Dan Kissel

Notre Dame Hockey Notebook from the 2008 NCAA Frozen Four in Denver

April 11, 2008

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By John Heisler

The parents of Irish freshman Calle Ridderwall (the Notre Dame star of the Thursday semifinal win over Michigan) flew from Sweden to Denver for the Frozen Four. They’d seen their son play once previously during his rookie season, that time for a series in South Bend earlier this winter.

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The Irish hockey team on Thursday night occupied the same locker room the Notre Dame men’s basketball team used a few weeks back when it played at the Pepsi Center in the first and second rounds of the NCAA Championships. Given the option to move to a larger locker room for the title game Saturday, the Irish opted to stay where they dressed on Thursday.

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One of those who ringed the hallway outside the Irish locker room waiting to congratulate Irish coach Jeff Jackson after the win was Miami (Ohio) head coach Enrico Blasi. It was a class act.

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Notre Dame president Rev. John Jenkins, C.S.C., attended the game Thursday night, flew home immediately after the victory and is expected to return for the championship game. Irish athletic director Kevin White traveled to Denver with the team, returned to South Bend to teach his MBA course Friday, will attend Saturday morning’s dedication of the new Melissa Cook Softball Stadium, and then will return to Denver on Saturday afternoon in time for the opening faceoff of the NCAA title game.

Speaking of White, the Irish athletics director was in Denver in March for the NCAA men’s basketball games at the Pepsi Center, came back to Colorado Springs the next weekend for the NCAA hockey regional and now is back in Denver for the Frozen Four. Any more time spent in Colorado and White and other Irish administrators figure to be eligible to vote in the state.

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There’s a large contingent of former Irish players in Denver, among them last year’s captain T.J. Jindra and former standout Kirt Bjork, who now works as a regional director in Notre Dame’s development department.

Also in attendance this weekend is former Irish head coach (and former Irish player) Ric Schafer, who now lives in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Notre Dame invited all the former Irish head hockey coaches to come to Denver, along with longtime Irish assistant Tim McNeill and former Irish hockey trainer John Whitmer. Also in Denver is former longtime Irish assistant coach Tom Carroll, how head coach at New England (Henniker, N.H.) College.

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Friday was a day of preparation for the title matchup, but there were plenty of other activities for the squad. Both teams held open-to-the-public practices at the Pepsi Center. Head coaches and several players from both teams took part in a pep rally as part of the Celebration of College Hockey at Denver’s Skyline Park, and the players participated in an autograph session at the Pepsi Center later Friday afternoon.

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It was a joyous scene late Thursday night around the Notre Dame bus just outside the Pepsi Center, as current players, former players and parents all mingled in the cool night air to enjoy the semifinal victory.

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ESPN gave Notre Dame permission to show the Frozen Four games on big screens back on campus, and there was a crowd of students back at the Joyce Center enjoying the win over Michigan late Thursday night.

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One of the visitors to Notre Dame’s Wednesday practice was Ralph Cardillo, who coached the Irish club hockey team for a time in the ’60s before the hiring of head coach Lefty Smith. Cardillo had a chance to visit with current Irish head coach Jeff Jackson after the workout.

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Jeff Jackson said when he returned to the hotel after Thursday night’s win, he had more than 30 voice and text messages from his former players waiting for him.

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The Irish hockey team boasts the best cumulative grade-point average of any men’s team at Notre Dame at 3.353.

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Irish fans are invited to welcome the squad back to campus on Sunday. Meet them at 3:45 p.m. (ET) at the main circle at the north end of Notre Dame Avenue.