Feb. 24, 2011
Notre Dame, Ind. –
Complete Release in PDF Format
– Date/Site/Time: Fri., February 25, 2011 – 7:35 p.m. – Lawson Arena (3,667) – Kalamazoo, Mich. Sat., February 26, 2011 – 7:05 p.m. – Joyce Center (2,713) – Notre Dame, Ind.
– The Teams: #8/#8 Notre Dame (20-9-5/17-6-3-2) at rv/#17 Western Michigan (15-9-10/9-8-9-5)
– 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 – Western Michigan series will have live audio streaming at und.com. Video streaming for Friday’s game at Western Michigan will be available at wmubroncos.com. There is a charge for access to this video. Video for Saturday’s game at Notre Dame is available free of charge at und.com. Livestats: Friday’s livestats are available at wmubroncos.com. On Saturday, Gametracker is available on the Notre Dame website at und.com.
DOWN TO THE WIRE: Notre Dame and Western Michigan will tangle in a home-and-home series this weekend to close out the 2010-11 regular season. On Friday night, Feb. 25, the two teams will meet in a 7:35 p.m. game at Lawson Arena in Kalamazoo, Mich. Saturday night, the two series returns to Notre Dame for a 7:05 p.m. game at the Joyce Center. The Irish enter the weekend in first place in the CCHA with a one-point lead over Michigan. Notre Dame is 20-9-5 overall and 17-6-3-2 in conference play, good for 56 points. The Irish can finish no worse than second in the CCHA and need any combination of Irish wins and ties or Michigan losses and ties equaling six points to clinch the regular-season crown. Western Michigan is 15-9-10 overall and starts the week in fourth-place in the league standings with a 9-8-9-5 record, good for 41 points. The Broncos lead fifth-place Northern Michigan (39) by two points, sixth-place Ferris State (38) by three points, seventh-place Lake Superior State (37) by four points and eighth-place Ohio State (35) by six points in the standings. Fourth and fifth place in the final standings will have a first-round bye in the playoffs. The Irish will be off next week (March 4-6) as they have clinched a first-round bye. The next action for Notre Dame following the Western Michigan series will come in the CCHA quarterfinals, the weekend of March 11-13 at the Joyce Center.
IRISH VERSUS BRONCOS: Notre Dame and Western Michigan have met 74 times in the all-time series with the Broncos having a 37-30-7 lead in those games. At Kalamazoo, Mich., the Broncos are 24-10-5 versus the Irish while Notre Dame leads in games played at the Joyce Center, 20-12-2. The last time that the Irish won at Lawson Arena was Nov. 17, 2007, a 5-1 win. They are 0-3-1 in their last four games there. The last time the Broncos won at the Joyce Center was March 13, 2004, a 4-0 win, in the CCHA Quarterfinals that season. Since then the Irish are 6-0-1 at the Joyce Center versus Western Michigan. The two teams have already met twice this season – Oct. 29-20 – in a home-and-home series. On Oct. 29, Notre Dame took a 3-2 win at the Joyce Center. The following night, the teams battled to a 2-2 tie at Lawson Arena. The Irish took the extra point by winning the shootout, 1-0.
THE RANKINGS: Notre Dame enters the series with Western Michigan ranked 8th in both the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine poll and the USCHO.com poll. The Broncos are receiving votes in the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine poll and are 17th in the USCHO.com poll.
CCHA ROOKIE OF THE WEEK: Freshman goaltender Steven Summerhays (Anchorage, Alaska) was named CCHA rookie of the week for games played the week of Feb. 14. Summerhays stopped a career-high 29 shots in Notre Dame’s 5-2 win over Ferris State on Feb. 19. The two goals he allowed were power-play goals. With the win, Summerhays is now 2-0-1 in his last three starts with a 1.62 goals-against and a .917 save percentage. Summerhays joins T.J. Tynan (Orland Park, Ill.) who has been selected four times, Anders Lee (Edina, Minn.), a three-time selection and Mike Voran (Livonia, Mich.) as Notre Dame players selected as CCHA rookies of the week this season.
