Jan. 9, 2008
Notre Dame, Ind. –
Complete Release in PDF Format 
• The Series: #6/#6 Notre Dame (18-6-0/11-3-0) vs. #9/#10 Michigan State (13-5-3)• Date/Site/Time: Friday, January 11 • Munn Arena (6,470) • 7:35 p.m. Sunday, January 13 • Joyce Center (2,713) • 4:05 p.m.
• Broadcast Information: Radio: Notre Dame hockey can be heard live on WDND ESPN Sportscenter 1490 with Mike Lockert calling all the action for the Irish.
• Television: Friday night’s game will be televised live by Fox Sports Net Detroit with Matt Shepard and Fred Pletsch handling the play-by-play and color duties. On Sunday afternoon, the Notre Dame-Michigan State game will be televised by College Sports Television (CSTV) with Matt McConnell and Dave Starman calling the action.
• 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.
TOP-RANKED SHOWDOWN: Two of the CCHA’s and the nation’s top teams – Notre Dame and Michigan State – will do battle this weekend in a home-and-home series on Jan. 11 and 13. On Friday, Jan. 11, the Irish and Spartans will meet at Munn Arena in East Lansing, Mich., in a 7:35 p.m. game. That game will be televised by Fox Sports Net Detroit with Matt Shepard and Fred Pletsch calling the action. On Sunday, Jan. 13, the two teams will meet at the Joyce Center at Notre Dame in a 4:05 p.m. game. Matt McConnell and Dave Starman will handle the play-by-play and color commentary. Notre Dame comes into the weekend with an 18-6-0 overall record and is 11-3-0 in the CCHA, good for 22 points and a share of the lead in the conference with Michigan and Miami. The Wolverines having two games in hand. The Irish are ranked sixth in both the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine and USCHO.com/CSTV polls. After putting winning nine straight games between Nov. 16 and Dec. 29, the Irish are 2-2-0 in their last four contests. Michigan State comes into the showdown weekend with a 13-5-3 overall record and a 9-2-1 mark in the CCHA, good for 19 points, just three points out of first place with two games in hand on the Irish and RedHawks. The Spartans are ranked ninth in the USA Today poll and 10th in the USCHO.com poll. Michigan State is 1-2-1 since the Christmas break.
LAST WEEKEND: Notre Dame traveled to Marquette, Mich., for a pair of games with Northern Michigan. The Irish dropped a 2-1 decision on Jan. 4 and followed with a 2-1 win on Saturday night. Michigan State hosted Lake Superior, going 1-0-1 with an 8-2 victory on Jan. 4 and a 3-3 overtime tie in Saturday’s second game.
THEY GOT OUR NUMBER: Michigan State and Notre Dame have met 97 times in the all-time series with the Spartans holding a 58-31-8 edge. Since Notre Dame returned to the CCHA in 1992-93, the Irish are just 5-31-7 against Michigan State, including 2-19-1 at Munn Arena. All-time, Michigan State has a 34-13-2 record at Munn Arena against the Irish and the Spartans are 21-18-6 against Notre Dame at the Joyce Center. Last season, the two teams met three times, splitting the regular-season series (Notre Dame won 4-1 at the Joyce Center and Michigan State took a 2-0 decision at Munn Arena). The rubber match occurred on March 24 in Grand Rapids, Mich., in the NCAA Midwest Regional final with Michigan State taking a 2-1 victory. The last time Notre Dame won at Munn Arena was Feb. 9, 2002, a 3-2 win. Since then, the Irish are 0-5-1 at Munn Arena. The last time the Spartans won at the Joyce Center was Feb. 3, 2006, a 3-2 win. They are 0-1-0 since that win.
