Nov. 4, 2009
Notre Dame, Ind. –
Complete Release in PDF Format 
• The Games: #9/#9 Notre Dame (4-3-1/1-0-1-0) at #14/#13 Alaska (5-0-1/2-0-0-0)
• Date/Site/Time: Friday-Saturday, November 6-7, 2009 • Carlson Center • 7:05 p.m. (AT)/11:05 p.m. (ET)
• Broadcast Information: Radio: Notre Dame hockey can be heard live on Cat Country 99.9 FM, starting with the pregame show 20 minutes before the opening faceoff. Darin Pritchett will call the action for the Irish.
• Internet: Both games of the Alaska series will have live audio streamed on Notre Dame’s website at und.com. Live Video: Will be available at http://www.b2livetv.com/upcoming_events.asp?q=v&value=ccha. There is a $7.50 charge to view each game at this site. Live Stats: At CCHA.com or the Alaska site http://www.sidearmstats.com/uaf/mhockey/
NORTH TO ALASKA: Notre Dame takes to the road for its first weekend road series of the season when the Irish travel to Fairbanks, Alaska for a pair of games on Nov. 6-7 versus the Alaska Nanooks. Game times at the Carlson Center are 7:05 p.m. (AT) (11:05 p.m. in South Bend) both nights. Live audio streaming can be found on the Notre Dame webiste at und.com. Live video is available at www.b2livetv.com under the CCHA schedule. There is a fee of $7.50 per game. Notre Dame enters the weekend with a 4-3-1 overall record and is 1-0-1-0 in the CCHA, good for four points in the league standings. The Nanooks bring a 5-0-1 mark into the game and are 2-0-0-0 in the conference for six points. The Irish, ranked ninth in both the the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine poll and the USCHO.com poll, are coming off a 1-0-1 weekend versus Ohio State. Notre Dame won, 3-1, on Oct. 30 before tying the Buckeyes, 2-2, on Halloween. OSU won the shoot out in that game, 2-1. Notre Dame has played seven of its first eight games on the road this season with the lone road game coming on Oct. 20 at Boston University. Alaska, ranked 14th in the the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine poll and 13th in the USCHO.com poll, is coming off a weekend sweep of Ferris State at home, winning, 3-1, on Oct. 30 before taking a 3-2 overtime decision on Oct. 31. The Nanooks are 3-0-1 at home while their other two games were played in Anchorage, Alaska in the season-opening Kendall Hockey Classic. Alaska’s first trip out of the state will come next weekend when the Nanooks travel to Bowling Green. Notre Dame will next be in action on Nov. 14-15 when the Irish host the Northern Michigan Wildcats.
TIME CHANGE: Notre Dame’s game with Northern Michigan on Nov. 14 has had its starting time changed. Originally scheduled for 7:05 p.m., the game will now start at 5:05 p.m. to avoid a conflict with the Notre Dame-Pitt football game that will be televised at 8:00 p.m. on ABC. The starting time at Pittsburgh was announced by ABC on Monday, Nov. 2
IRISH AND THE NANOOKS: Notre Dame and Alaska have met 49 times in the all-time series with the Irish holding a 25-20-4 record in those games. At Fairbanks, Alaska leads the series, 12-9-3. A year ago, the teams met twice at Notre Dame where former Irish goaltender Jordan Pearce `09 pitched a pair of shutouts, winning back-to-back nights, 2-0 and 3-0, on Jan. 9-10 at the Joyce Center. Since the start of the 2006-07 season, the Irish are 9-0-1 against Alaska. The last Notre Dame loss came in the 2006 CCHA playoffs when the Nanooks swept the Irish, two games to none. Since Jeff Jackson took over as coach at Notre Dame in 2005-06, the Irish are 10-3-1 versus the Nanooks.
NANOOK NOTES: Alaska has gotten off to a fast start in 2009-10, going 5-0-1 through its first six games. Defense and goaltending have been the name of the game in Fairbanks as the Nanooks have given up just seven goals in their first six games and have the stingiest defense in the country, giving up just 1.14 goals per game. Leading the way in the Alaska goal is sophomore Scott Greenham, who is 5-0-1 with a 1.14 goals against and a .949 save percentage. A two-time CCHA goaltender of the week, Greenham was named the league’s player of the month for October. Leading the Nanook offense is senior center Dion Knelsen who has two goals and five assists for seven points. Sophomore defenseman Joe Sova (3g, 3a) and freshman right wing Andy Taranto (2g, 4a) are second in scoring with six points each. Alaska has scored 18 goals in the first six games for a 3.00 goals-per-game average. On the power play, the Nanooks are eight-for-35, for a 22.9% success rate. On the penalty-killing side, Alaska has surrendered just two power-play goals in 23 chances for a 91.3 penalty-killing mark.
