie. In 2001-02, Notre Dame played a pair of games at Princeton following the Christmas holidays and then in 2000-01, the Irish were in R.P.I.’s tournament where they finished fourth.
BUSY MONTH:
Notre Dame’s series with Rensselaer opens a busy month for the Irish. During January, Notre Dame will play 11 games, including a runs of four games in nine days and a five games in nine days. The Irish have only played 11 games in a month once in the program’s history – January of 1976 when they also played 11 games. Notre Dame was 5-5-1 in those 11 games. This season, the Irish play Rensselaer (Jan. 1 and 2), at Lake Superior (Jan. 7 and 8), home with Ohio State (Jan. 14 and 15), vs. Michigan Tech (at Green Bay, Wis., Jan. 18), home with Wisconsin (Jan. 21 and at Chicago on Jan. 22), at Bowling Green (Jan. 28) and home with the Falcons (Jan. 29).
LAST ACTION FOR THE IRISH – MICHIGAN STATE RECAP: Saturday, Dec. 11 – Michigan State’s Ash Goldie recorded his first career hat trick as the Spartans scored three times in the third period to snap a 1-1 tie on the way to a 4-1 over Notre Dame at Munn Arena in East Lansing, Mich. Goldie scored two of his three goals in the third period (the hat trick goal was into an empty net with 30 seconds left), including the game winner with 6:38 left in the game. Irish goaltender David Brown (So., Stoney Creek, Ont.) kept the Irish in the game in the first period, making 18 saves in the opening stanza. Notre Dame broke a scoreless tie just 42 seconds into the second period on a power-play tally by Josh Sciba (So., Westland, Mich.). Defenseman Wes O’Neill’s (So., Essex, Ont.) shot from the point was stopped by Dominic Vicari, but Sciba was there to tuck the rebound inside the right post for his fourth goal of the year. Goldie got the game-tying goal at 15:14 of the second period when he flipped the rebound of an A.J. Thelen shot past Brown to make it 1-1. The score stayed that way until the 12:43 mark of the third when Goldie picked up a shot that had been blocked and fired it in from in close. Tommy Goebel made it 3-1 39 seconds later and Goldie scored an unassisted empty-net goal at 19:30 to close the scoring. For the game, the Irish were out shot, 40-21. Brown finished with 36 saves while Vicari had 20 stops for Michigan State.
Friday, Dec. 10 – Junior Matt Amado (Surrey, B.C.) scored at 2:32 of overtime to give Notre Dame a 3-2 win over Michigan State at the Joyce Center. The win was the first for the Irish versus Michigan State at home since a 1-0 win on Dec. 4, 1999. Amado’s goal capped a late Irish rally. The Spartans scored first at 11:29 of the first period on a power-play goal by Colton Fretter. Notre Dame answered back at 18:57 when junior left wing Mike Walsh (Northville, Mich.) scored his first goal of the season when he tucked a Victor Oreskovich (Fr., Oakville, Ont.) rebound past Domic Vicari. The Spartans made it 2-1 in the second period as Drew Miller beat David Brown (So., Stoney Creek, Ont.) at 11:26. Michigan State held the lead until the final moments of the third period. Jared Nightingale received a five-minute major for hitting from behind at 17:27 and Corey Potter took a slashing penalty at 18:00, giving the Irish a five-on-three power play. Head coach Dave Poulin called a timeout and pulled Brown in favor of a sixth attacker. Wes O’Neill (So., Essex, Ont.) got the game-tying goal at 18:41 on a slapshot from the left point to make it 2-2. In overtime, the rebound of an Evan Rankin (Fr., Portage, Mich.) slapshot was stopped by Vicari but the rebound went to Amado whose quick slapshot from the left wing circle beat Vicari. Notre Dame out shot Michigan State, 46-27 in the game. Vicari finished with 43 saves while Brown had 25 in the Irish goal.
CENTURY MARK:
Notre Dame head coach Dave Poulin needs one more win in CCHA play to reach the 100-win mark in league play. Now in his 10th season, Poulin is 99-133-39 in CCHA play. In all games, the Irish head coach is 138-179-48. His 138 career wins rank second on the all-time list at Notre Dame behind “Lefty” Smith who has 307 wins behind the Irish bench.