FERRIS STATE RECAP: Friday, Feb. 18 – Sophomore goaltender Mike Johnson stopped 37-of-39 Ferris State shots and got all the offense he needed off goals by Nick Larson (So., Apple Valley, Minn.), Sam Calabrese (So., Park Ridge, Ill.) and Riley Sheahan (So., St. Catharine’s, Ont.) for the win. Mike Embach (shg) and Matthew Kirzinger (ppg) scored the lone Bulldog goals in the game. Johnson held the Irish in the game in the first period, stopping all 15 shots he faced, until the Notre Dame offense could go into action. Larson scored his eighth of the season at 18:10 of the first off assists from Mike Voran (Fr., Livonia, Mich.) and Sheahan for a 1-0 lead. The lead would go to 2-0 at 2:19 of the second period when Calabrese intercepted a Ferris State clearing attempt at the blue line and drilled a slapshot past goaltender Pat Nagle for his sixth goal of the year. Just 1:29 later, the Bulldogs would cut the lead in half as Embach scored short-handed, his eighth of the year and fifth shortie to make it 2-1. Sheahan scored on the power play at 7:12 for his third goal of the season and a 3-1 lead. Ferris would get the only goal of the final period as Kirzinger cashed in with a power-play goal at 6:45. Johnson would hold off the Bulldogs the rest of the way for the 3-2 win. Ferris State out shot the Irish, 39-37, in the game. The win was the third in a row for the Irish and ran the unbeaten streak to six at 4-0-2.
Saturday, February 19 – Freshman David Gerths (Ankeny, Iowa) snapped a 2-2 tie at 7:44 of the third period and freshman goaltender Steven Summerhays made a career-high 29 saves as the Irish defeated Ferris State, 5-2, at Ewigleben Arena. Five different Irish players scored as Ben Ryan (Sr., Brighton, Mich.), Joe Lavin (Sr., Shrewsbury, Mass.), Nick Larson and Calle Ridderwall (Sr., Stockholm, Sweden) joined Gerths on the score sheet. Scott Czarnowczan and Aaron Schmit scored for Ferris State as Notre Dame swept the Bulldogs to run its winning streak to four games. The sweep was the first road sweep for the Irish since Jan. 7-8 at Northern Michigan. Ryan gave Notre Dame a 1-0 lead at 10:55 of the first period with his sixth goal of the year. Lavin slipped in his fifth of the season between Ferris State goals from Czarnoczan and Schmit to tie the game at 2-2 after 40 minutes. Gerths broke the tie when he backhanded a rebound over goaltender Pat Nagle for his eighth of the year to make it 3-2. Larson scored his second of the weekend at 10:15 and Ridderwall scored into an empty net with 55 seconds left to give the Irish the win. Notre Dame out shot Ferris State, 33-31, in the game. Nagle made 26 saves. The Bulldogs were 2-for-5 on the power play while the Irish were 0-for-4.
SPREAD THE WEALTH: In the weekend sweep of Ferris State, no Irish player had more than two points in the series. Fifteen of the 18 skaters who dressed for the two games collected at least one point on the weekend.
ON A ROLL: The two wins over Ferris State extended Notre Dame’s winning streak to four games (since Feb. 11) and the team’s unbeaten streak to seven games (5-0-2) since a 4-1 win at Ohio State on Jan. 22. The Irish had a four-game winning streak earlier this season and a five-game unbeaten streak (4-0-1) to end that run at the end of October. The current seven-game unbeaten streak is the longest for the Irish since they ran off 10 straight wins from Feb. 13 through March 21, 2009.
20-WIN SEASON: The two wins over Ferris State gives Notre Dame a 20-9-5 overall record. The Irish have now won 20 games in a season 11 times in the program’s 43-year history. Notre Dame has now won at least 20 games in four of the last five seasons.
THE PUCK STOPS HERE: During Notre Dame’s seven-game unbeaten streak, the Irish have alternated goaltenders. In the streak, Notre Dame is 5-0-2. Sophomore goaltender Mike Johnson has appeared in four of the seven games and is 3-0-1 with a 2.21 goals against average and a .924 save percentage. On the season, Johnson is 15-7-4 on the year with a 2.55 goals against average and a .907 save percentage. His 15 wins are a career high for the sophomore puck stopper. Behind Johnson is freshman Steven Summerhays who has played in three of the seven games and is 2-0-1 with a 1.62 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage. His three-game streak started on Jan. 29 in a 2-2 tie with Miami. In that game, he made just 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. For the year, Summerhays has played in nine games, making eight starts. His is 5-2-1 with a 3.01 goals-against average and a .854 save percentage.
