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Notre Dame hockey off-season...beware the "I'ds" of March and other ponderings

Jeff_Jackson_for_Pres.

Jeff_Jackson_for_Pres.

I miss Christian and Mark.
Notre Dame hockey off-season...beware the "I'ds" of March and other ponderings

It's March 15th, 2010. The Ides of March. The day Julius Caesar was ambushed. Et tu, Ohio State?

In honor of this date, I started pondering about this past season. Hence the "I'd"...

I'd have loved to see what could have been with the talent on this team. I'd love to be making my reservations for the league tourney. I'd have loved to be a fly on the wall of the bus coming home from Columbus. I'd love to be inside Coach Jackson's brain right about now. I'd love the opportunity to watch the guys paint the first layer of ice before the final layer goes up in the new rink. I'd love Notre Dame to bounce back in stellar fashion next season.

While I'm still in...shock, I guess...I believe things happen for a reason. I'm hopeful for next season. We're supposed to go to NoDak. BU is supposed to come west. ND will be in the Ohio cluster with BG, OSU and Miami, all games that can be pretty easily travelled to. Already we have the makings for a magical season.

In the coming months, we can ponder about the schedule, the guys who will wear the letters on their jerseys, the OOC opponents, the guys who will have breakout seasons, the goalie conundrum. For now, I'm okay sitting here licking my wounds and cheering on some other teams for their magical seasons.
 
Re: Notre Dame hockey off-season...beware the "I'ds" of March and other ponderings

Re: Notre Dame hockey off-season...beware the "I'ds" of March and other ponderings

Jeff_Jackson_for_Pres. said:
While I'm still in...shock, I guess...I believe things happen for a reason. I'm hopeful for next season. We're supposed to go to NoDak. BU is supposed to come west. ND will be in the Ohio cluster with BG, OSU and Miami, all games that can be pretty easily travelled to. Already we have the makings for a magical season.
Click to expand...

Quick question, how will the clusters work with 11 teams? Or is the CCHA getting rid of them until a 12th is found?
 
Re: Notre Dame hockey off-season...beware the "I'ds" of March and other ponderings

Re: Notre Dame hockey off-season...beware the "I'ds" of March and other ponderings

I am still thinking that UAH joining the CCHA is not totally dead. They did have some support. Maybe when they beat Miami in the NCAA first round.....they will be admitted;)
 
Re: Notre Dame hockey off-season...beware the "I'ds" of March and other ponderings

Re: Notre Dame hockey off-season...beware the "I'ds" of March and other ponderings

redwings8831 said:
Quick question, how will the clusters work with 11 teams? Or is the CCHA getting rid of them until a 12th is found?
Click to expand...

Just realized that mistake. Clusters are sort of out the window if the league stays at 11. However, I am in the same UAH-coming-to-the-CCHA camp as Sugarisland.

I've seen the ideas for scheduling for the 11 teams and it would take something like multiple seasons before each team could see all the other teams at home. I don't know about you, but I don't think ticket sales will be helped, anywhere, if Michigan doesn't come to your barn for 4 or 5 years.

Carry on.
 
Re: Notre Dame hockey off-season...beware the "I'ds" of March and other ponderings

Re: Notre Dame hockey off-season...beware the "I'ds" of March and other ponderings

When we did it a decade ago with 11 teams, everyone played each other 3 times for a total of 30 CCHA games. The Alaska series' were either all at home or all in Fairbanks in a 3-day series, obviously.
 
Re: Notre Dame hockey off-season...beware the "I'ds" of March and other ponderings

Re: Notre Dame hockey off-season...beware the "I'ds" of March and other ponderings

interesting things are in the offing for this team. I think all the faces missing from your media guide next season may not be just those who graduated (or left early to pursue a pro career). One of the things that has made Jeff Jackson so successful as a coach is he believes in learning throughout your career (and your life for that matter) and I believe he learned a thing or two about the 21st century college hockey player. He not only wants the players striving to improve, he expects it of his coaches and of his own coaching. He will do better next season.
 
Re: Notre Dame hockey off-season...beware the "I'ds" of March and other ponderings

Re: Notre Dame hockey off-season...beware the "I'ds" of March and other ponderings

Many of you posting in/reading this thread possibly already read this, but I thought I'd link it anyway.

