June 24, 2013
2013-14 Notre Dame Hockey Schedule
Notre Dame, Ind. – University of Notre Dame hockey coach Jeff Jackson today announced the 2013-14 Notre Dame hockey schedule. The 35-game schedule opens on Sunday, Oct. 6 with a preseason contest versus the University of Guelph and is the start of a 22-game home schedule at the Compton Family Ice Arena.
The 2013-14 campaign marks Notre Dame’s move from the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) to Hockey East and will feature a 20-game league schedule with the Irish facing each of Hockey East’s 10 other teams twice during regular-season play with 10 games at home and 10 games on the road.
Notre Dame’s non-league schedule will feature seven games versus teams from the new-look WCHA (Michigan Tech – 2, Alabama-Huntsville – 3 and Lake Superior State -2), the possibility of five games with teams from the newly-formed National Collegiate Hockey Conference (Western Michigan – two scheduled with the chance of a third meeting in the Shillelagh Tournament and Minnesota-Duluth – 2), two games with a Big Ten foe (Minnesota) and the chance of a third meeting against a Hockey East opponent, a non-league contest, with Northeastern as the Huskies compete in the Shillelagh Tournament. The Irish will host just the one exhibition game with Canadian university, Guelph, to open the season.
The Hockey East schedule will feature home series with Merrimack, Massachusetts, Northeastern, Maine and Boston University while the Irish will travel to Vermont, Frozen Four finalist UMass-Lowell, New Hampshire and Providence. Notre Dame will make two trips to Boston to face Boston College with the first meeting on Jan. 4 – an outdoor game at Fenway Park (Frozen Fenway 3) – while the Irish and close the regular season on Feb. 28 with one game at Kelley Rink in Chestnut Hill, Mass.
The regular-season campaign will begin on Friday, Oct. 11 when Notre Dame opens the season with a home-and-home series versus Western Michigan. The Irish will face the Broncos at the Compton Family Ice Arena on Oct. 11 and then travel to Kalamazoo, Mich., for game two of the series at Lawson Arena the following night.
The second weekend of the season has Notre Dame facing the Michigan Tech Huskies for the first time in South Bend since the 1982-83 season when the teams square off in a pair of home games on Friday, Oct. 18 and Sunday, Oct. 20 (2:05 p.m.).
The final week of October has the Irish on the road as they travel to Duluth, Minn., for a pair of games (Oct. 25-26) at Minnesota Duluth. This will be the third series between the two schools since meeting in the 2011 Frozen Four.
Notre Dame officially opens its first season in Hockey East on Nov. 1-2 when the Irish travel to Burlington, Vt., for their first-ever games at Vermont’s Gutterson Fieldhouse. The two teams have met twice in the all-time series with Notre Dame holding a 1-0-1 mark in a pair of neutral site games. The last time the teams met was Dec. 29, 2002 at the Ledyard National Bank Tournament in Hanover, N.H.
The following week, Nov. 8-9, Notre Dame returns home for a big home series as the Minnesota Golden Gophers visit South Bend for the first time since the 1978-79 season at the Joyce Center when the two teams were members of the WCHA. Minnesota will be playing its first season in the Big Ten Hockey Conference. The series also will be the return of Irish hockey alum, Don Lucia `81, who is the longtime coach of the Gophers and the father of Irish sophomore left wing Mario Lucia (Plymouth, Minn.).
The Minnesota contests start of a four-game homestand for Notre Dame, as the Irish will play host to their first Hockey East series at the Compton Family Ice Arena on Nov. 15-16 as they welcome the Merrimack Warriors. The Irish and Warriors have met six times in that all-time series with each team winning three times. The last time the two schools met was in the 2011 NCAA Northeast Regional with Notre Dame taking a 4-3 overtime win.
The Irish return to the road on Nov. 22-23 when they travel to Lowell, Mass., for a pair of games with the UMass.-Lowell River Hawks at the Tsongas Center. The two programs have never met on the ice although UMass.-Lowell did participate in the 2009 Shillelagh Tournament.
