Photo Illustration by Dan Jacobs and Blair Chemidlin

The Observer u IRISH INSIDERpage 2 Friday, January 28, 2011

There are plenty of reasonsNotre Dame shouldn’t be hereright now.The roster is disproportionatelyyoung, rivals Michigan andMiami (Ohio) are as strong asever, and theIrish built upenough nega-tive energy lastseason to fillthe soon-to-be-c o m p l e t e dC o m p t o nCenter.And, yet,here we are.No. 9 NotreDame sits insecond placein the CCHA,just twopoints behind the Wolverines.Though the Irish have beeninconsistent at times, they haveplayed well enough to put them-selves in position to make astrong playoff push during thisseason’s stretch run.“We just need to realize we’rein a great spot right now,” seniorcenter Ben Ryan said.Before the season started,when filling out my CCHA mediaballot, I found Notre Dame — theteam I know the most about —the most difficult to place.Realistically, I thought the Irishcould finish anywhere from firstto ninth in the conference.There was no denying that thefreshman class — in addition tothe returning upperclassmen —was supremely talented, and thatJeff Jackson and his coachingstaff were among the best in thecountry, but so much wasunknown about the Irish goinginto the season. Would the fresh-men have trouble adjusting tothe college game? Could theteam expel the demons thatplagued last year’s disappointingcampaign?Even though there’s still plentyof hockey left to be played, thosequestions seem to be answered.Jackson won two national cham-pionships during his time at LakeSuperior State and took the Irishto the title game three years ago,but turning this team into a con-tender may be his most impres-sive coaching feat to date.Obviously, there’s still a lot ofhockey to be played, but it seemssafe to say the Irish will be a fac-tor come playoff time.Part of the credit for that suc-cess also has to be given to theattitude these freshmen havedeveloped. Other players mayhave been daunted by taking onso much responsibility for a teamthat is expected to compete on anational stage, but it seems likethese guys just don’t know anybetter — and that’s a good thing.The only way Notre Dame wouldtruly bounce back from last sea-

son’s disappointment is if theycould wipe the slate completelyclean, and what better way to dothat than with a bunch of guyswho knew nothing about theteam’s struggles a year ago? Atthe photo shoot for today’sInsider, the players were givenjust one instruction: skate fromthe goal line and do a hard stopon the blue line. The result was,well, you can see for yourself onthe cover. These freshmen areclearly a group of guys just hav-ing fun and seemingly immune tothe pressures of being a national-ly-ranked team.Of course, the freshmen would-

n’t be able to do it themselves.The returning players, especiallysenior captains Joe Lavin, Ryan,Calle Ridderwall and RyanGuentzel, are the perfect blend oftalent and leadership that allowthe team to be successful.Guentzel, in particular, hasalready scored more goals andnotched more assists than in hisfirst three years combined. Aftera tough 4-1 loss to Alaska twoweeks ago, Jackson said thiscould be the point in the seasonwhere his team’s youth couldstart to show. It will be theresponsibility of the upperclass-men to make sure that doesn’thappen. This year’s seniorsplayed in the national champi-onship game their freshmenyear, and they’ll have to commu-nicate to the younger players justwhat it takes to get back there.Both the upperclassmen and

the freshmen will have to be ontheir game if the Irish expect totake down Miami this weekend.The RedHawks are talented fromtop to bottom and, unlike NotreDame, have only two freshmenon their roster.Even though this weekend is

only one series, and three pointsagainst Miami count just asmuch as three points againstBowling Green, a strong showingagainst the RedHawks would goa long way in building this team’sconfidence and momentum forthe stretch run. Friday night’s“White Out” atmosphere shouldbe fantastic and will give theIrish — especially the freshmen— a preview for what to expectfrom playoff hockey.Regardless of how this week-

end turns out, just the fact thatthis series matters is a testamentto how far this team has come soquickly. Before the season, manyquestioned how long it wouldtake this team to “arrive.” Well,the Irish are here, and don’t planon going away any time soon.