NORTHERN MICHIGAN RECAP: Goals were at a premium last weekend in Marquette, Mich., as Notre Dame and Northern Michigan played a pair of 2-1 games with each team winning once. On Friday, Jan. 4, the Wildcats were on the winning end of the 2-1 score. Matt Butcher scored at 10:31 of the first period and Mark Olver added a second-period, power-play goal at 6:30 to give Northern Michigan a 2-0 lead. Notre Dame would cut that in half when Dan Kissel (So., Crestwood, Ill.) scored his sixth of the season at 10:34 of the second, but that would be all the offense the Irish could muster in the 2-1 loss. Northern Michigan out shot Notre Dame, 21-19, in the game. Jordan Pearce (Jr., Anchorage, Alaska) had 19 saves in goal for the Irish. On Saturday night, Notre Dame got on the scoreboard first at 11:59 of the second period when Kevin Deeth (So., Gig Harbor, Wash.) scored his fourth of the year on a wrap-around goal. Christian Hanson (Jr., Venetia, Pa.) made it 2-0 less than five minutes later at 15:34 when he redirected a Kissel centering pass behind Wildcat goaltender Brian Stewart for his seventh of the season. Northern would cut the lead to 2-1 at the 1:00 minute mark of the third period on a Jared Brown goal. Notre Dame had a 32-17 edge in shots with Brad Phillips (Fr., Farmington Hills, Mich.) making 16 saves for his fourth win of the year.
SHORT CIRCUITED: Since returning from the Christmas break, the Irish are 0-for-20 on the power play over the last four games. The power-play woes actually started prior to the break as the Irish have just one power-play goal since Dec. 7, going 1-for-27 (3.7%) since the series at Princeton. Prior to that, Notre Dame was 21-for-109 with the man advanage for a 19.3% success rate. The Irish are now 22-for-136 (16.3%).
WELCOME BACK: Freshman defenseman Ian Cole (Ann Arbor, Mich.) returns to the Notre Dame lineup this weekend after participating in the World Junior Championships with the U.S. Junior National Team. At the World Championships, Cole played in all six games and had no points with six penalty minutes as the United States finished fourth in the tournament. He missed four games – the two games at the Lightning College Hockey Classic and the Northern Michigan series. Also expected to return this weekend is fellow freshman defender Teddy Ruth (Naperville, Ill.). Ruth has missed the last five games due to an injury.
THE REPLACEMENTS: With Ian Cole at the World Junior Championships and Teddy Ruth sidelined with an injury, junior Luke Lucyk (Fox Point, Wis.) and sophomore Stewart Carlin (Jeannette, Pa.) stepped into the Notre Dame lineup and did yeoman’s work on the blue line. In five games, Lucyk had a goal and an assist, had one shot on goal and was +3. Carlin played in four games, had eight shots on goal and was +1 in his playing time.
FAST START: Freshman goaltender Brad Phillips has gotten his career off to a fast start between the pipes for the Irish. Phillips has won his first four collegiate starts while allowing just three goals and stopping 69 of 72 shots he’s faced. Phillips is 4-0-0 with a 0.75 goals-against average and a .958 save percentage and one shutout.
HOT HANDS: Notre Dame’s trio of left wing Dan Kissel, center Christian Hanson and right wing Evan Rankin (Sr., Portage, Mich.) have carried the offensive attack over the last five games for the Irish. The threesome has scored eight goals and added 11 assists for 19 points since Dec. 8 at Princeton. Kissel has three goals and four assists for seven points; Hanson checks in with three goals and three assists for six points and Rankin has two goals and four assists for six points. All three players have career highs in goals, assists and points this season. Kissel has six goals, eight assists and 14 points, Hanson has seven goals, six assists and 13 points and Rankin has six goals, seven assists and 13 points so far this year.
LET DOWN: After giving up just seven power-play goals in their first 20 games, the Irish have surrendered five opponent power-play goals in the last four games, killing just 13-of-18 (72.2%) since the Christmas break. In the 4-3 loss to Massachusetts on Dec. 29, the Irish gave up three power-play goals to the Minutemen, the first time that has happened since Dec. 17, 2005, in a 4-0 loss to Lake Superior. In the 2-1 win at Northern Michigan, the Irish got back on track, stopping all three Wildcat power-play chances. For the year, the Irish are still fifth in the nation on the penalty kill, stopping 102 of 114 chances for an 89.5% success rate.
