Spencer Stastney – Syndication Server

Notre Dame adds defenseman transfer Drew Bavaro

Solid pickup for the Irish?

Notre Dame lost a lot of players on the blue line to graduation, and it needs to replenish that somehow. Some help is arriving with the addition of defenseman Drew Bavaro, who hails from Bradenton, Florida. For the past two years, he has skated for Bentley of the Atlantic Hockey Association. During the 2021-22 season, he was a First Team All-Atlantic selection who led his team with 27 points and 17 assists to bring his total for that program to 39 points over 52 games.

Before Bentley, Bavaro played junior hockey for the Wenatchee Wild for the 2019-20 season. He played 51 games that season, and 24 of his 33 points went for assists. His nine goals that season matched the number he had for his second and final season with Bentley.

The Irish’s top scoring defensemen for the past season were seniors [autotag]Spencer Stastney[/autotag] and [autotag]Nick Leivermann[/autotag] with 27 points apiece. It might be tough for Bavaro to reach that immediately at a higher level, but at least he’s shown he’s capable of it.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbz1mmy7gev0xbr player_id=none image=https://fightingirishwire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

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

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.

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

Notre Dame hockey: Stastney signs with NHL team

Awesome news for a darn good player

The following release is courtesy of Notre Dame athletics:

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – University of Notre Dame senior defenseman Spencer Stastney has signed a two-year entry-level contract that will begin with the 2022-23 season, the Nashville Predators announced (March 31).

Stastney was originally a fifth round selection (131st overall) by Nashville in the 2018 NHL Draft.

A 2021-22 Honorable Mention All-Big Ten team honoree, Stastney helped lead Notre Dame to the NCAA Albany Regional Final.

Stastney, who served as an alternate captain in 2021-22, skated in 39 games and tied for second on the team with 27 points (7-20-27). His seven goals, 20 assists and a27 points were all career-high totals and he was the only defenseman with multiple shorthanded goals this season. He had the top plus/minus on the team at +18 and his 20 assists ranked second on the Irish. He also blocked 69 shots to rank second on the Irish and in the Big Ten and tied for 11th in the country. He served a key role in Notre Dame’s top-ranked penalty kill unit.

The Mequon, Wisconsin native finished his career with 16 goals and 47 assists for 63 points in 143 games played and a +28 rating. Following the 2021-22 season, he was voted as the team’s Monogram Club MVP, marking the second defenseman in the Jeff Jackson era to earn the honor (Robbie Russo, 2014-15).

A Film, Television and Theatre & Finance double major, Stastney is a Senior Class Award finalist and was named an 2021-22 Honorable Mention All-Big Ten selection.

AS A SENIOR

Pages: 12

Notre Dame’s Ryan Bischel is Big Ten’s First Star of the Week

The Irish are killing it on the ice right now.

For the third week in a row, a Notre Dame player has been named one of the Big Ten’s Stars of the Week. This time, it’s Ryan Bischel taking home the honor, and he’s the conference’s First Star of the Week. This comes after back-to-back weeks of Ryder Rolston and Spencer Stastney getting the Third Star. Bischel is joined this week by Second Star Mason Lohrei of Ohio State and Third Star Carl Fish of Minnesota.

Bischel won both starts against Penn State over the past weekend, making 67 out of a possible 69 saves. The second game saw him make 35 saves for the shutout. That brought him to a 10-4-0 record, a .930 save percentage and a conference-leading GAA of 1.93.

This is the second time an Irish player has been named the Big Ten First Star of the Week. Max Ellis earned the honor Nov. 23.

The Irish continue their season Thursday and Friday at Wisconsin.

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

Notre Dame’s Spencer Stastney is Big Ten Third Star of the Week

Congratulations, Spencer!

After Notre Dame earned a weekend split against Minnesota, one of its players has been rewarded. Defenseman Spencer Stastney is the latest Big Ten Third Star of the Week. This is the second consecutive week an Irish player has earned that honor after Ryder Rolston won it last week. Stastney was honored alongside goaltenders Erik Portillo of Michigan and Jakub Dobes of Ohio State.

Stastney, who was an honorable mention on the preseason All-Big Ten Team, led the Irish with three assists in the two games against the Gophers. One of those assists helped Landon Slaggert score the game-winner in overtime of the second game. That increased his team-leading total in that category to 15.

This is the first time Stastney has been named a Big Ten star. In addition to this, he and Irish teammate Graham Slaggert are candidates for this year’s Senior CLASS Award, which is given to a senior or graduate student who excels in competition, character, community and classroom.

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

Notre Dame names captains for 2021-22 season

Good picks for the Irish?

With the first game on the horizon, Notre Dame has named its five captains for the upcoming season. Wearing the ‘C’ will be defenseman Adam Karashik and forwards Graham Slaggert and Jake Pivonka. Serving as alternate captains will be defensemen Spencer Stastney and Nick Leivermann. All of the aforementioned are seniors except for Karshik, who is a graduate student.

Slaggert and Leivermann are two of the Irish’s top three returning scorers. Slaggert led the Irish with 18 assists last season to go with seven goals. Leivermann was the Irish’s top scoring defenseman in 2020-21 with 12 of his 17 points coming on assists.

