Sept. 1, 2008
Notre Dame, Ind. –
Complete Schedule in PDF Format 
University of Notre Dame hockey coach Jeff Jackson today announced the 2008-09 Notre Dame hockey schedule. The 35-game schedule opens with the Irish returning to Denver, Colo. and the scene of last year’s Frozen Four run to face the University of Denver in the annual Hall of Fame game on Oct. 11 at DU’s Magness Arena. The game is played in conjunction with the College Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremonies.
This year’s schedule features teams from five conferences – Sacred Heart (Atlantic Hockey), Union (ECAC), Boston College, Providence and UMass-Lowell (Hockey East), Denver and Minnesota-Duluth (WCHA) and 28 CCHA regular-season games.
In making the announcement, Jackson said. “It will be important for us to be ready to go full throttle at the start of the season. The schedule is going to make us be ready,” said Irish head coach Jeff Jackson.
“We start with the Denver in the Hall of Fame game and then our first home CCHA series is against Miami. We follow that with two games at Northern Michigan and then go to Boston College. Potentially we could have six of our first eight games against ranked teams with four of them on the road. Our first four conference games (Miami and Northern Michigan) will be against teams that should be ranked in the top four or five in the CCHA.”
Besides playing in the Hall of Fame game, the schedule is highlighted by a rematch of last April’s national championship game when the Irish travel to Chestnut Hill, Mass., to face the Boston College Eagles on Friday, Nov. 7 at Kelley Rink. Notre Dame also will play at Providence College on Saturday, Nov. 8 as part of the weekend trip to New England.
The Irish will play host to 16 home games including the home-opening series on Oct. 17-18 with first-time foes, the Sacred Heart Pioneers. The remaining 14 home games will come versus CCHA foes with Miami, Lake Superior State, Western Michigan, Alaska and Northern Michigan playing two-game series. The Irish also will play a pair of home-and-home series with Bowling Green and single home-and-home series with Michigan and Michigan State. All Notre Dame home games will have 7:35 p.m. starting times on Friday and 7:05 starts on Saturday. Those times could change when the television schedules are announced.
Notre Dame will play in just one tournament this season, one that will now have an Irish twist to it. On Jan. 2-3, 2009, they will host the first-ever Shillelagh Tournament at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Ill., 30 miles northwest of Chicago. That tournament, previously scheduled to be held in Tampa, Fla., as the Lightning College Hockey Classic – was discontinued by the team’s new ownership. Notre Dame will now host the tournament that will feature Minnesota-Duluth, UMass-Lowell and Union College. The Irish will face Union in the opening round with Minnesota-Duluth and UMass-Lowell playing in the other semifinal. Times and ticket information are pending.
On the road, Notre Dame will travel to Denver, Boston College and Providence for single contests. In the CCHA, besides the home-and-home series with Bowling Green, Michigan and Michigan State, the Irish will play two-game series at Northern Michigan, Ferris State, Lake Superior State, Ohio State and Northern Michigan. This season, Notre Dame is cluster partners with Bowling Green, Lake Superior State and Northern Michigan and will face each team four times in 2008-09.
For all Notre Dame hockey ticket and season ticket information contact the Notre Dame ticket office at (574) 631-7356.
2008-09 Notre Dame Hockey Schedule
October 11 Sat. at Hall of Fame Game (Denver, Colo.) at Denver 7:07 p.m. (MT) 17 Fri. Sacred Heart 7:35 p.m. 18 Sat. Sacred Heart 7:05 p.m. 24 Fri. Miami * 7:35 p.m. 25 Sat. Miami * 7:05 p.m. 31 Fri. at Northern Michigan * 7:35 p.m.
November 1 Sat. at Northern Michigan * 7:35 p.m. 7 Fri. at Boston College 7:00 p.m. 8 Sat. at Providence College 7:00 p.m. 14 Fri. Lake Superior State * 7:35 p.m. 15 Sat. Lake Superior State * 7:05 p.m. 21 Fri. Bowling Green * 7:35 p.m. 22 Sat. at Bowling Green * 7:05 p.m. 28 Fri. Western Michigan * 7:35 p.m. 29 Sat. Western Michigan * 7:05 p.m.
December 5 Fri. at Ferris State * 7:05 p.m. 6 Sat. at Ferris State * 7:05 p.m. 12 Fri. at Bowling Green * 7:05 p.m. 13 Sat. Bowling Green * 7:05 p.m.
January at Shillelagh Tournament (at Hoffman Estates, Ill.) 2 Fri. Minnesota-Duluth vs. UMass-Lowell 5:05 p.m. (CT) Notre Dame vs. Union 8:05 p.m. (CT) 3 Sat Union vs. Minnesota-Duluth or UMass-Lowell 4:05 p.m. (CT) Notre Dame vs. Minnesota-Duluth or UMass-Lowell 7:05 p.m. (CT) 9 Fri. Alaska * 7:35 p.m. 10 Sat. Alaska * 7:05 p.m. 16 Fri. at Lake Superior State * 7:05 p.m. 17 Sat. at Lake Superior State * 7:05 p.m. 30 Fri. Michigan * 7:35 p.m. 31 Sat. at Michigan * 7:35 p.m.
February 6 Fri. at Ohio State * 7:05 p.m. 7 Sat. at Ohio State * 7:05 p.m. 13 Fri. Northern Michigan * 7:35 p.m. 14 Sat. Northern Michigan * 7:05 p.m. 20 Fri. at Nebraska-Omaha * (at Omaha Civic Auditorium) 7:05 p.m. (CT) 21 Sat. at Nebraska-Omaha * (at Omaha Civic Auditorium) 7:05 p.m. (CT) 27 Fri. Michigan State * 7:35 p.m. 28 Sat. at Michigan State * 5:05 p.m.
March 6-8 Fri.-Sun. First Round CCHA Playoffs (at Campus Sites) TBA13-15 Fri.-Sun. Second Round CCHA Playoffs (at Campus Sites) TBA20-21 Fri.-Sat. at CCHA Championships TBA (at Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, Mich.)27-29 Fri.-Sun. at NCAA Regionals (at Regional Sites) TBA
April9/11 Thur./Sat. at NCAA Frozen Four (at Washington, D.C.) TBA
HOME GAMES IN BOLD* CCHA Conference gamesDates and times subject to change; times local to site