Jan. 7, 2009
Notre Dame, Ind. –
Complete Release in PDF Format 
• The Games: #1/#1 Notre Dame (16-3-2/9-2-2-2) vs. rv/#19 Alaska (10-6-4/8-5-2-2)
< ã¢â€¢=”” date/site/time:=”” fri.-sat.,=”” january=”” 9-10,=”” 2009=”” ã¢â€¢=”” joyce=”” center=”” (2,713)=”” ã¢â€¢=”” 7:35=”” p.m./7:05=”” p.m.=””>
• Broadcast Information: Radio: Notre Dame hockey can be heard live on Cat Country 99.9 FM in South Bend. Mike Lockert, now in his seventh season, will call all the action for the Irish.
• Internet: All Notre Dame hockey games can be heard live on the internet via the Notre Dame website at www.und.com. All home games that are not televised will be streamed live on und.com. All Notre Dame home games and all CCHA games are available via gametracker.
SECOND-HALF START UP: Notre Dame returns to CCHA action for the remainder of the 2008-09 season this weekend when the Irish play host to the Alaska Nanooks at the Joyce Center on Jan. 9-10. Friday’s game has a 7:35 p.m. starting time while Saturday’s game will drop the puck at 7:05 p.m. The Irish enter the weekend series with a 16-3-2 overall record and sit atop the CCHA with a 10-2-2-2 record, good for 24 points. They start the second half, one point ahead of second-place Miami and three points ahead of third-place Alaska. Notre Dame’s final 14 regular-season games are against CCHA opponents. Alaska comes into the weekend with a 10-6-4 overall record and are 8-5-3-2 in the conference. The Nanooks are in the second week of a two-week trip to Michigan and Indiana. They played at Michigan State last weekend, splitting a series with the Spartans. Alaska remained in Michigan and will arrive in South Bend on Wednesday night. Alaska comes into the weekend ranked 19th in the USCHO.com poll and is receiving votes in the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine poll. The Nanooks are the first ranked team the Irish have faced since playing at No. 2 Boston College on Nov. 7.
IRISH VERSUS NANOOKS: Notre Dame and Alaska have met 47 times in the all-time series with the Irish holding a 23-20-4 advantage. At the Joyce Center, Notre Dame is 13-8-1 against the Nanooks. Last season, the teams met twice in Fairbanks with Notre Dame taking a 2-1 win in the series opener and then getting a 1-1 tie in the second game of the series. The last time Alaska won at the Joyce Center came on March 4, 2006, a 1-0 win in game two of the first round of the CCHA playoffs. Since then. Notre Dame is 7-0-1 against the Nanooks, going 4-0-0 at the Joyce Center and 3-0-1 at the Carlson Center in Fairbanks.
RECORD STREAK: With two wins in last weekend’s Shillelagh Tournament, Notre Dame extended its unbeaten streak to a school-record 16 games (14-0-2). The streak broke the previous mark of 15 straight (15-0-0) that was set between Nov. 4, 1983 and Jan. 21, 1985. The Irish also are in the midst of a six-game winning streak since Nov. 29. Notre Dame has not been on the losing end of the score since falling to Miami, 3-2, on Oct. 25.
SHILLELAGH RECAP: Notre Dame hosted the first-ever Shillelagh Tournament at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Ill., on Jan. 2-3. Joining Notre Dame in the tournament were Union College, UMass-Lowell and Minnesota-Duluth.
Friday, Jan. 2 – In the opening game of the tournament, Minnesota-Duluth handed UMass-Lowell a 2-1 loss to advance to the title game.
