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Irish hockey: JACC we hardly knew ye

Jeff_Jackson_for_Pres.

Jeff_Jackson_for_Pres.

I miss Christian and Mark.
The only tolerable thing about the end of college hockey season is playoff time in the NHL. While this past season was a pleasant surprise, I wish ND could have played just one more game. I guess that's what next season is for...

So...looking ahead to next season, ND should be in a pod with BG, FSU, OSU and UAF. They could conceivably play 37 games, as 3 of their games are exempt (2 at UA[F] and the HOF game against Minnesota). We will see WMU, Miami and Michigan here, but travel to E. Lansing, the Soo and Marquette. Coach Jackson alluded to a New Year's Eve game here against BU and possibly a series here with Northeastern that could see the return of Dr. Craig. There is also that game against BC in the works. Rumor is that's the game that opens the Compton Family Center.

ND starts the season at defending national champs UMD October 7-8. Then RPI visits South Bend for a single game on October 21st. The new arena is scheduled to open a few days prior to this, but (no offense towards RPI), I can't see this being the "grand opening" game. I would think (hope) that honor would be reserved for a hated opponent (Miami, Michigan, BC spring to mind). If the rink is a go in October, the last weekend is a possibility, but the football team is at home, so a single game against BC that Friday (10/28) or a Thursday-Friday series with Michigan or Miami (or whoever) could accommodate the almighty.

ND travels to the UP to play NMU the first weekend in November, then returns home to face UA(F) the following weekend. ND plays Minnesota in the Hall of Fame game. This game should be January 7 and will likely be outdoors. ND travels to Alaska the last weekend in January. Since I will be climbing my first mountain next summer, I could use either of those weekends to get used to the cold (granted flying to Minnesota is cheaper and quicker than travel to the 49th state). :eek:

Looking back, I wanted to try a little Campbellnomics with ND's returning major players. For those of you not familiar with Campbellnomics, Ken Campbell is a writer for The Hockey News. He looks at all the goals scored in the NHL and rates them relative to the jump they give a team (1st goal, tying goal, go ahead goal, etc.). As for Notre Dame's returnees, Anders Lee ranks #1 with 35 points for the importance of his goals. T.J. Tynan is 2nd with 26 points. Jeff Costello comes next with 20, followed by Nick Larson with 13, Billy Maday with 10, Riley Sheahan with 9, David Gerths-8, Sean Lorenz-6, Bryan Rust-5, Sam Calabrese-4 and Stephen Johns-2.

It's a mere 24 weeks til ND begins their next season. In the coming months we can speculate on who will be the captains (I've already got my letter-wearers picked), who will be the next Ryan Guentzel, and who will be the next dynamic freshman...or freshmen. Can't wait.
 
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Re: Irish hockey: JACC we hardly knew ye

Jeff_Jackson_for_Pres. said:
Then RPI visits South Bend for a single game on October 21st. The new arena is scheduled to open a few days prior to this, but (no offense towards RPI), I can't see this being the "grand opening" game. I would think (hope) that honor would be reserved for a hated opponent (Miami, Michigan, BC spring to mind). If the rink is a go in October, the last weekend is a possibility, but the football team is at home, so a single game against BC that Friday (10/28) or a Thursday-Friday series with Michigan or Miami (or whoever) could accommodate the almighty.
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A bunch of my RPI friends and I are thinking of making the trip out to South Bend for the game on the 21st. We'd love to be the first opponent in the new arena...though I guess that decision is up to the Athletic department. :) (That said, beating BC would be a great way to open a new arena.)

We did have a question about Notre Dame football tickets. Obviously the fact that it is USC/Notre Dame means it's a tough ticket. What's the best ("inexpensive") way to get tickets for the game? Stub Hub has upper end zone nosebleeds starting at $350 each. Is that realistic, or are their cheaper alternatives? I'm guessing that the ticket office completely sells out the game between season ticket holders, alums, and current students. Thanks.
 
Re: Irish hockey: JACC we hardly knew ye

I hadn't realized we had moved on yet to the latest off-season edition of Notre Dame hockey on USCHO:)

While some former Irish skaters are golfing, some are still winning hockey games, like the trio of former Irish players who helped Milwaukee advance in the AHL playoffs.

This may be an off-season of rumors and rampant speculation. We may not only have players who are coveted, but coaches as well!:eek: I expect little or nothing to change before the puck drops in the fall, though. There is much for the coaches to work with over the spring and summer, and knowing how Jackson works, I expect most of the weaknesses evident this past season to be eliminated. With so many new faces in the mix, the usual break in periods weren't possible, and there were a lot of minutes skated where pure talent and trial by fire were the things to rely on. Now with a year's worth of games to draw upon, I look for a more typical looking Jackson team to emerge pretty quickly next season. The sky truly is the limit for this collection of players. There isn't a single thing they CAN'T accomplish.