ALL-JOYCE CENTER VOTING: The 18-man All-Joyce Center team will be announced this week, culminating with the first team selections announced on Sat., Feb. 26th during the game with Western Michigan. The team was selected by former coaches, players, administrators and with the help of over 7,000 fan ballots to the Notre Dame website at und.com. Earlier, 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. Expected to attend the final regular-season game this year at the Joyce Center are former standouts Brian Walsh `77, Greg Meredith `80 and Mike McNeill `88.
SENIOR NIGHT: The Notre Dame hockey program will honor its Senior Class of 2011 immediately following Saturday’s game with Western Michigan. The Irish will salute senior manager Matthew McManus and players Brian Brooke (Sr., Eden Prairie, Minn.), Ryan Guentzel (Woodbury, Minn.), Calle Ridderwall, Ben Ryan and Joe Lavin along with their parents.
LOOKING FOR NUMBER THREE: Should the Irish hold on to their one-point lead in the CCHA standings, they will claim their third CCHA regular-season title. Notre Dame won the CCHA for the first time in the 2006-07 season and then did it again in 2008-09. The Irish also won the CCHA Tournament championship in each of those seasons.
ROAD WARRIORS: Notre Dame’s sweep at Ferris State was the second road sweep for the Irish this season (Jan. 7-8 at Northern Michigan) and improved them to 8-5-2 on the road. A year ago, Notre Dame was 3-10-4 away from the Joyce Center. The Irish are 5-1-0 in their last five road games, dating back to Jan. 7th versus Northern Michigan. At home this season, Notre Dame is 11-2-2.
COMEBACK KID: Sophomore defenseman Sam Calabrese had a goal and an assist in Friday’s 3-2 win over Ferris State to take over the point-scoring lead among Irish defensemen with six goals and 10 assists for 16 points. 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. Of Calabrese’s six goals this season, two have come short-handed. He is tied for the team lead with a +24 with that number also leading the CCHA.
40 AND OVER: Freshman center T.J. Tynan added to his impressive rookie year with an assist in the 3-2 win over Ferris State on Feb. 18. That gives him 19 goals and 25 assists for 44 points. He is the first Irish freshman to record 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. Tynan is just one of 11 freshmen in the program’s 43-year history to have 40 or more points in his first season. Fellow freshman Anders Lee, with 19 goals and 19 assists for 38 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) 19-25-44Mike McNeill (`84-'85) 16-26-42Ryan Thang (`06-'07) 20-21-41Ian Williams (`70-'71) 15-26-41Jamie Ling (`92-'93) 14-26-40-- Anders Lee (`10-'11) 19-19-38
THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT: Notre Dame’s freshman class has played a key role in the 20-9-5 record for the Irish. In the first 34 games this season, the freshman class has accounted for 67 of the team’s 125 goals (53.6%), 105 of the 221 assists (47.5%) and 172 of team’s 346 points this season (49.7%). Freshman goaltender Steven Summerhays has five of the team’s 20 wins in goal.
MR. CLUTCH: Freshman left wing Anders Lee has had a banner freshman year for the Irish in 2010-11. He is tied for the Irish lead in goals with 19 and game-winning goals with five. He is tied for the CCHA lead in game winners with those five goals. Nationally, Lee ranks tied for fourth in game winners.
IN GOOD COMPANY: For the past four 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. The Irish hockey team is ranked eighth in both the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine and USCHO.com polls. With a 21-5 overall record, the Irish men’s basketball team entered the week ranked ninth in the Associated Press poll and ninth in the ESPN/USA Today rankings. The Notre Dame women’s team is 23-5 and ranked eighth in the Associated Press poll and ninth in the ESPN/USA Today rankings. The week of Jan. 31, 2010 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 on Feb. 12. The Michiana native has worked his way into the Notre Dame lineup and doesn’t seem to want to come out. In 19 games this season, Beers has a goal and six assists for seven points and is +4 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.
HOME SWEET HOME: Notre Dame’s weekend sweep of Bowling Green at the Joyce Center February 11-12 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.
CLASS OF THE CLASS: Notre Dame senior left wing Calle Ridderwall 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 3-2 win at Ferris State on Feb. 18 was Notre Dame’s 10th game decided by one goal this season and the Irish are now 6-4 in those games. Notre Dame has been involved in 16 games this season that have been decided by two or fewer goals and is 11-5 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 125 through the first 34 games. The Irish trail just Union College (128) with North Dakota right behind them with 121. Per game, Notre Dame is fifth overall with a 3.68 average. Yale is tops in the nation with 4.41 per game.