Notre Dame faced Union in its first game and, after falling behind, 1-0, ran off three unanswered goals in a 3-1 win. Ben Ryan (So., Brighton, Mich.) and Dan Kissel (Jr., Crestwood, Ill.) led Notre Dame with a goal and an assist each in the game while Erik Condra (Sr. Livonia, Mich.) chipped in pair of assists for a two-point night. Union’s Brendan Milnamow started the scoring with a power-play goal at 18:14 of the first period for a 1-0 Dutchmen lead. The Irish answered with a pair of second-period goals to regain the advantage. Justin White (Sr., Traverse City, Mich.) picked up his fourth goal of the year at 2:49 of the second to tie the game at 1-1. Ryan scored the eventual game winner at 12:04 with his fifth goal of the campaign. Kissel closed the scoring with a power-play goal at 13:29 of the third for the final mark of 3-1. Goaltender Jordan Pearce (Sr., Anchorage, Alaska) stopped 20-of-21 shots in the game for the win.
Saturday, Jan. 3 – Union and UMass-Lowell met in the third-place game on Saturday with the Dutchmen taking a 2-1 victory.
Junior Christiaan Minella set up a pair of goals in Notre Dame’s 3-1 win over Minnesota-Duluth.
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Notre Dame met Minnesota-Duluth in the title game and Irish senior Garrett Regan (Sr., Hastings, Minn.) led the way with a pair of goals in the first 14:11 of the game in the 3-1 win. Regan got Notre Dame on the scoreboard at 1:44 of the first period when he converted a feed from Christiaan Minella (Jr., Aurora, Colo.), who had two assists in the game. Minella also set up Regan’s second goal of the night at 14:1 that gave the Irish a 2-0 lead and was Regan’s fifth of the year. The Bulldogs cut the lead to 2-1 at 18:30 on a goal by Drew Akins and that would be the final goal of the night until the 19:59 mark of the third period. Ryan Thang (Sr., Edina, Minn.) scored into an empty net for his sixth of the year and the final of 2-1. Pearce again was stellar in goal, stopping 19-of-20 shots. Both teams were 0-for-6 on the power play.
TOURNAMENT HONORS: Notre Dame placed four players on the Shillelagh Tournament all-tournament team. Selected to the team were: junior defenseman Kyle Lawson (New Hudson, Mich.), forwards Ben Ryan and Garrett Regan and goaltender Jordan Pearce, who also was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. Lawson anchored an Irish defense that limited Union and Minnesota-Duluth to 41 shots in the tournament while playing over 30 minutes per game. Ryan had a goal and an assist, getting the game winner in the win over Union. Regan scored two goals in the title game, including the game winner versus Minnesota-Duluth. Pearce surrendered just two goals (one even-strength goal) on 41 shots (.951 sv%) and picked up two wins in the tournament. Also selected to the all-tournament team were Minnesota-Duluth defenseman Erik Oberg and forward Justin Fontaine.
THREE IN A ROW: With the win in the Shillelagh Tournament on Jan. 2-3, the Irish have now won one in-season hockey tournament in each of the last three seasons. In 2006-07, the Irish won the Lightning College Hockey Tournament in Tampa, Fla. In 2007-08, Notre Dame was the winner of the Rensselaer Holiday Hockey Tournament in Troy, N.Y. and this season, the Irish got the win in the Shillelagh Tournament.
IRISH TOURNEY HISTORY: For Notre Dame, the Shillelagh Tournament was the 31st in-season tournament that the Irish have participated in. The two wins give Notre Dame an all-time mark of 25-34-3 in those tournaments. The Irish now have finished first (seven times), second (six times), third (seven times) and fourth (11 times) in those tournaments. <>TAKE ME OUT TO THE HOCKEY GAME: As part of the first-ever Shillelagh Tournament, all four tournament teams attended the NHL’s Winter Classic at Wrigley Field on Jan. 1. Notre Dame got to see former Irish defenseman Brett Lebda `04 score a goal for Detroit in the Red Wings’ victory.