Timmah! said:
We did have a question about Notre Dame football tickets. Obviously the fact that it is USC/Notre Dame means it's a tough ticket. What's the best ("inexpensive") way to get tickets for the game? Stub Hub has upper end zone nosebleeds starting at $350 each. Is that realistic, or are their cheaper alternatives? I'm guessing that the ticket office completely sells out the game between season ticket holders, alums, and current students. Thanks.
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The best way is to hope that Notre Dame is 3-3 coming into this game and not 6-0. The secondary market surrounding Notre Dame Stadium (AKA scalpers) is usually an easy way to get tickets if you want to wait until gameday, and especially game time. I know people who attend games every year and the only way they get tickets is through the scalpers right up to kick-off. Regardless of the records of either team the Notre Dame/USC game is always a marquee event on the schedule, though. And you guess correctly about tickets, Notre Dame games are always officially "sold out" by game time. The USC game will have no tickets available via Notre Dame unless the visiting team returns a portion of the allotment they request in the weeks prior to the game, something that has happened often enough in recent seasons. Again, for a game like USC IF that happens, those will go quickly and likely be gone before most are aware of their availability.
 
Re: Irish hockey: JACC we hardly knew ye

Timmah! said:
Stub Hub has upper end zone nosebleeds starting at $350 each.
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It's a rough ticket to get if you don't want to risk finding a scalper dumping tickets. Always been worth it for me, except 2007, we aren't going to talk about that.
 
Re: Irish hockey: JACC we hardly knew ye

Jeff_Jackson_for_Pres. said:
Members of the hockey program toured the CFC.
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And the members of this hockey program will officially "dedicate" the Compton Family Center with a game against Boston College on November 18th. No word if this will be the first game at the new place, but one would hope the first 7 weeks of the season would not be played on the road or at the Joyce Center. The building is still supposed to be ready October 18th. I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking this day would never come.
 
Re: Irish hockey: JACC we hardly knew ye

For the 4th year in a row, there will be a team with ties to the Notre Dame hockey program competing for the Stanley Cup. Last year Brad Aldrich was the video coordinator for the Blackhawks (and was the first to notify the bench that Kane's shot did win the Cup) after leaving that position here. The prior year saw Mark Eaton hoist the Cup with the Pens and before that Brett Lebda did the same with the Wings. This year, either Vancouver will make the final round with Victor Oreskovich on their roster or San Jose will. Remember that Kevin Compton is part owner of the Sharks and big contributor to our beloved program.
 
Re: Irish hockey: JACC we hardly knew ye

What's up with ND travelling to Oxford for our series against Miami?! That makes two seasons in a row that we've had to play there. (I'm taking out last season in this equation as we were in the same cluster) If that is etched in stone, then the chain reaction starts of some other team having to come here 2 seasons in a row...
 
Re: Irish hockey: JACC we hardly knew ye

billmich88888 said:
welcome to 11 team ccha scheduling...
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That has no bearing on home and away, only on bye or OOC weekends while the other 10 play each other. ND should have home series against Miami, Michigan and WMU and away series at LSSU, MSU and NMU. The others are in our cluster, so those are home and away.
 
Re: Irish hockey: JACC we hardly knew ye

Jeff_Jackson_for_Pres. said:
That has no bearing on home and away, only on bye or OOC weekends while the other 10 play each other. ND should have home series against Miami, Michigan and WMU and away series at LSSU, MSU and NMU. The others are in our cluster, so those are home and away.
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You are incorrect about the clusters. It's kind of strange with 11 teams, but there are now 2 clusters. This year's groupings:
"Cluster A": Lake Superior, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Northern Michigan, Ohio State.
"Cluster B": Alaska, Bowling Green, Ferris State, Notre Dame, Western Michigan.

(I don't really know what to call the clusters; I guess it's better than the "Leaders" cluster and the "Legends" cluster.)

Obviously, with 6 teams in "Cluster A", that's too many games if you play everybody in your cluster four times, so they pair up the 6 teams and one pair plays each other only twice--Lake Superior/Michigan, Miami/Michigan State, and Northern Michigan/Ohio State only play each other one series each.

What this means for Notre Dame (since I am posting on a Notre Dame thread) is that ND has 4 games against Alaska, Bowling Green, Ferris State and Western Michigan. Notre Dame will have 2 home games against Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State, with 2 away games against Lake Superior, Miami and Northern Michigan.
 
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Re: Irish hockey: JACC we hardly knew ye

Alton said:
You are incorrect about the clusters. It's kind of strange with 11 teams, but there are now 2 clusters. This year's groupings:
"Cluster A": Lake Superior, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Northern Michigan, Ohio State.
"Cluster B": Alaska, Bowling Green, Ferris State, Notre Dame, Western Michigan.

(I don't really know what to call the clusters; I guess it's better than the "Leaders" cluster and the "Legends" cluster.)

