April 6, 2014
Notre Dame, Ind. – The Notre Dame hockey program announced its individual awards for the 2013-14 season at its annual Awards Banquet held Sunday afternoon at the Morris Inn Ballroom. The end-of-season program also honored the Irish graduating senior class of 2014.
Leading the list of honorees was senior goaltender Steven Summerhays (Anchorage, Alaska) who was chosen by his teammates as the Notre Dame Monogram Club’s team most valuable player for the 2013-14 season.
Summerhays appeared in 38 of Notre Dame’s 40 games on the season, making 37 starts. He led the Irish in their late season run to the Hockey East semifinals and the NCAA West Regional. For the year, the senior netminder turned in a record of 21-14-2 overall wile playing over 2,200 minutes with a goals-against average of 2.04 and a save percentage of .923 to go with seven shutouts on the year. He led Hockey East in wins (21), minutes played (2,234) and shutouts (7) while his goals-against (2.04) was second and his save-percentage mark was sixth. Nationally, he was fourth in minutes played, tied for fifth in wins, seventh in save percentage and led the nation with seven shutouts. One of 18 candidates for the first Mike Richter Goaltender of the Year Award, he was selected as the Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week three times during the year and was the league’s Stop-It Goaltender of the Month for February. During February, he set a new Notre Dame shutout streak by going 231:50 without giving up a goal from Feb. 14 until March 1, a streak that included three consecutive shutouts. Summerhays finished his Irish career ranked second on the all-time win list with 57 and he is just one of two Irish goaltenders to win 20 or more games twice in his career. He is second in goals-against average (2.19) and third in save percentage (.914). His 13 shutouts are the most in Notre Dame history. On April 4, he signed a pro contract with the Fort Wayne Komets of the East Coast Hockey League for the remainder of the season. Summerhays made his first pro start on April 6 for the Komets against the Toledo Walleye in Ft. Wayne.
Junior right wing Peter Schneider won his second consecutive Notre Dame Club of St. Joseph Valley Rockne Scholar-Athlete Award for his work in the classroom.
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For the second consecutive year, right wing Peter Schneider (Jr., Vienna, Austria) was the recipient of the Notre Dame Club of St. Joseph Valley’s Rockne Student-Athlete Award as the player with the top grade-point average on the team. A three-time monogram winner, Schneider has a 3.951 grade-point average with a double major in Economics and Business and an actuary minor. He has been named to the Dean’s List in five consecutive semesters. On the ice, Schneider had a career year, getting career highs in goals (8), assists (8), points (16) and he was a +7 for the season.
Senior defenseman Kevin Lind was co-winner of the William Donald Nyrop defensive player of the year award.
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A pair of senior defensemen – Kevin Lind (Homer Glen, Ill.) and Stephen Johns (Wampum, Pa.) – shared the William Donald Nyrop defensive player of the year award. The award is named after former Irish All-American defenseman Bill Nyrop `74, who played for the Irish from 1970-74. Recognized as one of the top defensemen ever to play at Notre Dame, Nyrop was an all-WCHA and All-American in 1973. He went on to play on three Stanley Cup championship teams with the Montreal Canadiens from 1976-78, before retiring to attend law school. Nyrop died after losing his battle with cancer on Dec. 31, 1995.
Lind was the team’s top defensive defenseman as he led the Irish with a career-high 90 blocked shots and had a team-best +22 rating for the season. A member of the team’s shutdown defensive pairing, he often faced the opponent’s top scoring threats and had a great deal of success. He scored a career-high three goals this season and added seven assists for 10 points. A sixth-round draft choice of the Anaheim Ducks, he signed his first pro contract earlier this week and will begin his pro career with the Duck’s AHL affiliate, the Norfolk Admirals in Norfolk, Va.
Stephen Johns picked up his second William Donald Nyrop Award as Notre Dame’s defensive player of the year.
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Johns had a career year on the Notre Dame blue line, scoring a career-high eight goals and 20 points to lead Irish defensemen in scoring. Two of his goals came on the power play, one was short-handed and one was a game winner. Known for his big hits and physical style of play, he was a second-team all-Hockey East selection this season and was named to the Hockey East all-tournament team. This marks the second time in his career (2012) that he has won the William Donald Nyrop defensive playere of the year award. The 6-4, 233-pound defenseman signed with the Chicago Blackhawks last week and scored his first professional goal on Saturday with the Rockford Ice Hogs, Chicago’s American Hockey League affiliate.
T.J. Tynan took offensive player of the year honors for the third time in four seasons.
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Senior center T.J. Tynan (Orland Park, Ill.) was the winner of the team’s Offensive Player of the Year award, an award that he has collected in three of his four seasons with the Irish. The speedy center led Notre Dame in scoring with eight goals and 30 assists for 38 points. He had 91 shots on goal and was +15 on the season while having 12 multi-point games to lead the team in that category. His 30 assists were one off his career high of 31 and he finished 11th in Hockey East in scoring and was fifth in assists for the season. For the third time in four seasons, he played in every game for Notre Dame and finished his career tied for first in games played with 164, missing just one game in his career while playing in the World Junior Championships for Team USA in 2011. For his career, the offensive player of the year had 54 goals and 107 assists for 161 points to tie for 12th on the all-time points list. His 107 assists tie him for ninth on the all-time assist list. A two-time Monogram Club Team Most Valuable Player, he signed a two-year entry level contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets earlier this week and will start his pro career in the American Hockey League with the Springfield Falcons.