BACK IN THE GAME: Two members of the Notre Dame roster missed out on the Shillelagh Tournament as they were away, playing for the United States in the World Junior Championships in Ottawa, Ont. Returning to the Irish lineup this weekend will be sophomore defensemen Ian Cole (Ann Arbor, Mich.) and Teddy Ruth (Naperville, Ill.) who helped the U.S. to a fifth-place finish at the championships. Cole, playing in his second tournament had two goals and two assists in his six games while Ruth had no points with 25 penalty minutes in his first appearance. The duo are among 12 Notre Dame players all-time to play for the U.S. in the World Junior Championships. They join fellow defenseman Kyle Lawson as current Irish players to have played in the tournament during their careers.
LOWE’S SENIOR CLASS AWARD: Two members of the Notre Dame hockey team are among a list of 20 candidates for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. Named to the list last week are senior forward Erik Condra and goaltender Jordan Pearce. The award is given annually to an NCAA Division I student-athlete in nine sports based on achievement’s in the “Four C’s” of classroom, character, community and competition. CLASS is an acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School. Last season, senior Mark Van Guilder `08 was one of 10 finalists for the award and in 2007, goaltender David Brown `07 was selected as the first winner of the hockey award.
ROAD WIN STREAK: Notre Dame’s 3-1 win at Bowling Green on Dec. 12, gives the Irish an eight-game road winning streak, the longest road streak in the program’s history. Notre Dame’s last road loss came in the season-opener at Denver (5-2) on Oct. 11. The previous longest road win streak came between Jan. 7- Feb. 4, 1977. The Irish are 8-1-0 on the road this season.
MR. RELIABLE: Notre Dame’s All-American and Hobey Baker candidate – senior goaltender Jordan Pearce – has been a regular in the Notre Dame goal over the last two seasons. Since Jan. 5, 2008, Pearce has appeared in 43 of the last 44 Irish games. Of those 43 games, 42 have been starts. Pearce has now appeared in 18 straight games for the Irish, making 17 starts in that span. The last game he did not start was on Nov. 29 when Tommy O’Brien (Jr., Mokena, Ill.) made his second career start. Pearce came on in relief after 23:15 of action as O’Brien surrendered two goals on eight shots. Pearce has appeared in 20 of Notre Dame’s first 21 games this season and is 15-3-2 with a 1.63 goals-against average and a .935 save percentage. In his current 16-game unbeaten streak (14-0-2), Pearce has a 1.40 goals-against average and a .945 save percentage. His 40-save performance against the Lakers on Nov. 14, was the most saves in his career, surpassing the previous high of 34 set on Feb. 17, 2006 versus Bowling Green in a 7-4 win. He stopped 55-of-56 shots in the weekend series at Ferris State, including a 1-0 shutout on Dec. 6. Pearce saw his shutout streak snapped after 138:42 against Bowling Green, the longest of his Notre Dame career.
HERE COMES PEARCE: With wins in both games of the Shillelagh Tournament, Jordan Pearce now has 44 career wins at Notre Dame and is fifth on the all-time wins list. He is currently just one behind Dave Laurion `82, who has 45 career wins. Here are the top five goaltenders in wins at Notre Dame:
Name (Years) WinsLance Madson (`86-'90) 56David Brown (``03-'07) 55Dick Tomasoni (`68-'72) 49Dave Laurion (`78-'82) 45Jordan Pearce (`05- ) 44
CLOSING IN ON 100: Senior right wing Erik Condra needs just one more assist to reach 100 for his Notre Dame career. The 100 assists will move Condra into elite company at Notre Dame as he will become just the 10th player in the program’s history with 100 career assists. Condra is currently 19th on the all-time points list with 39 goals and 99 asssists for 138 career points. He is tied for third on this year’s team with 18 points on four goals and 14 assists.
RED HOT HANSON: Senior center Christian Hanson (Venetia, Pa.) is off to the best start of his collegiate career. Through the first 21 games of the season, Hanson leads the Irish in scoring with 13 goals and 10 assists for 23 points. He also has six power-play goals, one short-handed marker and three game winners. He has equaled his career bests in goals (13) and short-handed goals (1) and now has career highs in assists (10), points (23), power-play goals (6) and game winners (3). The 6-4, 228-pound center has points in eight of his last 12 games (9-8-17).
