Feb. 17, 2010
Notre Dame, Ind. –
Complete Release in PDF Format 
– The Games: Notre Dame (12-13-7/8-10-6-2) at Bowling Green (4-22-4/3-17-4-3)
– Date/Site/Time: Fri.-Sat., February 19-20, 2010 – BGSU Ice Arena (5,000) – 7:05 p.m./5:05 p.m.
– Broadcast Information: Radio: Notre Dame hockey can be heard live on Cat Country 99.9 FM, starting with the pre-game show 20 minutes before the opening faceoff. Darin Pritchett will call the action for the Irish.
– Internet: Audio: Both games of the Bowling Green series will have live audio available free of charge at the Notre Dame website – und.com. Live statistics will be available at the CCHA website (ccha.com).
FINAL FOUR: Notre Dame moves into the final four games of the 2009-10 regular season looking up in the standings. After last weekend’s bye, the Irish come into the series at Bowling Green on Feb. 19-20 sitting in 10th in the CCHA standings with an 8-10-6-2 record, good for 32 points. Overall, Notre Dame is 12-13-7 on the year. A total of seven points separates the Irish in 10th place and Northern Michigan and Alaska in fifth. Here’s how the stretch run looks for the team’s involved:
5. NMU (39) - at UM (2), LSSU (2) UAF (39) - LSSU (2)7. UM (37) - NMU (2), ND, at ND8. LSSU (35) - at UAF (2), at NMU (2)9. OSU (33) - at WMU (2), at MIA, MIA10. ND (32) - at BG (2), at UM, UM
The weekend series has a 7:05 p.m. start time on Friday and a 5:05 p.m. start on Saturday. Bowling Green comes into the game in 12th place in the CCHA standings with a 3-17-4-3 mark, good for 16 points. The Falcons are one point behind 11th place Western Michigan. For the year, Bowling Green is 4-22-4 overall.
IRISH VERSUS FALCONS: Notre Dame and Bowling Green have met 89 times in the all-time series with the Irish holding a 48-34-7 advantage. At the BGSU Ice Arena, the Falcons are 22-20-2 all-time. Since the start of the 2005-06 season, Notre Dame has an 18-game unbeaten streak (16-0-2) against Bowling Green. The two teams have met twice this season, playing both games at the Joyce Center on Nov. 27-28. The Irish won the opener 2-1 in overtime before the two teams tied the following night, 4-4 (ot). The Falcons picked up the extra point, winning the shootout, 1-0. The last time Bowling Green defeated Notre Dame was Jan. 29, 2005, 6-2, at the Joyce Center. The last Falcon win at the BGSU Ice Arena came on Jan. 28, 2005, a 4-1 win. Since then, the Irish are 7-0-1 at Bowling Green.
HUMANITARIAN AWARD: Senior center Kevin Deeth (Gig Harbor, Wash) is one of 18 college hockey players (men and women) to be nominated for the College Hockey Humanitarian Award that goes each year to college hockey’s top citizen. Deeth, an alternate captain, with the Irish, oversees the team’s community service efforts and spearheaded last weekend’s “Giving The Shirts Off Their Back,” jersey auction that benefited the Wounded Warriors Project. The award will be presented at the Frozen Four in Detroit in April.
WESTERN MICHIGAN RECAP: Friday, February 5 –
Notre Dame’s lost weekend at Western Michigan got off to a bad start in Friday’s game as seven different players scored for the Broncos in a 7-2 win at Lawson Arena. Western jumped out to a 3-0 lead just 12:50 into the game. Kelly O’Kane, Jordan Collins and Jared Katz staked the Broncos to that 3-0 lead. The Irish changed goaltenders to start the second period as Brad Phillips (Jr., Farmington Hills, Mich.) replaced starter Mike Johnson (Fr., Verona, Wis.). Notre Dame scored just 27 seconds into the middle period when Joe Lavin (Jr., Shrewsbury, Mass.) scored on a slap shot from the left point. Western then scored twice in a 1:01 span as Derek Roehl (ppg) and Greg Squires made it a 5-1 game between the 8:06 mark and 9:07. In the third, Cam Watson scored a short-handed goal at the end of a five-minute major to make it 6-1. Riley Sheahan (Fr., St. Catherine’s, Ont.) scored his sixth goal of the season at 14:46 to cut the lead to 6-2 before Ross Henry closed the game with a power-play goal for the final of 7-2. Each team recorded 27 shots in the game. Riley Gill had 25 stops for the Broncos. Johnson made eight saves in 20 minutes while Phillips played 39:54 and gave up four goals while making 12 saves. The Irish were 0-for-5 on the power play while the Broncos were 2-for-3.