Obviously, with 6 teams in "Cluster A", that's too many games if you play everybody in your cluster four times, so they pair up the 6 teams and one pair plays each other only twice--Lake Superior/Michigan, Miami/Michigan State, and Northern Michigan/Ohio State only play each other one series each.

What this means for Notre Dame (since I am posting on a Notre Dame thread) is that ND has 4 games against Alaska, Bowling Green, Ferris State and Western Michigan. Notre Dame will have 2 home games against Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State, with 2 away games against Lake Superior, Miami and Northern Michigan.
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Odd that that explains a lot and nothing at the same time. Thanks for the clarification as I thought OSU would be part of our cluster, not WMU.
 
Re: Irish hockey: JACC we hardly knew ye

What I understand is that when the 11-team schedule was set up last year, it was agreed that Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State would be permanent clustermates, and the rest would rotate while still trying to keep regional rivalries intact.

So last year's clusters were
Cluster A: Bowling Green, Lake Superior, Miami, Northern Michigan, Notre Dame, Western Michigan
Cluster B: Alaska, Ferris State, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State
Bowling Green/Western Michigan, Lake Superior/Notre Dame and Miami/Northern Michigan only played 1 series each.

This year, we have
Cluster A: Lake Superior, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Northern Michigan, Ohio State.
Cluster B: Alaska, Bowling Green, Ferris State, Notre Dame, Western Michigan.
Lake Superior/Michigan, Miami/Michigan State and Northern Michigan/Ohio State only play 1 series each.

Next year, if I had to guess, we would have
Cluster A: Bowling Green, Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Western Michigan
Cluster B: Alaska, Ferris State, Lake Superior, Miami, Northern Michigan

I think that you will find that the rotation of games from year to year doesn't go as far as you would expect. Northern Michigan fans have constructed elaborate conspiracy theories around this, but I think it's just a certain lack of planning ahead on the part of the league. The 5-year period from 2002/03 to 2006/07 had a perfect rotation--every rivalry pair played each other 20 times (10 home, 10 away) and everybody played the 10 other teams other 12 times (6 home, 6 away). The 5-year period from 2007/08 to 2011/12 was supposed to have that exact same rotation, but Nebraska-Omaha's departure interrupted it. Unfortunately, you can't really get the same rotation out of 11 teams. There's no way to have a 5-year rotation (or a 3-year rotation) where every schedule is balanced. So this is what happens--Notre Dame ends up not playing in Munn Arena over a 2-year period. It would take at least 9 years to even everything out, and the current schedule format won't last more than 3, so there is probably not much that can be done to improve things.

Sorry; I probably find this more interesting than it actually is to most of the people on this thread.
 
Re: Irish hockey: JACC we hardly knew ye

Alton said:
It would take at least 9 years to even everything out, and the current schedule format won't last more than 3, so there is probably not much that can be done to improve things.
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I remember hearing this but for some reason chose to ignore that fact (that will be moot in a few years anyway) and tried to figure the schedule out strictly fairly. Looking back over the last decade, FSU came here a heck of a lot more often than we visited Ewigleben and we played in Lawson a heck of a lot more often than WMU played in South Bend. Most of the others were fairly evenly split (Miami being the other exception, though not as drastic as the disparity with FSU or WMU).

For those interested thus far:

10/7-8 ND @ UMD
10/14-15 this could be when NU visits
10/21 RPI
10/28-29 ND @ BG
11/4-5 ND @ NMU
11/11-12 ND - UA(F)
11/18 ND - BC (dedication of CFC)
11/25-26 ND @ LSSU
12/2-3
12/9-10
12/31 ND - BU (I have heard this mentioned for the 30th also)
1/7 ND @ Minny (HOF)
1/13-14
1/20-21
1/27-28 ND @ UA(F)
2/3-4 ND - BG
2/10-11
2/17-18 ND @ Miami
2/24-25

ND also still has a game they can schedule since they have 3 exempt games. If they do play an OOC game, it could fit into the schedule in mid-December.

Only 4 and a half months.
 
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Re: Irish hockey: JACC we hardly knew ye

Alton said:
What I understand is that when the 11-team schedule was set up last year, it was agreed that Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State would be permanent clustermates, and the rest would rotate while still trying to keep regional rivalries intact.
.
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Being the suspicious sort that I am, this statement alone has me thinking someone knew way, way, WAY before the official announcement, that the Big 10 was forming a hockey conference. Sure makes it a lot easier to handle schedules when it will essentially be one entire cluster departing.
 
Re: Irish hockey: JACC we hardly knew ye

Third Family Member said:
Being the suspicious sort that I am, this statement alone has me thinking someone knew way, way, WAY before the official announcement, that the Big 10 was forming a hockey conference. Sure makes it a lot easier to handle schedules when it will essentially be one entire cluster departing.
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Alternatively, it was the CCHA's desperation bid to offer the Integer enough to avoid the raid.
 
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