Nov. 2, 2005
Notre Dame, Ind. –
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
• The Series: Notre Dame (1-3-0/0-0-0) vs. #3/#3 Michigan (5-1-1/1-1-1)
• Date/Site/Times: Fri., Nov. 4, 2005 – 7:38 p.m. – Joyce Center (2,713) Sat., Nov. 5, 2005 – 7:35 p.m. – Yost Arena (6,637)
• Broadcast Information: Radio: Notre Dame hockey can be heard live on ESPN Radio 1580, South Bend’s SportsCenter. Mike Lockert, “the voice of Irish hockey” will bring you all the action both nights for Chris Duve providing the color commentary.
• Television: Friday night’s game will be carried on tape-delay by College Sports Television (CSTV) beginning at 9:00 p.m. EST. Matt McConnell and Dave Starman will call the action. CSTV is available via DirecTv on Channel 610.
Saturday’s game at Michigan will be televised live by Comcast Local. Ben Holden and Sean Ritchlin will handle the play-by-play and color commentary. Comcast Local is available in South Bend on Comcast Cable TV at Channel 3.
• Internet Broadcast: At the Notre Dame website – www.und.com.
THE RETURN TO CCHA PLAY: Notre Dame becomes the final CCHA team to open its league schedule when the Irish battle No. 3 Michigan in a home-and-home series this weekend, Nov. 4-5. On Friday night, Notre Dame plays host to the Wolverines at the Joyce Center with faceoff set for 7:38 p.m. That game will be televised on CSTV via tape delay at 9:00 p.m. CSTV is available on DirecTV Channel 610. On Saturday, the two teams travel to Ann Arbor, Mich., for a 7:35 p.m. start. That game will also be televised by Comcast Local and can be seen in South Bend via Comcast Cable on Channel 3. Notre Dame comes into the game with a 1-3-0 record after a weekend split at home with Princeton. The Irish dropped a 5-3 decision on Oct. 28 to the Tigers and then won a 2-0 verdict on Oct. 29. Freshman goaltender Jordan Pearce (Anchorage, Alaska) made 27 saves in recording his first career shutout. The Wolverines, ranked No. 1 the last two weeks, come into the game ranked third on the year after a split at Alaska Fairbanks last weekend. Michigan dropped a 4-2 decision in the opening game of the series and then rebounded for a 4-0 whitewashing of the Nanooks on Saturday.
CCHA ROOKIE OF THE WEEK: Freshman goaltender Jordan Pearce was selected as the CCHA rookie of the week for the week ending Oct. 30. Pearce made 27 saves in Notre Dame’s 2-0 win over Princeton on Oct. 29 for his first career win and shutout in an Irish uniform. The win also snapped Notre Dame’s 22-game winless skid that started on Jan. 8 of last season. For Pearce, the shutout ties him with teammate David Brown (Jr., Stoney Creek, Ont.) for the earliest shutout in a career. Both goaltenders got their first career shutouts in the second starts of their Notre Dame careers.
IRISH VERSUS WOLVERINES: The two teams have met 107 times in the all-time series (by the Notre Dame record books) with Michigan holding a 61-41-5 edge in the all-time series. At Notre Dame, the series is tied, 20-20-2. At Ann Arbor, Michigan has a 34-20-3 edge. On neutral ice, the Wolverines are 7-1-0 against the Irish. Since returning to the CCHA in 1992-93, Michigan owns a 35-6-3 record versus Notre Dame. In the last 20 regular-season games at Yost Arena, the Irish are just 1-16-1 with the last win coming on Nov. 23, 2002, a 4-3 victory. Notre Dame’s last win at the Joyce Center came as part of a weekend sweep on Feb. 27-28, 2004, the first Irish sweep of Michigan since March 5-6, 1982. Last season, the Wolverines had their way with Notre Dame, winning all six meetings by a combined 40-7 margin. Michigan won all four regular season games and then took two in the first round of the CCHA playoffs with a 10-1 win in Game 1 and a 1-0 overtime loss in game two.
