Notre Dame hockey is in uncharted territory this offseason.
For the first time in veteran head coach Jeff Jackson's 19-year tenure, the Irish are staring down a two-year NCAA Tournament drought. There was an atmosphere of disappointment and tension at Compton Family Ice Arena this spring, as Notre Dame's momentum toward returning to the national championship disappeared in the Big Ten quarterfinal round for the second straight season.
“I'm really happy with the chemistry between the team and our kids. They all came to work every day, they all had good attitudes, and everything was positive in that regard,” Jackson told the Observer. In late April. “I'm happy with the group, but I was disappointed with the final result. When we got to the NCAA Tournament, I felt like we should have still played. I mean, I really felt like this team was capable of doing it.” .”
After winning four straight against Ohio State, Penn State, and Michigan State through the end of January, the Irish certainly looked poised to take the lead. Notre Dame, which had a 14-11-2 record as of Feb. 2, was on the list of home ice candidates for the Big Ten Tournament and a potential NCAA bid. However, the Irish struggled down the stretch, dropping eight of their final nine games and ending the season with a blowout win over Michigan in the Big Ten first round.
Scoring and discipline hinder Ireland.
Part of their difficulties late in the season can be attributed to their struggle to score goals. The Irish were held to two goals or less in six of their last nine games and 16 of their 19 total losses. They finished the season averaging 2.81 goals per game, a slight improvement from last year's 2.3 goals per game.
“The last three or four years, we've been consistently in a situation where we haven't scored enough goals,” Jackson said.
Part of the reason is a lack of staff. Jackson admitted that Ireland have lost some high-profile recruits in recent years, which has contributed to a decline in their scoring output. However, the coach also pointed to some on-ice points that he would like the team to improve on going forward, such as puck retention.
“I don’t think we had the puck as much as we should have,” Jackson said. “I don’t think we had enough presence in the offensive zone, especially in front of the net, to win in the areas of the ice where goals are scored.”
Notre Dame was also hampered by discipline issues, especially late in the season. The Irish averaged 12.6 penalty minutes per game, 13th most in the nation. He has also received six five-minute major penalties and six 10-minute misconduct violations in his past 10 games.
“I think the overall discipline wasn't as good as it should have been,” Jackson said. “I didn't have any problems with the players on the ice or in the classroom. I didn't have any discipline issues, but… [that] They didn't fully understand the importance of us playing with discipline because there are different areas of discipline. ”
According to Jackson, those areas go far beyond just penalty time. This includes line changes and pack management.
“It's our discipline in terms of puck management, it's our discipline in terms of the types of penalties we take, and I think our discipline is ours.” [line] This also applies to change. I think these three things were probably important to him in struggling and winning hockey games when he couldn't score. ”
Senior skater passing the torch
But this season left the Irish with a lot of positives and a blueprint for what's to come. Under the leadership of graduate transfer defenseman Ryan Siedem and senior defenseman Drew Bavaro, the Irish have improved their breakouts and neutral zone play. Senior captain Landon Slaggert had a breakout year, scoring 20 goals and earning a contract with the Chicago Blackhawks at the end of the season.
Perhaps most importantly, the Irish have successfully integrated their eight-man freshman class and made an immediate impact. By the end of the regular season, all eight were in the lineup nearly every night.
Headlining that group were centers Cole Nable and Danny Nelson, who immediately assumed the team's number one and two center roles from the first puck drop. Nelson, a second-round pick of the New York Islanders, was particularly quick to find scoring opportunities, finishing with nine goals and 23 points. The sharp-shooting draft pick of the Philadelphia Flyers took some time to heat up, but still managed to score nine goals and 20 points. Both will be central pieces for Notre Dame moving forward.
“We definitely want to be strong in the midfield. Those two guys give us real strength,” Jackson said.
Notre Dame hopes its strength in the middle will provide some stability early next year, especially given the replacement production. The Irish graduated 10 players from this year's roster, including Slaggert, Siedem and Bavaro, as well as key forwards Trevor Janicke and Patrick Moynihan. Of the 10 players who left, only one remains in college hockey. Defenseman Jake Boltman will transfer to Northeastern University for his final season of eligibility.