Saturday, February 6 –
The Irish ran into a red-hot scorer and a red-hot goaltender as they fell for the second night in a row to Western Michigan, 4-1. Notre Dame fired a season-high 55 shots on goaltender Riley Gill, only to see the senior stop 54 of them in the win. Sophomore Derek Roehl, scored three goals and added an assist for the Broncos. The left wing came into the series with one goal on the season and had four on the weekend for the Broncos. Notre Dame’s lone goal came from defenseman Brett Blatchford (Sr., Temperance, Mich.), his third of the year in the third period. The Irish were 0-for-12 on the power play and 0-for-17 on the weekend. The Broncos went 3-for-3 on the power play in the game and 5-for-6 on the weekend. Goaltender Mike Johnson got the start and lasted 20:55, giving up three goals while making six saves. Tommy O’Brien (Sr., Mokena, Ill.) came in and played the final 38:45, giving up one goal while making six saves.
PENALTY KILLERS: Notre Dame came into the weekend series at Western Michigan (Feb. 5-6) ranked No. 1 in the nation and the CCHA with a 90.0% penalty killing success rate. Through the first 30 games of the season, the Irish had given up just 14 power-play goals. Against the Broncos, Notre Dame gave up five power-play goals in six chances and saw their penalty-killing success rate fall to 87.0%. The Irish are now sixth in the nation in penalty killing and third in the CCHA. They have given up 19 power-play goals in 146 chances for the 87.0% success rate. The three power-play goals that Western Michigan scored on Feb. 6 were the most given up by the Irish since Massachusetts scored three on Dec. 29, 2007 in a 4-3 loss.
FIRING AWAY: The 55 shots that Notre Dame fired at Western Michigan goaltender Riley Gill on Feb. 6 were the most by an Irish team since Nov. 5, 2004 when they fired 54 shots on Bowling Green in a 4-4 tie. The 54 saves by Gill were the most by an opposing goaltender since Jordan Sigalet had 50 in that 4-4 tie in November of 2004.
OUT OF THE LINEUP: Notre Dame had six players out of the lineup for the series at Western Michigan and has seen its number of games missed this season to 76 games. The list looks like this:
Teddy Ruth (15 games)Sam Calabrese (15 games)Eric Ringel (14 games)Billy Maday (8 games)Ian Cole (8 games)Christiaan Minella (7 games)Sean Lorenz (5 games)Ben Ryan (2 games)Riley Sheahan (1 game)Ryan Thang (1 game)
Ruth returned to action versus Western Michigan after missing six games. Calabrese, Ringel, Maday, Cole, Minella and Ben Ryan all sat out the Western Michigan series.
SHIRTS OFF THEIR BACKS: The Notre Dame hockey team’s special commemorative jersey auction held Jan. 29-30 vs. Nebraska-Omaha proved to be a huge success as it raised a total of $41,604.60 to benefit Hockey Helpers and the Wounded Warrior Project. The actual jersey auction raised $16,604.60 for the 28 players’ jerseys. With the help of matching gifts from several benefactors, including a former Irish hockey alum, $25,000 dollars was added to the jerseys for the final total. Senior alternate captain Kevin Deeth’s jersey received the highest bid as his jersey went for $1,575. Following the Jan. 30 game with Nebraska-Omaha, jersey winners in attendance at the game were presented the jerseys on the ice along with a players autograph. The Wounded Warrior Project is a 501(c)(3) non-partisan, non-profit organization that exists to provide tangible comfort and support to the new generation of severely injured service members upon their return home from Iraq, Afghanistan, and other areas around the world. Beginning at the bedside of the severely injured, Wounded Warrior Project provides programs and services designed to ease the burdens of these heroes and their families, aid in the recovery process, and smooth the transition back to civilian life.