The views expressed in this col-umn are those of the author andnot necessarily those of TheObserver.

Contact Sam Werner at swerner@nd.edu

Youth, experiencelift Irish in CCHA

Sam Werner

Sports Writer

COMMENTARY

Follow our LIVE blog from thepress box at the Joyce Center:

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YUE WU/The Observer

Notre Dame sophomore center Riley Sheahan chases down a loose puck during Notre Dame’s 4-2 victoryover Lake Superior State Oct. 14, 2010. Sheahan and the Irish take on No. 13/11 Miami this weekend.

Last WeekendSplit series with Ohio State inColumbus, losing 6-1 on Friday nightand winning 4-1 on Saturday night

Top ScorersF T.J. Tynan (16 goals, 19 assists)F Ryan Guentzel (6 goals, 23 assists)F Anders Lee (16 goals, 12 assists)F Ben Ryan (5 goals, 17 assists)F Calle Ridderwall (11 goals, 8 assists)

Between The PipesSoph. Mike Johnson (2.54 GAA)

Last WeekendSplit series with Michigan State in EastLansing, losing 7-4 on Friday night andwinning 4-0 on Saturday night

Top ScorersF Andy Miele (14 goals, 30 assists)F Carter Camper (14 goals, 29 assists)F Reilly Smith (16 goals, 16 assists)F Pat Cannone (10 goals, 14 assists)F Alden Hirschfeld (10 goals, 7 assists)

Between The PipesJr. Connor Knapp (2.02 GAA)

By The NumbersGoals per game: 3.6Goals against per game: 2.3Power play percentage: 22.8%Penalty kill percentage: 87.7%Shorthanded goals: 5Power play goals: 28Away record: 5-5-2

Ben Ryan says:“It’s a huge weekend. I mean, they arejust two hockey games and they couldbe against anyone else ... this weekendbeing able to send a message that we’reright there with them would be huge.”

By The NumbersGoals per game: 3.7Goals against per game: 2.8Power play percentage: 16.1%Penalty kill percentage: 86.2%Shorthanded goals: 12Power play goals: 22Home record: 9-2-0

Jeff Jackson says:“We have to be strong with our decisionmaking and to me it’s still a lot aboutour defensemen getting back quicker forthe puck and our forwards coming backto support them.”

The Observer u IRISH INSIDERFriday, January 28, 2011 page 3

Out with the old, in with thenew. The adage may sound tired,but to the Notre Dame hockeyprogram it reads more like adescription of its 2010-11 sea-son. The old: the 43-year-old JoyceCenter where the Irish play isenjoying its final season of hock-ey. The new: nearly half of theteam’s roster. After a disappointing 13-17-8mark in the 2009-10 season, asweeping youth movement of 12freshmen has the No. 9 Irishback among the country’s elite —and back in the hunt for theCCHA title.“I think we expected them toproduce but maybe not to thislevel,” Irishcoach JeffJackson said.“If I had to saythat there’s asurprise, it’sthat the wholeclass had thislevel of animpact on ourteam.”Arguably themost notable ofthe newcomerswasn’t evenexpected to suitup for the Irishthis season. In the lead-up to the2010-11 season, both JarredTinordi and Kyle Palmieri weredrafted in the NHL Draft andheaded off to the pro ranks. Thevacated roster spots of the twoplayers opened up a place forsignee T.J. Tynan, an immenselytalented but undersized forward.Tynan — who is listed at 5-foot-8-inches and 156 pounds — wasexpected to spend a year ormore in junior hockey to addsome size to compete in the col-lege game. The circumstanceschanged, and all Tynan has donesince arriving on campus isbecome the most productiveplayer on the Irish squad, lead-ing the team with 35 points and16 goals. The freshman’s team-mates said they could not imag-

ine this season without the late-minute addition.“It’s unbelievable. To think that

he wasn’t even going to come inthis year is incredible,” seniorcenter Ben Ryan said. “I thinkthe only thing that would evenhold him back at all is his size. Imean, that’s the only reason whyhe wasn’t going to come out rightaway. What he’s able to do at hissize is incredible; it’s fun towatch. I’m happy he’s on ourteam so that I don’t have to goup against him.”Tynan has overcome his small

stature by overwhelming mostCCHA foes with his incrediblyskilled puck handling and keenvision on the ice. Shrewd playhas enabled him to compete in aphysical conference with oppo-nents that have half a foot onhim in height in some instances.