I found this little nugget particularly telling:

Steve Lowe said:
“There was some individualism and selfishness, and there was a sense of entitlement early on,” Jackson said. “A number of guys expected to have a career year, and struggled because of that. When you're playing individualistic, it's going to have an impact on your team.”
Click to expand...

Feel free to make wild, unfair, or perhaps completely accurate assumptions as to what player or players he is referring to. :D

FWIW, I've had a couple of conversations with a number of players, both guys coming back and guys who are done (not Cole) and I believe the rebuild has already begun.
 
Re: Notre Dame hockey off-season...beware the "I'ds" of March and other ponderings

Re: Notre Dame hockey off-season...beware the "I'ds" of March and other ponderings

If Cole leaves ND they are going to lose a team leader who is disciplined on and off the ice, who expects the same of his teammates, and plays to win. This is one core guy who is needed next year. It must have been a drag of a year for Cole to come back and have some teammates not willing to do whatever it takes to make another run for a NCAA Championship. Seems like Jackson might be blaming himself for not keeping some of his troops in line. Hence, his own recommitment to the basics.
 
Re: Notre Dame hockey off-season...beware the "I'ds" of March and other ponderings

Re: Notre Dame hockey off-season...beware the "I'ds" of March and other ponderings

icevision said:
If Cole leaves...
Click to expand...

It isn't a question of if any longer. The official announcement by either Cole or the university is just a formality. The more I learn about this situation the more I am convinced Ian was the least of Notre Dame's woes this season. And FWIW, I also hope when the time comes, Notre Dame will treat his entry into the world of pro hockey as they do with any of their players who have exhausted the eligibility and have/are going to graduate. I feel stupid now for a few of the posts I've made about him in the past (not that in the vacuum of the "game" some of his play on the ice didn't necessarily warrant it, I think it clearly did) but when I say this guy is so much better than a hockey player, it is meant as the highest compliment.


Seems like Jackson might be blaming himself for not keeping some of his troops in line. Hence, his own recommitment to the basics.
Click to expand...

Expect a completely different mind-set when it comes to team leadership next season. Jackson impresses me with his own desire to grow as much as anything else. He isn't spending the majority of his time blaming players,a couple of media quotes notwithstanding. He's looking at what HE needs to do first. And that's exactly what the head coach should be doing. 2009/2010 is over and I have to say I feel much better heading into the off-season than I did 2 weeks ago.
 
Re: Notre Dame hockey off-season...beware the "I'ds" of March and other ponderings

Re: Notre Dame hockey off-season...beware the "I'ds" of March and other ponderings

And now it is official. Ian Cole signs his professional contract. Good luck to him and here's to seeing him in the NHL sooner than later.
 
Re: Notre Dame hockey off-season...beware the "I'ds" of March and other ponderings

Re: Notre Dame hockey off-season...beware the "I'ds" of March and other ponderings

IrishHockeyFan said:
but when I say this guy is so much better than a hockey player, it is meant as the highest compliment.

Expect a completely different mind-set when it comes to team leadership next season. Jackson impresses me with his own desire to grow as much as anything else. He isn't spending the majority of his time blaming players,a couple of media quotes notwithstanding. He's looking at what HE needs to do first. And that's exactly what the head coach should be doing. 2009/2010is over and I have to say I feel much better heading into the off-season than I did 2 weeks ago.
Click to expand...

I am interested in what you know and who you have talked to. It sounds as though you had some conversations with people who know much more than we do.

I think Cole is going to be a great pro. I thought he was great for ND... at times. I also think he has the type of skill that needs a faster game. Once he gets use to the speed of the pro game he will take off like a rocket and be a regular on the Blues blue line. Good luck to him!
 
Re: Notre Dame hockey off-season...beware the "I'ds" of March and other ponderings

Re: Notre Dame hockey off-season...beware the "I'ds" of March and other ponderings

Irishhockey said:
I am interested in what you know and who you have talked to. It sounds as though you had some conversations with people who know much more than we do.
Click to expand...

My experience (which may or may not be the same as IHF's) was eye opening. In conversations with 3 different people connected to the program at 3 different times in 3 different places (meaning they were not simply reiterating what the guy next to him said), I found it interesting that all 3 said nearly the same thing in the same manner: stoic disgust. "What happened this past season WILL NOT happen again."

