June 24, 2011
Notre Dame, Ind. – University of Notre Dame hockey coach Jeff Jackson today announced the 2011-12 Notre Dame hockey schedule. The 38-game schedule opens on Sunday, Oct. 2 with a preseason contest versus Western Ontario at the Joyce Center Ice Rink. The regular season starts on Fri., Oct. 7 in Duluth, Minn., versus defending NCAA Champion Minnesota-Duluth. The Irish will face the Bulldogs in a weekend series that serves as a rematch of the NCAA semifinals last April in St. Paul, Minn. The teams will meet on Oct. 7-8 at the new Amsoil Arena for a pair of 7:07 p.m. (CT) starts.
The Irish will then return home for the final games to be played at the Joyce Center when they face Ohio State in the CCHA opener for both teams on Oct. 14-15. Game time for both nights is 7:05 p.m. The following week, Notre Dame has just one game on the schedule as the Rensselaer Engineers are scheduled to play the Irish on Friday, Oct. 21 at 7:30 p.m. The site of that game will be determined at a later date.
That weekend will be followed by four consecutive road games as the Irish will visit Bowling Green on Oct. 28-29 and then Northern Michigan on Nov. 4-5.
The month of November will open the Compton Family Ice Arena era for Notre Dame hockey with four games scheduled for the new, 5,000-seat, state-of-the-art arena. The Alaska Nanooks visit for a series on Nov. 11-12 with Friday’s game set for 7:05 p.m. and Saturday a 5:05 p.m. game. That weekend will be followed by a visit from Western Michigan for one game on Tues., Nov. 15 at 7:05 p.m. The dedication of the Compton Family Ice Arena will occur on Friday, Nov. 18. The Irish play host to Boston College that night in a 7:35 p.m. game.
Notre Dame closes out the month of November with road games at Western Michigan (Tues, Nov. 22) and at Lake Superior State on Nov. 25-26.
The schedule features three games versus teams from the WCHA (two at Minnesota-Duluth and one at Minnesota), four games against teams from Hockey East (one home game with Boston College and Boston University and two with Northeastern) and one game versus the ECAC (Rensselaer). Two exhibition games are included in the schedule with a season-opening game against Western Ontario and a Jan. 3 contest versus the Russian Red Stars, a team of elite players from Russia, Latvia and Belarus that plays in the Russian Junior Hockey League.
In making the schedule announcement, Jackson said, “We are very excited about our schedule this season, especially our great home schedule. Our entire program can’t wait to get the year started and begin playing at the Compton Family Ice Arena. It will be great to have teams like Boston College, Boston University, Northeastern and Rensselaer play here this year along with our always strong CCHA schedule.”
Jackson added, “This year’s home schedule has more games than any other schedule we’ve had at Notre Dame. The past few years, we’ve played on the road against these teams so that we could get them here this season. This year it’s Hockey East teams and next year it will be the WCHA.”
Notre Dame’s Jan. 7 visit to Minnesota to face the Gophers will be for the College Hockey Hall of Fame Game. The Irish last played in the Hall of Fame Game on Oct. 11, 2008 at the University of Denver.
For the first time since the 2005-06 season, Notre Dame will not be participating in an in-season tournament. Last year, the Irish competed in two – The Ice Breaker Tournament in St. Louis, Mo., and the Shillelagh Tournament in Hoffman Estates, Ill.
The 2011-12 schedule features a 21-game home docket (including the two exhibition games) – the most home games the Irish have ever had scheduled. The 19-game home regular season schedule (not including postseason playoff) games is surpassed only by the 1987-88 schedule that had 20 regular season games.
With 11 CCHA teams, the Irish will play Alaska, Bowling Green, Ferris State and Western Michigan four times each (two home and two away) with two games apiece versus the remaining six teams. The Irish will play host to Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State while traveling to Lake Superior State, Miami and Northern Michigan.