Tynan’s produc-tivity wasr e w a r d e drecently whenhe was namedto the WatchList for theHobey BakerAward — col-lege hockey’shighest individ-ual honor — asNotre Dame’srepresentative.“I’ve never

seen anythinglike that. T.J.’s

having an unbelievable year. Idon’t think anyone was expect-ing it, really. It’s been really funto watch,” senior wing CalleRidderwall said. “He’s a play-maker —and a playmaker thatknows how to score goals. That’srare to find. Usually guys areeither playmakers or goal-scor-ers. In T.J., you have both ofthem. He just sees plays verywell. He’s really good mentally.When he’s in the hockey game,he can see how things will devel-op.”Sharing the team lead in goals

with Tynan is yet another fresh-man, wing Anders Lee. Lee hasled the Notre Dame scoringattack as part of a group offreshman forwards that havesupplemented the already-dan-

gerous senior trio of Ryan,Ridderwall and Ryan Guentzel.The group includes Lee, MikeVoran, David Gerths, Jeff Costelloand Bryan Rust. The contribu-tion of the multitude of forwardshas grown throughout the sea-son, with all of the players seeingtime on some of the top lines.Ridderwall said that despite theirinexperience at the college level,the freshmen have brought phys-icality back to Notre Dame.“Obviously, with Lee, he’s a big

kid. Even though he’s a fresh-man, he’s bigger than a lot of theolder guys. I think his physicalplay is helping around the net.It’s helping us score a lot ofgoals,” Ridderwall said. “Voranand Gerths are both physicalguys. They can make plays, andthen turn around and hit some-one. I think the physical playthose guys are bringing is huge.All of those freshman wings haveoffensive talent. I think it’s agood mix between power for-wards and goal scorers.”

Getting defensiveWhile the arsenal of forwards

has been busy disrupting thelives of opposing defenses, afresh infusion of talent on theIrish defense has brought intimi-dation to the back line after thesquad lost a number of talenteddefensemen, including BrettBlatchford, Ian Cole and KyleLawson. Leading the crop hasbeen the towering 6-foot-4Pennsylvania product StephenJohns. Johns’ emergence as the“enforcer” on the Notre Dameback line is evidenced by his 78penalty minutes — more thandouble the second-highest total.The feisty freshman’s punishinghits have no doubt made animpact in opposing trainingrooms so far this campaign, asmore than the fair share ofopposing forwards have beenleveled by Johns. Senior defense-man and captain Joe Lavin saidthat Johns, along with fellowfreshman defensemen ShayneTaker, Kevin Lind and JaredBeers, have brought intensityand hard work to his unit.“They work hard. They’re

hardworking guys,” Lavin said.

“Their skill takes care of itselfwhen they’re working hard. It’sjust like anybody else. All thefreshmen are really competinghard, all 12 of them. We reallyappreciate that. Johns and Takerare two big kids with big framesand a lot of skill, so that’s goodfor us.”Rounding out the plethora of

Irish freshmen are two goal-tenders, Steven Summerhaysand Joe Rogers. Though sopho-more Mike Johnson has seen thelion’s share of the time in goalduring the season, both playershave elevated their game, withSummerhays seeing the occa-sional start. The freshman fromAlaska has started five games tothe tune of a 3.45 goals againstaverage. Johnson said that hisrelationship with his freshmanunderstudies has helped thegoaltending unit improve as awhole.“I definitely think I look at

myself as a leader, but I think wehave a very close relationship,the three of us,” Johnson said. “Ithink we’re more friends than Iwould say that I’m a leader. AndI think that in practices, we allwork hard, so that really pushesus to get better. They’re pushingme, I’m pushing them, so it’s areally good relationship.”