Senior right wing Bryan Rust (Novi, Mich.) was selected by the coaching staff as the winner of the Charles “Lefty” Smith Coaches Award, an award presented to the unsung hero of the hockey program, a player who is unheralded, has overcome adversity and shows loyalty and commitment to his teammates, Notre Dame hockey and the University of Notre Dame. The award is named after the first Irish hockey coach of the modern era – the late Charles “Lefty” Smith who served as head coach of the Irish for 19 seasons from 1968 to 1987, compiling a record of 307-320-30. During his 19 seasons, Smith produced six All-Americans and was the WCHA coach of the year following the 1972-73 season.
Senior left wing Bryan Rust was selected by the Irish coaching staff as the winner of the Lefty Smith Coaches Award.
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Rust let his actions do the talking as one of the team leaders in 2013-14. A clutch scorer who was strong at both ends of the ice, he finished second in scoring with a career high 17 goals to go with 16 assists for 33 points. Four of his goals came on the power play, two were short-handed and three were game winners. His +16 was second on the team and his 132 shots led the Irish. He may have scored the two biggest goals of the season on Feb. 8th when he scored twice, 24 seconds apart, in the final 1:08 of the game to give the Irish a 3-2 win over Maine and start the team on an 8-3-1 run over the final 12 games of the season. For his career, he tied for fifth in games played with 161 while scoring 43 goals with 54 points for 97 points. He signed his first pro contract earlier this week with the Pittsburgh Penguins and will start his pro career with the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguin. His father, Steve Rust, accepted the award for his son at the Irish hockey banquet.
Sam Herr had a breakout season in 2013-14 and was named Notre Dame’s most improved player.
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Sophomore left wing Sam Herr (Hinsdale, Ill.) won the team’s Most Improved Player Award after having a break out season for the Irish. As a freshman, he played in 13 games and had just one assist. This season, Herr started fast and never looked back as he finished third on the team with 14 goals and fifth overall with 27 points. He scored four of his goals on the power play and tied for the team lead with four game-winning goals. A strong, two-way forward, he had 121 shots on goal and was fourth overall with a +14 plus-minus.
Freshman center Vince Hinostroza (Bartlett, Ill.) was chosen as the team’s Rookie of the Year. One of the top freshmen in Hockey East and the nation, he started the year quickly, getting a goal and an assist in the season opener against Western Michigan and kept scoring from there. Hinostroza collected 12 points in his first 10 games before being sidelined with a knee injury for six games. When he came back, he picked up where he left off and finished the year third on the team in scoring with eight goals and 24 assists for 32 points. Among his eight goals were two power-play goals and two game winners while he was +6 on the year. He finished the season ranked third in Hockey East among rookie scorers and his 32 points were eighth among rookie scorers on the national level. Four times during the year he was selected as the Hockey East/Pro Ambition rookie of the week and was the league’s rookie of the month for October. He capped his season by being selected to the Hockey East all-rookie team for the 2013-14 season. He and teammate Thomas DiPauli (So., Woodridge, Ill.) were members of the U.S. Junior National team that played in the 2014 World Junior Championships in late December and early January.
Vince Hinostroza was named Notre Dame’s rookie of the year for the 2013-14 season.
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The hockey program also presented its Honorary Alumni Awards to Irish strength and conditioning coach Tony Rolinski for his service to the team for the past 11 seasons. The popular coach was introduced by volunteer assistant coach Brock Sheahan `09 who credited Rolinski for helping his development during his Notre Dame career, something that was echoed by the coaching staff and members of the current team.
Senior goaltender Joe Rogers (Marysville, Mich.) was selected as the winner of the Compton Family Leadership in Service Award, an award that honors a player or players who take a “leadership role,” in community service projects that allow the team and players to “give back,” to the community. Rogers has been involved in all aspects of Notre Dame hockey’s community service efforts since arriving on campus four years ago. Among his accomplishments, Joe has become a role model and mentor for kids with physical challenges who want to play sports, especially hockey. He encourages the to strive for their goals and never give up their dreams. Never one to waste a spare minute, Joe has worked with the River City Sled Rovers, a sled hockey team in the South Bend/Mishawaka area and this past January, his jersey auction for Hockey Saves, a military group that helps keep members of the military on the ice raised over $18,000. Joe is one of five finalists for the prestigious College Hockey Humanitarian Award that will be presented at the Frozen Four next weekend.
Joe Rogers won the Compton Family Leadership in Service Award for his community service work.
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The hockey program opened the banquet by taking a moment to honor long-time official scorer Marty Kleva who announced his retirement following the season. He spent the last 14 years as the official scorer for Notre Dame hockey and played a key role among the Irish off-ice officials in his role. An avid hockey fan, Kleva has been involved in the South Bend hockey community for many years.
The awards program also recognized the various weekly and monthly Hockey East award winners for the Irish and those players who received end-of-the-year honors from the conference.
Also, the six members of the hockey class of 2014 still at Notre Dame – senior managers Nick Macor (Guilford, Conn.) and Lisa Rague (Columbus, Ohio) and right wing Mike Voran (Livonia, Mich.), defenseman Jared Beers (Mishawaka, Ind.), goaltender Joe Rogers and team captain and left wing Jeff Costello (Milwaukee, Wis.) – were honored as they received their game jerseys from the coaching staff.