Tag: Jeff Jackson

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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Providence right wing Patrick Moynihan transfers to Notre Dame

Hope he plays well for the Irish.

With four years at Providence under his belt, right wing [autotag]Patrick Moynihan[/autotag] has decided to play out his NCAA eligibility at Notre Dame. Moynihan will join the Irish for the 2023-24 season. When asked to comment, he said the following:

“I am humbled and excited for the opportunity to wear the Notre Dame jersey. It is a dream come true to be playing at Notre Dame.”

In four years with the Friars, Moynihan played in 123 games, accumulated 71 points, including 37 goals, and 81 penalty minutes. Before college, he played two season and 125 games with the U.S. National Team Development Program. During that time, he scored 78 points, including 35 goals.

Moynihan’s addition means the Irish now have 16 forwards. It will be quite the task for [autotag]Jeff Jackson[/autotag] to juggle his lines and try to find sufficient playing time for everybody. Then again, he’s been the coach long enough that he should know how to figure it all out, and he will.

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Detroit Red Wings select Notre Dame’s Brennan Ali in NHL draft

Here’s a player to watch for the Irish during the upcoming season.

Notre Dame’s streak of having at least one player taken in the NHL draft will live for another year. When the Detroit Red Wings selected incoming freshman center [autotag]Brennan Ali[/autotag] with the 212th overall pick in the seventh round, it marked the latest in an Irish tradition that goes back to 2004 and 23 of the past 24 drafts. There now have been 92 draftees from Notre Dame, including 45 under [autotag]Jeff Jackson[/autotag].

Ali, who hails from Glencoe, Illinois, most recently played for the Lincoln Stars of the USHL, tallying two assists in nine games. What might have caught the Red Wings’ attention more was his season for Avon Old Farms in Connecticut. In 27 games, he scored 34 points, including 15 goals. He also had an assist in two games for the U.S. National U18 Team.

Best of luck to Ali as he prepares for his time in South Bend. Here’s hoping he’ll be an Irish legend when that time concludes.

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Notre Dame gets Nick Leivermann back for fifth season

The Irish have some experience coming back.

Notre Dame is expected to have a lot of turnover on next year’s roster after having many seniors and graduate students this year. Defenseman Nick Leivermann was one of those seniors. However, he’s not going anywhere. That’s because he has decided to come back for a fifth season.

Leivermann, who had 27 points in 2021-22 to tie for second on the Irish, said the following:

““After looking at potential options, I felt returning to Notre Dame would be best for my career development. I’m looking forward to continuing my education and becoming a Double Domer and I’m excited to hit the ice with our returning group.”

Irish coach Jeff Jackson also chimed in:

“We’re very excited to have Nicky returning to our program. He’ll continue to develop his game and strive to become one of the best defensemen in the country. He also has the experience and leadership qualities necessary to help sustain our culture moving forward.”

Congratulations to the 2017 Colorado Avalanche seventh-round pick and three-time Big Ten All Academic Team selection. Let’s hope next season will be his best.

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Notre Dame hockey welcomes new freshmen class

Notre Dame hockey officially brought in its newest class

The following release is from the University of Notre Dame hockey team:

NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Notre Dame hockey head coach Jeff Jackson has announced the incoming freshman class for the 2021-22 season, which includes forwards Tyler Carpenter, Sasha Pastujov and Hunter Strand as well as defenseman Ryan Helliwell.

“Although we have a smaller freshmen class in number, they will each make an impact in their own way,” head coach Jeff Jackson said. “Each player brings different intangibles to our team that we need and that will help us win hockey games.”

Graduate transfer Jack Adams headed to Notre Dame

The Irish have added to their roster.

Notre Dame is about to give a player with limited game action over the past couple years a chance to redeem that. Coach Jeff Jackson has announced that the Irish will add graduate transfer Jack Adams for the 2021-22 season. This comes after an injury sidelined Adams throughout the 2019-20 season and he transferred from Union to Providence for last season after COVID-19 forced Union to sit the season out. Adams is a 2017 sixth-round pick of the Detroit Red Wings.

Adams, who hails from Boxboro, Massachusetts, has scored 35 points, including 14 goals, over 72 collegiate games. All of his scoring came at Union as he failed to register a single point in six games at Providence.

Before college hockey, Adams played two seasons with the Fargo Force of the USHL. He had a breakout 2016-17 season there, scoring 37 goals and accumulation 60 points in 56 games. That team included new Irish teammate Michael Graham.

Notre Dame knocks off No. 1

The Notre Dame men’s hockey team knocked off the top-ranked Minnesota Goldepn Gophers on Friday night in Minneapolis. Details all here:

MINNEAPOLIS — The Fighting Irish twice erased one-goal deficits and then Graham Slaggert scored the only goal of the third period to lift Notre Dame to a 3-2 win at top-ranked Minnesota on Friday night at 3M Arena at Mariucci.

“I thought we played a good 60 minute hockey game,” head coach Jeff Jackson said after the win. “Pretty much in every aspect of the game I thought we did a nice job. It was good to see us put together a power-play goal. We did a good job managing the puck, so for us it was a big step in being able to string together a full 60.”

It was the first time the Irish defeated a top ranked team since knocking off Boston College, 2-1 in overtime, on March 1, 2014.

Graham Slaggert’s game winner was his career-best third point of the night, having also assisted on goals by Landon Slaggert and Alex Steeves. Landon Slaggert finished with two points as he assisted on Graham’s game winner.