My take on that means just because a player is a senior or a superstar or dressed every game in the past means squat come September. You have to earn your spot on the ice. If the guy next to you buys into the system and works harder than you, you get to watch from the stands.

Here's to Ian Cole having success similar to Mark Eaton (who also left early). Having your name etched on the Cup several years into your career would be sweet.
 
Re: Notre Dame hockey off-season...beware the "I'ds" of March and other ponderings

Re: Notre Dame hockey off-season...beware the "I'ds" of March and other ponderings

Irishhockey said:
I am interested in what you know and who you have talked to. It sounds as though you had some conversations with people who know much more than we do.
Click to expand...

I keep my ears open, mainly, try to hear what a lot of different people are telling me. Its amazing what you can learn from anyone by asking a 3 or 4 word question. I know I tend to prattle on here quite a bit sometimes, but in real life I tend to want to listen much longer than I speak.:D I also generally don't post things I hear before they become public knowledge. And when I do I tend to include the caveat that it is my opinion and while I may know it to be true, it is not necessarily what someone has told me. That's one of the reasons I rarely break anything new on here, although I did post about the new arena before it became official, but so did Mike Coffey over at NDNAtion, and he had me beat by some time. Then again sometimes I don't know it until after everyone else, anyway.

As for Ian Cole specifically, I've had conversations with some people who worked with Cole even before he came here, learned about the kid from speaking with him and his family a little and came to the conclusion that he was a thoughtful and balanced young man. He's driven, but in a different kind of way we usually think of hockey players being driven.


Jeff_Jackson_for_Pres. said:
My experience (which may or may not be the same as IHF's) was eye opening. In conversations with 3 different people connected to the program at 3 different times in 3 different places (meaning they were not simply reiterating what the guy next to him said), I found it interesting that all 3 said nearly the same thing in the same manner: stoic disgust. "What happened this past season WILL NOT happen again."
Click to expand...

I think everyone I have spoken with was sort of in a state of shock as the season wound down. They all had the look of "I can't believe this just happened." I think the most positive aspect is everyone is first blaming himself, and not JUST pointing fingers. But talk is cheap, and talk of being better next year after failing miserably to live up to expectations this is even cheaper, and if grasshoppers carried Beretta M9s the birds wouldn't mess with them. For now, much like I am in with the football program, I am in a show me state of mind. But unlike with the football program I am approaching it at least with a sense of optimism. Besides, in our sport, if you win, the important things take care of themselves!
 
Re: Notre Dame hockey off-season...beware the "I'ds" of March and other ponderings

Re: Notre Dame hockey off-season...beware the "I'ds" of March and other ponderings

ecacwatcher said:
http://fearthetriangle.com/2010/03/22/teglia-commits/

http://collegehockey247.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1051483

Goalie Teglia of Omaha commits to UMass. It was reported that he was being recruited by Notre Dame and Notre Dame was his dream school.
Click to expand...

I don't think there was much room for Teglia, especially if Joe Rogers is coming next season.
 
Re: Notre Dame hockey off-season...beware the "I'ds" of March and other ponderings

Re: Notre Dame hockey off-season...beware the "I'ds" of March and other ponderings

Well, now we know why Jackson didn't go after Teglia.

Steve Summerhays is Irish

Summerhayes has a 30-2-3 record this season, and he has never lost on home ice, going 24-0-4 in Green Bay. He has also compiled quite the the highlight reel. His birthday is August 29, 1990 and I expect him to enroll this fall. His teammates Anders Lee and David Gerths have already signed LOIs with Notre Dame.
 
Re: Notre Dame hockey off-season...beware the "I'ds" of March and other ponderings

Re: Notre Dame hockey off-season...beware the "I'ds" of March and other ponderings

Jackson made no secret after the season ended there would be new blood -- more than anyone maybe suspected -- in tow in the fall. Originally I think he expected some of the 9 who signed LOIs last fall to spend another season in Jrs, but now I wonder. Joe Rogers development has some people wondering if he is a number one NCAA goalie right now and it doesn't surprise me ND wants to go after another netminder. Sort of like bringing in Mike Johnson in the fall following his commitment.
 
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