Feet on the groundWith the freshmen off to such a

good start and the team endur-ing a level of success theyhaven’t experienced in nearlytwo years, the team leaders haveworked to ensure that the groupadjusts well to the success anddoesn’t fall into complacency.The trio of Ridderwall, Ryan andGuentzel is no stranger to earlysuccess, as Notre Dame reachedthe national championship game

in their freshman season witheach player contributing on theteam. Ridderwall said hebelieved early success was moreof a positive development inbuilding confidence than a dan-gerous pitfall.“I think as a freshman it helpsto have early success. A lot ofour freshman got off to a goodstart, and building momentumearly helps their confidence notonly on the ice, but also awayfrom the ice,” he said.“Sometimes people strugglecoming to college when it comesto hockey and when it comes toall the stuff on the side.”As the team heads into thefinal stretch of the regular sea-son, one thing is clear regardlessof the outcome of games againstMiami, Bowling Green, FerrisState and Western Michigan —this class of freshmen is the per-fect bridge between two eras ofIrish hockey. While the programhonors the past greats of theJoyce Center over the comingweekends, this group of 12 play-ers stands as a testament to thefuture that lies a few hundredfeet south in the new ComptonFamily Center. The speed ofTynan, the power of Lee and thephysicality of Johns and Takerhave announced to the rest ofcollege hockey that after a briefslip-up, the Irish are back. Allone needs to do is listen to JeffJackson to determine the ceilingfor this class.“They have a chance to bringthis program a championship,”he said. “I think that if they staytogether they have a chance towin a national championship atsome point.”

Fresh faces

Contact Chris Allen atcallen10@nd.edu

National freshman standouts Tynan, Lee lead group of 12 freshmen spurring Irish turnaround

By CHRIS ALLENSports Writer

YUE WU/The Observer

Irish freshman wing Anders Lee takes a wrist shot during NotreDame’s 6-2 win over Michigan State on Nov. 19, 2010.

“They have a chance tobring this program a

championship.”

Jeff JacksonIrish coach

YUE WU/The Observer

Notre Dame freshman center T.J. Tynan corrals the puck on Oct. 29, 2010 against WesternMichigan. Tynan leads the Irish in both points and goals in his first season of collegiate hockey.

The Observer u IRISH INSIDERpage 4 Friday, January 28, 2011

Preparation gives way to excitement for series

With No. 11 Miami (Ohio) com-ing to the Joyce Center for a piv-otal series near the end of the reg-ular season, there seems to besome disagreement over howimportant this weekend actually is.Irish senior captain Joe Lavin ishoping his squad takes a busi-nesslike approach.“I think it’s just like anotherweekend,” he said.Senior center Ben Ryan, howev-er, couldn’t hide his excitement.“It’s a huge weekend,” he said.“I mean, they are just two hockeygames and they could be againstanyone else, but the fact that that’sa team that we’re going to have togo through at the end of the sea-son … I think this weekend, beingable to send a message that we’reright there with them, would behuge.”For his part, Irish coach JeffJackson struck a middle ground.“Hey, it’s crunch time in the sea-son, but it’s no different than howit’s going to be two weeks fromnow against Bowling Green,” hesaid. “There’s six points on thetable. It’s about playoff standings.[It’s] going to be no different thanlast Saturday’s game against OhioState in regards to the three pointson the line.”No. 9 Notre Dame (16-9-3, 13-6-1-1 CCHA) faced the RedHawks(14-9-3, 11-7-2-1) in Oxford dur-ing early December and split theseries, winning the first game 5-4before dropping a 5-2 decision the

