Tag: AHL

Notre Dame’s Max Ellis signs contract with Toronto Maple Leafs

Good luck, Max.

With the season over, a few of Notre Dame’s players are being scooped up by professional teams. So far, we’ve seen it happen with Spencer Stastney and Adam Karashik. Now, we’re seeing it with Max Ellis. The junior forward has been signed to a two-way entry-level contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and he will join the Toronto Marlies of the AHL for the Calder Cup playoffs before the contract kicks in next season.

In 71 career games for the Irish, Ellis scored 45 points, 22 of which came from goals. He was a two-time Academic All-Big Ten selection, Notre Dame’s Most Improved Player in 2020-21 and a Hobey Baker Award nominee.

In his third and final season in South Bend, Ellis had career and team highs in goals (16) and points (28) as well as a career high in assists (12). Six of his 39 games were multi-point games, and he was selected as the Big Ten First Star of the Week once.

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It’s past time for NHL, other hockey leagues to implement a zero-tolerance policy against racism

Hockey leagues have to start taking action against racism.

Editor’s note: This story contains mentions of racism. Please proceed with caution.

Hockey leagues have no excuses anymore; it’s well past time for a zero-tolerance policy against racism.

Late Saturday evening, yet another racist incident occurred in the hockey world. During an ECHL match, Jacksonville Icemen defenseman Jacob Panetta was accused of making a racist gesture towards Jordan Subban of the South Carolina Stingrays. The incident went viral after Subban tweeted that Panetta had made “monkey gestures” at him after an overtime scrum, causing another fight on the ice.

Subban’s brother, New Jersey Devils defenseman P.K. Subban, also tweeted about the incident, calling Panetta out. The tweets linked below make mention of racist language — in text and video form — so proceed with caution.

As of Sunday, the Icemen have stated that Panetta has been released from the team, effective immediately, after the ECHL suspended the defenseman indefinitely with a league investigation pending.

Though it took two milquetoast statements from the Icemen — who have yet to apologize to Subban directly, only to “any one who was offended” — it seems Panetta’s time playing hockey in the ECHL is over. And he shouldn’t be the last to get this treatment either.

Hockey leagues must implement a zero-tolerance policy against racism and they must do it now. The racist taunts made against Subban come just one day after the AHL suspended San Jose Barracuda forward Krystof Hrabik 30 days for making a racist gesture against Boko Imama of the Tucson Roadrunners.

All this within the same week the Boston Bruins finally retired the number of Willie O’Ree, the NHL’s first black player.

Hockey culture is broken and has been for some time. We’ve been witness to far too many racist incidents over the years, and there are many more we’ll never know of at the lower and youth levels of the sport. The NHL and other hockey leagues continue to fester this toxic culture of racism, sexism, homophobia, and assault as long as the sport allows the culprits to skate away with no consequences.

Which is why the hockey world has to adopt zero-tolerance policies, especially in regards to racism. Nothing the hockey world has done so far, from meager punishments to inclusion seminars, has worked to curb racist words and acts. If the NHL and other hockey leagues want to stomp out racism as much as they claim to, throwing out the racists and locking the doors behind them is the best way to make an impact.

Hockey should not be a space for racists. Period. End of discussion. Second, third, and fourth chances shouldn’t exist for racism this blatant and overt that it was made in a packed stadium of thousands of people. Instituting zero-tolerance policies should be the least the NHL and hockey leagues can do to protect its marginalized players, fans, and staff.

It’s past time the hockey world stopped enabling this behavior and started taking concrete action.

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Former Notre Dame forward Alex Steeves to make NHL debut

Some new Irish blood is coming to hockey’s highest level.

After no former Notre Dame player made an NHL debut last season, there was nowhere to go but up in 2021-22. This season already is an improvement because Alex Steeves has been recalled by the Toronto Maple Leafs. Steeves was placed on the fourth line during the morning skate that was held ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets:

Steeves made his professional debut earlier this season with the Toronto Marlies of the AHL. He scored 12 points in 12 games, which gave the Leafs reason to send for him. All of this has come only months after he wrapped up a three-year career with the Irish. During his 104 career games with the Irish, he accumulated 69 points, including 33 goals. After last season, he signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Leafs.

Steeves earned many honors with the Irish, including team MVP, an All-Big Ten selection and two Academic All-Big Ten selections.

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Former Notre Dame players on NHL rosters to begin 2021-22 season

Pay special attention to these players this season.

The puck has dropped on the 2021-22 NHL season, and the full 82-game schedule has returned. Besides the usual amount of hockey to look forward to once again, there also is a new team that has taken the ice. One player on that team played collegiate hockey at Notre Dame, as did nine other players who are starting the year on NHL rosters. That number could grow later this season with 15 other former Irish players starting play in the AHL, but for now, here are the 10 you can see at hockey’s top level at this moment:

Matt Hellickson, Cal Petersen make U.S. team for World Championships

The Irish will have representation at the World Championships.

The hockey World Championships are back, and two former Notre Dame players have made the final cut for the U.S. team. Those players are defenseman Matt Hellickson and goaltender Cal Petersen. That makes 16 former Notre Dame players to have played in this event. The tournament will run from May 21 to June 6 and take place in Latvia.

Hellickson recently completed his fourth and final season for the Irish, during which he was an alternate captain. In 146 collegiate games, he scored 52 points, 13 of which were goals. A 2017 seventh-round pick of the New Jersey Devils, he recently began his professional career with their AHL affiliate in Binghamton. Through four games, he has yet to register a point, but he has 19 penalty minutes.