PRINCETON RECAP: Notre Dame finally got on the winning track in its weekend series with Princeton. After falling to the Tigers, 5-3, on Friday night, the Irish took a 2-0 decision on Saturday behind the 27-save shutout goaltending of Jordan Pearce. The freshman from Anchorage, Alaska got all the offense he would need in the second period on goals by Garrett Regan (Fr., Hastings, Minn.) and Mark Van Guilder (So., Roseville, Minn.). Regan’s goal, the game winner, came on a rebound in front and was the first of his Notre Dame career. Van Guilder scored on the power play at 16:13 of the period for a 2-0 lead. Michael Bartlett (Jr., Morton Grove, Ill.) assisted on both goals. The Irish out shot Princeton by a 30-27 margin. In Princeton’s 5-3 win, Grant Goeckner-Zoeller scored two goals and the Tigers got single goals from Patrick Neundorfer, Erik Pridham and Kyle Hagel as they scored three times in the second period to hand Notre Dame the 5-3 loss. The Irish got a pair of goals from senior Tim Wallace (Anchorage, Alaska) and a single tally from Josh Sciba (Jr., Westland, Mich.) in the game. Notre Dame out shot Princeton by a 37-13 margin in the game. Tiger goaltender B.J. Slapsky made 34 saves on the night while David Brown was credited with eight saves in the Notre Dame goal. For the game, Princeton was 2-for-7 on the power play while the Irish were 0-for-10.
IT’S FINALLY OVER: On Jan. 2 of last season, Notre Dame opened the New Year with a 2-1 win over R.P.I. at the Joyce Center. Little did anyone know at the time, but that would be the last win for the Irish until Oct. 29 of this season versus Princeton, a winless streak that would cover a school-record 22 games (0-20-2). Ties at Lake Superior State (Jan. 8) and with Nebraska-Omaha (Feb. 4) would be the only points the Irish would gain in the span. Notre Dame ended 2004-05 with a nine-game losing streak and extended that to 12 games with losses in the first three games of 2005-06. That’s all over though as the Irish head into the Michigan series with a win on the positive side of the ledger.
FLUSHING AWAY THE LOSSES: When new Irish head hockey coach Jeff Jackson met with his team for the first time in the 2005-06 school year, they went over team rules, regulations, set up schedules and met with other administrators. At the end of the meeting, he gave the team’s returning players an index card to write down everything that they hated from the previous season (a 5-26-6 year that ended in a 19-game winless skid – 0-17-2).
After doing that, the team went to where center ice would be at the Joyce Center rink and threw the cards into a waste basket to burn them, symbolizing that the previous year was done and it was time to move on. Jackson had the ashes placed in a jar that was kept in the locker room to remind everyone about the previous season.
“I thought that it was would be good to keep them as a reminder of what happens when you’re not committed,” said Jackson.
On Saturday night (Oct. 29) following the first period at home versus Princeton, after starting the season at 0-3 and coming off a bad second period performance the night before (in a 5-3 loss to the Tigers), Jackson walked into the locker room and before talking to the team, took the ashes into the restroom and flushed them down the toilet.
“With the first three games, our second periods were horrible, so we flushed last year away,” said Jackson.
“They (the players) laughed a little, but the toilet flushed and last year is behind us. Those losses from last year were still lingering over the team and I’m just glad it’s behind them and that now we can move on.”
The Irish went out and scored two goals in the second period in the 2-0 win and the winless skid was over.
BACK BEHIND THE BENCH: Notre Dame head coach Jeff Jackson returns to collegiate coaching this season for the first time since leaving Lake Superior State following the 1995-96 season. In six years with the Lakers, Jackson compiled a 182-52-25 career record with two national championships, two CCHA regular-season titles and four CCHA tournament championships. The veteran coach is the NCAA’s winningest active coach with at least five years experience with a .751 winning percentage. His 182 career wins (in just six seasons) ranks him 26th among active coaches. Included in his 182 wins are 36 postseason victories and a .837 winning percentage (36-7 in postseason). In CCHA postseason action, Jackson’s teams were 24-2 (.923) with the two losses coming to Michigan in CCHA Championship games (`94 and `96). All-time, Jackson owns a 12-14-1 record against Michigan while at Lake Superior.
SICK BAY: The Irish lost one player last weekend and had one return to the lineup versus Princeton. Returning was defenseman Dan VeNard (So., Vernon Hills, Ill.) who had missed the first three games of the season while recovering from a stress fracture suffered during the summer. The Irish played without junior T.J. Jindra (Faribault, Minn.) who missed both games after injuring his shoulder on Oct. 22 at Denver.