next night. In each of those games,the Irish were unable to keep upwith their fast-starting opponentsin the first period, falling behind 2-0 in the early parts of the gamebefore mounting a comeback. Partof the slow start could be attrib-uted to settling into the gamebefore a hostile crowd in Miami’sGoggin Ice Center.This week, however, Lavin felt a

different vibe in his locker room;he saw looseness instead of thetension that can come before amarquee series.“We just had a different culture

this week — we’ve kept thingspretty light but we’re workinghard,” he said. “We’re just search-ing for that enthusiasm, and Ithink we found it this week. We’reexcited for the weekend.”The week has also been filled

with preparation, not for theRedHawks attack, but on theweaker areas of Notre Dame’sgame.“We’ve done a lot of preparation

[and] we’ve just been focusing onwhat we need to do,” Lavin said.“If we can play good defense, it’llturn into good offense and we’ll beset.”The Irish have been focusing

especially on transitioning fromthe defensive zone to the attackwithout turning the puck over.“The losses that we’ve had …

they pressured us and we didn’thandle the pressure well comingout of our zone making passes,making smart plays,” Ryan said.“Against Miami, if you turn thepuck over, they’ve got so many tal-ented forwards that it’s going to be

in the back of the net.”On the offensive end, the Irish

will be buoyed by the probablereturn of senior forward CalleRidderwall this weekend. Theteam’s third-highest goalscorer onthe season, Ridderwall has missedthe past three series with a lowerbody injury. Though his time willbe limited, Ridderwall will providea measure of experience on theoffensive end.“It’s likely [Ridderwall] will play

this weekend,” Jackson said. “I’vegot to probably temper how muchI play or what situations I playhim, because he’s been out of thelineup for three weeks.”Ridderwall is excited to return to

the ice at such an importantmoment in the season.“It’s going to be fun,” he said.

“Every time you play Miami it’s avery tough game, very high-speedgame. There’s a lot of talent on theice on both sides, so I think thoseare very exciting games.”Ridderwall isn’t the only Notre

Dame player to be excited for thegame. With a perennial power-house in the visitors’ locker room,getting excited to play won’t be anissue.“It’s not a matter of getting up

for the game,” Lavin said.“Everybody gets pretty excited forthe game.”Even the normally stoic Jackson

is looking forward to the series —though with typical understate-ment.“We’re playing a team that’s

right behind us in the standings,”he said. “The fact that it’s Miamimaybe gets the juices going a little

bit more because they’re such ahigh quality team.”With a young team that is espe-

cially inconsistent on the road, thefriendly confines of the JoyceCenter could make the differencein a tight game.“Sometimes when the season getslong and we’re on the road, espe-cially with such a young team, wecan get away from what made ussuccessful,” Lavin said. “We reallyrespect everybody for coming towatch us. The band’s great, thefans are great, and we’re just look-ing forward to coming back home.

We just need to make sure wework hard for them becausethey’re paying to come watch usplay.”Notre Dame takes on theRedHawks at 7:35 p.m. Fridaynight in a game televised by CBSCollege Sports nationwide.Saturday night, the teams meetagain at 5:05 p.m. for a matchuptelevised by FSN Detroit as part ofHockey Day in Michigan. Bothgames are in the Joyce Center.

By ALLAN JOSEPHSports Writer

Contact Allan Joseph at ajoseph2@nd.edu

YUE WU/The Observer

Senior forward Calle Ridderwall handles the puck during NotreDame’s contest against Lake Superior State on Oct. 14, 2010.