CLIMBING THE CHARTS: With the shutout at Ferris State (Dec. 6), Jordan Pearce now has two shutouts this season and six for his career. The six career shutouts for Pearce tie him for second on the all-time Notre Dame shutout list with Morgan Cey `05 who had six from 2001 to 2005. David Brown `07 holds the Irish record with 12 during his Irish career.
A CHILL (ING) REUNION: When Calle Ridderwall (So., Stockholm, Sweden) and freshman Billy Maday (Burr Ridge, Ill.) were put on the same line with center Kevin Deeth (Jr., Gig Harbor, Wash.) in the second game of the Miami series, it marked the first time that Ridderwall and Maday played together at Notre Dame. The two aren’t strangers as they spent the 2005-06 season as linemates with the Chicago Chill Midget AA program, helping the Chill to a second-place finish at the USA Midget AA championships. Maday had 38 goals and 87 assists for 125 points in 74 games with the Chill while Ridderwall had 52 goals and 66 assists for 118 points that season. In 16 games together this season, the duo has combined for 16 goals and and 18 assists with Maday having seven goals and seven assists and Ridderwall nine goals and 11 assists for 20 points in those games.
ON THE SIDELINES: The Irish will be without the services of sophomore goaltender Brad Phillips (Farmington Hills, Mich.) for the entire season. Phillips injured his right knee in the preseason and will be out of action for the year. He was 4-1-0 as a freshman with a 1.53 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage.
WINNING TEAMS: Since the start of the 2006-07 season, Notre Dame has the winningest hockey program in the nation. Heading into the Shillelagh Tournament this weekend, Notre Dame ranks first in wins (75) and first in winning percentage (.718). Here are the top five teams by wins and winning percentage (as of Jan. 1).
Wins Winning Pct.Notre Dame 75 Notre Dame (.722)Michigan 72 Michigan (.716)Miami 69 Miami (.702)Boston College 63 Boston College (.672)North Dakota 62 North Dakota (.656)New Hampshire 61
NICE NOVEMBER: Notre Dame closed out the month of November with a 7-0-2 mark in the nine games played. During the month, the Irish out scored the opposition by a 41-15 margin (4.56 to 1.67). In the two ties, Notre Dame won the CCHA contests with a pair of 2-1 shootout victories. Last season, the Irish were 9-1-0 in the month of November.
BETTER DECEMBER: The Irish finished up the month of December with a 4-0-0 record, out scoring the opposition by an 11-5 margin (2.75 to 1.25). Notre Dame takes an 11-0-2 mark over the last two months into January.
STREAK NUMBERS: In Notre Dame’s 16-game unbeaten streak, the Irish have given up one goal or less in 10 of the 16 games. The Irish have only given up three goals twice – a 3-3 tie with Lake Superior and a 4-3 win over Bowling Green. During the streak, the Irish have out scored the opposition by a 61-24 margin (3.81 to 1.50). <>ROOKIE OF THE MONTH: Notre Dame freshman right wing Billy Maday was selected as the CCHA rookie of the month for November. In nine games during the month, Maday had seven goals and four assists for 11 points. Included in his seven goals were five power-play markers. Maday scored points in eight of the nine games and was +4 in the month. He finished the month scoring goals in the last five consecutive games, going 5g, 2a in that span. The freshman is fourth in scoring on the team with nine goals and seven assists for 16 points in his first 18 games.
