July 25, 2005
Toronto, Ont. – The National Hockey League’s (NHL) Central Scouting Service has listed three Notre Dame hockey players who have signed national letters-of-intent to attend Notre Dame among the top North Americans in their final rankings of players eligible for the 2005 NHL Entry Draft to be held on Saturday, July 30 in Ottawa, Ont. Among the trio – forward Christian Hanson (Venetia, Pa.) and goaltender Jordan Pearce (Anchorage, Alaska) will join the Irish this coming fall, while defenseman Kyle Lawson (New Hudson, Mich.) has deferred to the 2006-07 season and will play this season in the United States Hockey League (USHL) for the Tri-City Storm. Hanson and Lawson were ranked among the top 250 North American skaters while Pearce was ranked among the top 30 North American goaltenders available.
Hanson, a 6-3, 196-pound center/right wing was ranked 66th among North Americans after playing last season for the Tri-City Storm of the USHL. With the Storm, Hanson was the team’s top scorer, getting 19 goals with 33 assists for 52 points to tie for 16th in the USHL in overall scoring. He had four power-play goals, two short-handed tallies and four game-winning goals in helping Tri-City to a 33-21-6 record and fourth place in the Western Division. During the playoffs, Tri-City advanced to the Western Division semi-finals where he had two goals and one assist in nine games. Hanson, who played two years for Tri-City, capped his season by being named the winner of the USHL’s 2005 Curt Hammer Award that goes to the USHL player who distinguishes himself as the most gentlemanly player, both on and off the ice. He played in the 2005 USHL Top Prospect game and signed a national letter-of-intent to attend Notre Dame in November of 2004.
Pearce, a 6-1, 204-pound goaltender is ranked 22nd among North American goaltenders after spending the 2004-05 season with the USHL’s Lincoln Stars. With Lincoln, Pearce was 22-10-4 (OTL) with a 3.07 goals-against average and a .897 save percentage. He was selected to play in the USHL’s Top Prospect’s game and helped the Stars to a second-place finish in the USHL’s Western Division. Pearce spent two seasons with USA Hockey’s Developmental Program and was 8-11-1 with a 3.57 goals-against average and a .874 save percentage in 27 games with the Under-18 Team in 2003-04. He signed his national letter-of-intent to attend Notre Dame in November of 2004.
Lawson, a 5-11, 192-pound right-handed defenseman is ranked 188th among North American skaters after playing the 2004-05 season with the U.S. National Team Developmental Program in Ann Arbor, Mich. With the Under-18 Team, Lawson had three goals and 15 assists for 18 points in 31 games. He signed a national letter-of-intent to attend Notre Dame in November of 2004 and deferred his entrance until the start of the 2006-07 season. During 2004-05, Lawson was a member of the U.S. Under-18 Team’s gold medal winning team at the Under-18 World Championship in April. In August of 2004, the Tri-City Storm selected him in the first round of the USHL’s Futures Draft.