Jan. 10, 2011
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Freshman center T.J. Tynan (Orland Park, Ill.) has been named the CCHA rookie of the week for his play in Notre Dame’s weekend sweep at Northern Michigan on Jan. 7-8. The Irish rookie also was the league’s rookie of the week last week and has now been named rookie of the week four times this season.
In the two wins last week, Tynan scored one goal and added three points while being +3 in 8-1 and 3-1 wins over the Wildcats that improved the Irish to 14-7-3 overall and 11-4-1-1 in CCHA play. Notre Dame has a four-point lead on second-place Michigan heading into action this weekend.
On Fri., Jan 7, Tynan picked up a pair of assists in the 8-1 win. His first came on the eventual game-winning goal as he set up fellow freshman Anders Lee’s (Edina, Minn.) 13th goal of the season that snapped a 1-1 tie. In the second period, the 5-8, 156-pound center picked up his 17th assist of the season as he set up freshman Mike Voran’s (Livonia, Mich.) goal that gave Notre Dame a 4-1 lead. Tynan had one shot in the game and was +1 for the night.
The following night in game two of the series, the freshman center had one goal and set up another as the Irish prevailed, 3-1. Tynan got Notre Dame on the scoreboard first just 2:20 into the game when he Lee set him up at the bottom of the right circle and he tucked a wrist shot under the cross bar for his team-high 15th goal of the season and a 1-0 lead. He and Lee were at it again as the first period wound down as he spotted defenseman Sean Lorenz (Jr., Littleton, Colo.) sneaking in from the right point and fed the junior who drilled a shot from the slot past Wildcat goaltender Jared Coreau for his fourth of the season and the eventual game winner. Tynan had a pair of shots in the game and was +2 for the evening.
For the season, Tynan now has played in 24 games and leads Notre Dame in scoring with 15 goals and 18 assists for 33 points. He is third on the team with a +13 and has three power-play goals, two short-handed goals and two game winners.
Tynan leads all freshmen in scoring in both the CCHA and nationally with 33 points. His 33 rank him third in overall CCHA and national scoring. Tynan’s 15 goals are tops in the CCHA and tied for fifth nationally while he is fourth in assists in conference play.
The former Des Moines Buccaneer (USHL) was the CCHA and national rookie of the month in November and took CCHA player of the month honors for December while being an honorable mention choice nationally. His 33 points are the most by a Notre Dame freshman since the 2006-07 campaign when Ryan Thang `10 had 41 and Kevin Deeth `10 had 37 in a 42-game season.
The Irish are currently ranked eighth in both the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine and USCHO.com polls and return to action on Jan. 14-15 when they play host to the University of Alaska Nanooks at the Joyce Center. Game time is 7:35 p.m. on Friday and 7:05 p.m. on Saturday.