RED HOT SWEDE: Sophomore Calle Ridderwall credits his strong second season to an increase in confidence. The speedy left wing has seen his game take off in recent weeks as he has now scored 17 points (7g, 10a), notching points in seven of his last nine games. His current tear started in a game that he didn’t get credited with any points, but got the winning goal for the Irish. On Nov. 14, Notre Dame faced Lake Superior in their first-ever shootout and Ridderwall dazzled the crowd with a great move to score the winning goal for the Irish. He followed that with a career-best three-point game (1g, 2a) in the win over the Lakers the following night. Versus Bowling Green (Nov. 21-22), Ridderwall had a pair of assists in the 5-1 win and then added his first career four-point game (2g, 2a) in the 9-1 win over the Falcons. He didn’t wait long to get his second four-point game as he followed the first with another two-goal, two-assist night in the 4-1 win over Western Michigan and then added an assist in the second game versus the Broncos. For the year, Ridderwall is second in scoring on the Irish roster with nine goals and 12 assists for 21 points, surpassing his freshman totals of five goals and two assists for seven points.
THE PLAYMAKER: With assists in each game of the Shillelagh Tournament, junior defenseman Brett Blatchford (Temperance, Mich.) now leads the CCHA in assists with 18 and ranks second among all CCHA defensemen with 18 points this season. The smooth-skating defenseman has already exceeded his output of last year when he had 12 assists in 45 games. He leads Notre Dame defensemen in scoring and currently ranks ninth nationally among defensemen in scoring.
MAKING THE MOST OF IT: Center Ben Ryan has made the most of the goals he’s scored this season. With a goal versus Union, Ryan now has five goals this season. More importantly, three of his five goals have been game-winning goals. The three game winners this season tie him with Christian Hanson for the team lead.
THE NEW KIDS: With Ian Cole and Teddy Ruth off to the World Junior Championships last weekend, head coach Jeff Jackson called on a pair of freshmen defensemen to step into the lineup. Eric Ringel (Hinckley, Ohio) and Nick Condon (Wausau, Wis.) stepped into the lineup and played well in place of Cole and Ruth. For Ringel, it was his fourth and fifth games this season He had no shots but was +1 on the weekend. Condon played in his second and third games and also had no shots but was +1 for the weekend.
LETTERS OF INTENT: Notre Dame head coach Jeff Jackson has announced that five players have signed national letters-of-intent to play hockey at Notre Dame beginning in the fall of 2009: The list includes two defensemen and three forwards. Joining the Irish for next season are: Sam Calabrese (Park Ridge, Ill.), Cam Fowler (Farmington Hills, Mich.), Nick Larson (Apple Valley, Minn.), Kyle Palmieri (Montvale, N.J.) and Riley Sheahan (St. Catharines, Ont.). Calabrese, Fowler and Palmieri all play for the USA Under-18 team while Larson plays for Waterloo in the USHL and Sheahan is a member of the St. Catharines Falcons organization in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League. Calabrese and Palmieri are eligible for the 2009 NHL Entry Draft next June while Fowler and Sheahan can’t be drafted until the June of 2010 draft. Larson was selected in the fourth round of last year’s draft by the Calgary Flames.
USHL GP G A PTS PIMNick Larson - Waterloo 22 8 5 13 63
GOJHL GP G A PTS PIMRiley Sheahan - St. Catherine's 31 24 36 60 35
USA UNDER-18 GP G A PTS PIMCam Fowler 25 3 13 16 32Kyle Palmieri 17 7 7 14 27Sam Calabrese 25 0 4 4 8
MINELLA MAGIC: Junior right wing Christiaan Minella (Auroroa, Colo.) scored his first career goal, on his first shot in his first collegiate game against Bowling Green on Nov. 11, 2006. It would be 46 games before he would score again, getting the second goal of his career on Oct. 18 of this season against Sacred Heart. The 6-2, 216-pound forward then had a three-game goal-scoring streak between Nov. 14-Nov. 21 with goals in each game of the Lake Superior series and one against Bowling Green. Since November 14, Minella has three goals and six assists for nine points. His four goals and 10 points this season are career highs for Minella and he’s done it in just 19 games.