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Revisiting some of Mike Brey’s local media day comments

Do you think Mike is regretting any of these preseason quotes?

Back in October, Fighting Irish Wire was lucky to attend Notre Dame’s media day for South Bend outlets. [autotag]Mike Brey[/autotag] spoke with the assembled reporters before the players entered the room, and every answer he gave was a clue into the workings of his team. The atmosphere was an optimistic one as the Irish were coming off a couple of NCAA Tournament wins in the spring. Why couldn’t it happen again with all of these older players returning?

Well, the Irish have reached a crossroads much sooner than they would have liked. They are 8-7 and have lost their first four ACC games, tying with Louisville for last in the conference. The fun of last March has given way to frustration and bafflement as to how things have gone so wrong. Even most of the nonconference victories have not been very satisfying, and there is no reason to think this season will last beyond the ACC Tournament.

So how have some of Brey’s preseason words held up? Let’s take a look:

Mike Brey meets with media ahead of Notre Dame’s 2022-23 season

Here’s what we heard when we traveled to the Irish’s local media day.

[autotag]Mike Brey[/autotag] is coming off his best season coaching Notre Dame over the past few years. Irish fans will be anxious to see how his team will be able to build off last season’s success. Until they learn how or if that happens, words from the longtime coach will suffice. And he has plenty to say about it.

Fighting Irish Wire accepted an invitation to attend a media day for local media at Purcell Pavilion and was with the assembled group when Brey spoke. He addressed everything from the outlook of this year’s team to the ACC’s reputation to players old and new. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone by now, but he knows his team very well and is as much of an open book as you can imagine for a college basketball coach.

Here is some of what Brey had to say to the local media:

No. 10 Notre Dame hockey blanks Niagara

Notre Dame hockey bounces back with a 5-0 win

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The 10th-ranked Fighting Irish bounced back after a loss Saturday night to dominate Niagara for a 5-0 victory at Compton Family Ice Arena (3,374) Sunday evening.

Trevor Janicke and Cam Burke led the Irish offense. Each scored a pair of goals. Burke tallied Notre Dame’s first goal in the final minute of the first period and added his second goal in the second period. Janicke added two of his own in the second period, and sophomore Zach Plucinski scored his first goal of the season in the third.

Grant Silianoff had two assists, while seven other players had an assist in the contest, including goalie Ryan Bischel. The Irish offense tested Niagara for the full 60 minutes, outshooting the Purple Eagles 44-19.

Bischel earned his first career shutout in the victory. The junior tallied 19 saves, nine of which came in the second period.

“I knew that tonight we were going to come out and play a lot better than we did last night,” Bischel stated after the win. “The guys were fired up and we needed a response and had that tonight.”

Notre Dame improves to 13-6 with the victory.

The Irish power play was 1-for-4 on the night, and the penalty kill held Niagara to an 0-for-6 mark.

How It Happened

The Irish had the game’s first handful of chances, including a Trevor Janicke shot from the slot that went just wide and a Jack Adams backhander from in close that Chad Veltri made a pad stop on.

Midway through the first, Notre Dame goaltender Ryan Bischel made a save on Brandon Stanley to shut down a 2-on-1 chance.

With 40 seconds left in the first Burke opened the scoring with his fifth of the year, slamming home a rebound in front after Veltri made a save on a Ryder Rolston chance. Grant Silianoff set Rolston up in front for the initial chance to earn the second assist.

The Irish then scored three more goals in the first 7:18 of the second period to extend the lead to 4-0 after 40 minutes.

Trevor Janicke scored his first of the night at 2:06 when he cleaned up a rebound at the back post after Solag Bakich had brought the puck hard to the net.

Burke then scored a shorthanded goal at 5:07 to extend the lead to 3-0, after he took the a Bischel clear and scored on the breakaway chance.

Jake Sibell relieved Chad Veltri in the Niagara net after Burke’s second of the night.

Janicke netted his second of the night, crashing the net for a power-play goal at 7:18 with the assists going to Grant Silianoff and Chase Blackmun.

Notre Dame’s penalty killing unit came up big later in the period, killing off 1:40 of a Niagara 5-on-3 chance.

In the third, the Irish added another goal, this from Plucinski. Max Ellis’s shot was set up off of a pass from Spencer Stastney. The shot was deflected straight towards Plucinski who buried his chance to pick up his first goal of the season.

Next – Notes…

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