Speaking of Shillelagh Tournament, the college hockey tournament, hosted by Notre Dame, returns over Thanksgiving weekend and will be played at the Compton Family Ice Arena on Nov. 29-30. This year’s tourney will feature the Alabama-Huntsville Chargers, the Northeastern Huskies and the Western Michigan Broncos. In the opening game of the tournament, Western Michigan will face Northeastern at 4:05 while Notre Dame meets Alabama-Huntsville at 7:35 p.m. On Nov. 30, the Chargers will play at 4:05 versus either the Huskies or the Broncos while the Irish play at 7:35 against the remaining team.
The Irish will have just one weekend series in December as they play host to the University of Massachusetts Minutemen on Dec. 6-7 in Hockey East action. The two teams have met five times in the past with UMass holding a 3-2-0 advantage. The last meeting came in December of 2007 in the Lightning College Hockey Classic with the Minutemen taking a 4-3 win in the opening round game.
The Irish then break for finals and the Christmas holidays before returning to action on Sat., Jan. 4 when they travel to Boston to battle Boston College at Fenway Park as part of Frozen Fenway 3. The 7:30 p.m. game will serve as a Hockey East league contest for Notre Dame and the Eagles. In the opening game, Providence will play Merrimack. Boston College is Notre Dame’s oldest Hockey East rival as the two teams have played 32 times in the all-time series with the Eagles holding a 17-13-2 advantage. BC won last year’s meeting, 3-1, at Kelley Rink. This will be Notre Dame’s second outdoor game in the Division I era of the program. The Irish played last February at Soldier Field in Chicago, taking a 2-1 win over Miami (OH).
Notre Dame then returns home for a six-game homestand in January. The Irish play host to a pair of WCHA opponents, Alabama-Huntsville (Jan. 10-11) and Lake Superior State (Jan. 17-18) before returning to Hockey East action on Jan. 24-25 when they welcome the Northeastern Huskies to South Bend. Notre Dame and Northeastern have met eight times in the past with the Huskies holding a 4-3-1 edge. The last two meeting came at the Compton Family Ice Arena on Dec. 2-3, 2011 with Northeastern taking a pair from the Irish.
January comes to an end and February starts with Notre Dame traveling to New Hampshire for two games with the Wildcats in Durham, N.H. at the Whittemore Center on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. UNH leads the all-time series with a 4-2-0 record with the two Irish wins coming in recent NCAA Regional action. In 2008, Notre Dame won 7-3, at Colorado Springs to win the West Regional and advance to the Frozen Four in Denver. In 2011, the Irish downed the Wildcats, 2-1, in Manchester, N.H., to win the Northeast Regional and advance to the Frozen Four in St. Paul, Minn.
Notre Dame returns home on Feb. 7-8, to face the Maine Black Bears who will make their first visit to South Bend. The teams have met five times in the past with the Irish holding a 4-1-0 advantage. The two programs met last season in the Ice Breaker Tournament in Kansas City, Mo., with Notre Dame taking a 1-0 win.
The following week (Feb. 14-15), the Irish travel to Providence, R.I., for a series with Providence College at Schneider Arena. These two teams have met five times in the past with Notre Dame holding a 3-2-0 advantage. The last time the two teams met was in 2009 at the Joyce Center with each team taking one game in the series.
Notre Dame then closes its home schedule on Feb. 21-22 with a visit from the Boston University Terriers. The teams have met six times with BU holding a 3-2-1 advantage. For the first time in 40 years, the Terriers will be led by someone other than legendary coach Jack Parker as first-year coach David Quinn, leads the Terriers into the Compton Center. The teams last met on Dec. 31, 2011, at Notre Dame with the Irish taking a 5-2 victory.
The regular season comes to an end on Feb. 28 when Notre Dame travels to Chestnut Hill, Mass., for a single Hockey East game with the Boston College Eagles at Kelley Rink.