WALLY WORLD: Tim Wallace’s two-goal game versus Princeton on Oct. 28 was the second of his career. His other came on March 14, 2004 in the first round of the CCHA playoffs when he had a pair of goals in game three versus Western Michigan in Notre Dame’s 5-4 overtime win. His two-goal game was the first by a Notre Dame player since Wes O’Neill scored two in a 4-4 tie with Bowling Green on Nov. 5, 2004. Wallace continues to add to his “Iron Man” streak as he played in his 121th consecutive game for the Irish on the weekend versus Princeton.
FAST START: Freshman Erik Condra’s (Livonia, Mich.) three-point game (0g, 3a) versus Denver was the first three-point game by an Irish rookie since Brett Lebda `04 had five points (1g, 4a) versus Nebraska-Omaha on Dec. 20, 2000. His three-point game was the first for the Irish since Nov. 5, 2004 when both Mike Walsh (Sr., Northville, Mich.) and Cory McLean `05 had three points versus Bowling Green in a 4-4 tie. Condra now has a three-game point streak (0-3-3).
TWO-GOAL WIN: Notre Dame’s 2-0 win over Princeton was the first Irish win by two or more goals since March 12, 2004 when the Irish defeated Western Michigan, 4-2, in Game 1 of the CCHA playoffs. Last season, all five Irish wins were by one goal.
WITH THE LEAD: When Tim Wallace scored his second goal of the night on Friday versus Princeton at 5:07 of the second period to give Notre Dame a 2-1 lead, it marked the first time since March 11, 2005, (five games) that the Irish had a lead in a game. That was game one of the CCHA playoffs when Evan Rankin scored at 15:38 of the first period against Michigan to give the Irish a 1-0 lead.
GOING FOR THE GOLD: For the first time since the 1975-76 season, the Notre Dame hockey team will wear gold helmets. When head coach Jeff Jackson took over the program he wanted the hockey program to have an identity. Most people identify Notre Dame with the Golden Dome and the gold football helmets worn by the football team. Irish equipment manager Dave Gilbert contacted the various hockey equipment companies during the summer and Bauer was able to recreate the Irish helmets with the same gold metallic paint that is used on the helmets of the Notre Dame football team. These helmets feature white cages (except for players who wear visors) and like the football helmets have no other markings except for an American flag on the back.
FOR OPENERS: After losing their season opener at Colorado College, Notre Dame is now 19-17-2 in season openers and 14-20-3 in road openers. With the 5-3 loss to Princeton on Friday, the Irish are now 20-17-1 in home openers.
LATE START: Notre Dame’s Oct. 21 opener at Colorado College was the latest the Irish have started a season since the 1991-92 campaign. That year, the Irish opened with a pair of games on Oct. 25-26 at Air Force where they split, losing 8-3 and winning, 5-3.
OPENING NIGHT STAND OUT: Senior right wing Tim Wallace has come up big on “Opening Night” for the Irish in his four seasons. On Oct. 21 at Colorado College, he continued a personal “Opening Night” streak with an assist versus the Tigers. During his four seasons at Notre Dame, Wallace has now scored a point in the first game of every year. In 2002, as a freshman, he scored a goal on his first shot at Minnesota-Duluth. As a sophomore in 2003, he had a pair of assists in a 5-2 win at Ohio State. Last season, he set up Notre Dame’s first goal of the season (by Josh Sciba) and this year he assisted on Victor Oreskovich’s goal versus Colorado College. In four season openers, Wallace has a goal and four assists for five points.
SHORT-CIRCUIT: The Denver Pioneers scored a pair of short-handed goals (Gabe Gauthier, Ryan Dingle) in the 6-3 win over the Irish on Oct. 22. That marked the first time since Dec. 8, 2000 against Miami that the Irish gave up two short-handed tallies in a game. The Irish lost that game, 5-2, with Jason Deskins and Gregor Krajnc each scoring a man down.
IRISH CAPTAINS: Notre Dame head coach Jeff Jackson named his captain and alternates for the 2005-06 season on Oct. 5. Junior T.J. Jindra (Faribault, Minn.) was selected as the team’s captain, making him the first junior captain since Evan Neilsen `03. Jindra is the 13th junior in the program’s history to be selected captain. He will be assisted by seniors Mike Walsh (Northville, Mich.) and Chris Trick (Troy, Mich.) along with junior Jason Paige. Walsh and Paige are in their second seasons as alternate captains for the Irish.