Most Notre Dame studentsborn in February 1989 are cur-rently either interviewing for ajob after graduation or determin-ing their grad school plans.Irish goaltender Mike Johnson,however, is not even halfwaythrough his time at the universi-ty.A native of Verona, Wisc.,Johnson — who turns 22 nextTuesday — did not enroll in col-lege directly after completing

high school. Rather, the sopho-more chose to follow the juniorhockey route, playing a total oftwo seasons for both the St. LouisBandits, of the North AmericanHockey League, and the UnitedStates Hockey League’s CedarRapids RoughRiders. The experi-ence helped Johnson to focusfully on hockey, as well as adjustto life away from home.“I think that was a really

important step for my develop-ment, hockey-wise,” Johnsonsaid. “The level of competition [inthe USHL] is unbeatable inAmerica for junior hockey. And it

helped make the transition to col-lege a lot easier. It also taught mea lot about living on my own.”Johnson learned how to skate

around the time he could walk.Though he didn’t play organizedhockey until 3rd grade and didn’tmove between the pipes until ayear later, Johnson always feltnatural on the ice alongside hisyounger brother, Eric, who willjoin the Irish squad as a fresh-man in the fall.“[Eric and I] would always

skate together on ponds,”Johnson said. “That’s when wewere really little, before we start-

ed playing. And then we wantedto play, because all of our friendsdid, and it just took off.”Ultimately, Johnson developed

his skills to the point of beingrecruited to play college hockey.And as comfortable as he felt inthe rink, he felt just as much soon Notre Dame’s campus.“When I came on my visit, I felt

like I was at home here. I couldfeel it,” Johnson said. “And obvi-ously, the academics help and it’sgot a great hockey program. Theoverall combination was unbeat-able.”Upon arriving at Notre Dame,

Johnson began last year backingup former Irish netminder BradPhillips, before moving into thestarting slot in the middle of theseason. Though Johnson’s stats(.910 save percentage, 2.60goals-against average) were goodenough to earn him a spot on theCCHA All-Rookie team, his playwas inconsistent. In 28 starts,Johnson had two shutouts, andallowed only one goal six times.But the Irish gave up four ormore goals nine times whenJohnson was in net, and he wasremoved from games four timesfor poor play. In the season’s finalgame, an 8-2 defeat against OhioState in the CCHA playoffs,Johnson gave up 4 goals on 9shots before being replaced.Johnson’s numbers this year

(.906 save percentage, 2.54goals-against) are similar to lastyear. However, the consistency ofhis play has increased. Althoughhe has no shutouts this season,he has allowed four or moregoals only six times in 24 games,and he has finished every gamehe’s started but one. He has alsopicked up his play in conference,with a 2.34 goals-against averagein CCHA games.

Johnson’s constant effort eachnight has been a main factor inallowing the Irish to be in thethick of the CCHA race.“You can have 25 guys playingwell, and if the goalie isn’t play-ing well, you’re not going to win,”senior left wing Calle Ridderwallsaid. “I think he’s been buildingmomentum for the whole teamand saving us when we might bestruggling.”Johnson’s play is particularlynoticeable to the other playerswho also are in charge of keep-ing the puck out of the net—thedefensemen.“It’s great when defensemen ona team can take confidence in[their] goalie,” senior defense-man and captain Joe Lavin said.“He’s a great goalie, one of thebest in the league — one of thebest in the country.”But perhaps even more impor-tant than the players, Johnsonhas gained the confidence of thecoaching staff.“He’s certainly ahead of wherehe was last year,” Irish coach JeffJackson said. “I think that he’sbeen outstanding for us at times,and the nights even when he’snot outstanding, he’s usually stillgood.”Though Johnson has reducedhis number of poor games, con-sistency’s an area he is still focus-ing on, including this weekendagainst Miami.“Once the playoffs comearound, you’re going to need towin a lot of games in a row,”Johnson said. “Really bringing iton Friday night and then comingback on Saturday with anotherstrong performance [is impor-tant].”

Johnson’s strong play propels Irish performance

Contact Sam Gans at sgans@nd.edu

By SAM GANSSports Writer

YUE WU/The Observer

Sophomore goaltender Mike Johnson falls on top of a stray puck to help preserve Notre Dame’s 4-2 win overLake Superior State on Oct. 14, 2010 Johnson has compiled a .906 save percentage so far this season.