VERSUS RANKED TEAMS:
Through the first 17 games of the 2004-05 season, Notre Dame has played nine contests versus teams ranked teams. In those nine games, the Irish are 1-6-2. The lone win came against Boston College (Oct. 22) when the Eagles were ranked first in the nation. The ties have come versus Minnesota-Duluth and Northern Michigan.
ON THE SIDELINES:
Center Matt Williams-Kovacs (So., Calgary, Alb.) has missed the last 13 games after suffering a broken left ankle in the first period of the Oct. 16 game versus Miami. He had surgery on Monday, Oct. 18 and has resumed skating. Defenseman Dan VeNard (Fr., Vernon Hills, Ill.) has missed the last six games after going down with a separated right shoulder in the Nov. 13 game versus Western Michigan. Freshman defenseman Brock Sheahan (Lethbridge, Alb.) has missed the last two games after suffering a concussion on Dec. 4 versus Michigan. All three players can return to the lineup for the Rensselaer series.
WES FOR THE DEFENSE:
Sophomore defenseman Wes O’Neill has become Notre Dame’s offensive and defensive leader this season. Through 17 games, O’Neill leads the team in goals (5), power-play goals (4) and points (12). He is second in assists (7) and second in shots on goal this season (38). He has already equalled his offensive output of last season when he had two goals and 10 assists for 12 points. SCIBA SCORING:
Sophomore left wing Josh Sciba (Westland, Mich.) picked up a pair of points in the weekend series versus Michigan State and is second on the Irish with four goals this year. In the 3-2 overtime win versus the Spartans, Sciba won the draw that led to Wes O’Neill’s power-play game-tying goal at 18:41 of the third period. In the Dec. 11 game, Sciba put Notre Dame ahead, 1-0, 42 seconds into the second period with his second power-play goal of the year. As a freshman, he had seven goals and seven assists for 14 points. Through 17 games this season, Sciba has four goals and two assists for six points.
A NIGHT OF FIRSTS:
Friday night’s win over Michigan State saw the Irish accomplish several firsts. Junior left wing Mike Walsh scored his first goal of the season (Walsh is top returning scorer from last year with 12g, 13a) and freshman Victor Oreskovich picked up the first point of his collegiate career on Walsh’s goal. The win also marked the first time this season that Notre Dame pulled out a win when going into the final period trailing. The Irish are now 1-6-3 in those games.
WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU?:
Notre Dame goaltender David Brown started each of the games in the Michigan State series, surrendering five goals while making 61 saves in 120:32 of action for a 2.49 goals-against average versus the Spartans and a .924 save percentage. On the season, Brown is 2-5-1 with a 3.74 goals against and a .888 save percentage.
THE PUCK STOPS HERE:
Notre Dame senior goaltender Morgan Cey (Sr., Wilkie, Sask.) was named the CCHA’s goaltender and USCHO.com’s defensive player of the week for the week ending Oct. 24th. Cey recorded a career-high 50 saves in downing the top-ranked Boston College Eagles, 3-2, at the Joyce Center on Oct. 22. Twenty-eight of his saves came on 11 BC power-play chances. The 6-3, 177-pound goaltender made 20 saves in the first period, 10 in the second and 20 in the third period. He has gone 1-2-2 in his last five games since his outstanding performance versus Boston College. For the year, Cey is 2-4-3 with a 2.78 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage. Of the 25 goals he’s given up this year, 13 have been on the power play.
SEN-CEY-TIONAL:
Morgan Cey’s 50-save performance versus Boston College was the first 50-save game for a Notre Dame goaltender since Lance Madson (’86-’90) turned in 57 saves in a 6-3 loss to Air Force on Nov. 12, 1988. Cey, now has 37 wins him his career to rank fifth on Notre Dame’s all-time wins list.