PRACTICE ON THE POND: Notre Dame held its annual “Practice on the Pond,” at Merrifield Park in Mishawaka, Ind., on Friday, Feb. 12. The practice on the outdoor rink was open to the public and drew 200 Irish hockey fans who had a chance to meet the players and get autographs. Hot chocolate was provided to fans and players alike throughout the practice. This is the third consecutive year that Notre Dame hockey has held an outdoor practice.
SCORING WOES: Through the first 32 games of the season, Notre Dame has scored a total of 78 goals. The Irish have scored goals via the power play in 24 of the 32 games and have 36 power-play goals on the year. They also have a pair of short-handed goals to give them 38 special team goals to go with 40 even-strength markers. For the season, the Irish are averaging 2.44 goals per game to rank 48th in the nation.
STREAK SNAPPED: Freshman right wing Kyle Palmieri (Montvale, N.J.) saw his seven-game point streak (1g, 6a, 7 pts) snapped in the 4-1 loss to Western Michigan. The seven-game point streak was the second longest for an Irish player this season (Brett Blatchford – 8 games).
DEFENSIVE DYNAMO: Senior defenseman Kyle Lawson (New Hudson, Mich.) now has four goals and 18 assists for 22 points to rank second on the Irish in scoring. That ties him for fourth in the CCHA among defensemen in scoring just four behind the leader – Eric Gustafsson (NMU) who has 26. For his career, Lawson is now eighth all-time among Irish defensemen with 90 points on 17 goals and 73 assists. The CCHA defensive defenseman of the year in 2009, Lawson is an all-CCHA and All-American candidate for the 2010 season.
SLAGGERT HONORED: Irish associate coach Andy Slaggert has been honored by the American Hockey Coaches’ Association (AHCA) as he was named the winner of the Terry Flanagan Award. The award is named in honor of former New Hampshire player and Bowling Green assistant, Terry Flanagan, and honors an assistant coach for his body of work during his coaching career. Slaggert is in his 17th season as an assistant coach at Notre Dame and is recognized as one of the top recruiters in the nation.
MR. CLUTCH: Sean Lorenz’ (So., Littleton, Colo.) goal at 8:25 of the second period versus Nebraska-Omaha proved to be the game winner against the Mavericks. The goal was the second of the year for Lorenz and also his second game-winning goal of the season. On Jan. 2 versus Colgate in the Shillelagh Tournament, Lorenz scored his first collegiate goal and it was the game winner in a 5-2 win over the Raiders. Lorenz has two goals and an assist for three points in 28 games this season.
PLAYING GAMES: Senior Kevin Deeth (Gig comes into the series with Bowling Green having played in 159 career games and is currently tied for third on the Irish all-time games played list. Senior defenseman Kyle Lawson (New Hudson, Mich.) is seventh on the list with 155 career games. Ryan Thang (Sr., Edina, Minn.) and Brett Blatchford (Sr., Temperance, Mich.) – have their sights set on the top 10 as they own 153 and 147 games played respectively. The top 10:
Games PlayedName (Seasons) Games1. Mark Van Guilder (2004-08) 1632. Brock Sheahan (2004-08) 1613. Kevin Deeth (2006- ) 159 Erik Condra (2005-09) 1595. Dan Carlson (1997-01) 1586. Evan Nielsen (1999-03) 1567. Kyle Lawson (2006- ) 1558. Garrett Regan (2005-09) 154 Wes O'Neill (2003-07) 154 Jason Paige (2003-07) 154-- Ryan Thang (2006- ) 153-- Brett Blatchford (2006- ) 147
THE KID IS ALRIGHT: Despite having a rough weekend in the series at Western Michigan, freshman goaltender Mike Johnson has gotten his collegiate career off to a strong start through the first 32 games of the season. This season, Johnson has appeared in 23 games for Notre Dame, making 21 starts. He is 9-9-4 overall with a 2.35 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage. Against Lake Superior State (Jan. 22-23), he stopped 71-of-73 shots by the Lakers while giving up just two goals in a win and a tie to earn CCHA goaltender of the week honors. He owns a pair of shutouts with the first coming on Oct. 16, versus Providence College, and the second on Dec. 13 against Michigan. He is currently seventh in the CCHA and 18th in the nation in goals-against average and sixth in the league and 11th nationally in save percentage. In his 21 starts, Johnson has given up 48 goals while the Irish have scored 48.
