SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Graduate student Adam Karashik and seniors Jake Pivonka and Graham Slaggert who will serve as the Notre Dame hockey team captains for the upcoming season Fighting Irish Head Coach Jeff Jackson announced. Additionally, seniors Nick Leivermann and Spencer Stastney will be alternate captains.
“We’ve been very pleased with our entire leadership group, dating back to last spring,” Jackson said. “The five young men we’ve selected as captains exemplify the leadership qualities that will solidify our culture. They do things the right way on and off the ice. They are determined to uphold our team standards and to hold each other accountable to those values.”
Leivermann, Pivonka, who is out due to a lower body injury, Slaggert and Stastney will wear letters for the first time in their Notre Dame careers. Karashik served as UConn’s captain last season before joining the Irish.
A defenseman, Karashik played the past four seasons in Hockey East at the University of Connecticut, skating in 119 career games, scoring five goals and notching 19 assists for 24 points. He served as a team captain for the 2020-21 season after serving in the alternate captain role as a junior. A Ridgefield, Connecticut, native, Karashik played in all 23 of UConn’s games last season while scoring a goal and adding eight assists for nine points. His nine points were tied for eighth on the team and second among defensmen. He also tied for the team lead with 27 penalty minutes on eight penalties. As a junior, he played in 33 games and ended the season with three points on three assists while ranking second in Hockey East with 51 blocked shots.
Pivonka, who is currently out due to injury, played all 29 games last season while scoring a pair of goals and adding seven assists for nine points. The Napperville, Illinois native had a goal and an assist in Notre Dame’s 5-4 win over Arizona State (Dec. 4). He also ended the season on a three-game point streak (1-3-4), including a goal and an assist in the regular-season finale, a 7-1 win over Penn State (March 5). Last season he posted the best faceoff winning percentage in the Big Ten (.612) and ranked eighth in the country. He has now skated in 104 career games, scoring eight goals and adding 22 assists for 30 points. He was an All-Big Ten Academic Team selection each of the past two seasons.
Slaggert, a South Bend, Indiana native, was recently named a preseason All-Big Ten Second Team selection. He played 27 games last season and was the team’s second-leading scorer with 25 points on seven goals and a team-best 18 assists. He had a goal and an assist in Notre Dame’s 3-0 win over Ohio State (Dec. 12) for his first multipoint game of the season. He then scored a goal and added two assists for three points to lead the Irish to a 3-2 win at then top-ranked Minnesota, scoring the game winner at 15:17 of the third period (Jan. 15) en route to being named the Big Ten’s First Star of the Week. He also had five points (1-4-5) in the sweep at Ohio State (Feb. 5-6). Slaggert’s 25 points as a junior marked a season-best total and he enters his senior season with 15 goals and 29 assists for 44 career points in 104 games played. He has earned Academic All-Big Ten honors each of the past two seasons.
Leivermann Played all 29 games last season while scoring five goals and adding 12 assists for 17 points. His 12 assists and 17 points were career-high totals, while his five goals tied for his season-high mark from the 2019-20 season (32 games played). His five goals also tied with Stastney for the top mark among Irish defenseman last season, while his 17 points led all Irish blue liners. He scored a career-best two goals in Notre Dame’s 8-1 win at Ohio State (Feb. 6). The Eden Prairie, Minnesota native finished the year with three multi-point games, which also included a pair of assists against Arizona State (Dec. 3) and a goal and an assist in the 6-1 win at Ohio State (Feb. 5). Leivermann led the Irish with a +10 rating and scored the game-winning goal in Notre Dame’s 5-4 victory over Arizona State (Dec. 4).
Stastney skated in all 29 games for the Irish last season, scoring a career-high five goals and adding seven assists for 12 points. A fifth round selection (131st overall) by the Nashville Predators in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, Stastney’s five goals were tied with Leivermann and Michigan’s Nick Blankenburg for the most by a Big Ten defenseman. A Mequon, Wisconsin native, Stastney has now played in 104 career games while scoring nine goals and adding 27 assists for 36 points. He was an Academic All-Big Ten selection each of the past two seasons and earned Second Team All-Big Ten honors last season and was named a preseason All-Big Ten Honorable Mention selection this season.
Ticket Information
Single game tickets for regular season hockey games will go on sale Tuesday, October 5 at 5 p.m. ET. The program’s exhibition game at 5 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 3 against the U.S. National Team Development Program will be free admission (no mobile ticket required), with general admission seating. For more information, go to visit UND.com/BuyTickets or call 1-833-ND-IRISH.
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