Oct. 23, 2006
Notre Dame, Ind. – The Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) today honored three Notre Dame hockey players as they were selected by the conference for their play in last weekend’s East coast sweep of Boston College and Providence College.
Senior goaltender David Brown (Stoney Creek, Ont.) was chosen as the CCHA goaltender-of-the week while defenseman Wes O’Neill (Essex, Ont.) captured top defenseman honors. Freshman center Kevin Deeth (Gig Harbor, Wash.) capped the awards by being named the CCHA rookie-of-the-week.
Brown had a spectacular weekend in the Notre Dame goal, stopping 48-of-50 shots (96.0%) while surrendering just two goals with just one coming at equal strength. In the 7-1 win over No. 1 ranked Boston College on Friday night, the veteran goaltender stopped 26-of-27 shots and surrendered just one third-period power-play goal on the night. The victory was the second of Brown’s career versus a No. 1 ranked Boston College team as he shut them out as a freshman, winning 1-0 during the 2003-04 season. Brown capped his weekend by making 22 saves in the 6-1 victory over Providence College on Saturday night. On the year, Brown is 3-1-0 with a 1.47 goals-against average and a .942 save percentage.
O’Neill took defensive player-of-the-week honors for his role at both ends of the ice for the Irish. On the weekend, O’Neill recorded two assists, was +4 for both games and led a defense that killed 15-of-16 opponent power plays. In the 7-1 win against Boston College, O’Neill had a pair of assists and was +3 in the game while helping kill nine-of-10 power-play chances. The following night in Providence, O’Neill did not get on the scoreboard, but was +1 and helped lead Irish penalty killers to a six-for-six night. On the season, O’Neill has four assists and is +7 for the year.
Senior goaltender David Brown stopped 48-of-50 shots in wins over Boston College and Providence to earn CCHA goaltender of the week honors
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Deeth continued his fast start in his rookie year for Notre Dame. The speedy center had two goals and two assists and was +2 on the weekend. The freshman center opened the weekend with the first three-point game of his career, scoring once and adding a pair of assists in the 7-1 win over top-ranked Boston College. Deeth had four shots on goal and was +2 for the game. In the 6-1 win over Providence College on Oct. 21, Deeth scored his fourth goal of the season and had another four-shot game while being even. He has a four-game point streak to start the year and is second in scoring with four goals and three assists for seven points. He also has two power-play goals and one short-handed tally on the campaign.
The Irish are now 3-1-0 on the season and moved into the national rankings – 11th in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine College Hockey Poll and 12th in the USCHO.com/CSTV Poll. Notre Dame travels to Tampa, Fla., to host the first-ever Lightning College Hockey Classic at the St. Pete Times Forum. The Irish face Army in the opening round at 8:05 p.m. on Fri., Oct. 27 while Alabama-Huntsville faces Air Force at 5:05 p.m. The third-place and championship games will be played on Sat., Oct. 28 at 5:05 p.m. and 8:05 p.m.