ALL TIED UP: The Fighting Irish have been involved in 49 overtime games since the start of the 1999-2000 season. In those games, they are 7-6-36. During the 2004-05 season, Notre Dame played in nine overtime contests, going 1-2-6 in those games. The lone overtime win came on Dec. 10 versus Michigan State and was the first regular-season overtime win since Jan. 25, 2002, snapping a 16-game winless (0-2-14) skid in regular-season overtime games. Notre Dame’s season ended in an overtime loss as the Irish fell 1-0 in overtime to Michigan in game two of the first round of the CCHA playoffs.
IRON MEN: Junior right wing Tim Wallace (Anchorage, Alaska) has played in all 121 games during his three+ seasons at Notre Dame. He became Notre Dame’s all-time “Iron Man,” passing former defenseman Evan Nielsen (`03) who held the record with 114 games between 2000-03. Other Irish consecutive game streaks of 35 games or more include:
Wes O’Neill – 81 games Noah Babin – 51 games Chris Trick – 43 games Mark Van Guilder – 42 games Mike Walsh – 37 games
O’Neill and Van Guilder have not missed a game in their careers. T.J. Jindra saw his streak of 79 consecutive game streak snapped due to a shoulder sprain. Michael Bartlett (Jr., Morton Grove, Ill.) had his 78-game streak snapped on Oct. 22 when he did not play against Denver.
FIRST TIMERS: Freshman left wing Garrett Regan became the first Irish freshman to score a goal this season when he notched his first career goal at 3:59 of the second period. The goal was also the game winner. After getting no points in the first game of the season, Erik Condra burst on the scene with three assists in his second game of the year and now has five assists. Goaltender Jordan Pearce had his first win and first shutout of the season on Oct. 29 versus Princeton. Other rookies to see action so far are defenseman Tom Sawatske (Jr., Duluth, Minn.) who has played in three games and freshmen Christian Hanson (Venetia, Pa.) has played in two games with Justin White (Traverse City, Mich.) playing his first game on Oct. 29 versus Princeton.
SLOW NIGHT: The 13 shots and eight saves recorded by junior goaltender David Brown in Friday’s game versus Princeton were the fewest by Brown during his career in games that he played 60 minutes. On the season, Brown is now 0-2-0 with a 4.03 goals-against average and a .849 save percentage. For his career, the junior is now 16-19-4 in 43 games (39 starts) with a 3.06 goals-against average with a .902 save percentage.
GOAL-SCORING WOES: Notre Dame will look to find an answer to its goal-scoring struggles from 2004-05 this season. Through the first four games this season, the Irish have nine goals for a 2.25 average. In 38 games last season, the Irish scored just 60 goals (1.58 per game). Notre Dame was shutout five times on the year and scored two or less goals in 29 of 38 games on the year. The Irish scored a season-high four goals, just once, on Nov. 5, 2004 in a come-from-behind 4-4 tie with Bowling Green. The fewest goals the Irish had ever scored in a season prior to `04-’05 was 92 during the 1996-97 season.
MOVING ON: Over the last two seasons, Notre Dame has seen six of its players sign contracts with National Hockey League teams. Only Michigan with seven and Minnesota with six have as many or more NHL signees. This past summer, goaltender Morgan Cey (Wilkie, Sask.) and former Irish forward Yan Stastny (St. Louis, Mo.) signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Edmonton Oilers respectively. They joined 2003-04 signees – Neil Komadoski (Ottawa Senators), Brett Lebda (Detroit Red Wings), Aaron Gill (San Jose Sharks) and Rob Globke (Florida Panthers). Komadoski, Globke and Stastny were selected in the NHL Draft (Stastny was a Boston Bruin pick) while Cey, Gill and Lebda were free-agent signees. Stastny played at Notre Dame from 2001-03 before going to Germany to play professional hockey. He would have been a senior in 2004-05.
DROP THE PUCK: Notre Dame officially open the 2004-05 season on Tues., Sept. 6 when the Irish hosted their first-ever “Drop The Puck Dinner” at the Joyce Center featuring guest speaker Scotty Bowman. Over 400 fans attended and had the chance skate on the Joyce Center ice, meet and greet the `05-’06 team and then hear the legendary hockey coach talk hockey with the players, coaches and fans in attendance. Bowman, who won nine Stanley Cups in his illustrious coaching career, was also invited by Notre Dame head football coach Charlie Weis to address his team at practice on Sept. 6, just four days prior to football’s upset win at Michigan.
