April 3, 2006
Notre Dame, Ind. – Notre Dame senior left wing Mike Walsh (Northville, Mich.) is one of 28 senior men and women’s hockey players selected to participate in the first-ever NCAA Skills Challenge. The event will be held on Friday, April 7 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wis., beginning at 7:00 p.m. (CDT). It will be preceded by the presentations of the Hobey Baker Award and the college hockey Humanitarian Award at 6:30 p.m. (CDT)
The competition will be held in an East-versus-West format with each team having six male position players, six female position players, two male goaltenders and two female goaltenders. To be eligible, all players must have exhausted their collegiate eligibility and be nominated by their head coach. Representatives of the American College Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA), the NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Committee and the National Youth Sports Corporation selected the players. The competitions will include puck control relay, fastest skater, hardest shot, rapid-fire shooting and penalty shot.
Walsh, a four-year monogram winner for the Irish and an alternate captain the last two seasons, finished his Notre Dame career this season with 10 goals and seven assists for 17 points. In his four seasons at Notre Dame, Walsh played in 134 games, scoring 25 goals with 29 assists for 54 points. He ranks ninth on Notre Dame’s all-time game-winning goal list with nine in his Notre Dame career.
He will be joined on the West team by: Nick Anderson (Michigan Tech), Colton Fretter (Michigan State), Gabe Gauthier (Denver), Brandon Kaleniecki (Michigan), James Shipley (Milwaukee School of Eng.) and goaltenders Dave Caruso (Ohio State) and Adam Hanna (St. John’s). Making up the women’s roster for the West are: Nikki Burish (Wisconsin), Sharon Cole (Wisconsin), Devon Fingland (North Dakota), Jana Harrigan (Ohio State), Randie Jelinski (St. Cloud State), Kristy Oonincx (St. Cloud State) and goaltenders Meghan Horras (Wisconsin) and Jill Luebke (Bemidji State). The honorary coaches are: Jeff Sauer (Wisconsin) and Mark Johnson (Wisconsin).
Representing the East squad are: Justin Cross (Niagara), Torry Gajda (Providence), Matt Moulson (Cornell), Mike Ouellette (Dartmouth), T.J. Trevelyan (St. Lawrence), Kyle Wilson (Colgate) and goaltenders John Daigneau (Harvard) and Brad Roberts (Army). The East’s women’s roster includes: Linday Hansen (New Hampshire), Allison Paiano (Colgate), Jennifer Raimondi (Harvard), Margaret Ramsay (Brown), Sam Shirley (Mercyhurst), Karen Thatcher (Providence) and goaltenders Marisa Hourihan (Northeastern) and Sarah Love (Yale). The honorary coaches are: Bill Cleary (Harvard) and Bob Deraney (Providence).
Senior Chris Trick made his professional debut on March 7 with the Pensacola Ice Pilots of the ECHL. He scored the game-winning goal in his first game.
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IRISH NOTES: As a reminder – The Notre Dame hockey team will hold its 2005-06 Awards Program on Sunday, April 9 at the Mendoza College of Business Atrium and Auditorium. The awards program will honor the 2005-06 team following their first season under head coach Jeff Jackson. Hors d’ouevres will be served at 3:00 p.m. with the awards program set for 4:00 p.m.
Tickets are $12.00 for adults and $6.00 for children 12 and under. For more information, contact the hockey office at (574) 631-3630.
TRICK MAKES PROS A TREAT: Senior defenseman Chris Trick (Troy, Mich.) signed a professional contract with the Pensacola Ice Pilots of the East Coast Hockey League on March 7 and scored the game-winning goal in his first game. In 13 games in Pensacola, Trick has two goals and four assists for six points and 16 minutes in penalties. Trick finished his Notre Dame career this season, playing in 33 games with three assists. He was the team’s +/- leader with a +8 on the year and was a finalist for the Hockey Humanitarian Award.