Jan. 2, 2017
By Dan Colleran
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — After posting back-to-back shutouts for the first time in his career, junior goaltender Cal Petersen was named the Hockey East Co-Defensive Player of the Week on Monday afternoon.
Petersen lifted the Irish to a weekend sweep of Alaska. He made a season-high 34 saves in Notre Dame’s 5-0 game one win on Saturday (Dec. 31) and then stopped all 21 shots he faced in Sunday’s (Jan. 1) 4-0 victory.
Dating back to Notre Dame’s victory over Boston College (Dec. 10), Petersen has a shutout streak of 166:53. He now has four shutouts on the season and nine in his Irish career, which ranks fourth in the Notre Dame records book.
It marks Petersen’s first Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week honor this season and the sixth of his career. Combined with two Hockey East Rookie of the Week honors and a Hockey East Player of the Week honor, Petersen has now earned nine career weekly Hockey East awards.
A 2013 NHL Draft pick of the Buffalo Sabres, Petersen has started 69-consecutive games for the Irish. He is 11-6-2 on the season with a 2.02 goals against average and a .923 save percentage. His 2.02 goals against average ranks second in Hockey East and eighth in the nation, while his four shutouts are tied for first in the country.
With the weekend sweep of Alaska, the Irish stayed at to No. 12 in both the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls, which were released on Monday afternoon.
The Fighting Irish remain home this weekend to play host to Michigan Tech (Jan. 6-7) in a series that will be televised on the NBC Sports Network. To purchase tickets visit UND.com/BuyTickets.
Hockey East Weekly Award Winners — Dec. 12, 2016
Warrior Hockey East Player of the Week – Joe Gambardella, UMass Lowell
Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week – Josh Wilkins, Providence College
HEA Co-Defensive Players of the Week: Cal Petersen, Notre Dame
HEA Co-Defensive Players of the Week: Rob Nichols, UConn
— ND —
Dan Colleran, associate athletics communications director at the University of Notre Dame, has been a part of Fighting Irish Media since August 2015 and coordinates all media and publicity efforts surrounding the Notre Dame hockey and golf programs. A native of Walpole, Massachusetts, Colleran spent the previous three years working with the men’s hockey and soccer programs at Providence College. Colleran also spent two years as an Assistant Executive Director of Communications & Championships at the Ivy League and is a graduate of Providence College (’06 & ’08G).