Tag: Michael Graham

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.

Michael Graham Returning Home as Notre Dame Visits Minnesota

When Notre Dame travels to face top-ranked Minnesota this weekend, it will be a homecoming of sorts for nine native Irish players.

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When Notre Dame travels to face top-ranked Minnesota this weekend, it will be a homecoming of sorts for nine native Irish players. Among them is Michael Graham, one of four Notre Dame players from Eden Prairie. Graham, who is in a four-way tie for second on the Irish in scoring, is the subject of a new piece for the Brainerd Dispatch. Gophers fans know him well as the player who ended their team’s season during the 2019 Big Ten Tournament:

Still, Graham’s high school days are remembered fondly in his home state. Naturally, that would include Lee Smith, his high school coach:

“Michael was a four-year standout for us. There are very few kids that we bring up from our (youth hockey) association as ninth-graders, but Michael had such incredible speed and hand skills, and he’s a good person and good player, we figured we had to bring him up. And we were very fortunate he decided to stay his senior year.”

As a senior, Graham began the season with the Fargo Force in USHL. Though he strongly was encouraged to stay there the entire season, he decided to returned to an Eden Prairie roster that had lots of future Division I talent, including current Irish teammate Nick Leivermann. The team came within one victory of becoming state champions.

But Graham is not coming back to his home state for nostalgia. He’s here to try and knock off the Gophers, something only No. 12 Wisconsin has done this season. However, the Badgers did that last week, albeit in Madison. A win and a tie at minimum would be a real shot in the arm for an Irish team struggling to stay at .500.

Notre Dame shuts out Ohio State

Notre Dame shutout Ohio State to open the weekend series with the 14th ranked Buckeyes on Saturday.

The 15th ranked Notre Dame hockey team was a rude host to No. 14 Ohio State on Saturday night as the Irish skated their way to a 3-0 victory in the opener of the two game series.

Dylan St. Cyr stopped all 20 Buckeyes shots to pitch the shutout in net while a Graham Slaggert goal gave the Irish the only goal they’d need just before the midway point of the second period.

After St. Cyr turned away three shots on a Buckeyes power play in the third, Michael Graham found the back of the net to increase the Notre Dame lead to 2-0 with under 13:00 to play in the final frame.

Alex Steeves added his third goal in four games to extend the Notre Dame lead to 3-0, which would end up being the final score.

The shutout was the third in the career of St. Cyr and Michael Graham’s goal Saturday made him the 12th different Fighting Irish player to score so far this season.

The Irish improve to 4-3-0 on the season while Ohio State falls to 2-3-0.  The two meet again late Sunday afternoon for the series finale.  The puck drops at 5 p.m. ET and can be seen live on NBC Sports Net.

Highlights below;

Notre Dame Hockey: Irish Win Shootout, Not Game

Notre Dame (11-11-5, 6-7-4-3) tied Penn State (17-8-2, 9-6-2-0), 3-3, on Friday night. That’s all that should be said about it. But instead, the Big Ten has decided that conference ties need to end in shootouts that don’t decide anything except one …

Notre Dame (11-11-5, 6-7-4-3) tied Penn State (17-8-2, 9-6-2-0), 3-3, on Friday night. That’s all that should be said about it. But instead, the Big Ten has decided that conference ties need to end in shootouts that don’t decide anything except one more point. No real win; only one in a shootout, which the Irish got after seven rounds.

I’m not even going to bother getting into this one. OK, Michael Graham scored when the Irish had an extra attacker late in the third period, which was pretty cool, but otherwise, nope. I got nothing. A game that can’t decide whether it wants to award a win or a tie doesn’t deserve the benefit of an analysis.

If you’re going to a give a team an extra point in the conference standings, give them the win, too. Don’t just put the result into some sort of limbo that will make itself forever confused with its own identity. Give it a win or a tie, but not both.

Notre Dame Hockey: Steeves Has Career Night in Irish Win

A struggling Notre Dame needed a spark against Wisconsin on Saturday, and it came from Alex Steeves. The sophomore forward scored a power-play goal to open the Irish’s scoring, then collected three assists for a career-high four points in a 5-2 win. …

A struggling Notre Dame needed a spark against Wisconsin on Saturday, and it came from Alex Steeves. The sophomore forward scored a power-play goal to open the Irish’s scoring, then collected three assists for a career-high four points in a 5-2 win.

Notre Dame (11-4-4, 6-7-3-2) got back to .500 by going 3 for 7 on the power play. Aside from Steeves’ tally, Cal Burke got what proved to be the game-winning goal, and Michael Graham made it a 4-2 advantage midway through the third period. The special teams did allow a shorthanded goal to Roman Ahcan, but it merely was a footnote in the end. An even-strength goal from Charlie Raith, and an empty-netter from Tory Dello.

One night after not lasting to the end of the game, Cale Morris bounced back with a 35-save performance. Eight of those saves came in a first period in which neither team scored. Jack Berry had 32 saves for the Badgers.

Notre Dame Hockey: Wolverine Weekend

No. 14 Notre Dame (10-7-3, 5-3-2-1) will get back to Big Ten action when it plays Michigan (7-11-2, 2-7-1-0) on Friday and Saturday. The first contest will be the Irish’s first time playing an unranked opponent in eight games, and it will come at a …

No. 14 Notre Dame (10-7-3, 5-3-2-1) will get back to Big Ten action when it plays Michigan (7-11-2, 2-7-1-0) on Friday and Saturday. The first contest will be the Irish’s first time playing an unranked opponent in eight games, and it will come at a time when Alex Steeves and Michael Graham are on five-game point streaks, each totaling seven in that span. It also comes as Cale Morris has stopped 119 of his past 121 shots faced and is the reigning Big Ten First Star of the Week.

Notre Dame players who have had the most success against Michigan in their careers are Matt Hellickson (eight points) and Cal Burke (five points). They have been a key part of some of the Irish’s more recent success against the Wolverines as they have won 10 of the 15 meetings since their final season in the CCHA (2012-13). The teams split four meetings last year, and will meet four times again this season.

 

Notre Dame Hockey: Irish Begin 2020 With Home-and-Home vs. Western Michigan

After nearly three weeks away from game action, No. 15 Notre Dame (9-7-2) will return to the ice Friday and Sunday for a home-and-home series against No. 19 Western Michigan (7-7-2). Though the Irish won their last game Dec. 14 over Penn State, it …

After nearly three weeks away from game action, No. 15 Notre Dame (9-7-2) will return to the ice Friday and Sunday for a home-and-home series against No. 19 Western Michigan (7-7-2). Though the Irish won their last game Dec. 14 over Penn State, it came on the heels of a seven-game winless streak, including six consecutive losses. These next two games will be the final tuneups before finishing the regular season with the remainder of their Big Ten schedule.

Despite the long layoff, Michael Graham, Matt Hellickson and Alex Steeves will look to continue their point streaks of three, two and three games, respectively. They’ll have to do it in Notre Dame’s seventh consecutive game against a ranked opponent Friday, one it has a long history with. The Irish and Broncos used to be rivals in the CCHA, and Western Michigan leads the all-time series, 43-37-11.

The Irish will be without center Jake Pivonka and defenseman Spencer Stastney. Both sophomores are members of Team USA at the 2020 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship in Ostrava and Trinec, Czech Republic.