OHIO STATE RECAP: Friday, Oct. 30 –
Freshman goaltender Mike Johnson (Verona, Wis.) stopped 27-of-28 Ohio State shots and got all the offense he needed with goals from Calle Ridderwall (Jr., Stockholm, Sweden), Dan Kissel (Sr., Crestwood, Ill.) and Billy Maday (So., Burr Ridge, Ill.) in a 3-1 win over the Buckeyes on Oct. 30. Ridderwall and Kissel scored on the power play while Maday’s goal was into an empty net with 18 seconds left. Ohio State’s John Albert and Ridderwall traded first period power-play goals for a 1-1 score. The game would stay that way until 9:17 of the third period when Kissel scored off the rebound of a Christiaan Minella (Sr. Aurora, Colo.) deflection to make it 2-1. That goal came on a five-minute power play for the Irish. On the night, Notre Dame out shot Ohio State, 33-28. Dustin Carlson made 30 saves for the Buckeyes. The Irish were 2-for-9 on the power play while OSU converted on one of eight chances.
Saturday, Oct. 31 – Notre Dame and Ohio State battled to a 2-2 after 65 minutes of action on Saturday night with the Buckeyes getting the extra point in a shoot out with a 2-1 win versus the Irish. Freshman Riley Sheahan (St. Catharine’s, Ont.) got Notre Dame on the scoreboard at 14:56 of the first period with a power-play goal, his second goal of the season. Ohio State evened the score at 19:23 of the first on a Hunter Bishop power-play marker to make it 1-1 after one period. After a scoreless second period, Notre Dame retook the lead on Kyle Lawson’s (Sr., New Hudson, Mich.) second goal of the year at 2:31 for the second Irish power-play goal of the game. The Buckeyes got the equalizer at 5:02 of the third when Zac Dalpe’s wrister from the right wing circle got by Brad Phillips (Jr., Farmington Hills, Mich.) for a power-play goal. That would end the scoring as the two teams finished overtime with a 2-2 score. In the shoot out, OSU got goals from John Albert and Bishop while the Irish saw just Billy Maday (So., Burr Ridge, Ill.) score on a penalty shot. With the shoot out win, the Buckeyes pick up the extra point in the standings. For the game, Notre Dame out shot Ohio State, 32-28. Phillips finished with 30 saves while Cal Heeter had 26 saves in the Buckeyes’ goal.
SHOOT OUT LOSS: Notre Dame’s 2-1 loss to Ohio State in the shoot out on Oct. 31 marked the first time that Notre Dame lost a shoot out since the CCHA implimented the tie breaker for the start of the 2008-09 season. The Irish are 3-1 all-time in the shoot out.
WHERE’S THE GOALS? Through the first eight games of the season, Notre Dame has scored a total of 19 goals on the year. Of the 19 goals, only eight have come with the two teams skating at even strength. The Irish have 10 goals on the power play and one short-handed tally to go with the eight even strength goals.
SCORING STRUGGLES: Through the first eight games of the 2009-10 season, Notre Dame has scored just 19 goals for a 2.38 average. The Irish have not scored more than three goals in any of their first eight games this season.
BEST OF THE BEST: Over the past three-plus seasons, the Notre Dame hockey program is tops in the nation. Since the start of the 2006-07 campaign, the Irish have won 94 games and own a .726 winning percentage over that period. Notre Dame leads Michigan (92) in wins and winning percentage (.721). Here are the top five teams by wins and winning percentage since 2006-07.
WINS WINNING .PCTNotre Dame 94 Notre Dame (.726)Michigan 92 Michigan (.721)Miami 86 Miami (.688)North Dakota 80 Boston Univ. (.655)Boston University 76 North Dakota (.644)
HOT HAND: Junior center Ben Ryan (Brighton, Mich.) ran his point-scoring streak to five games with assists in each game of the series versus Ohio State. Ryan has two goals and five assists for seven points in the last five games. That ties his career high of five consecutive games that he set between March 1 and March 21 of 2008. Ryan leads Notre Dame in scoring with two goals and six assists for eight points in the first eight games of the season.
