Dec. 3, 2010
Notre Dame, Ind. – Notre Dame freshman center T.J. Tynan (Orland Park, Ill.) has been named the Hockey Commissioners’ Association (HCA) national rookie of the month for his play during the month of November.
Tynan, the CCHA rookie of the month in November, was an offensive dynamo for the Irish, leading the team and the conference in scoring with six goals and six assists for 12 points. Two of his goals came on the power play, two were short-handed and one was a game winner while he was +5 over the eight-game period. His six goals came on just 19 shots, giving him a .316 shooting percentage for the month. During November, Tynan was named CCHA rookie of the week twice following games the week of Nov. 1 and Nov. 8.
For the season, Tynan leads all CCHA rookies in scoring with eight goals and 10 assists for 18 points. That ranks him fourth in the overall CCHA scoring race and his 18 points ties him for second among freshmen scorers in the nation while his 1.20 points per game is fourth among the nation’s rookie point getters.
The 5-8, 156-pound center recorded points in seven of the team’s eight games during the month that saw Notre Dame go 4-3-1, playing six of eight on the road and six of eight versus nationally ranked teams. Five of the games were of the multiple-point variety with a season-best three-point game (1g, 2a) coming in a 6-3 win on Nov. 6 at Bowling Green.
A product of the USHL’s Des Moines Buccaneers, Tynan started the month with a four-point weekend (2g, 2a) in a win and a loss at Bowling Green. He had a goal (ppg) in Notre Dame’s 3-2 loss to the Falcons on Nov. 5 and followed that with a goal (the game winner) and two assists in the 6-3 victory the following night. The four-point weekend earned him his first CCHA rookie of the week award.
The following week, the Irish traveled to #9/#8 Michigan where they gained a split with the Wolverines. In the 3-1 win on Nov. 12, Tynan picked up one assist. In the 5-3 loss on Nov. 13, he had a goal and an assist for a two-point night. His three-point weekend earned him CCHA rookie of the week honors for the second consecutive week. Notre Dame returned home the following week (Nov. 19-20) to face 17th-ranked Michigan State and Tynan continued his hot streak with two goals and an assist in the Irish sweep of the Spartans. In the 6-3 win on Nov. 19, the 18-year old center scored a power-play goal. He followed that up with his first career short-handed goal and an assist in the 4-2 win on Saturday night.
Tynan’s personal-best six-game point streak (5g, 5a) was snapped at #10/#9 North Dakota on Nov. 26 as the Irish fell to the Fighting Sioux, 6-3. In the 2-2 tie on Nov. 27, he was able to get back on the scoresheet with a short-handed goal and an assist on Sam Calabrese’s game-tying goal with 3:03 left in the game for a two-point weekend.
The speedy center leads Notre Dame in scoring after 15 games with eight goals and 10 assists for 18 points. He is tops on the team with a +9 and has picked up four penalties on the season. Tynan and his teammates return to action this weekend, Dec. 3-4, when the Irish travel to Oxford, Ohio to face #6/#6 Miami in a battle for first place in the CCHA. The Irish, ranked 12th in the nation, are 9-4-2 overall and are 7-2-1-1 in the conference, good for 23 points and second place in the league. They trail the first-place RedHawks by one point, as Miami is 9-4-3 overall and 7-3-2-1 in the CCHA, good for 24 points.