Ryan Bischel stopped 17 of the 19 shots he faced to earn the win, which was his third road win of the season. In the Minnesota net, Jack LaFontaine totaled 24 saves as the Irish outshot the Gophers 27-19 for the game, including an 11-4 mark in the third period.

Notre Dame’s power play went 1-1 on Landon Slaggert’s power-play strike and the Irish penalty kill held Minnesota’s power play to a 0-for-2 mark.

How It Happened
Notre Dame killed off the game’s first power play midway through the first period with Bischel turning aside the only Gopher shot on goal he faced on the penalty kill.

Jackson Lacombe scored at 16:50 of the first period when his wrist shot from the top of the near circle beat Bischel high to put Minnesota on top, 1-0.

The Irish answered to tie it at 1-1 with 32 seconds remaining in the first period. Following a Gopher icing, Graham Slaggert won an offensive zone faceoff by sliding the puck to his right wing, where Alex Steeves slammed home his sixth goal of the season.

The Gophers scored off a faceoff win of their own at 1:48 of the second period to take a 2-1 lead on Sampo Ranta’s ninth goal of the season.

After killing off a Minnesota power play, the Irish went to work on their first power-play chance of the night, with Landon Slaggert capitalizing from in close as he finished off a feed from Graham Slaggert at 6:23. Nick Leivermann got the chance started as he moved in from the point and found Graham Slaggert cutting in down the near boards to earn the second assist. It marked Landon’s third goal in the last three games since returning from the World Junior Championship.

Leivermann had a nice rush near the end of the period but his shot rang off the post with 1:21 left in the middle frame and the teams headed to the locker room tied at 2-2.

The Irish dominated possession in the first half of the third period, outshooting the Gophers 9-1 in the first 10 minutes, but Lafontaine kept the game tied.

Notre Dame took the lead with 4:43 to play when Landon Slaggert forced a turnover on the forecheck behind the Gopher net and put the puck in front for Graham Slaggert, who buried it past LaFontaine for his third point of the night.

The Gophers pulled LaFontaine for the extra attacker in the closing moments, but Bischel and the Irish held on for the 3-2 victory.

Notes

  • Senior Matt Hellickson skated in his 130th-consecutive game, dating back to the first game of his freshman season.
  • With a goal and two assists, Graham Slaggert posted his second multi-point game of the season and the third of his career while his three points were a career-best.
  • With the three points, Slaggert has 11 points on the season (3-7-10), which is a career-best total.
  • The game-winner was Slaggert’s first of the season and third of his career.
  • Six Irish players have now accounted for Notre Dame’s six game-winning goals this season.
  • Following his first period goal, Alex Steeves has a point in seven of the last eight games and he has only been held off the scoresheet in three of Notre Dame’s 13 games this season.
  • With a goal and an assist, Landon Slaggert posted his second multi-point game of the season/his career.

Next Up

  • Notre Dame and Minnesota close out their weekend series on Saturday evening at 6 p.m. ET (Jan. 16).
  • The game will be televised on Fox Sports North and streamed via BTN Plus.

Junior Defenseman Nate Clurman is Notre Dame Hockey’s 2020-21 Captain

With Notre Dame’s 2020-21 season going on as scheduled, the time has come to name the captains.

With Notre Dame’s 2020-21 season going on as scheduled, the time has come to name the captains. Coach Jeff Jackson announced that decision Tuesday. Junior defenseman Nate Clurman will wear the coveted “C”. He’ll be joined by a trio of senior alternate captains: Matt Hellickson, Pierce Crawford and Colin Theisen.

Jackson said the following in explaining the decision to name these particular players captains, all of whom are doing so for the first time with the Irish:

“During these unusual times, our captains and leadership group will be challenged in many different ways. I am confident that our team has selected the right individuals to lead us through any adversity we may encounter. These young men are ready for the challenge and will hold our team accountable to our standards and our culture.”

Clurman, who was drafted by the Colorado Avalanche in 2016, is the Irish’s second junior defenseman to be named captain in the past three seasons, joining Andrew Peeke in 2018-19. He earned Academic All-Big Ten honors last season and recorded nine of his 12 career assists. He also had a +8 rating, which ranked second on the Irish behind Cam Morrison.

Notre Dame Freshman Forwards Hoping for 2020 NHL Draft Selections

Tuesday and Wednesday will mark the achievement of a lifelong dream for many young hockey players. That dream is to be drafted by the NHL.

Tuesday and Wednesday will mark the achievement of a lifelong dream for many young hockey players. That dream is to be drafted by the NHL. This year’s draft could feature two Notre Dame freshman forwards. Landon Slaggert and Ryder Rolston are ranked 88th and 102nd, respectively, in the final North American Prospect Rankings.

Though neither player has appeared in a game for the Irish yet, hockey is rich in both of their families. Slaggert continues a Notre Dame tradition in his family, as his brother, Graham, is entering his junior season with the Irish, and his father, Andy, is an associate head coach who is in his 28th season with the program. Rolston’s father, Brian, began his 17-year NHL career by winning the Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils in 1995, which came after winning the 1992 national championship with Lake Superior State under Jeff Jackson.

Six drafted players currently are on Notre Dame’s roster. The all-time drafted player total for the Irish is 85. At least one current or former Irish player has been selected in the draft every year since 2004.

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.