Jan. 3, 2013
Notre Dame, Ind. – University of Notre Dame junior center T.J. Tynan (Orland Park, Ill.) has been named the Warrior CCHA Player of the Month for the month of December. The Central Collegiate Hockey Association made the announcement earlier today.
The 5-8, 165-pound center helped the Irish to a 4-0-0 record during December as he scored three goals and added four assists for seven points in four contests. He scored once on the power play and had two game winners while being +4 for the month. Tynan scored at least one point in all four games and had three games with two points. He goes into the New Year with a six-game point streak that has seen him score three goals with seven assists for 10 points.
A third-round draft choice of the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, Tynan opened the month with a goal and an assist in a 6-1 win at home versus Lake Superior State on Dec. 1. He had two shots on goal, scored the game-winning goal and was +2 for the game.
On December 7, Tynan again scored one goal and added an assist in a 3-2 victory over Michigan State at the Compton Family Ice Arena. He had three shots in the game; his goal came on the power play and was the game winner as he collected Perani Cup Third Star honors in the contest.
The following night, Tynan assisted on one Irish goal and was +1 on the night as they handed the Spartans a 5-1 loss to run the Notre Dame winning streak to five games and the CCHA win streak to seven.
Tynan and the Irish closed out the first half of the schedule on Saturday, Dec. 15 with a 4-1 win at Bowling Green. In that game, the speedy center had a goal and an assist, with one shot on goal and was +2 for the evening. He was named the Perani Cup First Star of the game for his play in the win.
Notre Dame finished the first half with a 14-4-0 overall record and is 10-1-0-0 in the CCHA, good for a first-place tie with Miami while the Irish have three games in hand in conference play.
In the first 18 games of the season, Tynan is tied for second on the Notre Dame roster in scoring with 15 points as he has five goals and 10 assists. He has one power-play goal and has collected three game winners this season and is tied for the team lead in that category. He is +9 for the year.
For his career, Tynan has played in 101 career games for the Irish and has scored 41 goals with 69 assists for 110 career points. That ranks him 39th on Notre Dame’s all-time scoring list as the Irish move into the second half of the 2012-13 season. Among his 41 goals are 11 power-play tallies, four short-handed goals and six game winners.
Notre Dame, currently ranked second in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll and third in the USCHO.com poll, has not played since Dec. 15. The Irish will return to action on Tues., Jan. 8 when they travel to Minneapolis, Minn., to face the top-ranked University of Minnesota Golden Gophers. Game time at Mariucci Arena is set for 7:07 p.m. (CT).