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The Notre Dame Fighting Irish hockey team is the interscholastic hockey team at the University of Notre Dame. The team competes in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association at the NCAA Division I level.
[edit] History
Notre Dame Hockey has existed on and off as both a club and varsity sport since 1912. In 1968, the Fighting Irish started playing again at the Division I level as an independent. In 1971, the team joined its first conference, the WCHA. The team continued playing in the WCHA for a decade until moving to the CCHA with the conference's three Michigan schools in 1981. The Fighting Irish lasted only two years in the new CCHA, after designating Ice Hockey as a club sport. In 1988 Notre Dame Hockey was once again elevated to varsity status, and were accepted to rejoin to CCHA, starting in 1992. The Irish struggled to remain competitive in the CCHA, but began to improve under head coach Dave Poulin. In 2004, Poulin led the team to its first ever NCAA Tournament. However, the year after was drastically different. 2005 was the worst season in Notre Dame history. The five-win campaigned resulted in the resignation of coach Poulin.
[edit] Jeff Jackson Era
In 2005, Jeff Jackson took over as head coach. Jackson, who had already won two national championships at Lake Superior State, had an immediate impact at Notre Dame. In his first season with the Irish, the team greatly improved upon the five-win season, boosting its record to 13-19-5. 2007 was even more successful. The Irish achieved their first ever number one ranking in both the Uscho.com and USA Today Polls and their first number one seeding for the NCAA Tournament. The following year, the Irish finished fourth in both the CCHA's regular season and playoffs, and again made the NCAA Tournament. Once there, the Irish went on to beat top-seeded New Hampshire 7-3 and third-seeded Michigan State 3-1 to advance to the Frozen Four for the first time in school history. From there, they defeated first-seeded Michigan in overtime to advance to national title game.[2] Notre Dame also became the first four-seed to advance to the national semifinals, and eventually to the national title game since the new 16-team format was introduced in 2003.[2]
[edit] Head Coaches
| # |
Name |
Term |
| 1 |
G.R. Walsh |
1912-1913 |
| 2 |
Paul Castner |
1920-1923 |
| 3 |
Tom Lieb |
1923-1926 |
| 4 |
Benjamin Dubois |
1926-1927 |
| 5 |
Lefty Smith |
1968-1987 |
| 6 |
Ric Shafer |
1987-1995 |
| 7 |
Dave Poulin |
1995-2005 |
| 8 |
Jeff Jackson |
2005-present |
[edit] Home Ice
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The Irish play their home games under the North Dome of the Edmund P. Joyce Center. With a hockey capacity of just 2,857, it is the second smallest home rink in the CCHA. All seats are benches without chair backs, and most of the seating is comprised of temporary bleachers. In 2007, the Irish compiled an impressive 14-2-2 home record at the Joyce Center.
In April 2008, the university revealed its new plans to renovate the current ice rink and have it renamed after Notre Dame Hockey's first coach "Lefty" Smith.
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[edit] References
- ^ Jeff Jackson Year-by-Year Record.
- ^ a b "Notre Dame books ticket to first frozen four", usatoday.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-30.