FIT TO BE TIED:
The Dec. 10 overtime win with Michigan State (3-2) marked the first time the Irish have won a regular-season overtime game since Jan. 25, 2002, a span of 16 overtime contests (0-2-14). Since the 1999-2000 season, Notre Dame has been involved in 46 overtime games. In those games, the Irish are 7-5-34. During the 2003-04 season, Notre Dame had a total of eight overtime contests, going 1-3-4 in those games. The lone overtime win came in game three of the first round of the CCHA playoffs versus Western Michigan. ALL TIED UP:
The most ties the Irish have ever had in a season is eight and that came during the 1999-2000 campaign. The most overtime games the Irish have participated in is 11 and that came during the 1993-94 season. Notre Dame was 2-4-5 in those games.
SHOT MARGINS:
The Irish have out shot teams just four times in their first 17 games this season, including the Dec. 10 game versus Michigan State (46-27 margin). In those first 17 games, the Irish are now 1-0-3 when they have the edge in shots. Notre Dame out shot Bowling Green by a 38-30 margin on Nov. 12. On Nov. 5, the Irish out shot Bowling Green, 54-23 and on Oct. 29, Notre Dame out shot Northern Michigan by a 30-27 margin. For the year, the Irish are 3-9-1 when an opponent has more shots in a game.
AMADO TIME:
Matt Amado’s game-winning goal on Dec. 10 versus Michigan State snapped a 13-game goal-scoring drought for the junior center. The goal was also his first point since Oct. 22 versus Boston College. For the year, he now has two goals and two assists for four points.
THE LAST TIME:
In the Dec. 4 game with Michigan, Notre Dame surrendered five power-play goals in nine chances to the Wolverines. The last time that the Irish gave up five power-play tallies in a game came on Jan. 11, 1994 in a 10-6 loss to Ferris State (5-for-8). The last time the Irish gave up 14 or more goals in a weekend series came on Dec. 5-6, 2003 when they gave up 14 goals in 8-6 and 6-4 losses at Western Michigan.
DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN:
The last time the Irish gave up five power-play goals came in a game versus Ferris State in January of 1994. One of the players to score a power-play goal for the Bulldogs that night was Keith Sergott. When Michigan turned the trick on Dec. 4, Sergott was on the ice at the Joyce Center, wearing stripes as he served as an assistant referee for the game.
SPLITTING TIME:
Prior to the Michigan series on Dec. 3-4, Irish goaltenders David Brown and Morgan Cey had been pulled once in favor of the other just one time in their careers (2003-04). Versus Michigan, Brown was pulled in favor of Cey after 31:11 in the Dec. 3 game. The following night, Cey was pulled after the first period in favor of Brown.
TOUGH BARNS:
Since returning to the CCHA in 1992-93, Michigan’s Yost Arena and Michigan State’s Munn Arena have been regular “Houses of Horror” for the Irish. At Yost Arena, the Irish are 1-15-1 in the last 17 regular-season meetings and 2-19-1 overall. At Munn Arena, Notre Dame is 2-16-1 on the home ice of the Spartans.
THIRD PERIOD BREAKDOWNS:
Through the first 17 games of the season, Notre Dame has been out scored by a 58-30 margin. Much of the disparity has come in the third period when the Irish have been out shot 24-7 (-17).
GOAL-SCORING STRUGGLES:
The Irish have been held to just 30 goals in the first 17 games of the season (1.76 goals per game average). Over the last nine games, Notre Dame has scored 19 goals (2.11).
IRON MAN:
Sophomore right wing Tim Wallace (Anchorage, Alaska) has now played in all 96 games in his first two-plus seasons at Notre Dame. The Irish record for consecutive games played belongs to former defenseman Evan Nielsen (’03) who played in 114 consecutive games between his sophomore and senior seasons. Nielsen missed just two games in his career, playing in 156 of 158 games. Wallace played in all 40 games as a freshman and all 39 Irish games in 2003-04. The big left wing has a two goals and five assists for seven points in the first 17 games of 2004-05.
SCORING BY CLASS:
Here’s how Notre Dame scoring breaks down by classes this season.
Class (Skaters) Goals Assists Points Seniors (2) 3 8 11 Juniors (5) 6 16 22 Sophomores (7) 16 18 34 Freshmen (8) 5 10 15 Totals 30 52 82
GILL THE THRILL:
Junior center Tony Gill (Rochester, Minn.) scored the first goal of his Notre Dame career in the 3-2 win over Alaska Fairbanks. The brother of former Irish captain, Aaron Gill, Tony played in 33 career games before getting his first goal.