BEATING THE BEST: In each of the last two seasons, the Irish have faced a No. 1 ranked team and each year they’ve come away with a victory. In 2004-05, Notre Dame knocked off the No. 1 ranked Boston College Eagles in South Bend by a 3-2 score. The previous year, the Irish traveled to Chestnut Hill, Mass., and knocked off the top-ranked Eagles, 1-0, with current junior goaltender David Brown turning in the shutout. Here’s the list of Irish wins versus top-ranked teams in the 38-year history of the program.
10/22/04 – vs. Boston College, 3-2 10/23/03 – at Boston College, 1-0 1/3/99 – at North Dakota, 4-3 11/20/78 – at Minnesota, 3-2 1/13/78 – vs. Denver, 5-3 1/18/74 – vs. Michigan Tech, 7-1 2/24/73 – vs. Wisconsin, 4-3 2/23/73 – vs. Wisconsin, 8-5
FAMILY MATTERS: Two incoming freshmen – forwards Erik Condra (Livonia, Mich.) and Garrett Regan (Hastings, Minn.) – join seniors Rory Walsh (Milton, Mass.) and Mike Walsh as Irish hockey players with family ties to Notre Dame athletics. Condra’s uncle is All-American forward Kirt Bjork (`83) who played at Notre Dame from 1979-83. He scored 76 goals with 85 assists for 161 career points in 141 career games. He took All-American honors in 1983 when he had 29 goals and 34 assists for 63 points. Regan’s uncle – Sean Regan – was a defenseman for the Irish from1981-83 before finishing his career at the University of Minnesota. In two seasons, Regan had eight goals and 34 assists for 42 points in 60 games. Rory Walsh’s father, Brian (`77), was an all-American hockey player for the Irish. A center iceman, the elder Walsh is Notre Dame’s all-time leading scorer after recording 234 career points on 89 goals and 145 assists. Mike Walsh’s father, Max (`74), was an offensive lineman on the Notre Dame football team and a member of the 1973 national championship team. Rory Walsh is one of Notre Dame’s goaltenders and Walsh plays left wing for the Irish.
FROZEN TUNDRA: Notre Dame has had a steady flow of players in recent years that played their junior hockey with the Green Bay Gamblers of the United State’s Hockey League. Four members of the current Notre Dame team have played in the Land of Lombardi. The trio is led by junior defensmen Noah Babin (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) and Wes O’Neill (Essex, Ont.). The defensive duo were teammates there during the `02-’03 season. Two former Gamblers are members of the Irish sophomore class – center Victor Oreskovich (Oakville, Ont.) and defenseman Dan VeNard (Vernon Hills, Ill). Oreskovich played one season in Green Bay (`03-’04) while VeNard was a Gambler from 2001-04.
HOMETOWNS: The 2005-06 Notre Dame hockey team features players from eight states and three Canadian provinces – Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario. Over the past 10 years, Notre Dame hockey letter winners have hailed from 20 different states and provinces – those listed below, plus: Colorado, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Prince Edward Island and Quebec.
2005-06 NOTRE DAME HOCKEY – BY STATE OR PROVINCE:
Michigan (8): Chris Trick, Mike Walsh, Jason Paige, Josh Sciba, Andrew Eggert, Evan Rankin, Erik Condra, Justin White
Minnesota (5): Tony Gill, T.J. Jindra, Tom Sawatske, Mark Van Guilder, Garrett Regan
Illinois (3): Michael Bartlett, Brian D’Arcy, Dan VeNard
Ontario (3): David Brown, Wes O’Neill, Victor Oreskovich
Alaska (2): Tim Wallace, Jordan Pearce
Alberta (1): Brock Sheahan
British Columbia (1): Matt Amado
Florida (1): Noah Babin
Massachusetts (1): Rory Walsh
Pennsylvania (1): Christian Hanson
Wisconsin (1): Luke Lucyk
THE IRISH AND THE U.S. NATIONAL TEAM DEVELOPMENTAL PROGRAM: Notre Dame’s current roster includes six players who have past experience with USA Hockey, as members of the National Team Development Program (NTDP). Since the program began, the Irish have had a total of 15 NTDP alums grace their roster. The current contingent includes senior Tim Wallace and juniors Noah Babin, Michael Bartlett (Morton Grove, Ill.), Tom Sawatske (Duluth, Minn.) and Josh Sciba (Westland, Mich.). The lone freshman is goaltender Jordan Pearce (Anchorage, Alaska). A 16th alum will join the Irish in 2006-07 as defenseman Kyle Lawson (New Hudson, Mich.) signed a letter-of-intent in November, 2004 and is playing this year in the USHL with the Tri-City Storm. Other former NTDP players who played at Notre Dame and their years in the national program include: Brett Henning (1997-98), Michael Chin (1997-98), Connor Dunlop (1997-99), Paul Harris (1997-99), John Wroblewski (1997-99), Neil Komadoski (1998-2000), Brett Lebda (1998-2000), Rob Globke (1998-2000) and Derek Smith (2000-01).