RECORD STREAK: Notre Dame’s nine-game winning streak from Nov. 16 through Dec. 8 was the longest for the Irish since a 14-game streak from Dec. 11, 1987 to Feb. 13, 1988. During that time, the Irish were a Division I Independent. The streak is the longest for the Irish as a member of the CCHA or the WCHA.
IRON MAN: Senior center Mark Van Guilder (Roseville, Minn.) has his sights set on Notre Dame’s all-time record for most consecutive games played. The record of 153 straight games was set by Tim Wallace `06 who played in every game of his career – 153 straight. Van Guilder has now played in every game of his career – 140 consecutive games played through the first 24 games this year.
ONE-GOAL LOSSES: During the first half of the season, Notre Dame was 6-0 in one-goal games. In the second half of the season, the Irish have seen three of their four games end in one-goal decisions with opponents winning two of the three. For the year, Notre Dame is now 7-2 in one-goal contests.
FUN RUN: Since ending his first season at Notre Dame with a pair of losses to Alaska in the CCHA playoffs in 2005-06, head coach Jeff Jackson has seen his Irish icers go 50-13-3 (.780) since the start of the 2006-07 season.<>TOURNAMENT VETS: The Lightning College Hockey Classic was the third in-season tournament for the Irish this season. They opened the year at the Lefty McFadden Classic in Dayton, Ohio, losing to Wisconsin, 4-1, before defeating Mercyhurst, 4-0, to take third place. Over Thanksgiving, the Irish played in the Rensselaer Holiday Tournament, taking the championship with wins over Alabama-Huntsville (4-1) and Rensselaer (4-3). At Tampa, Notre Dame dropped a 4-3 decision to Massachusetts and then took third place with a 3-1 win over Rensselaer.
BALANCED ACT: Notre Dame comes into the series with Michigan State ranked eighth in the nation in scoring with 3.33 goals per game.Despite the ranking, the Irish have just two players on the roster with 10 or more goals this season – Ryan Thang (So., Edina, Minn.) with 11 and Erik Condra with 10. The Irish have accumulated their 80 goals this year with nine players on the roster having five goals or more.
SCORING BY CLASS: Here’s how Notre Dame scoring breaks down by classes this season.
Class (Skaters) Goals Assists PointsSophomores (7) 24 45 69Juniors (5) 27 31 58Seniors (5) 19 27 46Freshmen (6) 10 22 32Totals 80 125 205
STREAKS SNAPPED: Notre Dame’s 4-3 loss to Massachusetts snapped a nine-game Irish winning streak that began back on Nov. 16 versus Western Michigan. The nine-game streak was the longest in the nation at the time. The Irish also saw a five-game CCHA winning streak (Nov. 16-Dec. 1) snapped last weekend in the 2-1 loss at Northern Michigan.
TOURNEY RESULTS: Notre Dame has now participated in 30 in-season tournaments in the program’s 40-year history, winning six times and finishing second, six times. The Irish have been third a total of seven times and there have been 11 fourth-place finishes. Notre Dame has now won two of the last four in-season tournaments that the Irish have played in, winning the 2006 Lightning Collegiate Hockey Classic in Oct. of 2006 in Tampa, Fla and the Rensselaer Holiday Tournament, Nov. 24-25, 2007 in Troy, N.Y. All time, the Irish are 23-34-3 in tournament play.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Notre Dame placed two players on the 2007 Lightning College Hockey Classic all-tournament team. Irish forward Erik Condra and defenseman Luke Lucyk were named to the all-tournament team after helping Notre Dame to a 1-1 record. Condra had two goals and one assist in the tournament, took nine shots and was +3 on the weekend. Lucyk had one goal in two games and was +2 in the two games. They were joined by RPI goaltender Mathias Lange, Colorado College defenseman Nate Prosser and Colorado College forwards Chad Rau and Jimmy Kilpatrick. UMass forward Matt Burto, who scored the game winner in the championship game was the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
PERSONAL STREAK: Notre Dame goaltender Jordan Pearce saw his personal seven-game winning streak snapped on Dec. 29 in the 4-3 loss to Massachusetts. During the streak, Pearce was 7-0-0 with a 1.72 goals-against average and a .902 save percentage. Since Nov. 1, Pearce is 10-3-0 with losses to No. 1 Miami and No. 9 Massachusetts. For the season, Pearce is 14-6-0 with a 2.06 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage with two shutouts.