RANK-IN-FILE:
Freshman right wing Evan Rankin (Portage, Mich.) continues to show a nose for the net in his rookie season. The Portage, Mich., native returned to the lineup after missing two games (U.S. Under-18 Team and UAF) with a hip injury to score his fourth goal of the season (first on the power play) in the 3-2 loss to the Nanooks on Nov. 27. He set up Matt Amado’s game winner versus Michigan State and led the team with six shots on goal in the game. He leads Irish freshmen in scoring with four goals and three assists for seven points in 15 games this season.
PLAYING SHORT-HANDED:
Notre Dame’s penalty-killing unit led the CCHA and was fourth in the nation in 2003-04, killing penalties at an 87.4% success rate. Prior to the Michigan series, the Irish had given up just three power-play goals in the previous 32 chances over a five-game span for a 90.6% success rate. On the year, the Irish have now given up 24 power-play goals on 123 chances for an 80.5% penalty-killing mark. The Irish held Michigan State to one power-play goal in 10 chances in the last series before the holiday.
POWER-PLAY STRUGGLES:
Notre Dame’s power-play was 2-for-9 in the weekend series versus Michigan State. The Irish were 1-for-5 (six-on-three with goaltender pulled) in the win versus Michigan State, then scored once in four chances versus the Spartans in the 4-1 loss. Over the last three games, the Irish are just 3-for-28 (10.7%) with the man advantage. On the season, Notre Dame has just 14 power-play goals on 119 chances for an 11.8% success rate.
THREE-GOAL LEADS:
Notre Dame led Bowling Green by a 3-0 score before giving up four goals to trail, 4-3, before Wes O’Neill’s heroics with three seconds left. The last time the Irish surrendered a three-goal lead was on Nov. 6, 1998. The Irish led Boston College, 5-2 after two periods before settling for a 5-5 tie.
BLUE-LINE SCORING:
Sophomore defenseman Wes O’Neill leads the Irish in scoring after 17 games with five goals and seven assists. He is followed on the blue line by sophomore Noah Babin who has a two goals and two assists for four points. Freshman Brock Sheahan (Lethbridge, Alb.) and junior Chris Trick (Troy, Mich.) have three assists each. Freshman Dan VeNard has one assist on the year. Through 17 games, the Irish defense has accounted for seven of Notre Dame’s 30 goals (23.3%) and 23 of Notre Dame’s 82 points (28.0%).
PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES:
The Irish experienced their own version of Planes, Trains and Automobiles on their journey to Fairbanks, Alaska. The Irish hockey team left the Notre Dame campus at 1:30 p.m. (EST) on Wednesday, Nov. 24 and took five hours for the 112-mile trip to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (due to holiday traffic and weather). From there, the 7:20 p.m. (CST) flight to Anchorage, Alaska didn’t leave Chicago until midnight. The six-hour-and-thirty minute flight arrived at 3:30 a.m. (Alaska Standard Time – 7:30 a.m. EST). The Irish flight to Fairbanks left at 1:00 a.m. (AST), so the team had to stay in an Anchorage hotel for five hours before leaving for the airport at 9:45 a.m. (1:45 p.m. EST). The team arrived in Fairbanks at 12:30 p.m. (4:30 p.m. EST) making the normal 16-hour trip a 27-hour ordeal. The Irish went right from the airport to the Carlson Center to practice for an hour-and-a-half before enjoying Thanksgiving dinner at 3:30 p.m. (7:30 p.m. EST).