Karashik is a transfer who played the past four years with UConn and was one of the Huskies’ captains in 2020-21. Pivonka, who didn’t miss a game last season, currently is out with an injury. Stastney recently joined Slaggert on the Preseason All-Big Ten Team.

The Irish will get their first taste of game action Sunday with an exhibition against the U.S. National Team Development Program. Their first regular-season game is Oct. 9 when they welcome Long Island University to Compton Family Ice Arena.

Notre Dame Dominates Ohio State in Weekend Series Opener

Notre Dame had an opportunity to get back to .500 with Friday’s series opener at Ohio State. It did so with authority.

Notre Dame had an opportunity to get back to .500 with Friday’s series opener at Ohio State. It did so with authority. After a start that made some Notre Dame fans nervous, the Irish let them know in no uncertain terms that this was their game. Their 6-1 win represented the most times the Buckeyes have been scored upon this season.

Although it took about half the first period for the Irish (9-9-1, 7-7-1) to even record their first shot on goal, they drew first blood on a Spencer Stastney goal from the left faceoff circle. A couple of minutes later, Nate Clurman was whistled for checking from behind and, after a review, received a game misconduct. With plenty of time still on the five-minute Buckeyes power play, Landon Slaggert was sent to the box for hooking, forcing the Irish to skate two men down. Incredibly, the Irish’s penalty kill, helped by some nice saves from Dylan St. Cyr, got the job done and kept Ohio State (5-13-1, 5-12-0) off the scoreboard that entire time.

With momentum on their side, the Irish seized control in the second period, outshooting the Buckeyes, 18-5. They most of it by getting goals from Matt and Alex Steeves, Jesse Lansdell and Landon Slaggert, who scored 25 seconds into a power play. Nick Leivermann added a goal in the third, but all action was a formality at that point.

Alex Steeves was the Irish’s best player with three assists to go with his second-period tally. Graham Slaggert picked up two assists, and Lansdell and Leivermann also got into the assists column. St. Cyr stopped 23 of 24 shots for his sixth win of the season.

Landon Slaggert Makes U.S. World Junior Championship Camp Roster

Landon Slaggert could have something other than Notre Dame on his mind for most of December.

Landon Slaggert could have something other than Notre Dame on his mind for most of December. The Irish’s freshman forward has been named to the U.S. roster for the camp in preparation for the World Junior Championship. The camp begins Dec. 6, and the roster will have 25 names for the tournament, which runs from Christmas Day to Jan. 5 in Edmonton, Alberta.

Slaggert, a South Bend native, recorded the first point of his collegiate career in the Irish’s 3-2 win over No. 3 Michigan on Friday. He and his brother, Graham, both had assists on Nate Clurman’s goal. He has played in all four of the Irish’s games played thus far.

Notre Dame has sent 22 players to the World Junior Championship previously. Last year, Spencer Stastney and Jake Pivonka became the most recent Irish players to take part. Irish medalists in this tournament over the years are Andrew Peeke, Anders Bjork, Mario Lucia, Kyle Palmieri, Kyle Lawson and Ben Simon.

Stastney, Hellickson Named to Preseason All-Big Ten Hockey Team

Four days before Notre Dame begins its season, there’s already a couple of honors.

Four days before Notre Dame begins its season, there’s already a couple of honors. Junior defenseman Spencer Stastney and senior defenseman Matt Hellickson have been named to the Preseason All-Big Ten Team, which was selected by the conference’s coaches. Stastney is on the Second Team, and Hellickson is an honorable mention.

During the 2019-20 season, Stastney had three goals and 17 assists for 20 points, achieving career highs in all three of those categories. He has been on the All-Big Team Academic Team in each of his first two seasons. Hellickson also has earned that distinction. The alternate captain has yet to miss a game during his collegiate career, which has seen him earn 44 points, 32 of which have come on assists.

The Irish, who have tied for third with Ohio State in the Big Ten Preseason Poll, will play their first two games of the 2020-21 season at home Friday and Saturday against Wisconsin.

Notre Dame Forward Alex Steeves Makes Scholar List

Even with college hockey the furthest thing from most sports fans’ minds right now, things keep happening in that area.

Even with college hockey the furthest thing from most sports fans’ minds right now, things keep happening in that area. Folks are finding out who on in the ice is smart. Like, really smart.

Notre Dame forward Alex Steeves has been named an American Hockey Coaches’ Association Krampade All-American Scholar for the 2019-20 season. Steeves, an incoming junior, has made the Dean’s List three times and the Big Ten All-Academic team in his first two seasons with the Irish. Steeves majors in Accountancy at the Mendoza College of Business.

Steeves was Notre Dame’s leading scorer in 2019-20 with 28 points, more tripling his total from the previous season. He tied for the team lead in assists (17) with Spencer Stastney and was second in goals (11) behind Cam Morrison (13).

Student-athletes who made the list must have had a 3.75 GPA for the fall semester and played in 40 percent of their team’s games. There was revised criteria this year because of COVID-19.