Re: Irish hockey: JACC we hardly knew ye
I fit sort of an odd demographic. I'm not an old-time follower of ND hockey, but I'm also not one of the newbies who started following Irish hockey only once Jackson got here and raised the program's standard of play.
Of the games since I've been going, a few stand out. Here's three that come to mind, though I can't swear that they're truly my 3 favorite JACC hockey moments, but here we go anyway:
10/22/04: In an otherwise dreadful year ("who cares, we still suck, especially that guy"?) that would end up being Dave Poulin's final year at the helm, Notre Dame hockey provided one shining moment. One of their 5 wins on the year was a stunning 3-2 upset of #1 BC. ND got up 2-0 before BC pulled back with two goals within a minute in the middle of the 3rd. BC was dominating and looked sure to find the net for the winning goal throughout much of the remaining time, but Morgan Cey made 50 saves and T.J. Jindra pulled out a SHORTY in the dying seconds to send BC home defeated.
12/13/09: The Irish were stumbling down the stretch and absolutely decimated by injuries -- if I recall correctly, the lines sheet didn't even fill out due to a shortage of dressed players -- and Jackson went with the Torpedo formation. The guys were completely gassed from overshifting, especially those who were being asked to play shifts as part of their own lines along with shifts as one of the defensive triad. But Mike Johnson was excellent, the Torpedo worked, and the arena absolutely buzzed as numerous students showed up for the big UM game during reading period and the Irish pulled it out 2-0.
Much of the 2006/7 season: his one isn't as concrete, to be sure, but I smile just thinking about it ... After several years of practically having a pizza per student over in the old student bleachers opposite the ND bench, it was truly fantastic to find students camping out for hours before each game to be assured of a spot on the glass (or a ticket at all!) in Section 6 as ND climbed to the top of the polls. I can picture it so clearly -- the students standing out in the plaza outside the North Dome with ushers making sure everyone was keeping warm and passing out cups of hot chocolate. ND may not be a "hockey school" relative to the traditional powers of the sport, but dang if that wasn't a pretty sight. ... Within a couple seasons, the "barcalounger" seating behind the penalty boxes was gone and additional student seating replaced it. And within a couple more seasons we're now seeing a new building with more than 1000 spaces for students built in. But all that stems from that first magical fall and winter when the campus fell in love with Jeff Jackson hockey.
(Some other contenders off the top of my head: the banner raising/unfurlings, as mentioned by JJFP; Mark Van Guilder's senior day; the "shirt off our backs" Wounded Warriors game; the Alaska game before Christmas break when the band broke out in "O Greentree, O Greentree, how ugly God hath made thee"; meeting the team at the JACC in the wee hours of the morning when they returned from winning the regional to send them to Denver)
