NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame hockey program will embark on its first road trip of the season when they face off against Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in Rochester, New York, Saturday night. The Irish will compete against the Tigers inside Blue Cross Arena as part of the Tigers’ annual Brick City game, commemorating homecoming weekend in New York.
Blue Cross Arena is home to the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League.
SERIES OVERVIEW
Opponent: RIT Tigers
Location: Rochester, New York| Blue Cross Arena
Schedule: Saturday, Oct. 14 | 7 p.m.
TV: FloHockey.TV
Radio: fightingirish.com/radioaffiliates/
Live Stats: FightingIrish.com
Game Notes: Notre Dame | RIT
QUICK HITS
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The Irish opened their season with a split against Clarkson inside Compton Family Ice Arena.
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The first line chart of the season featured nine new faces while all 10 appeared on the ice at some point last weekend.
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The new talent made an immediate impact on the Irish team with five 2023-24 additions recording their first points in an Irish sweater over the weekend.
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Two Irish rookies net their first collegiate goals on the weekend with Jayden Davis and Danny Nelson each finding the back of the net in Sunday night’s win.
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Davis’ goal came off his first shot on goal in his NCAA debut. The goal in the second period proved to be the eventual game-winner.
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With his first win of the season, Ryan Bischel picked up his eighth career shutout behind the 3-0 victory. He stopped all 22 shots faced in the contest to improve his season save percentage to .957 through two games played.
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The Irish return 19 letterwinners from the 2022-23 season this year, including 2023 Big Ten Conference Goaltender of the Year, Ryan Bischel.
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Classmate Trevor Janicke also returned for his fifth season with the Irish, serving as alternate captain for the second time in 2023-24.
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Of those letterwinners returning, 17 saw game action last season while five appeared in all 37 games played for the Irish a season ago.
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The veteran leadership consists of four graduate seniors, including new additions to the team in Patrick Moynihan (forward; Providence) and Ryan Siedem (defenseman; Harvard), and eight seniors.
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Ten new faces join the team this season, including eight freshmen. The new contributors consist of seven forwards and three defensemen.
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The Irish are set to play nine of their 10 non-conference games inside Compton Family Ice Arena, while hosting an additional 12 conference games for a total of 21 home games this season.
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The Irish concluded the 2022-23 season with a 16-16-5 record, and a fourth place finish in the Big Ten Conference regular season.
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Notre Dame hosted a conference playoffs series for the third consecutive season when they hosted Michigan State in the Big Ten quarterfinals for a best-of-three series.
NOTRE DAME vs. RIT
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The Irish and Tigers are set to meet for the seventh time in program history this Saturday night with a 7 p.m. puck drop set inside Blue Cross Arena, home to the AHL’s Rochester Americans.
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In their six previous meetings, the Irish have three wins over the Tigers, including a 6-0 route in their most recent meeting.
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Four current Irish icers tallied points in the 6-0 victory, including Trevor Janicke who net the game winning tally as one of two goals on the night for the then-junior. Landon Slaggert and Hunter Strand also had goals in the win while Jake Boltmann tallied an assist on the final goal of the game.
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Half of the contests have gone to an overtime session, with the Irish reigning victorious in two of those three games.
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The two teams last met in October 2021 with the Irish splitting the series inside Compton Family Ice Arena.
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Saturday’s game will mark the team’s first trip to Rochester for the regular season series, having played all six prior contests in South Bend.
TEAM LEADERS
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Landon Slaggert bookended opening weekend with a pair of goals, netting the first of the year for the Irish on Saturday night before scoring the third and final goal in Sunday’s game to close out the series against Clarkson.
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Eight different Irish skaters highlighted the box score during the first weekend series, including five new faces to the roster in 2023-24.
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The 2022-23 team leader in goals, Trevor Janicke, returned to the Irish for his fifth season in 2023-24.
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Five members of the 2023-24 squad appeared in all 37 games for the Irish last season, including T. Janicke, Drew Bavaro, Hunter Strand, Jake Boltmann and Ryan Bischel. Additionally, six more skated in a minimum of 30 games for the Irish in 2022-23.
