Tag: USHL

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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Incoming Notre Dame freshman named junior player of the year

Here’s a player to keep an eye on this fall.

The challenge for a lot of junior hockey players is how their game will translate to the college level. We have no idea what [autotag]Cole Knuble[/autotag], son of former NHL veteran Mike Knuble, will do at Notre Dame his freshman year. But if the honors he’s accumulated so far are any indication, he will be quite the player for the Irish.

Knuble has been named the Dave Tyler Junior Player of the Year, which goes to the best U.S.-born junior hockey player. This is on top of him winning the USHL’s Curt Hammer Award, which is awarded to a player with great contributions both on and off the ice. He definitely did that as the leading scorer (66 points) of the Fargo Force. It’s no coincidence that the Force had the league’s best regular-season record and made it to the Clark Cup Finals.

This is the beginning of what should be a nice long career for Knuble. Here’s hoping that includes a big impact in South Bend.

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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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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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Minnesota coach Bob Motzko’s son dies in car accident

The Minnesota hockey family was devastated late Saturday when Mack Motzko, the son of Gophers coach Bob Motzko, died in a car accident.

The Minnesota hockey family was devastated late Saturday when Mack Motzko, the son of Gophers coach Bob Motzko, died in a car accident. Police in Orono, Minnesota, reported a fatal accident at 11:47 p.m. Saturday, listing one person as deceased and two others as seriously injured. Motzko was only 20 years old.

Mark Coyle, Minnesota’s athletic director, released the following statement:

“We are devastated for Bob, Shelley, their family and all involved. This is an unimaginable tragedy, and we will do everything we can to support those affected. We ask for privacy for the families, as they mourn the loss of loved ones.”

Notre Dame, which competes in the Big Ten for hockey, tweeted the following:

Motzko competed in two Minnesota state tournaments for St. Cloud Cathedral. This past season, he spent time with the Sioux Falls Stampede of the USHL and the New Mexico Ice Wolves of the NAHL. He scored 10 points, including six goals, over 39 total games.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Motzko family during this difficult time.

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.

Landon Slaggert, Ryder Rolston Taken on Second Day of NHL Draft

Without having played a single game for Notre Dame, Landon Slaggert and Ryder Rolston already are NHL products.

Without having played a single game for Notre Dame, Landon Slaggert and Ryder Rolston already are NHL products. The freshman forwards both were taken on the second day of the league’s draft Wednesday. Slaggert was selected by the Chicago Blackhawks in the third round as the 79th overall pick. Rolston went to the Colorado Avalanche as the 139th overall pick in the fifth round.

The Blackhawks wasted no time picking Slaggert’s brain:

Meanwhile, here’s how analysts viewed the Rolston pick on the NHL Network:

Slaggert has spent the past two seasons with the U.S. National Team Development Program. In 49 games, he scored 24 points with an equal number of goals and assists. Here’s part of his scouting report from the EliteProspects Draft Guide:

Slaggert played like a bulldozer in this game, he threw heavy hits, outmuscled opponents along the boards and seemingly always wanted to play the body to win the puck. He could outwork opponents in the slot as well. Showed some good speed and decent acceleration. Strong physically, dominates in board battles and in corners.

After two years with the U.S. National Team Development Program, Rolston played the 2019-20 season with the Waterloo Black Hawks of the USHL. He had 33 points, including 16 goals, in 42 games. EliteProspects has this to say about him:

Stretched the zone and uses speed to beat defenders wide. Plays first unit PP. Great lateral mobility. Works hard to give good pressure on the backcheck. Good hands that work to protect the puck. Quick release on his shot, used edgework combined with puck protection handles to evade pressure in the offensive zone, even employed a kind-of “stationary spin” at one point.

Four Freshmen Added to Notre Dame Hockey Roster

Four freshmen will join Notre Dame for the 2020-21 season, said coach Jeff Jackson.

Four freshmen will join Notre Dame for the 2020-21 season, said coach Jeff Jackson. The newest players to lace up for the Irish are forwards Grant Silianoff, Landon Slaggert, Ryder Rolston and defenseman Zach Plucinski. Jackson said the following about his new players:

“This year’s freshman class may be small in number but it is talented and diverse in ability. I fully expect each player will contribute to our team this year; they each bring different strengths that will combine to make us a better team.”

All four players come from the USHL. Rolston hails from Birmingham, Michigan, and played last season with the Waterloo Black Hawks. Silianoff, an Edina, Minnesota, native comes from the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders and Plucinski is from Eagle River, Alaska, and the Omaha Lancers. Slaggert, the brother of current Irish forward Graham and associate head coach Andy, naturally comes from South Bend and is fresh off a tenure with the U.S. National Team Development Program.