FORMER IRISH GREAT GREG MEREDITH TO RECEIVE NCAA HONOR:
Former Notre Dame hockey All-American, Greg Meredith (1976-80) is one of six NCAA Silver Anniversary Award recipients the NCAA has announced. The Silver Anniversary Award recognizes former student-athletes who have distinguished themselves since completing their college careers 25 years ago. Meredith is Notre Dame’s all-time leading goal scorer with 104 goals in 149 career games. He is also tops in power-play goals (43) and seventh in all-time points with 192 for his career. He is just one of two players ever to score 40 goals in a season (1979-80) at Notre Dame. A four-year letterwinner with the Irish, Meredith was a finalist for a Rhodes Scholarship and was an NCAA postgraduate scholarship recipient. He is currently the managing director for Putnam Lovell NBF Securities Inc., and has held positions with Salomon Brothers, Inc., Nationsbanc Capital Markets, Inc., and Fenway Partners, Inc. From 2001 to 2003, he served as president and chief executive officer at HSBC Capital and was also president and CEO of Printvision, a software company from 2002-03. In addition, Meredith is the founder and president of Proctor Capital, a private investment and strategic advisory firm. He played four years in the NHL for the Calgary Flames and was an assistant coach at Harvard. Meredith currently coaches the St. David’s hockey program for boys and girls between 9 and 11 years of age. He formed the Meredith Family Foundation in 1997, which contributes to programs such as the LOGAN Center, which provides services to individuals with intellectual disabilities, the St. Joseph’s County Special Olympics, and Camp Millhouse, a summer camp for children with significant intellectual disabilities. In addition, the organization funds educational initiatives including the Paul E. Meredith scholarships at Notre Dame. Meredith is the 10th former Irish athlete to receive the award that was started in 1973.
BEATING THE BEST:
For the second year in a row, Notre Dame faced the Boston College Eagles when the Eagles were the top-ranked team in the nation. For the second year in a row, the Irish sent the Eagles home with a loss as they prevailed on Oct. 22 by a 3-2 score. The last time the Irish had defeated a top-ranked team at the Joyce Center was Jan. 13, 1978 when they upset Denver, 5-3. A year ago, in Boston, the Irish downed the top-ranked Eagles, 1-0. In the 37-year history of the program, Notre Dame owns eight wins over top-ranked teams. The list:
10/22/04 – vs. Boston College, 3-2 10/23/03 – at Boston College, 1-0 1/3/99 – at North Dakota, 4-3 11/20/78 – at Minnesota, 3-2 1/13/78 – vs. Denver, 5-3 1/18/74 – vs. Michigan Tech, 7-1 2/24/73 – vs. Wisconsin, 4-3 2/23/73 – vs. Wisconsin, 8-5
DOING IT THE HARD WAY:
Sophomore right wing T.J. Jindra (Faribault, Minn.) picked up the third short-handed goal of his Notre Dame career versus Boston College. The goal was the third game winner of his career. His second goal, at Western Michigan on Nov. 13 was also a game winner. In 54 career games, Jindra now has scored six goals with three of them coming a man down. He also has four game winners in his career with two of them coming short-handed.
TOUGH PLACE TO WIN:
Notre Dame’s win at Western Michigan on Nov. 13th was just the fourth for the Irish at Lawson Arena since returning to the CCHA in 1992-93. Notre Dame is now 4-16-3 at Lawson since that season. Overall, the Irish are 7-19-4 in the all-time series versus the Broncos in Kalamazoo, Mich.
HOMECOMING HERO:
Notre Dame freshman right wing Evan Rankin (Portage, Mich.) made the most of his return to Kalamazoo, Mich., on Friday night. The Portage, Mich., native returned to Lawson Arena where he first learned to skate and scored the game-tying goal in the third period of the 2-2 tie. He then assisted on Notre Dame’s first goal in the 3-2 win on Saturday. For the year, Rankin leads all Irish freshmen in scoring with four goals and two assists for six points.
CAREER BESTS:
Junior left wing Mike Walsh had the first three-point game and the first three-assist game of his career in the 4-4 tie with Bowling Green. Defenseman Wes O’Neill recorded the first two-goal game of his career versus the Falcons. Freshman right wing Evan Rankin recorded the first multiple-point game of his career as he scored a goal and added an assist versus Bowling Green. Cory McLean equalled his career-high with three points versus the Falcons as he scored once and added two assists in the contest.