POWER-PLAY NOTES: Notre Dame scored a pair of power-play goals in each game of its weekend series with Ohio State and has three games this season with two power-play goals. During the 2008-09 campaign, the Irish had 13 games with two or more power-play goals. This season, the Irish have at least one power-play goal in seven of the first eight game and for the year are 10-for-50 with the man advantage (20.0%).opponent power plays for a 93.5% success rate.
THE NEW KID BETWEEN THE PIPES: Freshman goaltender Mike Johnson has made the most of his two starts this season in goal for the Irish. His first start came against Providence College on Oct. 16 where he stopped all 29 shots he faced in a 2-0 shutout win. He became the second Notre Dame goaltender to record a shutout in his first career start. On Friday night, Johnson gave up just one goal, a 5-on-3 power-play goal while stopping 27-of-28 shots in a 3-1 win over Ohio State. The rookie puckstopper is 2-0-0 on the year with a 0.50 goals-against average and a .982 save percentage with one shutout.
GOAL-SCORING MACHINE: Junior left wing Calle Ridderwall leads Notre Dame with four goals this season with three of them coming on the power play. His four-game, goal-scoring streak that started on Oct. 16 versus Providence came to an end on Oct. 31 against Ohio State. During his streak, Ridderwall had four goals with one assist for five points. Over the last two seasons, the Stockholm native has scored 21 goals for Notre Dame with 14 of them coming via the power play.
JUST LIKE LAST SEASON: Notre Dame goes into the series with Alaska with a 4-3-1 record. A year ago after eight games, the Irish were 5-3-0.
HOME ICE STRUGGLES: Last season, the Irish were 13-3-2 at the Joyce Center and over the last three seasons were 37-9-7 on home ice. This season, the Irish are just 3-3-1 in their own barn. Last year, the Irish were 11-2 in one-goal games while this season, they have already dropped three games by one goal.
CCHA GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK: Junior goaltender Brad Phillips (Farmington Hills, Mich.) was selected as the CCHA’s goaltender of the week for games played during the week of October 19. The 6-2, 181-pound puckstopper was 1-1 on the week with a 1.51 goals-against average and a .940 save percentage as he stopped 47-of-50 shots in the two games. On Oct. 20, Phillips made a career high 34 saves in a 3-0 shutout of third-ranked Boston University. On Oct. 23, he stopped 13-of-16 shots in the 3-2 loss to Boston College. On the season, Phillips is 1-3-0 with a 2.27 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage with one shutout.
OUT OF ACTION: Junior defenseman Teddy Ruth (Naperville, Ill.) has missed the first eight games of the season due to a lower body injury. He will not play in either game of the weekend series at Alaska.
HOME AWAY FROM HOME: Notre Dame will take its home show on the road on Sunday, Nov. 22 when the Irish play host to the Michigan State Spartans at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Ft. Wayne, Ind. That game will have a 4:05 p.m. starting time. Tickets for that game are $14.00, $12.00 and $7.00 and are available at the Memorial Coliseum Ticket Office, all Ticketmaster outlets, online at www.ticketmaster.com or at (800) 745-3000. The Notre Dame ticket office will have a limited quantity of tickets on sale for season ticket holders only. For information contact the Notre Dame ticket office at (574) 631-7356.
BACK ON TRACK: After being stopped on the power play by Boston College on Oct. 23 (0-for-8), Notre Dame was able to get back on track on the power play against Ohio State. The Irish were 2-for-9 in the 3-1 win on Oct. 30 and followed that with a 2-for-3 effort in the 2-2 tie on Oct. 31, for a 4-for-12 weekedn (33.3%). For the year, the Irish are 10-for-50 (20.0%) with the man-advantage. Notre Dame has now scored two power-play goals in a game three times this season.
DEETH TOPS 100: Senior center Kevin Deeth (Gig Harbor, Wash.) became the 44th player in the 42-year history of the Notre Dame hockey program to reach 100 points for his career on Oct. 23. His assist on Calle Ridderwall’s first-period goal gave Deeth 32 goals and 68 assists for his 100th career point. He reached that mark in 133 games. In the Oct. 30 game with Ohio State, Deeth added his team-best sixth assist of the season. His 101 career points moves him into a tie for 42nd on the all-time points list. Right behind him is senior teammate Ryan Thang (Sr., Edina, Minn.) who has now played in 128 career games, scoring 49 goals with 46 assists for 95 points. He needs just one goal to reach the 50 mark and a goal and four assists to join the 50/50 club for players with 50 goals and 50 assists in a career.