Overall, the Irish will need to replace three of their top six defensemen, goaltender Ryan Bichel (started in each of the past 73 games), and more than half of last season's 101 goals. Dew.
Of the 11 returning forwards, the Irish will look to rising seniors like Tyler Carpenter, Hunter Strand and Justin Janicke to set the tone for next season. Grant Silyanov will also return for the graduate season and add sandpaper to the lineup. But by and large, the team's core up front will be formed by rising sophomores Nelson, Nable and their classmates Brennan Ali, Carter Slaggert, Maddox Fleming and Jaden Davis.
“We just introduced probably the best freshman class in the country last year,” Jackson said. “We have some players in that young group and we hope they can get us back to where we need to get to.”
As for newcomers, Jackson said Notre Dame's recruiting class is still in flux. Forward Jack Larrigan will likely join the team this summer, as will defensemen Jadon Carr and Jimmy Djursev. All three played in the USHL this season.
Notre Dame also added three skaters expected to make an impact through the transfer portal. The two are graduate forwards Blake Biondi and Ian Murphy. Biondi, a former Montreal Canadiens draft pick, joins the team after four years with Minnesota-Duluth, scoring 17 goals in his second year. Murphy earned first-team and second-team All-Ivy honors during his final two years at Princeton University.
“We've had some transfers and some guys coming back, so we're pretty solid up front. We just hope some of those guys have a good year,” Jackson said.
The Irish also added rising junior defenseman Axel Kumlin from Miami. The Swede will help strengthen the right side of Notre Dame's defense. Kumlin will join the defense corps and receive the same torch relay as the frontline group. Rising sophomores Paul Fisher and Henry Nelson and rising junior Michael Mastrodomenico will all play larger roles next to incoming seniors Zach Prusinski and Ryan Helliwell. can be expected. Mastrodomenico, in particular, broke out late this year, and Fisher was factored in just about every situation as a freshman.
The future in goals
But the biggest problem facing Notre Dame is arguably in goal. Netminder Bichel's influence on the Irish over the past two seasons cannot be underestimated, and he has been named a two-time Richter Trophy semifinalist.
“He's going to go down as one of the best goalies we've ever played here,” Jackson said.
He also left a big hole in the net. With his eligibility increased after this season, Bichel signed with the AHL's Providence Bruins in March. With no other netminder to his name on the roster, the Irish tried to fill the void in any way possible, acquiring freshmen and transfers, returning backup Jack Williams, and growing I'm trying to compensate for the juniors inside.
Freshman Nick Kemp joined the Irish from the U.S. National Team Development Program and started 26 games with an .897 save percentage. Kemp, a 2024 draft-eligible player, is ranked No. 4 among North American goalies by NHL Central Scouting.
“Nick is going to be a great goalie, but he's going to be a true freshman goalie, which can be a little difficult at times,” Jackson said. “I don't think he's always been that way, but I think he has a chance to be exceptional.”
The Irish also added rising junior Owen Cey through the transfer portal. Say came to South Bend from Mercyhurst and started 31 games as a sophomore, posting a .913 save percentage. When starting against Notre Dame in late October, Cey made over 50 saves on 54 shots and single-handedly kept Mercyhurst in the game until overtime.
Two rookies and Williams will both be competing for the number one spot. Indeed, the scramble for goals will likely symbolize the growing internal competition within the Ireland squad.
“After two years away from the NCAA Tournament, one of the things we do to get our discipline back is to have more competition for jobs,” Jackson said. “We're going to see competition at every position. Players are going to be competing for a chance to be in the special teams lineup. We intentionally wanted more competition.”
As the competition heats up, Notre Dame wants to create a sense of urgency that shows how the program feels. The most important thing for Jackson, his staff, players and everyone involved with the team is to build from this season for success next year.
“We need to make sure we're moving in a positive direction for next year, there's no question about that,” Jackson said. “Because losing out of the NCAA Tournament two years in a row is unacceptable.”