DEFENSIVE DANDIES: While the Irish have struggled to score goals, they have done a good job of keeping the puck out of the net through the first 32 games. In those games, Notre Dame’s defense has held opponents to two goals or less in 17 of them and has given up three or less in 22 of the 32 contests. For the year, the Irish have given up just 79 goals for a 2.47 goals per game to rank 11th in the nation in team defense.
OFFENSIVE OUTBURST: Notre Dame’s six goals on Jan. 22 and the five-goal second period were season highs for the Irish. Previously, Notre Dame had scored five goals twice on the year (Jan. 2 vs. Colgate and Jan. 15 vs. Michigan State). The last time the Irish scored six goals or more goals in a game was Feb. 13, 2009 when they had nine versus Northern Michigan. The last time Notre Dame had five or more goals in a period was Nov. 22, 2008 when the Irish had six goals in the third period versus Bowling Green.
HOME ICE STRUGGLES: With the weekend split with Nebraska-Omaha (Jan. 29-30), Notre Dame saw its home record remain at 7-7-3 for the first 17 home games this season. During the 2008-09 campaign, the Irish were 13-3-2 at the Joyce Center and over the previous three seasons owned a 37-9-7 mark on home ice.
HAT TRICK HAPPINESS: Junior left wing Calle Ridderwall (Stockholm, Sweden) recorded his second hat trick of the season in the 6-1 win over Lake Superior on Jan. 22. The three-goal night proved to be a natural hat trick for Ridderwall as he scored three times in a 6:47 span of the middle period. Notre Dame’s leading scorer through 30 games (17-6-23), Ridderwall had his first hat trick on Nov. 28 versus Bowling Green. He becomes the first Irish player to get two hat tricks in a season since Tim Kuehl `90 accomplished the feat during the 1987-88 season. Ridderwall is tied for second in the CCHA with his 17 goals, while his 10 power-play goals leads the conference.
50/50 CLUB: With a goal and two assists in the 6-1 win over Lake Superior State, senior captain Ryan Thang (Edina, Minn.) became the 30th player in Notre Dame history to score 50 goals with 50 assists in his career. Thang now has 56 goals and 53 assists for 109 career points. The last player to reach that mark was Rob Globke `04 who did it in 2003-04 and finished his career with 68 goals and 56 assists. Earlier in January, Thang became the 45th player in the history of the Irish hockey program to score 100 points in his career. Thang’s assist on Ian Cole’s power-play goal in the first period of the Jan. 10 game with Ferris State gave him 51 goals and 49 assists for his 100th career point.
OVERTIME MARKS: Three of Notre Dame’s eight games in January went into overtime and were decided by a shootout. For the season, the Irish are 1-0-7 in overtime games. In the seven shootouts to date, Notre Dame is 3-4. The overtime win on Nov. 27 versus Bowling Green was the first for the Irish since Feb. 20, 2009 at Nebraska-Omaha, a 4-3 win. Notre Dame is now 3-0-10 in overtime since its last overtime loss, a 2-1 decision to Miami on March 21, 2008, in the CCHA semifinal game.
SWEEPLESS IN SOUTH BEND: For the third time this season, the Irish were swept in a weekend series as Western Michigan took a series in Kalamazoo, Mich., on Feb. 5-6. The Broncos join Ferris State, who took two on Jan. 9-10, and Miami (Dec. 4-5) versus Notre Dame. The Western Michigan sweep marks just the 11th time in the Jeff Jackson era (2005-) that the Irish have been swept in a two-game series. Since Jackson took over, the Irish have been swept five times in 2005-06, twice in 2007-08, once last year and three times this season.
MR. CLUTCH: With his game-winning goal on Jan. 15 versus Michigan State, Ryan Thang became Notre Dame’s all-time leader in game winners with 14. The goal snapped a four-way tie for the top spot.
