Oct. 2, 2012
Farmington Hills, Mich. – The Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) announced today its first and second preseason all-conference teams as selected by the head coaches of the 11-member teams. Two Notre Dame players – junior T.J. Tynan (Orland Park, Ill.) and Anders Lee (Edina, Minn.) were the Irish players selected to the squad with both taking first-team preseason honors for the second consecutive year. Senior defenseman Sam Calabrese (Park Ridge, Ill.) was an honorable mention selection as he was among the next six players in points received.
For the second time, Tynan was the top vote getter as he received nine first-place votes and a total of 48 points. A year ago, he was a unanimous selection with 10 first-place votes and 50 points. Lee also was selected for the second time, receiving seven first-place votes and 42 points in all. In the 2011-12 preseason voting, Lee got nine first-place votes and had 48 points.
In all, seven different teams had players selected to the CCHA preseason all-conference teams. Western Michigan and Michigan led the way with three players chosen while Notre Dame was next with two. Alaska, Miami, Michigan State and Northern Michigan had one player each named to the teams.
Joining Tynan and Lee on the first team at forward is Western Michigan junior Chase Balisy who received five first-place votes and 40 points. Western Michigan junior defenseman Dan DeKeyser and Michigan junior Jon Merrill each had eight first-place votes and 44 points to lead all defensemen. Western’s sophomore goaltender Frank Slubowski led all goaltenders with six first-place votes and 40 points.
Selected to the second team were forwards Austin Czarnik (Miami), Alex Guptill (Michigan) and Cody Kunyk (Alaska). The defensemen were seniors Lee Moffie of Michigan and Kyle Follmer of Northern Michigan. In goal, Michigan State’s Will Yanakeff was the second team goaltender.
Anders Lee was selected to the all-CCHA preseason team for the second consecutive year.
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Tynan is coming off an outstanding sophomore year that saw him lead Notre Dame in scoring for the second time, scoring 13 goals with 28 assists for 41 points. He scored five power-play goals, a pair of short-handed tallies and had one game winner. He became the first Irish player to win or earn a share of the CCHA scoring title in the 22 years that Notre Dame has been in the CCHA, as he tied Michigan State’s Torey Krug with 29 points (nine goals and 20 assists) in 28 league games. The 5-8, 165-pound center is the second Irish player to win a conference scoring championship as he joins Eddie Bumbacco `74 who won the 1972-73 WCHA scoring title. Following the season, Tynan was named first team all-CCHA, was the team’s Monogram Club most valuable player and offensive player of the year. He is the first Notre Dame player to be selected all-CCHA twice in his career as he was a second team choice in 2010-11.
As a freshman, the Orland Park, Ill., native was selected as the Hockey Commissioner’s Association (HCA) National Division I Rookie of the Year as he led the nation’s freshmen in scoring with 23 goals and 31 assists for 54 points. A four-time CCHA rookie of the week, he was selected to the CCHA all-rookie team and was the CCHA rookie of the year. He also was the team’s most valuable player, the team’s offensive player of the year and Notre Dame’s co-rookie of the year along with Lee. The speedy center enters his junior year with 36 goals and 59 assists for 95 points in 83 games.
Lee will serve as the team captain in 2012-13 and will move to center this season. He is one of the top returning goal scorers in the CCHA, getting 41 lamplighters in his first two years. As a sophomore, he led the Irish with 17 goals and added 17 assists to finish second in team scoring with 34 points. An honorable mention all-CCHA selection, he tied for the team lead with seven power-play goals and added one game winner. The 6-3, 220-pound forward who played left wing in his first two seasons was the RBC CCHA player of the month for October as he got last season off to a fast start, getting 10 goals and three assists in his first seven games.
Lee scored the first goal ever at the Compton Family Ice Arena at 9:21 of the first period on Oct. 21, on the way to a hat trick in a 5-2 win over Rensselaer.
As a freshman, Lee led the team with 24 goals while finishing second in points with 44, the eighth-best mark by a Notre Dame freshman. The 24 goals were the third most by an Irish rookie. Among his 24 goals were six power-play goals (tied for the team lead), one short-handed goal and seven game winners (tied a single-season Notre Dame record) while being +19 for the year. Lee was named second team all-CCHA and was selected to the CCHA’s all-rookie team while being Notre Dame’s co-rookie of the year along with Tynan. During the season, was a three-time CCHA rookie of the week, a three-time CCHA rookie of the month (Oct., Dec., and Feb.) and the Hockey Commissioner’s Association (HCA) national rookie of the month in December. In two seasons, Lee has played in 84 games, scoring 41 goals with 37 assists for 78 points.
Calabrese enters his final season at Notre Dame as the lone senior on the Irish blue line. He led all Notre Dame defenders in scoring a year ago with three goals and 13 assists for 16 points. A two-year regular, he was an honorable mention all-CCHA selection in 2010-11 when he had six goals and 12 assists for 18 points in 42 games to also lead that defensive unit in scoring while being second on the team with a +23 plus-minus rating. He has played in 85 career games with nine goals and 25 assists for 34 points.
The trio will join their teammates to open the 2012-13 season on Sun., Oct. 7 when Notre Dame plays host to the United States Under-18 team in a 5:05 p.m. preseason game at the Compton Family Ice Arena. The Irish then open the season on Friday, Oct. 12 versus the University of Maine in the opening game of the Ice Breaker Tournament being held at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo. Game time is 6:30 p.m. (CT) game.
2012-13 CCHA Preseason First Team 2012-13 CCHA Preseason Second TeamPlayer, Yr., School First Totals Pos. Player, Yr., School First TotalsT.J. Tynan, Jr., ND 9 48 F Austin Czarnik, So., MU 3 31Anders Lee, Jr., ND 7 42 F Alex Guptill, So., UM 4 28Chase Balisy, Jr., WMU 5 40 F Cody Kunyk, Jr., UAF 2 22Dan DeKeyser, Jr., WMU 8 44 D Lee Moffie, Sr., UM 3 34Jon Merrill, Jr., UM 8 44 D Kyle Follmer, Sr., NMU 1 22Frank Slubowski, So., WMU 6 40 G Will Yanakeff, Jr., MSU 2 17
Honorable mention (next six point totals, regardless of position with first team votes in parentheses): Scott Czarnowczan, Jr., D, Ferris State (2), 19; A.J. Treais, Sr., F, Michigan (1), 18; Kyle Bonis, Sr., F, Ferris State (1), 16; Kevin Kapalka, Jr., G, Lake Superior (2), 15; Andrew Hammond, Sr., G, Bowling Green (1), 15; Sam Calabrese, Sr., D, Notre Dame (0), 10.