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Bischel led the nation in saves last season and is the current active leading netminder in save percentage with a career mark of .925. Last season he finished second nationally with a season save percentage of .931 while boasting a 16-16-5 record.
NATIONAL RECOGNITION
- The 2022-23 Big Ten Goaltender of the Year was one of two unanimous selections for 2023-24 Preseason All-Big Ten Teams. He was selected to the All-Big Ten First Team ahead of the coming season.
- Bischel was also a Mike Richter Award semifinalist and a Hobey Baker nominee a season ago.
- Drew Bavaro made an immediate impact at the blueline last season after joining the Irish and will look to continue that success this season as a senior. He was selected to the All-Big Ten Second Team for the preseason.
- Landon Slaggert also picked up preseason honors from the Big Ten when he was named an Honorable Mention heading into the season.
FAMILY TIES
- The 2023-24 Notre Dame roster features quite a few family connections to the program and hockey world.
- Three sets of brothers are currently on the roster, including Justin and Trevor Janicke, Landon and Carter Slaggert, and Henry and Danny Nelson.
- With the addition of the Nelsons this season, the Irish have had 17 sets of brothers lace up their skates together for the Irish.
- Carter Slaggert also joins the Irish in 2023-24, becoming the third Slaggert brother to appear in a game for the Irish and joins his older brother Landon, who is a senior. Oldest brother Graham currently plays in the Buffalo Sabres organization and skated two years alongside Landon before graduating.
- Senior forward Brady Bjork is the younger brother of former Irish All-American and current Chicago Blackhawk Anders Bjork.
- Brady’s father, Kirt, played for the Irish from 1979-83 where he appeared in 141 and tallied 161 career points (76-85). When older brother Anders played for the Irish, they became the fourth set of father-son combinations within Notre Dame hockey.
- The Slaggerts are part of the fifth set of father-son combinations to suit up for the Irish, joining their father and associate head coach Andy Slaggert.
- Justin and Trevor Janicke are the sons of Curtis Janicke, who played for the Irish from 1989-93, appearing in 125 games while scoring 46 goals and adding 98 assists for 144 points.
- Justin, Trevor and Curtis represent the sixth father-son duo to play for the Irish.
- Freshman Paul Fischer is the nephew of Mike Gearan, a member of the first varsity hockey team at Notre Dame. Fischer will honor his uncle by wearing his number during his career with the Irish, No. 16.
- Freshman forward Cole Knuble is the son of former NHLer Mike Knuble, who spent 16 seasons in the NHL, including stints with Detroit, New York Rangers, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington. Cole was recently drafted by the Flyers’ organization where his father played during his early childhood. He will wear No. 22 with the Irish to honor his father.
- Four current Irish skaters have siblings playing at the collegiate level, away from South Bend.
- Cole Knuble’s brother, Cam, is a senior at Western Michigan University.
- Ryan Siedem’s brother is a freshman at the University of New Hampshire.
- Jayden Davis’ brother Matthew is a junior on the Denver Pioneers’ hockey team.
- Maddox Fleming’s sister Delaney is a freshman on the Ohio State University women’s hockey team.
CURRENT IRISH AND THE NHL DRAFT
- The 2023-24 roster features nine NHL draftees, including Jake Boltmann (CGY ‘20), Justin Janicke (SEA ‘21), Danny Nelson (NYI ‘23), Brennan Ali (DET ‘22), Paul Fischer (STL ‘23), Patrick Moynihan (NJD ‘19), Landon Slaggert (CHI ‘20), Cole Knuble (PHI ‘23) and Trevor Janicke (ANA ‘19).
- The 2023 NHL draft saw three Irish rookies selected, the most since 2020, and 15th time in program history that at least three Irish icers were selected in a single draft class.
- The trio of skaters selected in 2023, Danny Nelson (2nd Rd., 49 overall), Cole Knuble (4th Rd., 103 overall) and Paul Fischer (5th Rd., 138 overall) join fellow rookie Brennan Ali (DET ‘22) as draftees in the ND freshmen class.
- When D. Nelson was selected in the second round of this year’s Draft, Notre Dame extended its streak of players drafted to 21 years (2004-present).