STEALING THE SHOW: Junior goaltender Brad Phillips made a career-high 34 saves as he handed the Boston University Terriers a 3-0 loss at Agganis Arena. Phillips got all the offensive support he needed in the second period when Billy Maday (So., Burr Ridge, Ill.) and Ben Ryan scored 12 seconds apart to give the Irish a 2-0 lead. Calle Ridderwall added a power-play goal in the third period for the 3-0 final score. Maday, Ryan and Ridderwall each had a goal and an assist in the game. Phillips made 27 of his 34 saves in the first and third periods, including 17 in the final stanza. Notre Dame was 8-for-8 killing penalties on the night and 1-for-6 on the power play. BU out shot the Irish, 34-16, in the game. The win was the first-ever for the Friars against Boston University.
TWO WEEKS IN HOCKEY EAST: The Irish closed out their run of four consecutive games with teams from Hockey East with a 2-2-0 record. The Irish split two games with Providence on Oct. 15-16, losing 3-2 in the first game before taking a 2-0 decision in the second contest. Notre Dame then won 3-0 at Boston University before falling 3-2 at home on Oct. 23. All-time, the Irish are 27-33-4 versus teams from Hockey East. Notre Dame now has just two non-league games remaining on the schedule with both games coming in the Shillelagh Tournament versus Colgate and either Niagara or North Dakota.
CCHA DIFFERENCES: With the start of Notre Dame’s CCHA schedule this weekend, there are a couple diffences to remember with the final results of a game. First is the shootout – should a game remain tied after 60 minutes of regulation and a five-minute overtime, a winner will be decided via a shootout. Each team will select three shooters who will go one-on-one versus the opponent’s goaltender with the winner being the team that scores the most. If the game remains tied after the first three shooters, single shooters will continue until a winner is found. The team winning the shootout will receive two points in the standings while the loser just one. On the national level, the game is still considered a tie. Secondly, the standings in the conference will be different. A regulation or overtime win will see the winning team awarded three points with the loser none. If the game goes to a shootout, both teams will get one point with the shootout winner getting the extra point in the standings.
STREAK BUSTERS: Notre Dame’s 3-0 shutout win over Boston University, snapped a streak of 99-consecutive games that the Terriers had not been shutout. The last time BU was shutout came on Dec. 2, 2006 when the Terriers shutout Boston College, 1-0. The win also marked the first time since Jan. 15, 2008 that Boston University lost a non-conference game, a streak of 10 consecutive wins.
A STUNNING START: Prior to Brad Phillips’ 3-0 shutout at Boston University, freshman goaltender Mike Johnson (Verona, Wis.) showed the way with a 2-0 shutout of Providence College in his rookie debut on Oct. 16. Johnson stopped all 29 shots he faced in blanking the Friars, 2-0, becoming the second Irish goaltender to record a shutout in his first career contest. He joins teammate Tom O’Brien (Sr., Mokena, Ill.) who picked up a shutout in his first start last season, a 7-0 blanking of Sacred Heart on Oct. 18, 2008.
SWEEPLESS IN SOUTH BEND: Twice this season, Notre Dame found itself in a position that hasn’t happened very often over the last four seasons – looking at a possible opponent sweep. Since Jeff Jackson took over behind the Irish bench for the 2005-06 season, the Irish have lost back-to-back games on a weekend just eight times. Five of those series losses came during the 2005-06 season with two coming in 2007-08 and one last year (2008-09). The last time the Irish dropped a weekend series came on Oct. 24-25, 2008 when they lost twice to Miami at the Joyce Center.
ROAD WARRIORS: During the 2008-09 season, Notre Dame turned in a 14-2-1 record on the road, the best in the program’s history. That included a nine-game road win streak and a 10-game unbeaten mark (9-0-1). The Irish got this season off to a good road start with the 3-0 win at Boston University on Oct. 20.
BACK BETWEEN THE PIPES: Junior goaltender Brad Phillips has had a successful return to the Notre Dame lineup this season. The 6-2, 181-pound goaltender missed all of last season due to a knee injury suffered in the preseason that required surgery. Phillips, who made five starts in his freshman year (2007-08) and was 4-1-0 with a 1.53 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage to go with one shutout, has started four games this season and is 1-3-1 with a 2.17 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage with one shutout.