Feb. 20, 2007
Notre Dame, Ind. – Notre Dame defenseman Noah Babin (Sr., Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) has been selected as the Central Collegiate Hockey Association’s (CCHA) defenseman of the week for the week ending Feb. 18. This marks the first time this season that Babin has collected honors as the conference’s top defenseman and the second time this year that an Irish defenseman has taken the award.
Babin recorded a pair of assists and was +1 on the weekend as the Irish swept Alaska by 1-0 and 3-2 scores on the road in Fairbanks. Babin and the Irish defense limited the Nanooks to just two goals on the weekend and were perfect on the penalty kill, stopping all 13 Nanook power-play chances in the two games.
Friday night’s 1-0 win was the fourth shutout of the season for the Irish and combined with Michigan’s loss at Lake Superior, clinched the first-ever CCHA regular-season title for the Irish. Notre Dame killed all seven Alaska power-play chances in front of goaltender David Brown.
In Saturday’s 3-2 win, Babin set up Erik Condra’s second-period power-play goal at 8:29 of the period and then did the same thing on Garrett Regan’s power-play tally less than six minutes later at 14:11. In the game, the Irish penalty killers stopped six Alaska chances with the man advantage.
Besides clinching the CCHA title, the two wins marked the first time that Notre Dame has ever swept Alaska in Fairbanks. The victories helped keep the Irish ranked number one in the nation for the third week, as they are now 26-5-3 overall and 20-3-3 in the CCHA.
On the year, Babin is Notre Dame’s top scoring defenseman with two goals and 18 assists for 20 points with career highs in assists and points. He’s also +8 on the year. Babin and the Irish defense lead the nation in defense, giving up just 1.71 goals-per-game this season while the Notre Dame penalty-killing unit also is tops in the CCHA and the nation, giving up just 16 power-play goals on 170 chances for a 90.6% success rate.
Babin and the Irish wrap up the regular season this weekend when they play at home versus Ferris State on Feb. 23-24. Friday’s game has a 7:35 p.m. start time with Saturday’s game set for 7:05 p.m. Notre Dame will honor Babin and his senior classmates following the game on Saturday with Senior Night at the Joyce Center.