Notre Dame receives commitment from Youth Olympics gold medalist

Look out for this name in the future.

The interesting this about talented amateur hockey players is that they’re seemingly playing for a different team all the time. One of many example of that is [autotag]AJ Garcia[/autotag], who is fresh off winning a championship with the Chicago Mission and a gold medal with the U.S. at this year’s Youth Winter Olympics. Now, we know he’ll be heading to Notre Dame in the distant future:

Being that Garcia, a native of Romeoville, Illinois, only is 16, it will be a while before we see him in South Bend. Still, the fact that his next campaign will be with the U.S. National Team Development Program speaks volumes as to how much potential he has. Irish fans have reason to be excited about him.

Elsewhere in Irish hockey, the program has hired former Sacred Heart director of hockey operations [autotag]Jessica Thibault[/autotag] to the same role. The hire was announced by [autotag]Jeff Jackson[/autotag], who will retire as Irish coach after the upcoming season in favor of [autotag]Brock Sheahan[/autotag].

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Jeff Jackson to retire from Notre Dame after 2024-25; Sheahan is next

One more for the coaching legend.

[autotag]Jeff Jackson[/autotag] built Notre Dame into a respectable program and even came within a game of winning the national championship twice. That accounts for half of the four Frozen Fours he has taken the Irish to. But all good things must come to an end, and that time has come for Jackson.

Jackson has announced that the 2024-25 season will be his last with the Irish. That means he’ll have one more chance to add to the eight conference championships, 12 NCAA Tournaments, two Spencer Penrose Awards and over 400 wins. He seems to be looking forward to that chance per this message he wrote on social media:

Former Irish defenseman and current associate head coach [autotag]Brock Sheahan[/autotag] already has been tapped as Jackson’s successor. When he rejoined the staff shortly before the start of last season, we speculated on here that it might be an indication that he eventually would take over the program. That speculation turned out to be correct.

Best of luck to Jackson in his final season, and here’s hoping that before too long, there’s a status of him outside Compton Family Ice Arena.

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Brock Sheahan returns to Notre Dame as associate head coach

A familiar face is back in South Bend.

They often say you can’t go home again, but [autotag]Brock Sheahan[/autotag] mostly hasn’t ventured far from Notre Dame since his playing days ended. After he hung up his skates in 2013, the former Irish defenseman served as a volunteer assistant coach with the program for one season. Now, he’s returning to South Bend to serve as [autotag]Jeff Jackson[/autotag]’s associate head coach.

After his initial coaching stint with the Irish, Sheahan headed to Worcester for four seasons on the Holy Cross bench. He then was an assistant with the USHL’s Chicago Steel for one year before being promoted to head coach, a capacity he served in for the next three seasons. That included capturing the 2021 Clark Cup. This past season, he coached the AHL’s Chicago Wolves.

With Jackson not getting any younger, is it possible he’s bringing Sheahan to eventually take over for him? Only time will tell, but the stars seem to be aligning for that possibility.

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Notre Dame alumnus Brock Sheahan named Chicago Wolves coach

Great news for the former defenseman.

Former Notre Dame defenseman and assistant coach Brock Sheahan has just made a big next step in his hockey life. He has been named the coach of the AHL’s Chicago Wolves, who are fresh off winning the Calder Cup. This comes after three years as coach of the USHL’s Chicago Steel, which included one Clark Cup. Before making the professional coaching jump, he spent four years as an assistant at Holy Cross, which came after one season as an Irish assistant.

Sheahan played four seasons with the Irish from 2004 to 2008. In 161 games, he scored 33 points and registered 220 penalty minutes. He was a member of the Irish’s 2007 CCHA regular-season and tournament championship team and the 2008 squad that came within one game of winning a national title. After leaving the Irish, he played five years of professional hockey, mostly in the ECHL.

Best of luck to Sheahan as he takes over a defending champion.

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Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89