BLASTING THE BISCUIT:
The Irish fired 54 shots at Bowling Green goaltender Jordan Sigalet on Nov. 5, including 29 in the second period. The last time the Irish had more than 54 shots on goal came on Oct. 17, 2003 when they fired 59 at – you guessed it – Jordan Sigalet of Bowling Green. He made 56 saves that night in a 5-3 Falcon win.
BISCUIT BARRAGE:
The 52 shots that Boston College fired at Morgan Cey on Oct. 22 was the most shots on goal the Irish have faced since Jan. 23, 2001 when Michigan fired 51 on the Notre Dame goal in a 9-0 Wolverine win.
CAPTAINS:
Senior Cory McLean (Fargo, N.D.) will serve as Notre Dame’s team captain this season. The team’s two alternate captains will be junior Mike Walsh (Northville, Mich.) and sophomore Jason Paige (Saginaw, Mich.). Paige is just the second sophomore in Dave Poulin’s 10 seasons at Notre Dame to be selected as an alternate captain. The first was Steve Noble (’98) who was selected an alternate for the 1995-96 season. He went on to serve as captain in 1996-97 and 1997-98.
THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME:
Notre Dame’s loss to Minnesota-Duluth on Oct. 8 snapped a 15-game (12-0-3) regular-season home unbeaten at the Joyce Center. The last time the Irish had lost a regular-season home game at the Joyce Center was on Oct. 17, 2003 versus Bowling Green. Notre Dame was 14-2-2 (.833) at the Joyce Center last season. This year, the Irish are 2-3-3 at home and 16-5-5 (.712) in their last 26 home games. The 2003-04 home record of 14-2-2 was the best for the Irish since 1987-88 when that year’s Irish squad was 18-2-0 on home ice.
GOLD-MEDAL IRISH:
Two former Notre Dame hockey players helped the United States win the gold medal in the recent Deutschland Cup tournament held in Hannover, Germany. Forward Yan Stastny, currently playing for the Nurnberg Ice Tigers in Germany, collected a goal and an assist in the four games. Defenseman Mark Eaton, currently a member of the Nashville Predators, scored a power-play goal in the gold medal game vrsus Slovakia. The U.S. defeated Germany, 5-1, lost to Canada, 5-3, defeated Switzerland, 4-2 and then shutout Slovakia, 4-0, to finish 3-1 in the tournament. The U.S. ended tied with Canada with 3-1 records, but received the gold medal due to greater goal differential over the four games.
FRESHMAN FIRSTS:
Freshman left wing Mark Van Guilder (Roseville, Minn.) collected his first collegiate goal on Nov. 4 at Bowling Green. He became the second Irish freshman to get his first goal, following Evan Rankin who scored the first goal of his Notre Dame career with a second-period goal versus Boston College (Oct.22). Defenseman Brock Sheahan collected his first career point in Notre Dame’s season opener versus Minnesota-Duluth and fellow defenseman Dan VeNard got his first career point on Nov. 12 at Western Michigan.
FIRST TIMER:
Noah Babin (So., Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) scored his first career goal for the Irish in the 1-1 tie with Northern Michigan. The sophomore defenseman has played in 41 career games for Notre Dame. He got his second career goal in the 2-2 with Western Michigan on Nov. 12. He is the first Notre Dame hockey player from the state of Florida.
FAMILY MATTERS:
Two Irish junior hockey players – Rory Walsh and Mike Walsh – have fathers who played sports at Notre Dame while attending the University during the 1970’s. Rory Walsh’s father, Brian (’77), was an all-American hockey player for the Irish. A center iceman, the elder Walsh is Notre Dame’s all-time leading scorer after recording 234 career points on 89 goals and 145 assists. Mike Walsh’s father, Max (’74), was an offensive lineman on the Notre Dame football team and a member of the 1973 national championship team. Rory Walsh is one of Notre Dame’s goaltenders and Walsh plays left wing for the Irish.
NHL DRAFTEES:
In June of 2004, the Irish had three players selected in the NHL Entry Draft. Freshman right wing Victor Oreskovich (Oakville, Ont.) was a second-round selection, 55th overall by the Colorado Avalanche. Sophomore defenseman Wes O’Neill was chosen in the fourth round, 115th overall by the New York Islanders. Sophomore goaltender David Brown was selected in the eighth round, 228th overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins. Those three join junior Mike Walsh as Notre Dame players selected by in the draft. Walsh was picked in the fifth round of the 2002 draft by the New York Rangers.