All Irish home games are currently scheduled to start at 7:05 p.m., except for the Oct. 2 game versus Western Ontario (6:05 p.m.), the Oct. 21 game versus Rensselaer (7:35 p.m.), the Nov. 12 game versus Alaska (5:05 p.m.) and the Nov. 18 game against Boston College (7:35 p.m.). All times are subject to change when television announces its schedule.
The public sale of season tickets for the 2011-12 season with begin on Thursday, July 7 beginning at 8:30 a.m. by calling 574-631-7356 or logging onto und.com/tickets. The Murnane Ticket Office also will open at 8:30 a.m. Prices start at just $252 for adults and $126 for youth/seniors and features a 10% discount versus purchasing tickets on an individual basis. The Compton Family Ice Arena features a variety of new seating options that can be viewed on the Notre Dame website at www.und.com/tickets/nd-tickets-hockey.
2011-12 Notre Dame Hockey Schedule
October 2 Sun. Western Ontario (exhibition - at Joyce Center) 6:05 p.m. 7 Fri. at Minnesota-Duluth 7:07 p.m. (CT) 8 Sat. at Minnesota-Duluth 7:07 p.m. (CT) 14 Fri. Ohio State * (at Joyce Center) 7:05 p.m. 15 Sat. Ohio State * (at Joyce Center) 7:05 p.m. 21 Fri. Rensselaer (at TBA) 7:35 p.m. 28 Fri. at Bowling Green * 7:05 p.m. 29 Sat. at Bowling Green * 7:05 p.m.
November 4 Fri. at Northern Michigan * 7:35 p.m. 5 Sat. at Northern Michigan * 7:35 p.m. 11 Fri. Alaska * 7:05 p.m. 12 Sat. Alaska * 5:05 p.m. 15 Tue. Western Michigan * 7:05 p.m. 18 Fri. Boston College 7:35 p.m. 22 Tue. at Western Michigan * 7:35 p.m. 25 Fri. at Lake Superior State * 7:05 p.m. 26 Sat. at Lake Superior State * 7:05p.m.
December 2 Fri. Northeastern 7:05 p.m. 3 Sat. Northeastern 7:05 p.m. 9 Fri. at Ferris State * 7:05 p.m. 10 Sat. Ferris State * 7:05 p.m. 31 Sat. Boston University 7:05 p.m.
January 3 Tue. Russian Red Stars (exhibition) 7:05 p.m. 7 Sat. at Minnesota (Hall of Fame Game) 7:07 p.m. (CT) 13 Fri. Western Michigan * 7:05 p.m. 14 Sat. at Western Michigan * 7:05 p.m. 20 Fri. Michigan * 7:05 p.m. 21 Sat. Michigan * 7:05 p.m. 27 Fri. at Alaska * 7:05 p.m. (AT) 28 Sat. at Alaska * 7:05 p.m. (AT)
February 3 Fri. Bowling Green * 7:05 p.m. 4 Sat. Bowling Green * 7:05 p.m. 10 Fri. Ferris State * 7:05 p.m. 11 Sat. at Ferris State * 7:05 p.m. 17 Fri. at Miami * 7:35 p.m. 18 Sat. at Miami * 7:05 p.m. 24 Fri. Michigan State * 7:05 p.m. 25 Sat. Michigan State * 7:05 p.m.
March 2-4 Fri.-Sun. First Round CCHA Playoffs (at Campus Sites) TBA 9-11 Fri.-Sun. Second Round CCHA Playoffs (at Campus Sites) TBA16-17 Fri.-Sat. at CCHA Championships (at Joe Louis Arena) TBA23-25 Sat.-Sun. at NCAA Regional (at regional sites) TBA
April 5 & 7 Thur./Sat. at NCAA Frozen Four (St. Pete Times Forum - Tampa, Fla.)
HOME GAMES IN BOLD* CCHA Conference gamesDates and times subject to change; times local to site