Feb. 20, 2017
By Dan Colleran
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — After leading the No. 13/14 Irish to a win and a tie against No. 10 Providence College over the weekend, junior goaltender Cal Petersen was named the Hockey East’s Defensive Player of the Week.
In Friday night’s 4-1 win, which snapped the Friars’ nine-game winning streak, Petersen turned aside 33 of the 34 shots he faced to secure the win. Then in Saturday night’s back-and-forth game, he made two game-saving stops on Niko Rufo in the third period to preserve the tie. He finished with 39 saves in the tie, which moved Notre Dame to third in the Hockey East standings. In the series, Petersen posted a 1.92 goals against average and a .947 save percentage.
For the season, Petersen has a 2.09 goals against average and a .926 save percentage, both of which rank second in Hockey East and 10th in the country. He has started every game and is 18-9-5 on the season with five shutouts, which is tied for the NCAA lead.
Petersen has now started 82 consecutive games dating back to a 5-1 win at Maine on Feb. 7, 2015. His 82 consecutive starts rank as the fourth-longest streak in NCAA Division I history, while his 83 consecutive appearances rank fifth.
A fifth round selection by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2013 NHL draft, Petersen has now been named the Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week seven times in 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 10 career weekly Hockey East awards.
Hockey East Weekly Award Winners — Feb. 20
Hockey East Player of the Week – Brian Bowen, Vermont
Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week – Sami Tavernier, Merrimack
Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week – Cal Petersen, Notre Dame
In The Rankings
After posting a 4-1 win and skating to a 3-3 tie in the weekend series versus Providence, the Fighting Irish moved up two spots in the USCHO.com poll to No. 13. The Irish also returned to the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll at No. 14.
Playoff Picture
The Irish (11-5-4, 26 points) enter the final weekend of play in third place in the Hockey East standings and could still finish anywhere between first and fifth. Notre Dame is one point behind second-place Boston University (27 points) and one point ahead of fourth-place UMass Lowell (25 points). Boston College is in first (29 points), while Providence College (23 points) and Vermont (22 points) are in fifth and sixth, respectively.
This weekend, the Irish play two games at Boston University, while Boston College will play a home-and-home series with UMass Lowell.
Depending on the final standings, the Irish will host a best-of-three playoff series either on March 3-5 (first round) or March 10-12 (quarterfinals). The quarterfinals will determine which teams advance to the semifinals at the TD Garden (Boston, Massachusetts).
The Hobey Baker Fan Ballot was revealed by the Hobey Baker Memorial Award Foundation on January 30 and high-scoring junior forward Anders Bjork and stalwart junior goaltender Cal Petersen were included on the fan ballot.
All 60 Division I college coaches vote for three players from their own conference and three players from the rest of college hockey. Then, the Vote for Hobey aggregate fan vote’s one percent is factored in and 10 finalists will be announced in the middle of March.
The Hobey Baker Selection Committee, along with a second aggregate of the fan’s one percent vote, will be combined to come up with the “Hobey Hat Trick,” which will be announced on March 30.
The winner will be announced at the 2017 NCAA Division I Men’s Frozen Four, which is being hosted by the University of Notre Dame and the Chicago Sports Commission at the United Center in Chicago.
— 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).