Petersen, making his second World Championships appearance, was in net for the Irish for three seasons from 2014 to 2017 and became the first goaltender in program history to serve as captain as a senior. He had a 53-39-15 record and a .924 save percentage while earning 11 shutouts. He just completed his first full season with the Los Angeles Kings, appearing in 36 games. During that time, he accumulated a 9-18-5 records with a 2.89 GAA and .911 save percentage.

Former Notre Dame goaltender Cale Morris earns first professional win

Notre Dame always will be grateful to Cale Morris for being the goaltender that nearly brought it a national championship.

Notre Dame always will be grateful to Cale Morris for being the goaltender that nearly brought it a national championship. Even after that memorable run, he continued to provide solid play in net for a couple more seasons. It is against this backdrop that Morris picked up his first professional win in his first professional start Tuesday for the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL.

Morris was named the first star for the IceHogs’ 3-2 win over the Cleveland Monsters. He made 35 saves and recorded a .946 save percentage while leading the IceHogs to their first win of the season. Yes, it’s been a trying early part of the season for Rockford, which needed seven games to finally get in the win column.

Morris appeared in his first professional game Monday when he relieved Matt Tomkins for the third period of a 7-3 loss to the Monsters. He stopped 13 of 14 shots during that time, and there’s no question that all of that influenced coach Derek King to make the switch. The question remains how long King will stick with Morris after back-to-back nights of solid play.

 

Former Notre Dame Players in NHL to Begin 2020-21 Season

The NHL finally drops the puck on its 2020-21 season Wednesday. With COVID-19 still running rampant, this will be a season unlike any other.

The NHL finally drops the puck on its 2020-21 season Wednesday. With COVID-19 still running rampant, this will be a season unlike any other. Teams will play 56 games in divisions that drastically have been realigned for the season, and teams will not play outside their respective divisions. But no matter which team you root for, there will be plenty of players who suited up for Notre Dame before they ascended to hockey’s highest level.

Former Notre Dame Goaltender Cale Morris Signs With Rockford IceHogs

The Chicago Blackhawks really seem to like Notre Dame products.

The Chicago Blackhawks really seem to like Notre Dame products. Over the past couple of months, we’ve seen them sign Cam Morrison and draft Landon Slaggert. Now, former Irish goaltender Cale Morris is joining the organization. More specifically, he has signed his first professional contract with the Blackhawks’ AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs.

Morris was Notre Dame’s starting goaltender for three of his four seasons. He played 105 games and earned a 58-35-10 record with a 2.17 GAA, a .932 save percentage and 11 shutouts. He was between the pipes when the Irish made the national title game in 2018. Two years in a row, he was the Most Outstanding Player in the Big Ten tournament.

During the 2019-20 season, Morris earned his third consecutive Academic All-Big Ten selection. He was named Honorable Mention All-Big Ten, a Senior Class Finalist and a unanimous selection to the First Team Preseason All-Big Ten. He was one of the conference Three Stars of the Week three times and an NCAA Star of the Week once.

Chicago Blackhawks Anticipating Clutch Goals from Cam Morrison

It could be a while before we know if former Notre Dame forward Cam Morrison makes the Chicago Blackhawks’ roster for 2020-21.

It could be a while before we know if former Notre Dame forward Cam Morrison makes the Chicago Blackhawks’ roster for 2020-21. He’ll probably start the season with the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL. What we do know is that he has a history of performing in the clutch. That’s what the Blackhawks are banking on according to a Chicago Sun-Times feature.

The story cites a few prominent moments in Morrison’s Notre Dame career. In 2017, he scored the tying goal (his second of the game) of the Irish’s overtime victory over UMass-Lowell that put them in the Frozen Four. The next year, he had the overtime goal in the Big Ten title game against Ohio State and later assisted on Jake Evans’ goal with six seconds left against Michigan that put the Irish in the national title game. The year after that, Morrison tormented Michigan again by scoring the game-winning goal in the Big Ten title game and also had an overtime tally against Clarkson in the NCAA tournament.

Irish coach Jeff Jackson agrees that Morrison has a knack to come up big when needed:

“Not every player has that ability to elevate in those key moments. Whatever characteristic that is, I’ve not had many players that have found a way to play their best hockey at the biggest moments. [But] he’s one of those guys that can do that.”

Jackson also assessed how Morrison needs to do to make the NHL and stay there:

“In order to become more than a role guy, he’s going to need to use that body and that reach more effectively on a consistent basis. He did that here at times, but the physical element to his game [needs] a little bit of a nasty streak at times to create more space for himself and be able to get into those dirty areas and compete for that ice.”

Best of luck to Morrison as he continues his hockey career. He’ll have the chance to prove himself. Whether he’s successful in doing that is up to him.

Notre Dame Hockey: Cal Burke Signs With Colorado Eagles

Just because sports aren’t going on doesn’t mean sports aren’t going on.

Just because sports aren’t going on doesn’t mean sports aren’t going on. Though not nearly as big a story as Tom Brady leaving New England, it’s worth mentioning that Cal Burke, a senior captain for Notre Dame this past year, has signed a standard player contract with the Colorado Eagles of the AHL for the 2020-21 season. And yes, they’re affiliated with the Colorado Avalanche for those ignorant of minor league hockey.

In his final season for the Irish, Burke recorded seven goals and 14 assists over 37 games. He was a finalist for the Hockey Humanitarian Award for the second straight year and also was one of 10 finalists for the Senior CLASS Award. The Business Analytics major will graduate from the Mendoza College of Business.

While helping the Irish get to the Frozen Four in 2017 and 2018 and win three straight Big Ten championships, Burke played 146 games and scored 88 points, 36 of them for goals.