NHL DRAFTEES: This past August, the Irish had one player selected in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. That player – Kyle Lawson – was a seventh round pick of the Carolina Hurricanes, 198th overall. Lawson signed a national letter-of-intent to attend Notre Dame during the early-signing period in Nov. of 2004. He then deferred until the start of the 2006-07 school year. Lawson will play this season in the United States Hockey League with the Tri-City Storm. The Irish have four players on this year’s roster – senior Mike Walsh (New York Rangers), juniors Wes O’Neill (New York Islanders) and David Brown (Pittsburgh Penguins) and sophomore Victor Oreskovich (Colorado Avalanche) – who have been drafted by NHL teams.
PUTTING ON THE FOIL: Notre Dame freshman Christian Hanson (Venetia, Pa.) becomes the sixth player to play for the Irish whose father played in the National Hockey League. His father, Dave Hanson, played 10 years of professional hockey between 1974-75 and 1983-84, including stints with the Detroit Red Wings and the Minnesota North Stars and the World Hockey Association’s (WHA) Minnesota Fighting Saints and the New England Whalers. Fans might also be familiar with Dave Hanson, as one of the famed Hanson Brothers, made famous in the hockey movie – Slapshot. Hanson currently is the director of the Island Sports Center, home of Robert Morris University’s hockey team, in suburban Pittsburgh.
RIVALRY CLUSTERS: The CCHA begins its fourth season with the 12 teams grouped in “rivalry pairings.” In the pairings, Notre Dame is paired with Bowling Green. The league’s other pairings include Michigan-Michigan State, Miami-Ohio State, Lake Superior State-Northern Michigan, Ferris State-Western Michigan and Alaska Fairbanks-Nebraska-Omaha. Each season the teams are divided into three, four-team clusters and play a 28-game conference schedule. Cluster teams will face each other four times during the season with two games against each of the remaining eight teams. In 2005-06, Notre Dame will play Bowling Green, Miami and Ohio State four times with two games at home and two away. The Irish will also play home-and-home series with Ferris State, Michigan, Michigan State and Western Michigan with two-game home series with Alaska Fairbanks and Lake Superior State. The Irish play two-game raod series at Nebraska-Omaha and Northern Michigan. In 2004-05, the Irish played in the same cluster with Bowling Green, Michigan and Michigan State and were 1-10-1 in the 12 games.
STAR GAZING: Notre Dame’s freshman class of 2005-06 features three players who played their junior hockey for the Lincoln (Neb.) Stars of the USHL in `04-’05. The trio includes goaltender Jordan Pearce (Anchorage, Alaska), defensman Tom Sawatske (Duluth, Minn.) and forward Erik Condra (Livonia, Mich.). They join sophomore right wing Evan Rankin (Portage, Mich.) who spent the `03-’04 season in Lincoln. Condra had 30 goals and 30 assists for 60 points for the high-flying Stars. Sawatske, a transfer from the University of Wisconsin, collected a goal and nine assists for 10 points in 34 games and Pearce was 22-10-4 with a 3.07 goals-against average and a .897 save percentage. Both Sawatske and Pearce were selected to play in the USHL Top Prospects game.
STORM WARNINGS: After bringing in three members of USHL’s Tri-City Storm for the 2004-05 season, the Irish added a fourth player former Storm player Christian Hanson (Venetia, Pa.) to this year’s freshman class. Hanson joins sophomores Brian D’Arcy (Western Springs, Ill.), Luke Lucyk (Fox Point, Wis.) and Mark Van Guilder (Roseville, Minn.) as Storm alums. All four were members of the 2003-04 Tri-City team that was the USHL regular-season champion and lost in the championship series to Waterloo. Hanson joins the Irish this season after leading Tri-City in scoring with 19 goals and 33 assists for 52 points on the year. He was the USHL’s 2005 Curt Hammer Award winner, the fourth USHL player to win the award and them play at Notre Dame.