Game-Winning GoalsName (Seasons) GWG1. Ryan Thang (2006-) 142. Rob Globke (2000-04) 13 Brian Urick (1995-99) 13 Dave Poulin (1978-82) 134. Dave Bankoske (1988-93) 125. Erik Condra (2005-09) 11 Paul Regan (1969-73) 117. Tim Kuehl (1986-90) 10 Tom Mooney (1984-88) 10 Greg Meredith (1976-80) 10
CHART CLIMBING: With three power-play goals against Michigan State (Jan. 15-16), senior captain Ryan Thang moved into fifth on Notre Dame’s all-time list with 27. Here are Notre Dame’s top nine power-play goal scorers:
Power-Play Goals Name (Seasons) PPG1. Greg Meredith (1976-80) 432. Dave Poulin (1978-82) 323. Mike McNeill (1984-88) 314. Lou Zadra (1988-92) 285. Ryan Thang (2006- ) 276. Aniket Dhadphale (1995-99) 25 Tim Kuehl (1986-90) 25 Kirt Bjork (1979-83) 25 Brian Walsh (1973-77) 24-- Calle Ridderwall (2008-) 21
CHART-CLIMBING, PART TWO: Senior defenseman Kyle Lawson leads Irish defensemen in scoring and is tied for fourth among CCHA defensemen with four goals and 18 assists for 22 points. For his career, Lawson is now eighth all-time among defenseman as he passed Notre Dame All-American Bill Nyrop `74 with 89 career points. Lawson now has 17 goals and 73 assists for 90 points in 155 career games. Here is the top 10 scoring defensemen for the Irish.
Points By A Defenseman Name (Seasons) G A Pts1. John Schmidt (1978-82) 28 95 1232. Jeff Brownschidle (1977-81) 39 92 1223. Jack Brownschidle (1973-77) 31 78 1094. Bob Thebeau (1982-86) 40 63 1035. Paul Clarke (1973-77) 38 62 1006. Bill Green (1969-73) 30 66 96 Kevin Markovitz (1986-90) 24 72 968. Kyle Lawson (2006-) 17 73 909. Bill Nyrop (1970-74) 17 72 89
FIRST TIMERS: Two members of the Notre Dame lineup recorded “firsts” in their careers in the 6-1 win over Lake Superior State. Center Patrick Gaul (So., Pittsburgh, Pa.) scored his first career goal at 6:34 of the second period to give the Irish a 3-1 lead. The goal came in his 35th career game. Freshman right wing Kevin Nugent (New Canaan, Conn.) picked up his first career assist on Gaul’s goal. His point came in the 11th game of his career.
A NICK OF TIME: Notre Dame freshman left wing Nick Larson (Apple Valley, Minn.) has proven to be a clutch scorer for the Irish in his rookie year. Among his six goals this season are a pair of game winners and one game-tying goal. His most recent “clutch” goal came on Jan. 23 when he scored the lone goal for the Irish in the 1-1 tie at Lake Superior State. Larson’s third-period goal came just 23 seconds after the Lakers had taken the lead. His top game of the season came on Jan. 15 against Michigan State when he collected three points (2g, 1a) in the 5-2 win over the Spartans. His four-point weekend (2g, 2a) against Michigan State earned him CCHA rookie of the week honors on Jan.18. On the year, he now has six goals and three assists for nine points with two game-winning goals.
BACK BETWEEN THE PIPES: Junior goaltender Brad Phillips (Farmington Hills, Mich.) made his second appearance of the 2010 portion of the schedule on Feb. 5 in relief of Mike Johnson in the 7-2 loss to Western Michigan. Phillips played 39:54 and gave up four goals on 16 shots. In his earlier appearance (Jan. 16 vs. Michigan State), Phillips stopped 19-of-20 shots in relief of Johnson in a 4-4 overtime tie. Phillips played the final 40:26 of the game. That marked his first appearance in goal for the Irish since Nov. 28 against Bowling Green. Phillips, who missed the entire 2008-09 season due to knee surgery, has appeared in 10 games this season, making eight starts. He is 2-3-3 overall with a 2.47 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage with one shutout.