CLUTCH SCORER: Sophomore left wing Ryan Thang leads Notre Dame with 11 goals on the season. Of those 11, four have come on the power play and four are game winners. In 66 career games, Thang has now scored 31 goals with 14 coming on the power play and 10 of them game winners. His 10 game-winning goals already tie him for sixth on the all-time game-winning goals list at Notre Dame.
NO GOALS FOR YOU: Junior goaltender Jordan Pearce recorded his second shutout of the season in the 5-0 win over Nebraska-Omaha on Dec. 1. The shutout also was the fourth of his career and moved him into a tie for third with Mark Kronholm `74 on Notre Dame’s all-time shutout list. He trails just Morgan Cey `05 (2nd with 6) and David Brown `07 (first with 12). Pearce’s first career shutout came in his second career game, a 2-0, 27-save win over Princeton on Oct. 28, 2005. Freshman goaltender Brad Phillips recorded his first career shutout on Dec. 8 with a 24-save, 7-0 whitewashing of the Princeton Tigers.
THE GOOD AND THE BAD: Through the first 24 games of the season, when the Irish are good, they are very good. In the 18 wins this season, Notre Dame has scored 73 goals (4.06 per game). In the six losses, Notre Dame has scored just seven goals for a 1.17 goals-per game mark. In the 18 wins, the Irish have given up just 27 goals (1.50 goals-against average) while in the six losses, they have given up 19 goals (3.16 goals against). The 2-1 loss to Northern Michigan on Jan. 4 marked the first time all season that the Irish lost a game when giving up two goals or less.
SENIOR CLASS HONORS: Notre Dame team captain Mark Van Guilder has been nominated for the Lowes Senior CLASS (Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School) Award. The CLASS award was designed to honor the attributes of seniors who remain committed to their university and elects to pursue the many rewards that a senior season can bring. This award provides a fitting honor for a senior leader that has stood up to the challenge. In the end, the award hopes to recognize the prestige and dignity of being a senior hockey player at the college level. Former Irish goaltender David Brown `07 won the Lowes Senior CLASS award following the 2006-07 season.
GETTING THE BOUNCES: Sophomore center Kevin Deeth ranks third on the Irish in scoring this season with four goals and 12 assists for 16 points. Over his last nine games, the speedy Deeth has scored four times and added four assists for eight points. Three of his four goals have come on the power play.
MR. CONSISTENT: Sophomore defenseman Kyle Lawson (So., New Hudson, Mich.) has proven to be one of the CCHA’s most consistent defensemen this season. A two-time CCHA defenseman of the week this season, Lawson leads all Notre Dame defensemen in scoring with three goals and 12 assists for 15 points. Already this year, he has a power-play goal and a pair of game-winning goals. Lawson’s 15 points tie him for fifth among CCHA defensemen this season. He is tied for second on the team with a +12 on the year.
LETTERS OF INTENT: Irish head coach Jeff Jackson has announced that three players have signed national letters of intent in the early signing period to attend Notre Dame beginning in the fall of 2008. The trio – defensemen Sean Lorenz (Littleton, Colo.) and Eric Ringel (Hinckley, Ohio) and forward Patrick Gaul (Pittsburgh, Pa.) – will join Billy Maday (Burr Ridge, Ill.) who signed in Nov. of 2007 but deferred until next fall. Lorenz and Gaul are members of the U.S. National Team Development Program’s Under-18 team. Ringel plays in the North American Hockey League for the Mahoning Valley Phantoms and Maday is a member of the Waterloo Black Hawks of the United States Hockey League (USHL).
USHL GP G A PTS PIMMaday – Waterloo 28 5 19 24 42
NAHL GP G A PTS PIMRingel – Mahoning Valley 25 4 12 16 14
USA UNDER-18 GP G A PTS PIMPatrick Gaul 26 5 11 16 24Sean Lorenz 26 2 3 5 18
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