FOUR OF FIVE:
Notre Dame has advanced to Joe Louis Arena and the CCHA finals in four of the last five seasons (2000, 2002, 2003, 2004). Only two other CCHA teams – Michigan and Michigan State – have been there all four years since the 1999-2000 campaign. The Irish also are one of five teams, joining Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State and Northern Michigan, to make it to the CCHA Super Six in each of the last three seasons.
FROZEN TUNDRA:
Notre Dame has had a steady flow of players in recent years that played their junior hockey with the Green Bay Gamblers of the United State’s Hockey League. Six members of the current Notre Dame team have played in the Land of Lombardi. Senior defenseman Joe Zurenko (Palatine, Ill.) played there during the ’00-’01 season and sophomore blueliners Noah Babin (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) and Wes O’Neill were teammates there in ’02-’03. Second-year assistant coach Layne LeBel also spent two seasons (’01-’03) with the Gamblers. Joining the Irish this season is right wing Victor Oreskovich and defenseman Dan VeNard (Vernon Hills, Ill). In 58 games with the Gamblers, Oreskovich had 11 goals and 26 assists for 37 points and played in the league’s Top Prospects all-star game. VeNard spent three seasons in Green Bay. His 2003-04 campaign was cut short by injuries as he had two goals and two assists for four points in 22 games. During the 2004-05 season, the Irish will play a game in Green Bay as they will face Michigan Tech on Tuesday, Jan. 18 at the Resch Center.
STORM WARNINGS:
Three members of the Notre Dame freshman class saw action with the USHL’s Tri-City Storm during the ’03-’04 season. Defensemen Brian D’Arcy (Western Springs, Ill.) and Luke Lucyk (Fox Point, Wis.) were members of the Storm’s highly ranked defense. Forward Mark Van Guilder (Roseville, Minn.) was a key contributor to the USHL’s regular-season champions. Van Guilder was fifth on the team in scoring with 17 goals and 22 assists for 39 points in 60 games. In 11 playoff games, Van Guilder added three goals and two assists for five points. D’Arcy saw his season cut short due to injuries, playing in 32 games with no goals and two assists to go with 36 penalty minutes. Lucyk was a regular on the defense with a goal and nine assists for 10 points in 60 games.
NCAA ACTION:
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish hockey team had a season to remember in 2003-04. The Irish advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in the program’s 36-year history with a 20-15-4 overall record. In their first trip to the tournament, the Irish dropped a 5-2 decision to two-time NCAA defending champion Minnesota in the Grand Rapids Regional.
THE IRISH AND THE U.S. DEVELOPMENTAL PROGRAM:
Notre Dame’s current roster includes four players who have past experience with USA Hockey, as members of the National Team Development Program (NTDP). Since the program began, the Irish have had a total of 13 NTDP alums grace their roster. The current contingent includes junior Tim Wallace and sophomores Noah Babin, Michael Bartlett (Morton Grove, Ill.) and Josh Sciba (Westland, Mich.). Other former NTDP players who played at Notre Dame and their years in the national program include:
Brett Henning (1997-98), Michael Chin (1997-98), Connor Dunlop (1997-99), Paul Harris (1997-99), John Wroblewski (1997-99), Neil Komadoski (1998-2000), Brett Lebda (1998-2000), Rob Globke (1998-2000) and Derek Smith (2000-01).
INTERNATIONAL LEADER:
Notre Dame assistant coach, Andy Slaggert, served as the head coach of the U.S. Under-17 Select Team that finished second at the Five Nation’s Tournament from Aug. 24-28 in Halle, Germany. The U.S. Team’s lone loss came to the Czech Republic (the eventual winners). This was Slaggert’s second international appearance with USA Hockey as he served as assistant coach on the 2003 gold-medal winning team at the World Under-18 Select Tournament held in the Czech Republic. The 12-year assistant at Notre Dame has been involved in coaching with USA Hockey since the 1996-97 season.