COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Columbus Blue Jackets (NHL) recalled former Notre Dame defenseman Andrew Peeke on Monday, Dec. 2 from the Cleveland Monsters (AHL) and the rookie is now poised to make his NHL debut on Thursday night (Dec. 5) when the Blue Jackets play host to the New York Rangers at the Nationwide Arena.
Thursday’s 7 p.m. ET game will be televised by FOX Sports Ohio and streamed on the FOX Sports app.
Peeke joined the Blue Jackets organization last season following the completion of his junior season with the Irish in which he served as the team’s captain.
Peeke will become the 10th former Notre Dame player to appear in the NHL this season, joining: Anders Bjork (Boston Bruins), Ian Cole (Colorado Avalanche), Dennis Gilbert (Chicago Blackhawks), Hinostroza (Arizona Coyotes), Anders Lee (New York Islanders), Kyle Palmieri (New Jersey Devils), Bryan Rust (Pittsburgh Penguins), Riley Sheahan (Edmonton Oilers) and T.J Tynan (Colorado Avalanche).
Peeke also becomes head coach Jeff Jackson’s 21st former Notre Dame player to make it to the NHL and the program’s 35th overall. He’s the first Irish player to debut this season after last season featured debuts by Cal Petersen (Los Angeles) and Gilbert.
Early in his first professional season, Peeke is tied for the Monsters’ lead among defensemen in goals, assists and points with five goals and seven assists for 12 points in 21 games. The Parkland, Florida native ranks second among league rookie blueliners in goals, fourth in points and sixth in shots (38). He was selected by Columbus in the second round, 34th overall, at the 2016 NHL Draft.
At Notre Dame, the Parkland, Florida, native was part of three NCAA tournament teams that reached at least the NCAA Regional Finals over his three seasons and also included Frozen Four semifinal (2017) and championship game (2018) appearances. He helped lead the Irish to a Big Ten Regular Season Championship in 2017-18 and Big Ten Tournament titles in 2018 and 2019.
Peeke skated in 119 games in his Irish career, notching 12 goals and adding 40 assists for 52 points. While serving as the team captain for a younger Irish team last season, he had a career-best year offensively as a junior and finished as the team’s fourth-leading scorer with three goals and 21 assists for 24 points. His 21 assists ranked second on the team. He was also named to the 2019 Big Ten All-Tournament Team.
Peeke is a management consulting major at Notre Dame who earned Big Ten All-Academic Team honors as a sophomore and a junior and he continued to work towards his degree after signing with Columbus.
Up Next
- No. 9/10 Notre Dame will play another non-conference home-and-home series next weekend against #10/7 Boston College (tickets).
- Game one will take place at 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 6 at Conte Forum (CBS All-Access) before the series shifts to Notre Dame for a 5 p.m. game on Sunday, Dec. 8 (NBC Sports Philadelphia+).
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