Aug. 24, 2012
Notre Dame, Ind. – Fifteen former Notre Dame hockey players are among a group of 21 professional hockey players who will take the ice on Monday, August 27 at the Lefty Smith Rink and the Compton Family Ice Arena in the first-ever Notre Dame Pro Hockey Camp.
The camp, that runs from Monday, August 27 through Thursday, August 30, is being held for former Notre Dame hockey players to help them begin preparations for their upcoming professional training camps that will begin in September. For the 12 of the 15 former Irish players in attendance this is their first opportunity to play at the Compton Family Ice Arena as they all graduated prior to the building’s opening last October, yet played key roles in the program’s success during their playing careers.
Four coaches with ties to the Notre Dame hockey program will oversee the camp – current Notre Dame associate coach Andy Slaggert `89, volunteer assistant coach Jason Nightingale and former Irish hockey standouts Ben Simon `00 (currently an assistant coach with the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL) and Kevin Deeth `10 who is a member of the staff at the Compton Family Ice Arena. The camp will feature players that played last season in the National Hockey League, the American Hockey League, the East Coast Hockey League, abroad and in college.
Expected to participate in next week’s camp are (last year’s team in parentheses) Ian Cole (St. Louis Blues), Wes O’Neill `07 (Kalamazoo- ECHL), Mark Eaton (New York Islanders), Brock Sheahan `09 (Riessersee SS – Germany), Brett Lebda `04 (Columbus Blue Jackets), Kyle Lawson `09 (Florida-ECHL), Teddy Ruth `12 (Springfield – AHL), Patrick Gaul `12, Rich Ryan `12, Riley Sheahan (Detroit Red Wings), Erik Condra `09 (Ottawa Senators), Christian Hanson `09 (Hershey- AHL), Evan Rankin `07 (Rochester – AHL), Mark Van Guilder `09 (Milwaukee- AHL) and Brad Phillips (Adirondack – AHL). Also attending the camp are Ryan Wilson (Colorado Avalanche), Jared Nightingale (Michigan State `06 and Connecticut – AHL), Tony Lucia (Minnesota `10 and Worcester – AHL), Bryan Lerg (Michigan State `08 and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton -AHL), Jim O’Brien (Ottawa Senators) and Pat Nagle (Ferris State `11 and Florida – ECHL).
The pro players will have a practice each morning, Monday through Thursday from 9:00 to 10 a.m. that will be opened to the public. Monday afternoon, the players will have a four-on-four scrimmage from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. that also will be open to the public.