FABULOUS FRESHMEN: Freshmen T.J. Tynan and Anders Lee come into the series against Western Michigan ranked first and second in the nation and the CCHA in rookie scoring. Tynan has 19 goals and 25 assists for 44 points while Lee has 19 goals and 19 assists for 38 points. The 19 goals are tops among freshmen goal scorers in the conference. Fellow freshman Mike Voran (4g, 14a, 18 pts) is seventh and is followed by Bryan Rust (5g, 10a) who is eighth with 15 points. Jeff Costello (8g, 4a, 12 pts) is tied for 12th and center David Gerths (8g, 3a, 11pts) is tied for 18th with 11 points. Defensemen Stephen Johns (1g, 9a) and Kevin Lind are tied for 21st with 10 points.
NATIONAL LEADERS: Freshman center T.J. Tynan has burst on to the national scene as he finds himself ranked sixth in the nation in points (44) and is tied for eighth with 19 goals on the year. Fellow freshman Anders Lee is tied for 17th in the nation in points (38) and is tied for eighth with 19 goals.
National Scoring Race (by points): GP G A PTSAndy Miele (MU) 32 17 39 56Paul Zanette (NIA) 32 25 24 49Carter Camper (MU) 32 15 32 47Paul Thompson (UNH) 30 24 22 46Jack Connolly (UMD) 31 12 33 45T.J. Tynan (ND) 34 19 25 44Justin Schultz (UW) 34 16 28 44Chase Polacek (RPI) 32 18 25 43Bryan Haczyk (NIA) 32 27 15 42Carl Hagelin (UM) 34 15 27 42Cam Atkinston (BC) 30 24 16 40Justin Fontaine (UMD) 31 19 21 40Nathan Longpre (RMU) 30 14 26 40Reilly Smith (MU) 31 21 18 39Brian Gibbons (BC) 30 13 26 39Mike Sislo (UNH) 30 10 29 39Denny Urban (RMU) 32 8 31 39Matt Frattin (UND) 33 24 14 38Mike Connolly (UMD) 31 21 17 38Drew Shore (DU) 30 19 19 38Anders Lee (ND) 34 19 19 38Craig Smith (UW) 34 16 22 38Gustav Nyquist (ME) 30 15 23 38
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.
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.
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 Boston College second with 10. 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.
JOIN THE CLUB: Senior center Ben Ryan 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 four more points to reach the “Century Club” as he has 35 goals and 61 assists for 96 points in 149 career games. Following Ryan, senior Calle Ridderwall also has a shot at the 100-point mark. He has 53 goals and 33 assists for 86 points in 146 career games.
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.
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 26 assists for 32 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 32 points and his 26 assists are fourth in the conference.
SHOOTING THE PUCK: Through the first 34 games of the season, Notre Dame has out shot the opposition in 26 of those games. The Irish are 17-6-3 when they out shoot their opponent. In games the opposition has the most shots, Notre Dame is 3-3-2. For the year, the Irish are averaging 33.1 shots per game while giving up 26.1 per contest.
WHATEVER IT TAKES: Freshman center David Gerths has become a specialist when it comes to scoring those “dirty” goals. The 6-0, 208-pounder does his best work right in front of the goal. He scored his eighth goal of the season on a backhander from the low slot in the 5-2 win versus Ferris State on Feb. 19. In 33 games this season, he has scored eight goals with three assists for 11 points. In 55 games last season in the USHL with Lincoln and Green Bay, Gerths scored just five goals. His eight goals tie him for fifth most for Notre Dame this season.
NOSE FOR THE NET: Freshman left wing Jeff Costello (Milwaukee, Wis.) ranks fourth on the Irish roster with eight goals this season, but leads the team with six power-play goals overall. In 34 games, Costello has eight goals and four assists for 12 points. He and teammate David Gerths are tied for fifth in the CCHA for goals among freshmen players.
GOING ON THE OFFENSIVE: Two of Notre Dame’s defensive, defensemen – Sam Calabrese and Sean Lorenz (Jr., Littleton, Colo.) – have gone on the offensive this season, turning in career years. Calabrese, who saw action in just three games last season, leads Irish defensemen in scoring with six goals and 10 assists for 16 points. Lorenz has four goals and eight assists for 12 points, all career highs for the junior blueliner. The duo is tops in the CCHA in plus-minus as both are +24 going inton the final weekend of the regular season.