The first round of the playoffs are set for best-of-three series from March 7-9 at campus sites with the winners advancing to the second round for a best-of-three series (March 14-16) at the four top seeds that had first-round byes. The Hockey East championship weekend will be March 21-22 at the TD Garden Arena in Boston, Mass.
Game times for home Notre Dame hockey games are tentatively set for 7:35 p.m. on Fridays and 7:05 p.m. on Saturdays. Two Sunday contests on Oct. 6 (5:05 p.m.) and Oct. 20 (2:05 p.m.) will have afternoon start times. Game times for the Shillelagh Tournament are set for 4:05 p.m. and 7:35 p.m. All times are subject to change when television announces its schedule.
Season tickets are scheduled to go on sale to the public beginning in early August. For all ticket information contact the Murnane Family ticket office at 574-631-7356 between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. daily.
2013-14 Notre Dame Hockey Schedule
October 6 Sun. Guelph (Exhibition) 5:05 p.m.11 Fri. Western Michigan 7:35 p.m.12 Sat. at Western Michigan 7:05 p.m.18 Fri. Michigan Tech 7:35 p.m.20 Sun. Michigan Tech 2:05 p.m.25 Fri. at Minnesota Duluth 7:07 p.m. (CST)26 Sat. at Minnesota Duluth 7:07 p.m. (CST)
November 1 Fri. at Vermont * 7:00 p.m. 2 Sat. at Vermont * 4:35 p.m. 8 Fri. Minnesota 7:35 p.m. 9 Sat. Minnesota 7:05 p.m.15 Fri. Merrimack * 7:35 p.m.16 Sat. Merrimack * 7:05 p.m.22 Fri. at UMass.-Lowell * 7:00 p.m.23 Sat. at UMass.-Lowell * 7:00 p.m.29 Fri. 2013 Shillelagh Tournament (at Notre Dame, Ind.) Northeastern vs. Western Michigan 4:05 p.m. Notre Dame vs. Alabama-Huntsville 7:35 p.m.30 Sat. Alabama-Huntsville vs. Northeastern/Western Michigan 4:05 p.m. Notre Dame vs. Western Michigan/Northeastern 7:35 p.m.
December 6 Fri. Massachusetts * 7:35 p.m. 7 Sat. Massachusetts * 7:05 p.m.
January 4 Sat. vs. Boston College *(Frozen Fenway 3 - Boston, Mass.) 7:30 p.m.10 Fri. Alabama-Huntsville 7:35 p.m.11 Sat. Alabama-Huntsville 7:05 p.m.17 Fri. Lake Superior State 7:35 p.m.18 Sat. Lake Superior State 7:05 p.m.24 Fri. Northeastern * 7:35 p.m.25 Sat. Northeastern * 7:05 p.m.31 Fri. at New Hampshire * 7:00 p.m.
February 1 Sat. at New Hampshire * 7:00 p.m. 7 Fri. Maine * 7:35 p.m. 8 Sat. Maine * 7:05 p.m.14 Fri. at Providence College * 7:00 p.m.15 Sat. at Providence College * 7:00 p.m.21 Fri. Boston University * 7:35 p.m.22 Sat. Boston University * 7:05 p.m.28 Fri. at Boston College * 7:00 p.m.
March7-9 Fri.-Sun. First Round Hockey East Playoffs (at Campus Sites) TBA14-16 Fri.-Sun. Quarterfinals Hockey East Playoffs (at Campus Sites) TBA21-22 Fri.-Sat. Hockey East Championships (TD Garden, at Boston, Mass.) TBA28-30 Fri.-Sun. at NCAA Regional (at TBA) TBA
April10 & 12 Thur./Sat. at NCAA Frozen Four (at Philadelphia, Pa.) TBA
Home games in bold.* Hockey East Conference gamesDates and times subject to change; times local to siteAll home games played at the Compton Family Ice Arena.